Contract ended today but received a bill to be taken from account on 9th May

[#1]

Hi all

Today was the last day of my contract with Plusnet. It was also the first day of my new contract with my new provider. They came and did the installation this morning and Plusnet is no longer providing my broadband. My Plusnet bill has been £27.31 and towards the end of March I received an email from Plusnet saying when my contract ends my monthly price will go from £27.31 to £54.39.

I also received a bill today for £54.39 which suggests my contract hasn't been cancelled. My understanding from the Plusnet help pages is that when you want to end a contract you "Just set everything up with them [your new provider] and they'll tell us when to switch your Plusnet service off".

Please can someone confirm that £54.39 won't be taken from my account on the 9th May or, if it is, that it will be refunded in full, or that this is an error that will be rectified?

Is this a standard practice while the ends of contracts are processed? I obviously shouldn't be paying anything further now that I'm not under contract.

Thanks in advance.

[#2]

It depends when your normal billing date is. If your contract doesn't end until after that , then a normal monthly ( in advance ) bill will be generated. Once your contract is ended then a final bill will be generated and a refund for the unused part month made.

[#3]

Thanks MisterW. Over the last 12 months my billing date has been on the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th. Most commonly it's been around the 4th of each month. 

[#4]

@Jopes     you say your new provider came today to install your new service, which suggests it is not via the same ;ine that PN was proving?

Have you had full fibre installed, and if so was it via Openreach or another supplier?

[#5]

@Mustrum. That's correct. I've had full fibre installed by CityFibre.

[#6]

I've had full fibre installed by CityFibre.

Ah! The gaining provider led process won't apply ( similar to moving to Virgin ) , you will need to cancel directly with Plusnet.

[#7]

@Jopes   then your earlier quote  "Just set everything up with them [your new provider] and they'll tell us when to switch your Plusnet service off". does not apply. It only applies if you were moving to another Openreach provided service, so you will need to ring PN and cancel your service - giving appropriate noticee. 

So you will have to pay their latest bill, but may get some money back once the final bill has been produced.

Did you transfer your phone service?

[#8]

@Mustrum @MisterW thanks both for your help. 

[#9]

The Ofcom 'one touch switch prodess' was meant to be in force by now and ishouldvallow all suppliers to opeatevthe gpl process.

I've asked for the help page to be reviewed and a reference to Altnets added for the time being

[#10]

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@MisterW wrote:

I've asked for the help page to be reviewed and a reference to Altnets added for the time being

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Thanks, I appreciate that. It makes sense of course but I was just thinking of it in terms of switching an internet provider which I guess I'm not because the new internet provider is providing internet through different means.

For the benefit of anyone else who might stumble across this thread with the same issue, here's a paragraph explaining it from Ofcom's website:

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If you're switching to, or from, a fibre-to-the-premise or ‘full-fibre’ service or a provider that doesn’t use the Openreach network – such as Virgin Media’s cable service – you will need to stop your service with your current provider and start a new service with a new provider. You should contact both providers.

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Adding something like the line above to the page I linked to earlier would make things a little clearer. 

[#11]

@Jopes   its a bit of a hard lesson to learn, and not helped by OFCOM's total lack of understanding of the practicalities of the Telecoms industry.

However if you had moved your phone number as part of your move it would have helped your case, but do use the quote in your earlier post to help any additionial costs. Hopefully a understanding PN staff member will pick up on this thread and help come to a sensible conclusion.

[#12]

• @Mustrum Thanks for your response. I don't think I have a phone number with PN, just broadband. I tried cancelling tonight but it was after 8pm so after hours. I'll cancel tomorrow and it seems like it's a 14 day notice so I'll end up paying half of that amount. I guess that's fair, I could have been more diligent, PN could have been more succinct. Let us meet half way on this one. As more towns get full fibre I would expect a little more clarity from ISPs though. I'm sure I'm not the first and won't be the last to make this oversight. 

[#13]

Just a reminder not to cancel your direct debit until you receive your refund -- otherwise you and PN will have extra hassle with your repayment.

Mike

[#14]

@Longliner - Good shout, although a cheque refund only takes 3-5 working day now (Same as a Direct debit refund) so if there was any trouble with the Direct Debit, it shouldn't delay things too much.