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Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

cjhowarth
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Registered: ‎17-09-2018

Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

As subject:

I have just gotten off the phone with BT, as they had charged me this month even though the account should be closed. 

When I called they said that my new provider (PN), only gave them the notification that they were taking over my phone line, not the broadband.  So BT have kept my account open on the broadband side and I've been charged as such.  As BT have done no wrong on my account, they refused to do a refund.

 

I managed to cancel my account after half an hour of back and forth with various BT departments, but due to PlusNets inaction, I'm down approx £38 quid.

14 REPLIES 14
MisterW
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

When I called they said that my new provider (PN), only gave them the notification that they were taking over my phone line, not the broadband.  So BT have kept my account open on the broadband side and I've been charged as such.  As BT have done no wrong on my account, they refused to do a refund.

I think BT are being a little 'economical with the truth' here. PN do not inform the losing supplier of the transfer, in fact I don't believe they even know who you are transferring from!. Basically PN place an order with BT Wholesale (BTw) to transfer the broadband and phone to them. BTw then inform the losing supplier of the transfer, so assuming your broadband and phone have both actually transferred to PN then BTw WILL have informed BT Retail of this transfer. Since most of this is done electronically , it's possible that BT retail has 'lost' this notification from BTw and thus not cancelled your account.

In any event , BT retail can not possibly have been supplying you with BB since it transferred to PN (it's not possible to have 2 suppliers on one line) , so whether they have been notified or not they are still attempting to charge you for something they did not provide.

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.

Mustrum
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

Just to add to the above, did you not get a letter/email from BT to say sorry they are losing you?

cjhowarth
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

PN do not inform the losing supplier of the transfer, in fact I don't believe they even know who you are transferring from!.

Just to make it clear, BT never said who it was who they lost to, but they said that they get some type of notice that the new provider intends to take over my service or something of the sort.

 

Basically PN place an order with BT Wholesale (BTw) to transfer the broadband and phone to them.

BT stated they only got the request to transfer the phone line, I received a letter stating as such and even called them due to it only referencing my phone line.

 

When I phoned them about this issue last week, they stated that they did a line test of some sort and it showed that they no longer were the service provider for my broadband.  But when I called today they were under the impression that I still was, but the person I was speaking to said it as if it was in reference to letters I received, not an actual line test

 

 

Thanks for your reply.

cjhowarth
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

I posted in my reply before seeing your comment, but I received a letter stating they got notification of me leaving their phone line services, but no letter on broadband, when I enquired about this through a phone call, they said that the letters are sent separately.  I'll try and find the letter if possible when I get home tonight.

MisterW
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

When I phoned them about this issue last week, they stated that they did a line test of some sort and it showed that they no longer were the service provider for my broadband.

So they admit they were not supplying your BB but they still insist that they can charge you for it. It all sounds like the notification that your BB was being transferred got 'lost' somewhere, maybe BTw didn't send it but more likely BT retail didn't processs the notification properly. If your BB has actually transferred then PN must have correctly raised the transfer order.

The problem is that there's no way for you to find out who's at fault because BTw won't communicate with you and if BT retail maintain they weren't notified... 

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RichardB
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

Hi
The next steps I suggest are:
Ask PN for documentary evidence of when they started supplying Broadband for you.
Then raise a complaint with BT citing the evidence that they were no longer the suppplier of broadband.
cjhowarth
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

Ask PN for documentary evidence of when they started supplying Broadband for you.
Then raise a complaint with BT citing the evidence that they were no longer the suppplier of broadband.

 

What do you think would be the best avenue for this, phone call or email?

MisterW
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

I'm sure one of the PN staff who frequent the forums will spot this thread shortly, and assist.

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cjhowarth
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

Hopefully, I'm currently sat on hold with an expected 30 minute queue!  Just got to be patient now.

 

E: Update after the call, The chap said that transfer request of both phone line and broadband was processing on the 25/26 of July and was due to go live on the  8/9 August, sent me the confirmation emails I previously received, but I don't think that'll be enough to twist BT's arms.

cjhowarth
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

After being tossed around 4 different departments with BT for an hour, with the final one questioning while I was transferred to them, I've finally got everything refunded and and future payments cancelled.  Mods can close this topic if I can't.

MisterW
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

Glad you finally got it sorted and got BT to see sense.

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Jonpe
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

BT couldn't win in this case, they need to be informed of the migration by BTw, and if that hasn't happened they can't allow the service to migrate without contacting the customer to check that he/she has requested the migration.

It's truly amazing that three parts of a massive communication company can't communicate better.  I remember the days when they claimed "It's good to talk".

Mustrum
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

The information does generally get shared, alas its down to individuals not looking at it all. I had an issue when I moved to PN from BT, they tried to charge me a cancellation fee - mainly I think as I had tried to get a new deal a couple of weeks before, they refused, so I said I would need to move. The billing people read that part of the notes, but did not bother reading the transfer notes, until I pointed out the letter they sent saying they were sorry to see me going - still took about 40 mins to sort it all out.

Townman
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Re: Plusnet didn't complete cancellation with previous provider

There are multiple stages in the migration process. The first stage is the notice of intention to migrate, which should give rise to the anti-slamming letter from the existing supplier.

There’s then the communication from BTw/BTOR to the losing supplier that the service migration has happened, which should terminate billing.

We’ve seen multiple reports of Plusnet still charging after users have left ... it all rather looks as though the “has migrated” notifications are not being raised correctly by BTw/BTOR.

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.