Allow Customers to Set Extra Usage to Zero

[#1]

NO excuse for not listening - AND doing something about it. There had been moan after moan on these boards. Some have been quite nasty. Only a fraction of unhappy customers will post here, so you can bet your bottom dollar there's a lot more out there that ain't happy about it.

[#2]

I had quite a moan too recently, that £5 for 5GB seemed quite an unreasonable amount, but I think there's far more to it that ripping customers off or profiteering from it. PN need to anticipate bandwidth growth and needs months in advance, you can't just turn on extra bandwidth - there's only so much spare capacity. It costs money for the infrastructure, and takes time to implement. If the data was very cheap for us end users then PN bandwidth needs could run away - it's quite clear from the forums that the extra cost keeps users bandwidth in check. I found this article ( http://community.plus.net/blog/2008/02/28/how-uk-isps-are-charged-for-broadband-the-cost-of-ipstream... ) at the same time as someone posted it in the thread, it makes interesting reading and also helps explain why the likes of Sky can do unlimited, although it is quite old I expect it still applies.

However I do agree that if you set a maximum extra spend, whether that be £0 or more it should stay the same when changing packages.
Edit: And I think it should be charged 1GB for £1, rather than 5GB blocks for £5, same cost, same deterrent but fairer I think.

[#3]

Quote from: Anotherone

NO excuse for not listening - AND doing something about it. There had been moan after moan on these boards. Some have been quite nasty. Only a fraction of unhappy customers will post here, so you can bet your bottom dollar there's a lot more out there that ain't happy about it.

I didn't say anything of the sort!
My comment indicated that we used to get a lot of fault raised previously, which you seem to have decided means that we're not doing anything or listening?

[#4]

When the user gets near there limit and the email gets sent to inform them of this, could that email be changed? (something along the lines of )
By default extra spend is set to zero, and your speed will be reduced.
If you want to carry on at your normal speed you will need to change your extra spend from zero to a minimum of £ 5.00. Extra usage is charged at £5.00 per 5GB
Regards Mike

[#5]

That's the point James and I are making.  That email isn't enough to ensure that people understand how to use the tool.  If you default it on, we'll get calls for people thinking they have faults because they don't read it.  After all, the opposite is happening, people get this on their "reaching their limit" emails:

Quote

Set A Broadband Price Limit =========================== No need to be concerned about spending more than you intend on your broadband usage. You can set your maximum monthly usage on our website - https://portal.plus.net/data_transfer_watch/

but then they don't go and use that tool to limit it. 
I'm still looking at if we can retain the setting.  Let me chase the developer....

[#6]

If the email is not enough for people to understand, how about creating a " how to video" which will show them how to use the tool.?
Then put a link (to the video) in the email customers receive when nearing their limit.
After looking at the tool, surely it would be better if the tool informed the customer what value to enter (0.00) if the do not want to spend any more then their basic monthly cost?
Regards
Mike

[#7]

I don't believe the email is read.

[#8]

I suggest it's read but not understood! Mainly because if the follow the link it's as confusing as hell and the blanket advice it wait till the next billing date is [Censored] and the explanation on the Why? mouse-over doesn't make it any clearer:

Quote

Example: Your billing date could be 1st of every month. Your maximum extra spend may be set to 20GB (£20), but on the 15th you decide to lower this to 10GB (£10). However, by the 15th you've already used 11GB. This means you'd be charged £5.00 for a new block of usage.

You've gone over your allowance and just been told you will be charged another £5. So you go to that page and it tells you not to set it until the next billing date. So in the meantime you could be billed another £5, £10, £15...
What it should do depends on if they have already gone over their allowance in the current month. If they haven't it should tell them to set it to zero to prevent being charged for any additional usage or an appropriate amount if they are prepared to pay for some additional usage.
If they have already gone over their allowance and been charged it should tell them that the minimum it can set to is the amount they have already paid. It should also advise them that as soon as possible after their next billing date they should come back to this page and set it to zero if they want to prevent being charged in the future. If you really cared about not upsetting users in these circumstances you'd have two boxes, one for the current month limited to what they had already paid (as just suggested) and a second to set  what limit they want from next month onwards. If this box is left blank it should default to the value they set in the first.

[#9]

I think the point Kelly and I are making is that we can make improvements to the email, but they simply don't get read, perhaps as high as 90%.
Remember John, you're not our normal customer

[#10]

Being cynical here I suspect that if 90% don't read emails from you perhaps 90% also don't realise they've been charged extra - so it's win, win for Plusnet - or is that being a bit harsh?   

[#11]

I don't read the usage emails either.
I believe the ability to intercept web browsing when hitting the usage limit is a good idea. #
Mind you, if the kids are on the computer at the time they would click anything to be able to continue.

[#12]

It's on the portal, so would require the account password.

[#13]

Quote from: dratdestroyer

Mind you, if the kids are on the computer at the time they would click anything to be able to continue.

The kids don't have separate user accounts? Tut, tut!

[#14]

I've really come onto this thread to mention another aspect that looks poor... but first I have to agree with John's post... the page describing what to do (and to wait until billing day) is hopelessly confusing to Joe Public, even if reasonably technically-minded. It's confusing to *me*, and I'm technically-minded with a maths degree - and I still don't understand the example given under the "Why" button 
Anyway, we just changed from the old "Fibre Extra" product to the new version. I thought I'd go looking at the list of "closed questions" to check what happened on billing day, and came across this one:

Quote

Service Notification 12:19am, Thursday 6 Sep 2012 The Data Transfer Watch of £26.49 has been removed from this customers account due to account change.

I guess this really equates to a limit of £5, on top of the regular monthly charge of £21.49.

[#15]

No, you really need to go and set your limit (£0.00 or otherwise).
'Data transfer watch... HAS BEEN REMOVED' means you no longer have a limit (there IS a limit but it's about £100 per month - if you can use that much).