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

chrcoluk
Grafter
Posts: 1,990
Thanks: 5
Registered: ‎11-12-2013

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

in my view for sake of customer relations and the fact you seem to have found ofcom documentaiton stating plusnet failed in their regulatory duty plusnet should reinstate your old contract at their own expense.  That is the only right thing for them to do.
However I doubt they will listen to me Sad good luck in what you decide.
pwatson
Rising Star
Posts: 2,470
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Registered: ‎26-11-2012

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

This is not a case of 'slamming' but one of provisioning 'error'.  The principle is the same though, the OP should not be disadvantaged by the mistake so, although BT will charge PN to re-enable the line, it is not right for PN to pass this charge on unchallenged.  They are in the best position to argue the case for a refund from BT as they will have all the relevant circuit and broadband reference numbers etc.
I suspect that this needs to escalate above first line customer care for common sense to prevail Wink
jelv
Seasoned Hero
Posts: 26,785
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

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

What a complete load of rubbish is being posted in here. Plusnet have done nothing wrong. Sky have admitted they messed up and therefore it should be easy to claim the costs from Sky including full compensation for consequential loss. The most Plusnet could offer would be a waive of the disconnect/connect charge.
1. Ask Plusnet for the cheapest cost of re-instatement to the same state as before Sky messed up.
2. Contact Sky and tell them you will be claiming that cost plus the consequential costs (e.g. travel) and that you'd also expect some additional compensation for the inconvenience caused.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
   Why I have left Plusnet (warning: long post!)   
Broadband: Andrews & Arnold Home::1 (FTTC 80/20)
Line rental: Pulse 8 Home Line Rental (£14.40/month)
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w23
Pro
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Registered: ‎08-01-2008

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

Quote from: jelv
The most Plusnet could offer would be a waive of the disconnect/connect charge.

Only the BT monolith could run a 'system' where service provider X makes a mistake, causing a customer to be disconnected from service provider Y then they charge service provider Y for (potentially) both the disconnection and reconnection of their customer where neither service provider Y nor the customer have requested any of this.  Even worse, service provider Y thinks it reasonable to charge the customer for the reconnection (possibly the disconnection too) and expect the customer to chase service provider X (with whom the customer may never have had any business dealings and certainly has no contract for the affected service(s)) for recompense.
Neither service provider Y nor the customer should be out of pocket in such a case, the only contractual link here is 'big BT' who should be tasked with ensuring that the innocent parties have service restored as quickly as possible with minimum fuss and inconvenience and passing on relevant costs to the guilty party (even if only guilty of accidental error).
I'd even go as far as to suggest that the customer should be able to claim compensation from their own service provider (the one they actually have a contract with) in such cases for loss of service and any reasonable consequential costs, this service provider then passing the claim through their supplier 'BT' (with whom they have a contract) who would then be able to pass the costs on to the service provider (with whom they also have a contract) who made the error (or bear all/part of the costs themselves if their own systems failed to make the necessary safeguard checks).
Call me 'w23'
At any given moment in the universe many things happen. Coincidence is a matter of how close these events are in space, time and relationship.
Opinions expressed in forum posts are those of the poster, others may have different views.
HPsauce
Pro
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Registered: ‎02-02-2008

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

@W23. Great in theory, but in reality I expect the OP wants their service back sooner rather than later.
Sometimes life is just too short to fight these battles, no matter how "right" they may be.
Personally I'd go for a pragmatic solution then create hell afterwards along the lines you state.  Wink
w23
Pro
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Re: Line taken by Sky without my consent now being asked for £65???

@HPsauce, yes, for the OP it's absurd to expect a sudden change in 'the system' (or to 'dig in' in the hope that things could be resolved the 'proper way'), my post hopefully highlights the utter absurdity of the way 'Big BT' (BTw/OR) operate with little regard to end customers and normal contractual relationships.
Call me 'w23'
At any given moment in the universe many things happen. Coincidence is a matter of how close these events are in space, time and relationship.
Opinions expressed in forum posts are those of the poster, others may have different views.
chrcoluk
Grafter
Posts: 1,990
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Registered: ‎11-12-2013

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

Quote from: jelv
What a complete load of rubbish is being posted in here. Plusnet have done nothing wrong. Sky have admitted they messed up and therefore it should be easy to claim the costs from Sky including full compensation for consequential loss. The most Plusnet could offer would be a waive of the disconnect/connect charge.
1. Ask Plusnet for the cheapest cost of re-instatement to the same state as before Sky messed up.
2. Contact Sky and tell them you will be claiming that cost plus the consequential costs (e.g. travel) and that you'd also expect some additional compensation for the inconvenience caused.

if its so easy then plusnet can take the hit and themselves claim back of sky Wink  why should the customer have to deal with it.
janitor
Grafter
Posts: 107
Registered: ‎11-08-2007

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

Quote from: jelv
What a complete load of rubbish is being posted in here. Plusnet have done nothing wrong.

