Livechat unavaliable

[#1]

Why does it seem that the live chat has been "offline" for weeks? 

[#2]

@kconnell  Welcome to the forum.

Actually it's been off for months not weeks. Plusnet will tell you that it's due to staff shortages because of Covid 19.

Do you have a problem that might be resolvable through this forum? If so tell us about it in as much detail as you can.

[#3]

Thank you  

Apologises for the essay but... 

I moved into my new house 18 months ago and contacted Plus Net to make them aware of this. I had been on a 12-month broadband contract when I lived in my flat and was moving 6 months into this contract. Wanting to stay with Plus Net I agreed to start a new 18-month contract and pay a fee as I was moving. That was June 2019. Knowing that my 18-month contract would be ending soon I had a look around and decided to move to another provider who offered me a better deal overall. They informed Plus Net that I would be leaving and I received an email saying that my early cancellation fee was £123.83!

Now I'm sure you can imagine I was very surprised at this fee, especially as my new provider comes into effect on the 27th November and my Plus Net contract was due to end 10th Dec. I expected to pay something just not £123! 

I had a look at my account summary and saw that it says that I have 6 months of my contract left! Baffled, I looked into it some more and discovered that for some reason in June 2020 I had been placed on a new 12-month contract without my knowledge! I hadn't even spoken to Plus Net (live chat or call). 

The only thing I had done was changed from Fibre Unlimited to Fibre Unlimited Extra - but had been told that this would not affect my current contract. I have a screen shot from Plus Net saying that my contract would not be affected!

Long story short - Plus Net changed my contract without my knowledge/consent. I'd like to leave my original 18-month contract as planned without the ridiculous exit fees. 

[#4]

The plot thickens... finally managed to get hold of someone on the phone. For them to tell me that I had agreed to this new contract change. I did not. I would have not have upgrade to this *free* service if it meant changing my current contract. 

When I asked to speak to someone on the complaints team I was told that because they were working from home that were no complaints team. 

[#5]

@kconnell 

There is a complaints team - whether they are working from home or not is irrelevant. Sounds like another fob off from a jobs-worth. I presently have an issue being dealt with by a dedicated complaints team member.

If you have the evidence (e.g. closed ticket on your account or an email) to prove that you did not agree to the new contract or that Plusnet said that the change of product would not change the duration of your contract it should be an easy win for you.

See the complaints code of practice at the foot of this page. There should be a way of submitting a complaints ticket but the link has gone awol at present due to Plusnet trying to remove other Help assistant links from the Members Centre. I have been assured on these forums that they are seeking to reinstate that link...we shall see. Meanwhile there is the phone option but the number given is just the normal CS number, or the postal option.

[#6]

@jgb 

I even have the print screen from the PlusNet website saying that "You can switch between Unlimted Fibre and Unlimited Fibre Extra for free without affecting your current contract". That's on the website for everyone to see!

[#7]

@jgb I've now also gone in to review past tickets and now can no longer see those all bar the one that's been raised from today?!?!

[#8]

@kconnell  Have you looked at closed tickets, they should still be there.

[#9]

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@kconnell wrote:

@jgb 

I even have the print screen from the PlusNet website saying that "You can switch between Unlimted Fibre and Unlimited Fibre Extra for free without affecting your current contract". That's on the website for everyone to see!

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Does this mean that the price does not change, just the speed increases? If they provide fibre extra when the contract says fibre then surely that’s a contract change? 

[#10]

@Baldrick1 

The price actually changed (although not much) but there was no mention of a contract change. This is the first I am hearing of it.