Outraged! Over charged by £300 over 5 years and told I will old get £30 back

[#1]

@Gandalf 

Thank you for your time in looking into it and your reply but I hope you don't feel that is good enough let alone acceptable. I have waited 7 weeks now. The original email promised to resolve it in a month. This should now be a priority to resolve in the next 48 hours. 

Not a sit and wait, I've been asked to do that multiple times over the past 7 weeks and it has got me nowhere. 

[#2]

I understand it's taking a very long time to process the refund on this occasion, however as it's on the back of the product alignment work there isn't anything we can do to speed this up I'm afraid.

I've moved the open support ticket on your account to my own workflow so I'll follow up at the end of next week regarding which means you won't need to chase us up again.

[#3]

@Gandalf  I'd like to know what my options are for escalating this, clearly this is way beyond acceptable now and I have every right to want to push this as a complaint and to seek a swift resolution.

[#4]

If you want to escalate this further, our complaints process is that you'd have the opportunity to speak to my line manager, however I'm in touch with the project owner and I'm advised that nothing can be done to speed this up I'm afraid.

While I'm happy to arrange a call back, with the above in mind unfortunately it's highly unlikely this will change things.

[#5]

---

@jasonh_4 wrote:

So I'd like to give everybody who offered me advice an update on this issue. 

The bank have advised me to claim the money I have paid Plusnet via the direct debit guarantee and wait for plusnet to start asking for the money back.

---

Based on the non commital responses from Plusnet, this probably your most effective route to getting your overcharge back into your account and under your control again.  Yes it may cause some problems down the line with continued DD charges, but fixing these problems in the billing system is a Plusnet responsibilty not yours.

Another route you could opt to take is via the Small Claims Court This is a more difficult route, but you can add in expenses etc made in pursuit of the claim.

[#6]

I agree with @MauriceC about your options. I would add - and you may have done this already - putting in a formal complaint (link at the bottom of the web-page).

On the options, I don't have current experience about how long it would take to trigger the Direct Debit guarantee or issue a claim in the court but I suspect that the latter may take weeks. You said earlier that your home policy included legal assistance: it may be worth asking their helpline for advice, if only on timing.

But, if your bank is prepared to cooperate, then I would take up their offer.

[#7]

I'm sorry if my responses have come across as non-committal.

As per the below, I've confirmed we are going to refund it and I will be monitoring this myself:

rest assured we're working on it and will ensure you receive it.

I'll follow up at the end of next week regarding which means you won't need to chase us up again.

I've also provided an estimated timeframe from this point on:

we'd expect you to receive another e-mail to advise on the amount over the course of the next week and a cheque should follow shortly after.

As this particular refund is on the back of a wider project (the product alignment work), from discussing this with the project owner in charge I'm advised that we can't escalate this individually I'm afraid.

While the OP is free to raise a complaint ticket online through their account, a likely outcome would be that one of my colleagues on our complaints team that I sit a few desks away from will pick the ticket up and liaise with me, or move the ticket into their ownership instead to liaise with the project owner I'm already in contact with.

[#8]

But raising a formal complaint and them saying they canno t speed it up seems  to me that you would be in deadlock and the n you can contact the  Ombudsman Services and ask for  compensation.

[#9]

It would not surprise me if the result of invoking the Direct Debir guarantee and getting your money back that way would be for Plusnet to try to take it back from you again through their debt collection agents.

The total shambles that is the Plusnet business system beggars belief. People like @Gandalf  who work their socks off trying to sort problems whilst attempting to defend the undefendable at the same time deserve a medal!

[#10]

---

@Baldrick1 wrote:

It would not surprise me if the result of invoking the Direct Debir guarantee and getting your money back that way would be for Plusnet to try to take it back from you again through their debt collection agents.

The total shambles that is the Plusnet business system beggars belief. People like @Gandalf  who work their socks off trying to sort problems whilst attempting to defend the undefendable at the same time deserve a medal!

---

And here is me thinking they got paid to work here and I am still looking for the chains that can't be broken and set them free...and without all these problems there would be massive redundancies. Note how long many of the staff who post on here have been in post!

And if they try debt collection, then the Ombudsman Service would crack in with compensation and I doubt they want to inflame a bad situation and change their adds from doiung proud to just do you. But I would be prepared to spend some more of theiur money trying.