Not completely true, plusnet never wrote to the customer checking that he did want to move. I move on a regular basis and always get a letter through the post, last time I left plusnet they even phoned me twice to try to convince me not to go. That was back in the bad old days when unlimited was a thing of the past, and all providers would be following plusnet and only offering limited packages.
LinnPlusnet
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 1,686
Registered: ‎03-02-2014

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

I'm sorry that you didn't see the emails that we sent you to inform you that another provider had requested to take over the line.
I can see that an agreement has been made, TooOldToRnR and that we are now in the process of bringing your services back over to Plusnet.
If we can be of any assistance in the future please do let us know.
avatastic
Grafter
Posts: 1,136
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Registered: ‎30-07-2007

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

Quote from: Linn
I'm sorry that you didn't see the emails that we sent you to inform you that another provider had requested to take over the line.

E-mail is not a guaranteed method of delivery.
Its why you don't accept contact by e-mail yourselves.
F9 member since 4 Sep 1999
F9 ADSL customer since 27 Aug 2004
DLM manages your line the same way DRM manages your rights.
Look at all the pretty graphs! (now with uptime logging!)
Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 22,923
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Registered: ‎22-08-2007

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

Total shambles!
The INDUSTRY screwed-up for this user, the INDUSTRY should sort it out amongst themselves putting the OP back into the state he was in prior to the "mistake".
PlusNet should sort out the consequential losses with their customers and then claim that back within the INDUSTRY's own issue resolution / compensation schemes.
Why should the OP have to sort out an issue not of his making with an organisation he does not have a contractual relationship with?
PN are not responsible for this mess made not of their fault, but I suggest they are accountable for putting the user back into the same state as they where in before Sky (who admit blame) screwed it up.

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

TooOldToRnR
Newbie
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎13-05-2014

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

Update - response from Ofcom. I am heartened that I got such a detailed response.
Thank you for your web submission of 15 May 2014 in which you told us that your Plusnet service has been slammed. I was sorry to read about your experience and I can understand the concern caused. Whilst our role does not involve resolving individual complaints, I can supply some information that I hope will be of help to you.
To try and find out what happened, I sent a query to Openreach; they have visibility of what orders have been placed on a consumer’s line and by which provider. The information I received appears to confirm that Sky took over the line on 13 May 2014. Sky then placed an order to cease (stop) the line, but that order was cancelled on 16 May 2014. Plusnet then placed an order to take the line back on 20 May 2014.
When a consumer’s line is transferred without their permission, as you know, this is known as slamming. Whilst we believe that all slamming is unacceptable, based on the information you have provided as well as that of Openreach, it appears the transfer was performed in error rather than intentionally. We are currently working with the industry to try and understand how such transfers are taking place, and will continue with this work in order to find a long term solution to prevent them from happening. Further information about this can be found on our website at: http://media.ofcom.org.uk/2013/08/08/consumers-to-benefit-from-easier-broadband-and-landline-switchi...
I note you mentioned that the problem could have been prevented if Plusnet had contacted you prior to the transfer. Unfortunately, I am unsure if Plusnet would have been aware that your service was going to switch and this is something you might want to discuss with them.
Turning to Sky, if you would like to take the matter further with them, they do have a complaints process you can follow. This can be found at: www.sky.com/helpcentre/complaints-code/index.html, or it can be obtained by contacting their customer services department directly.
You will see from reading the process that the final stage involves taking the issue to Ombudsman Services: Communications as they deal with individual complaints rather than Ofcom. However, I should explain that, regrettably, it is unlikely that they would be able to look into it as they can only do so where the order has been placed in the complainants name and the service has been taken over intentionally.
Finally, with regards to the joint BT/Trading Standards campaign, we did open a consultation in relation to this and further information can be found at: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/consumer-switching/summary/switching.pdf. As you will see from reading the information in the link, ‘erroneous transfers’ are where a service is transferred in error.
I would like to thank you for taking the time to let us know about your complaint and I can confirm it has been registered here at Ofcom for monitoring purposes.
TooOldToRnR
Newbie
Posts: 8
Registered: ‎13-05-2014

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

Update - status
As of today I have a phone line but not my original number - that is scheduled for sometime tomorrow as is my broadband. Fingers crossed.
picbits
Rising Star
Posts: 3,432
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Registered: ‎18-01-2013

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

If it helps I'll keep my fingers crossed for you too !
Thanks for the update re: Ofcom - always good when customers report back as to what has happened.
kitz
Aspiring Pro
Posts: 833
Thanks: 55
Registered: ‎08-06-2007

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

What a mess - I hope you get sorted as soon as.
Commenting because this intrigued me
Quote
"You will receive a letter from your old phone company, and also one from the new company informing you that you are moving provider"

Having assisted several people recently to migrate I dont think any of them got a letter in the post from their old ISP..  it was all  done via e-mail. 
When I came back to PN, I certainly didnt get any letter. I did get a rather stupid email to say that a CEASE was being placed on my line  Roll_eyes
I know for certain that my parents didnt from Sky --> Plusnet.  The only thing they did get in the post  from Sky... was a bill the next month for services covering a period when the line was already owned by plusnet.