Installation Line Charge

[#1]

Hi,

I've recently ordered and noticed an installation charge of £49.99 on my bill.

It turns out that there is already an existing stopped line, and so I do not believe I should have an installation charge.

I can see that this charge is usually dropped for others in a similar situation

https://community.plus.net/t5/My-Order/Installation-line-charge/m-p/1483297/highlight/true#M4473

Please could somebody take a look at this for me.

[#2]

I thought the same when I joined but was told I had to pay as the line had been physically disconnected at the other (to me) end.  If it had been sat idle but still connected it would have been free.

[#3]

Yeah as far as I understand (from calling earlier) my line is still physically connected

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat): Full quote of preceding post removed as per Forum rules.

[#4 · Accepted solution]

I've just been looking at the prices and it says:—

Charge	Cost
New line provide	£49.99
Start of a stopped BT line	Free
Start of a stopped LLU line	£49.99

So it looks like it would depend on who you were with previously.  I believe that some other companies have their own equipment in Open Reach exchange buildings so if the cable needed moving from that to the Open Reach stuff for PlusNet to use that would explain it.

I could very well be wrong and the information provided is far from clear.

[#5]

Hi there.

I can confirm that @ThePillenwerfer is correct in saying that restarting a stopped LLU line is chargeable and we'd charge the same fee for this as we would do for a new line installation as it covers the cost of the engineer going out.

From what I can see there's no active line at your address, so we need to restart the stopped line showing that's connected to a provider's own equipment known as LLU at the exchange, and the engineer would connect the line onto BT kit we use.

Hope this helps.

[#6]

Found a source for the information @ThePillenwerfer provided here https://www.plus.net/help/legal/plusnet-price-guide-for-residential-products/

Whilst I appreciate the answer I can't say it's something I'm happy about.

Obviously an engineer needs to be compensated for their time, but how on earth is installing a new line equally as expensive as starting a stopped line?

That makes zero sense and to be honest seems like a ripoff.

Moderator's note by Dick (Strat): Full quote of preceding post removed as per Forum rules.

[#7]

The installation fee of £49.99 we'd charge is for the call-out, it's worth noting that a new line installation doesn't always entail a brand new line being put in. It's just the type of order we'd place, and the work involved may be a simple re-connection.

[#8]

@marram  perhaps if you knew a bit more about the work needed to migrate a line from a LLU supplied line to a BTW one you would understand why it is not a rip off. You might also understand why a new line is a bit of a bargain!

[#9]

If people who understand the process better than me feel this is a fair price (with the new line being an outlier of a bargain) then fair enough, perhaps if there was material to help clarify the work involved then that could show why the price is value for money.

Anyway thanks for your responses.