Does PlusNet operate a "loyalty penalty" pricing policy?

[#1]

The Member Centre is offering me an upgrade to the broadband-only "Fibre" package for an extra £2.83/month but the same package is available to new customers in my location for £3/month less. That means new customers can get the faster speeds for a bit less than I'm currently paying for the slower service.

I thought the regulators had recently banned such practices, but perhaps that was a different industry (insurance?) or just a discouragement rather than an actual ban. Either way it's rather disappointing as a customer of 20+ years, unless I'm misinterpreting the details.

[#2]

I must admit , I thought Plusnet had committed to the Ofcom code of giving existing customers access to new customer prices. Note that this doesnt include any 'reward card' or cashback offers.

@Boxersoft could it be that the price you have been offered includes the March annual increase whereas the new customer price is for an immediate order and would be subject to the March increase ?

[#3]

I placed an order earlier this week and when I asked about a "loyalty discount" it was explained to me that the price was already reduced as if I was a new customer. As far as I can see this is correct, an additional discount for the 24 months is shown on the contract. And yes, I was quoted current prices and was made aware there's a price rise about to happen.

[#4]

@Boxersoft My advice would be 'ring them and haggle'.

[#5]

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@MisterW wrote: @Boxersoft could it be that the price you have been offered includes the March annual increase whereas the new customer price is for an immediate order and would be subject to the March increase ?

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Don't think so, although my caveat about misinterpreting was because I have sometimes found the pricing confusing.

• I'm currently on "Unlimited Fibre" (18 month contract) at £25.16/month, which will be going up by £1.99, so would be £27.15 from April.
• The offer to me is for "Fibre" (24 month contract) at £27.99/month, which it says increases 31 March. Footnote indicates that will be by CPI +3.9%, which I gather works out at 7.9%. I make that £30.20 from April.
• New customers are only offered the newer "Fibre" package, and that's at £24.99/month with a note that it goes up 31 March, so that would be £26.96.

[#6]

@Boxersoft in that case I'd take @jab1 s advice and call COTS and haggle. Start by asking why you are not offered the same price as new customers...

[#7]

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@jab1 wrote:

@Boxersoft My advice would be 'ring them and haggle'.

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Come time for renewal I will, if I decide to stay with PlusNet. It's a pain that shouldn't be necessary though.

[#8]

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@HPsauce wrote:

I placed an order earlier this week and when I asked about a "loyalty discount" it was explained to me that the price was already reduced as if I was a new customer.

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See my comment to @MisterW - the offer to me seems to be about £3 higher than the offer to new customers.

[#9]

@MisterW I was thinking I'd wait until renewal is due (July) but, thinking about it, if the Fibre package is available at the new customer price then I should perhaps upgrade now: it would be about a 60%+ speed improvement for slightly less than we're currently paying, and we don't use the phone service anyway. I hate ringing service providers and the seemingly endless time on hold, but I guess I'll have to. What's the best least worst number to use?

Oh, and pardon my ignorance, but what does "COTS" mean?

[#10]

it would be about a 60%+ speed improvement

@Boxersoft  whilst the Fibre product will give UP TO 80Mb the actual increase will depend on your line. You can check the actual estimates on the BT wholesale checker https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

COTS is Customer Options Team ( aka Retentions, not quite sure why there's an S )

Best number is 0800 013 2632 ( select I'm thinking of leaving' , should get you straight through to Cots )

[#11]

Plusnet's offers on the Member Centre for existing customers can be confusing and illogical.

Firstly they quote the price of your existing package which, in my case includes a call package and so is not directly comparable withe the full fibre packages it then lists.

Secondly, there seems to be no logic to the pricing of the full fibre pacakges. I would expect the prices to increase as the speeds increase but this is not consistently so. For instance, looking just now, the 500Mb was cheaper than the 145Mb. offer and another time the 300 was cheaper than the 145!!

Thirdly the prices seem to change with some regularilty - I have seen several different pricing hierachies within the space of a week or so.

And yes I can find cheaper offers for new customers via comparsion websites etc. If I recall the last time I found that when i was considering renewing, I rang up COT and they matched the offer price so that seems to be the way to go.

[#12 · Accepted solution]

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@Boxersoft  whilst the Fibre product will give UP TO 80Mb the actual increase will depend on your line. You can check the actual estimates on the BT wholesale checker https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

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Understood. I thought the speed estimates on the "Offers and upgrades" page would be tailored to my known line quality, but I'm not obsessive about them anyway. My current estimate is 36Mb and the PlusNet estimate for the upgrade is 59-66Mb with a "guaranteed" minimum of 53Mb, which would be pretty much 50% faster.

FWIW the BT Broadband Checker gives:

	High	Low
VDSL Range A (Clean)	76.5	55
VDSL Range B (Impacted)	74	49

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COTS is Customer Options Team ( aka Retentions, not quite sure why there's an S )

Best number is 0800 013 2632 ( select I'm thinking of leaving' , should get you straight through to Cots )

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Thanks, I just called them. The price offered to me seems to have been higher than for new business because I'm currently in an existing contract. The person I spoke to could get it down to within 50p of the new customer price but the system wouldn't go lower, I think having more than 4 months left to run was the magic threshold. He was able to add a bit of credit to my account though, which should make up the difference. Sorted.

[#13]

@Boxersoft seems like a reasonable outcome😊

I thought the speed estimates on the "Offers and upgrades" page would be tailored to my known line quality, 

They should be, but recently we've seen some where they dont seen to be quite right!. The BTw checker is the definitive information and the PN estimates should be based on that.

[#14]

Exactly the same as the OP for me.

Renewal due in April, current offer is £27.99 with a March 31st increase.

As a new customer the cost would be £24.99 with a March 31st increase.

[#15]

@Stoker Would that also be an upgrade for you, from the phone-inclusive "Unlimited Fibre" to a faster "Fibre" without phone, or is that for a like-for-like renewal?

If it's for an upgrade (and you don't mind losing the landline phone) then it's probably worth calling the number @MisterW  posted (0800 013 2632). I don't think the options included an "I'm thinking of leaving" so I went for "Renewals" or something similar and got through to the Customer Options Team anyway. There was no queue and the support agent immediately looked for the best deal they could offer. I should be getting the faster service as of Monday, and it will actually end up costing me very slightly less than than the new customer price. YMMV but I'm satisfied with the outome.