Line taken by Sky without my consent now being asked for £65???

[#1]

My Plusnet phone and broadband stopped working at 11am today. So I called support. Apparantly I missed the one email entitled "Information about moving your Home Phone from Plusnet" - no call, no text, no letter, just one more email in the sea of spam. Apparantly, Sky "took" the line from Plusnet and then "ceased" it. And now I am told that it will cost me £65 to "reconnect" to my contract and it'll take a week to get broadband back. I can't talk to Sky because I don't have an account with them. Is this my own personal nightmare? Does anyone have any advice?

[#2]

Trading Standards
They take a very dim view of slamming. You'll have to pay Plusnet but should be able to claim against Sky.

[#3]

Hi TooOldToRnR,
Ticket: 85587764 states that we can re-provide free of cost if you take out the available contracts that are outlined in the ticket.
I'm sorry that your services were taken over by another provider, I can see that you've recently called in to speak to us regarding the re-provide. I hope that this is sorted for you, feel free to let us know how you get on.

[#4]

Just to be clear, Plusnet support offered me three alternatives, and comparing each to the 12-month contract I signed up for:
1) Pay to reconnect my old service - the price has gone down to £49.99 when I phoned up later the same day, but it is still costing money to rectify a situation that is none of my making.
2) Take out a new 24-month contract without the discount I originally had, costing me a minimum of £36 if I just consider the first year.
3) Go to another provider and pay termination penalty on my existing contract, costing me £179.60.
None of these options are able to provide me the service any quicker than the other and Plusnet have quoted me a two-week estimate for restoration of phone and broadband. Both my partner and I work from home, or used to until my service was ceased on Tuesday.
Ofcom state (http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/telephone/slamming_what_to_do):
"You will receive a letter from your old phone company, and also one from the new company informing you that you are moving provider"
I did not receive such a letter from Plusnet. I did not receive a phone call from Plusnet. I did not receive a text from Plusnet.
I am now dealing with Sky who seem rather keener to restore my service to Plusnet than Plusnet do. However as of yesterday evening Sky had been unable to get a response from Plusnet. I am happy to take calls from Plusnet to help move this forward.

[#5]

Quote from: TooOldToRnR

it is still costing money to rectify a situation that is none of my making.

Which you will reclaim from the guilty party, namely Sky. With, one would hope, suitable compensation for all the inconvenience, distress and consequential losses.  
It also sounds like PlusNet have offered a better deal than you are on now were on.

[#6]

Quote from: HPsauce

Quote from: TooOldToRnR it is still costing money to rectify a situation that is none of my making. Which you will reclaim from the guilty party, namely Sky. With, one would hope, suitable compensation for all the inconvenience, distress and consequential losses.

Plusnet have at no stage suggested that I could get any costs back from Sky - nor how I could make that happen, seeing as I am not a Sky customer. Support didn't do nor did the commenter above. Most contracts for this type of service specifically exclude consequential loss and so my and my partner's travel costs are an additional expense. They might make a "gesture of goodwill" but I'll have to wait for that. Got any ideas what number I should call?

adie:quote

[#7]

Has there been any indication of how this happened?   Somewhere along the line a mistake has been made, possibly by Sky, possibly by BTOR
Unfortunately, in PN's eyes, your line has been ceased through no fault of their making - They can't 'give' your line to Sky

[#8]

Yes, Sky made a mistake - they were supposed to provide service to another flat in the same building but picked the wrong line.
jim:quote

[#9]

Quote from: HPsauce

Quote from: TooOldToRnR It also sounds like PlusNet have offered a better deal than you are on now were on. The deal I was on was 12 months at £2.99. The deal I was offered was 12 months at £9.99 or 24 months at £5.99. Better? I think not.

[#10]

Quote from: TooOldToRnR

Plusnet have at no stage suggested that I could get any costs back from Sky - nor how I could make that happen

Why should they? I doubt the staff you talk to would know what happened. Sky should, indeed must, tell you.
The OFCOM link you have already given tells you what to do.
You might also have a complaint against PN (separately) if they failed to notify you, again read the OFCOM guidance.

Quote from: TooOldToRnR

Better? I think not.

So what did you mean by: "the price has gone down"  
[Moderator's note by Jim (Oldjim)  link fixed ]

[#11]

Quote from: HPsauce

So what did you mean by: "the price has gone down"

That was a regarding the reconnection charge - £49.99 instead of £65

[#12]

Quote from: HPsauce

Quote from: TooOldToRnR Plusnet have at no stage suggested that I could get any costs back from Sky - nor how I could make that happen The OFCOM link you have already been given tells you what to do. Here it is again:  http://ask.ofcom.org.uk/help/telephone/slamming_what_to_do

And it says "we can’t investigate individual cases".

[#13]

Sorry, realised you supplied that link yourself.  
But it does tell you what to do as well as telling them, i.e. complain to the relevant companies for starters.

Quote

You should register a complaint using Ofcom’s online complaint form to tell us what’s happened and which companies are involved (See below). If you are in the process of being transferred, you can contact your current provider and ask them to cancel the order. This should be possible up until 24 hours before the transfer is due to complete. If the service has already transferred, you should contact your provider of choice and arrange for them to transfer the service back. If they experience difficulties trying to do this, you should ask them to explain why this is the case. If you are aware of the company involved and wish to take the matter further, you should follow their official complaints procedure. If your dispute is still unresolved, and you are a residential or small business customer, you can raise the matter with the relevant Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme.

Sadly, it's a really bad situation you're in, not of your own making. Nonetheless it's best to accept that and get on with sorting it out then get at least some satisfaction by nailing whoever is responsible for every penny it's cost you.

[#14]

Quote from: Linn

Ticket: 85587764 states that we can re-provide free of cost if you take out the available contracts that are outlined in the ticket.

With respect, the customer has had his service changed without consent and should not be subject to any new contract or any other detrimental change to have it restored exactly 'as was' prior to being wrongly taken over by Sky.  Any costs involved in doing this should be recoverable from Sky (is there any reason why BTw/BTOR can't just invoice Sky directly for any and all reconnection charges in such cases?).
The customer should also be able to claim any reasonable consequential costs from Sky (contract terms do NOT come into this since the customer does not have a contract with Sky).

[#15]

Quote from: w23

With respect, the customer has had his service changed without consent and should not be subject to any new contract

I'm pretty sure that was just one option of several. The OP will have to decide which of the various options he prefers. 
It sounds like reinstatement "as was" is possible, but there is a one-off charge associated with that - presumably claimable from Sky.
Circumstances change and it may indeed be the OP's preference to use this enforced "opportunity" to change to a contract that is more appropriate going forwards, so it makes sense for PN to describe those choices.