Unhappy with changes to fixed contract price & incorrect info in account

[#1]

My contract was up this month and in March I phoned to recontract at £23.99 a month for 2 years for fibre and line rental. This is what I’d been paying for the past 2 years since I switched to fibre. They said they couldn’t give me the £22.99 deal that was offered to new customers at the time.

The other day I got the usual email saying my direct debit was coming out soon, but the amount was the full price of £44.13. So I rang and was told this was a mistake and the amount would be £26 something. I said that’s not what my deal was etc and was told it was due to the CPI which happens every year and it’s in the terms and conditions. I was never told about this when I was on the phone with them to get the new deal. The advisor kept saying it’s happens every year but I’ve been with Plusnet since 2014, recontracted each time my deal was up and have never been affected by this increase.

I asked for the issue to be escalated and told someone would phone me. However I had an email to say the case has been closed very soon after the call ended.

“Thank you for your patience whilst we've investigated your issue with the annual price increase.

I'm emailing you today to let you know that there was a CPI price scheduled to increase on 01/04/22 by 9.3%, there might be a slight increase on the following months bill depending on the billing date as bills are paid in advance, but we couldn't charge in advance due to the statements being pro-rata where the annual figure is divided into 12 equal payments..

We believe we've now fully resolved your issue. I'd like to thank you for your patience whilst we've dealt with it.”

I’ve phoned again today and been told nothing can be done.

My account is still showing that my bill this month is £44.13 and nowhere in my account does it mention any other price. I haven’t had any other emails telling me what my monthly bill is, other than my original email with the £23.99 on it.

What’s the point of offering a fixed term contract at a price that is going to change immediately in the month the contract starts? Also, why have my payments never been affected by this before if it happens every year?

Even more infuriating is the fact that brand new customers can sign up today for £23.99 unaffected by this inflation increase.

I feel completely screwed over. If I’d have known this would happen I would have changed provider as I could have got the same service for £20 from several other places.

[#2]

@NetM  Unfortunately Plusnet do not offer fixed price contracts any more, they used to but they stopped a year or two ago. So when you re-contracted in March you would be subject to a CPI+3.9% increase which was on 31st March so that's what has happened. As for the full price bill that would appear to be a separate problem caused by the flaky billing system but Plusnet have confirmed that it was an error. So your issue is that you didn't know there would be an annual price increase, I'm sure it's in the contract terms and conditions so as far as Plusnet are concerned the issue is resolved.

[#3]

I don't understand this method of billing.

Except for broadband providers you sign for a contract that only normally increases annually from your date of signing.

I'm finding these headline advertised figures to then be increased by up to 10% within a month or 2 bizarre.

I still reckon this is BT big brother as other ISP's that have to use BT lines all doing the same.

[#4]

@Kremmen, when you say BT, I'm guessing you mean Openreach and Wholesale?  The increases aren't coming from them.  The increases will be mainly to cover the other costs of running the business.  The ISPs will need to give pay raises to at least cover the cost of living increases we're all seeing.  Ofcom regularly bring in new rules that cost to implement and in some cases to run.  Offices and Data Centres will cost more to heat/cool and provide electric to.  Most peoples usage in increasing.  There isn't such thing as unlimited usage.  ISPs need to make sure that the network is in place so that users don't see the limits, which cost more.

There's probably plenty of other contributors to the overall cost that I've not thought of.

[#5]

Thanks a lot for getting in touch @NetM

I've had a good look through your account and have sent you an email explaining what I've done, what you'll be paying going forward and why. You'll also find this by logging into your Member Centre here.