Transparency about overcharging please

[#1]

@maranello 

I agree with your sentiments.

I know that there are a number ("a few") customers impacted by the on-going billing issues.  Nothing much has been shared over the causes and to be honest (at least myself) had to some extent given up on raising billing issues as doing so was not helping and progress was being made on addressing them.  Many users in suspended billing have been released from that state and are now all OK - others (myself included) have not.

I've returned to the topic because I'm seeing new patterns of issues and reoccurring patterns is something which the SUs focus on.  I'm asking the questions about patterns as that shapes the conversation within the SU group and give weight to seeking focussed action.  I'm not promising anything here other than asking the right questions backed by the weight of evidence...

As for "8 months and should have been fixed by now" I do not disagree.  However having spent years in application development and support I can only conclude that the cause of the issues have not been easy to identify (if they have been) and fixing might well be very complicated.  Though having being out of professional IT for 6 years now, in my time the most difficult issues to fix were those in third party technology stacks.  My preference was always to develop the full solution in house.  However project accountants see that as being more expensive than buying in … but they never consider the subsequent support costs, both actual and that arising from failure.

Thank you for your support!

[#2]

My bank are pulling the payment back, which is a relief. We shall see what happens. In the meantime I've logged a complaint with the ODR although I doubt that will do anything.

[#3]

Thanks for reaching out @ellythemoo 

I'm sorry to see your bills are incorrect.

Unfortunately this is because your contract is showing as pending in the billing system so any discounts we're adding aren't sticking so I've added a credit on to your account to compensate for the overcharge this month and also for a likely missing discount next month.

While your decision, cancelling your direct debit and requesting an indemnity claim through your bank would likely cause a lot more hassle for everyone so we will monitor your account and we will manually add a credit before each invoice generates until this matter is resolved.

Apologies for the inconvenience caused.

If you have any further queries or concerns please do let us know.

[#4]

@Gandalf 

Thank you for explaining what is going wrong here (rather than placing the generic explanation in a ticket) and what support can do to fix the issues! 

@maranello 

In answer to your question, the account will end up with restrictions upon the DD being reclaimed, may be not immediately, but fairly swiftly!

As Gandalf stated, stopping a DD can make things messy all round.  Getting a proper resolution or a tactical fix is far cleaner for everyone.

[#5]

 Thank you @Gandalf . Unfortunately I didn't get that response from customer service this morning so the DD has already been cancelled and reclaimed. I was told that no refunds could be made until "the fix" occurred and nobody knew when "the fix" was going to take place. If I'd been told that in the first place I wouldn't have cancelled the DD!

[#6]

@Gandalf 

What now needs to be done so that @ellythemoo does not encounter new issues...

1. When the DD is reclaimed?
2. When the next billing cycle arrives?

Might (2) be most simply addressed if the user were willing to immediately reinstate the DD?

[#7]

Thank you for your help @Townman 

[#8]

I still believe that part of the problem is that whilst there are workarounds, these are being inconsistently applied. As an example, having recently had to deal with a similar over billing for my mother in laws' account, this appeared to have been remedied by a credit refund for the current months over charge, and a manual addition monthly discount for the remainder of the contract. But the implication from @Gandalf 's response is that there is some other issue preventing this approach. 

[#9]

Hi @ellythemoo

Thanks for getting back in touch and I am sorry if this wasn't explained until @Gandalf mentioned.

I would advise to keep an eye on your online account to see when your direct debit shows as cancelled, at this point I would suggest resubmitting this.

If you the direct debit payment has been reclaimed you will receive communication from our Billing Department regarding any outstanding balance at which point a manual payment would be needed to bring things up to date.

If you need any further assistance please let us know.

[#10]

I somewhat suspect that issues might appear to be similar, but they are not identical, leading to dissimilar resolutions.  Also consider that @Gandalf did not gain that name (fame?) over night, he has wander here for many years before under a different guise - he knows more dark spells that the rest of the team! 

[#11]

There is no question that @Gandalf 's reputation is not deserved, it is however unfortunate that there aren't enough wizards employed by Plusnet to fix the billing issues. 

[#12]

Thank you very much @Warwick  - I've had the email and the credit. I've made a payment manually. I really appreciate your help on this, @Townman  and @Gandalf  too. It helped hugely.

[#13]

No problem and cheers for getting back to us @ellythemoo

If you need any further assistance please do feel free to let me know.

[#14]

Believe it or not, this is STILL going on. Yet again I have had to cancel my direct debit because Plusnet's billing is incorrect. I am going to leave as soon as my contract is up, which is a great shame as I have been a loyal customer for over 10 years. But I cannot keep on dealing with a company for whom a simple thing - billing - is so impossible to get right.

[#15]

Hi @ellythemoo, thanks for getting back in touch.

I am truly sorry for the length of time this is taking to resolve. I can see you have recently raised a high level complaint, this has been escalated to a dedicated case handler who will be in touch with you shortly.

Regards