New account - change username before broadband activated?

[#1]

Hi. A question for plusnet support:

I've recommended plusnet to someone and they signed up to your current 18 months free broadband (and paid P&P for router plus 12 months line rental saver). They signed up over the phone because they didn't have internet access. A couple of things went wrong during this signup process:

They weren't asked on phone if anyone had referred them so didn't get a chance to say I had, so I won't get anything for the referral.

More importantly, they weren't told that the username forms part of email address so chose something they don't want seen publicly. They rang you yesterday and were told this can't be changed. Is there any way round this? The phone line has been activated (there was an existing bt socket) but the broadband has not been. They are well within the 14 day cooling off period.

Is it possible for you to change username by acting as if they had cancelled and signed up again, or do they actually need to go through the process of cancelling and signing up again? If so, what are the likely charges?

[#2]

I'm sorry to disappoint but the username can't be changed.

In case they're not aware using our email service is entirely optional so they could seek another free alternate if they so wanted.

I'd recommend that above cancelling and starting again as that would incurr fees.

With regards to the fees and the referral I'd recommend that the account holder contacts us via webchat at http://contactus.plus.net

[#3]

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@adamwalker wrote:

In case they're not aware using our email service is entirely optional so they could seek another free alternate if they so wanted.

Bear in mind, using an alternative to an ISP provided email service means that the email is not 'tied' to the ISP so it actually becomes easier to change supplier if wished.

They could do worse than to sign up to a Google gmail account.

[Edit - typo.]

[#4]

OK, I suspected that there might not be any way round this.

Gmail does seem the best option and looks pretty easy to set up as POP3 with Outlook

[#5]

If you are still within the 14 day cooling off period you can cancel without fee and sign up again with the correct username.