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Still charged after account cancelled

Charlie7
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Registered: ‎05-06-2020

Still charged after account cancelled

I cancelled PlusNet on 1-May so was understandably surprised when I received another invoice at the start of June.
When I queried, it seems the cancellation had not been processed, and they claimed the request was never received.

I was able to provide the relevant reference number to prove otherwise. They claimed they were unable to check this.
Maybe the non-cancellation was an oversight on their part, or maybe due to their poor admin systems, or maybe they are just doing what they can to maximise their income in these uncertain times.

I hope prospective customers of PlusNet will read this topic, and be aware once you sign up, PlusNet will have full access to your bank account. To their credit, PlusNet have now agreed to halve the amount of the June invoice, so the amount of overcharge has now been reduced.

12 REPLIES 12
Townman
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

Hi @Charlie7 

A warm welcome to the forums.

"I hope prospective customers of PlusNet will read this topic..."

 

So that perspective customers might have a clear context to your experience, can you please clarify...

  • Were you still within the minimum term of the contract?
  • Did you terminate the service or migrate the service to another provider?
  • If terminated, what date did you terminate on?
  • Were there phone call charges remaining on the account? (Line and BB are billed in advance, call charges in arrears)

When terminating service, 14 days notice needs to be provided, so if you gave notice of termination on 1st May, you'd have to pay for service until 14th May (half a month) - and there might be phone calls to pay for.  If you were still within the minimum period of your contract then there would also be Early Termination Charges to be paid.

Therefore depending on the context, there might be a balance owed by you ... or a refund due to you, either of which would need to be process through your direct debit arrangement, after service termination.

The halving of the June invoice sounds as though the agent has processed termination as being 14th June - that would be half of a month's bill.  It does however seem odd that the agent suggested that they could not check your termination reference.  If not migrating service providers, then only way that you can terminate service is either by calling COTS (aka Retentions / I'm leaving) or by letter.  If you have a reference, the Plusnet must have a reference ... and the detail of that should be found on your account's ticket history.  See link below.

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.

Charlie7
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

Hi @Townman

To confim that I should not have been charged after cancellation, the following points were met

a. I was outside the minimum term of the contract

b. The supplier I migrated to dealt with the termination, and they have a valid number port reference

c. I terminated on 1-May, ie 33 days notice

d. There were no outstanding phone call charges.

@Townman Thank you for suggesting I include these points, It does reinforce the point that maybe there is a policy of ignoring cancellation requests.

 

Charlie7
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

Hi @Townman

< It does however seem odd that the agent suggested that they could not check your termination reference >

I willn not mention your "customer services" colleague by name on this public forum, but since you monitor and record all conversations, you have the ability to listen to our conversation, and confirm the above. Maybe he needs additional training ?

Townman
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

I am a customer like yourself.

Hopefully one of the staff will pick this up. There is some possibility that the provider you migrated to did not do the service transfer properly. Note when transferring to Virgin Media, they do not terminate the existing service, but they will request a number port, but that does not cancel the existing service provision.

@Gandalf

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.

MisterW
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

@Townman I'm not sure whether @Charlie7  is talking about a broadband account or a mobile account migration here ?

If its a broadband account then..

Note when transferring to Virgin Media, they do not terminate the existing service, but they will request a number port, but that does not cancel the existing service provisionbut they will request a number port, but that does not cancel the existing service provision.

Surely, a landline number port will instigate a PSTN cease and thus a broadband cease as well ?

 

If its a mobile account then use of the PAC to port should automatically be taken as cancellation notice

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.

LaurenB
Plusnet Help Team
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

Hiya @Charlie7, I'm sorry to hear your account wasn't cancelled when expected.

 

I have had a check of the account and cannot see that we previously received any request; there's no leaving notification showing on the phone line (that we'd usually see when another provider takes over) and can't see any access to the account. Can you please advise further on the reference number you have mentioned (you can add this to the open ticket here) so we can take a further look into this for you?

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Lauren Barry
 Plusnet Help Team
Charlie7
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

Hi Lauren

 

I now have an email from PlusNet confirming cancellation of my account, that will now cease on 19-June. I also have a letter confirming this cancellation.

BUT having checked my 4-June invoice, this charge remains unchanged, and still covers the period until 4-July.

Please can you get this corrected, and reduced to 14 days, since I do not wish the full 30 days charge to be taken from my DirectDebit on Thurs 11th.

 

Thanking you in advance.

 

 

Charlie7
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

Hi Lauren

 

The number port reference I have been given is 112722_1281.

This migration is to Virgin Media, and was issued on 1-May.

Virgin Media assure me that this is the industry standard method of transferring both phone and broadband.

 

Townman
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

@LaurenB - can you please double check the migration to Virgin process. I do not believe it follows the standard GPL migration as occurs normally because they are NOT taking over the line, they are simply acquiring the number.

Certainly inbound migration does not terminate the Virgin service. We’ve seen more than one case here where a migration from Virgin to Plusnet results in the same number being operational on both lines until the Virgin service ceases by explicit end user cancellation.

I think there might be a lesson to be learnt here managing user expectations.

@Charlie7 - accounts are tided upon after the account is ceased, any outstanding balance being charged or over payment refunded.

If you wish to retain your Plusnet email service it is imperative that you inform Plusnet if that requirement before the service is ceased.

Hope all goes well with Virgin Media.

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.

Charlie7
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

@Townman. Thank you for your prompt reply, from which I understand I will be charged an entire month, then later refunded.

Could you tell me how soon afterwards I can expect this "tidy up" refund ?

Many Thanks

Townman
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

That needs an answer from a staff member.

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.

abails0105
Plusnet Help Team
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Re: Still charged after account cancelled

Hi @Charlie7

 

A final invoice is produced 21 days after account closure.If a credit is due back to yourself it will automatically be refunded to you on the day the final invoice generates. 

 

Let us know if you need anything else. 

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Alice Baillie
 Plusnet Help Team