Line Rental Saver

[#1]

Hi - I signed up for an 18 month contract in May last year at the time I paid for 12 months line rental. I have had an email reminding me to renew my line rental saver before the end of this month otherwise I will pay more by paying line rental monthly.

So I thought I would call up to renew my contract and then pay for 12 months line rental in advance.

I was told that I cannot negotiate a new contract with you until August (3 months before my contract ends in November) and that if I paid the line rental in advance and then left you for another provider in November I would NOT get a refund on the unused portion of the line rental that I had paid for!!

What an absolutely crazy situation!

Suppose I renew my line rental saver now to save money but then when the time comes you do not offer me a good deal to renew my contract and I decide to leave you I will lose around £100 as you will not refund me the unused portion!!!

There must be a better way than this, it seems as if the system is engineered so that customers who pay line rental in advance have to accept whatever deals they are given or lose their money!

[#2]

@Conrod Yes you have spotted the problem with LRS. It is not in Plusnet's interest to change things since, as you say, having an active LRS with more than the odd month to run might make it more difficult to negotiate a new contract or make it more expensive to move.

The lesson, of course is to try to negotiate a decent 12 or 24 month contract and align the LRS to that. You may get a decent offer when your contract runs out whatever your circumstances or you may get an acceptable offer of a new contract "out of the blue" sooner than that (it has happened to me twice for whatever reason).

Otherwise, if there is a price increase that affects you, that would allow you to leave without penalty including getting a refund of the balance of the LRS monies as they have to refund under those circumstances.

[#3]

@Conrod. Thank you for contacting us and I'm sorry that this wasn't clear when you signed up.

Line Rental Saver is something we offer all of our customers, new or existing as a way for them to save money on their line rental, but this is separate from any contract you have with us for the broadband service.

This means that you can sign up for the saving at any time, and not just when starting a new contract.

As suggested when you contacted us, you can still pay for the Line Rental Saver when it is due and then setup a deal for the broadband within 3 months of the contract coming to an end.

We do value your feedback and will pass this to the relevant areas.

Thanks again for your post - Carl.

[#4]

Plusnet must be making a lot of money out of this otherwise they would sort this issue out.

I've been reading through the forum this morning and it's been going on for some time and needs sorting out. Customers are being caught out all the time. 

I'm in a very similar position with my BB and line rental saver not in sink.

PN should stop offering 18 month BB contracts with 12 month line rent saver, it's just bad practice.

[#5]

Hi - It all worked out in the end!

Plusnet cancelled the last 6 months of my 18 month contract, the first 12 months of that contract were up at the end of this month.

I now have a new 12 month contract from the end of this month and have paid the LRS.

I could not get any vouchers out of them though, darn it!

All in all I am now a happy bunny.

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS A MILLION BILLION TRILLION LIGHT YEARS AHEAD OF TALKTALK WHO I WAS WITH FOR 13 YEARS.