Line Rental Saver - Renewal problem

[#1]

Plusnet Line Rental Saver renewal.... what is wrong with Plusnet account system? 

it is still in the days before online banking in many respects...

. this is NOT customer service...

nor does it do anyone proud, as advertised so often on the telly.

My LRS is due for renewal, at 31/07/2019   and Plusnet very kindly sent me an email to remind me of the fact....

Which is what all the major companies do now... and all the major companies where the customer has an account, also has a facility, much maligned, regarding Home Insurance, and Motor insurance... that of hiking up the AUTOMATIC RENEWAL... and hoping it wont be noticed.

Not so with Plusnet... still in the dark ages... THERE IS NO AUTOMATIC RENEWAL.>.  

great  ?  or not so great..

Well, in my case, and I am sure in many others with the same affliction as me.... deafness, and difficulty using a telephone... NOT SO GREAT....

Why?       BECAUSE PLUSNET INSIST ON CUSTOMERS TELEPHONING THEM TO PAY FOR THE RENEWAL OVER THE PHONE...

How is that for "customer service"   AND  "doing you proud"

Plusnet accounts department already hold my account details, and eagerly take my phone bill payments every month by DIRECT DEBIT....

Yet... when I asked TWICE with TWO Separate "customer service agents"..on LIVE CHAT,... to ask the accounts department to take my LRS by Direct Debit... they said it "cannot be done"... it has to be taken over the telephone... then they pressed f1 or whatever the script told them to... and up pops the telephone number automatically, as if to say...

Get stuffed... I`m done with you,...there`s your answer... go away and pay over the phone....

This action REALLY ANNOYS ME.... they are supposed to be "customer service agents"... i.e an AGENT of the company that pays their wages. TO SERVICE... the CUSTOMERS NEEDS...  in other words, they are supposed to HELP THE CUSTOMER WITH THEIR PROBLEMS..

I told both customer service agents that I was hard of hearing and that using a phone was very difficult , but they still insisted that I should phone up... (click f1 at this stage) (again)...  how annoying is that?

So... will Plusnet Accounts Manager, please respond to me,

here, or,  by email if needed, as to why they cannot issue a DIRECT DEBIT PAYMENT ORDER, for the LRS payment.... in the same manner as they issue one for my monthly phone bill... and why, that same Plusnet Accounts Manager, insists that I, (who is hard of hearing) must telephone the accounts department to pay over the telephone, when they already hold my account details.

Seriously, there is no excuse for this archaic state of affairs, in the modern world of electronic banking.

.. Other companies... larger and smaller than PlusNet seem to manage this quite effectively,

and keep their customers happy....

even to the extent of "doing them proud" by giving the option for Renewal by Direct Debit.

This could even be a case for disability discrimination.....

NOT A HAPPY CUSTOMER...

[#2]

I think you are already aware of the support services offered for the hard of hearing - see https://www.plus.net/help/legal/support-for-customers-with-disabilities

• A text relay service is designed to help customers use a phone because they have difficulty hearing or speaking
• Next Generation Text (NGT) is a new and improved version of the previous text relay service and is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
• Authorised Users (Phone and Broadband)

[#3]

@Townman  Yes, I am aware... however, it seems that your response is the same as those on the Live Chat. customer service....  this does not address the problem of not being able to pay for LRS by DIRECT DEBIT... as other companies do..

[#4]

On that point I do not disagree with you, but you sought to make this another disability discrimination discussion when you already know that there is specialist support for the hard of hearing.

[#5]

Hi @shutter

I'm sorry to hear that you're unhappy we don't auto-renew your Line Rental Saver; I'm afraid this just isn't something that we offer.

I fully appreciate the inconvenience caused by having to call us however, we do have other means of being able to do this. You are also able to renew this online here and as @Townman has mentioned there are support services available to use if needed when contacting us.

[#6]

@Townman Your response is extremely annoying.

The disability disagreement part is covering the fact that i MUST use a telephone, which is very difficult for me...and others, who have hearing problems, to access the accounts system and pay my LRS. when the facility of DIRECT DEBIT, for

Once again... you are sticking to.... just because you can`t hear does not mean you are so disabled, that you cannot pay your LRS over the phone...

[#7]

Response deleted - OP unhappy.

[#8]

@LaurenB   Thank you for your input.... however,... the link you provide for paying "online" requires me to set up a "Verified by visa" system..... I did this with another card,... and have had no-end of problems due to not remembering the password, and having to reset it every time I wanted to use it to pay for something.... this current account card has never had that... and I have never had any problems paying anybody else.... why is plusnet so unhelpful to its customers, by not generating a Direct Debit Payment order, in exactly the same way as they do for the phone bill ?

There really is no reasonable reason why you cannot do that.

[#9]

Well, in my case, and I am sure in many others with the same affliction as me.... deafness, and difficulty using a telephone... NOT SO GREAT....

Why?       BECAUSE PLUSNET INSIST ON CUSTOMERS TELEPHONING THEM TO PAY FOR THE RENEWAL OVER THE PHONE...

That reads to me like a suggestion that the method is discriminatory set in a context devoid of the fact that you can pay on-line (I have done so) and that there are also support services especially to meet particular individual needs.

[#10]

@jab1  Yes, it does,.... same link as  @LaurenB  gave... see my previous post.

[#11]

@shutter my response deleted - but that scenario is weird - I pay lots of things on line with my debit card, and rarely have that issue unless the payment is for a largish amount to someone I haven't used before.

[#12]

@Townman  your input is insulting and not really helpful... unless you can get the payment by direct debit sorted, then I suggest you refrain from further input.

This thread is about a common sense approach to a problem, that customers cannot pay by Direct Debit. and when asking for that facility, ( which most other companies provide) . they are told the MUST pay by telephone.

The fact that I am hard of hearing, IS a disablement... I cannot enjoy a conversation with my next door neighbour over the fence, without asking him to repeat everything he says at least twice..

The options Plusnet provide are not suitable for my ( and probably many other customers too,) situation.

If I could use a telephone, confidently, the there would not be a problem....

the answer to the problem is to pay by direct debit...

which Plusnet say the cannot do... WHY NOT  ?  all they have to do is to issue/generate a DIrect Debit payment... they already have banking details, and do this every month... i.e. 12 times a year...

why cannot they do it for a single payment using the same system ?

[#13]

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@Townman wrote:

On that point I do not disagree with you ...

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[#14]

Thanks for getting back to me @shutter.

Paying it by Direct Debit is just not an option we have available... initially, LRS was an online only offer and so the only option to purchase/ renew was to pay online (we'd usually only take payment over the phone if there was an issue). 

Though I appreciate the inconvenience of the 'verify by visa' step, this is something that is in place by your bank (likely due to the amount?) but the option to pay online is still there.

[#15]

FWIW you can't pay with Direct Debit for Line Rental Saver with BT either, so scratch that off your list if you really are looking elsewhere.