Help Required with being charged twice a month since May 2022!

[#1]

Hello

I have just found that that what I assumed to be a rolling contract ended in May 2022. Therefore I have since been charged twice the amount which equals to just under £48 a month for my broadband for 17 months to date.

I have had no notification, either by email, post or even a phone call to inform me of this. 

I have worked out that I have paid £450 extra than I needed to.

I work away a lot and just simply assumed that the contract was ongoing as I was never notified.

Has this happened to anyone else, and if so were you able to reclaim any of the money?

If I cannot reclaim any then I shall be leaving very soon.

Thanks in advance for any advice that can be offered.

[#2]

When you renewed or took out a new contract you would have received an email detailing the length of your contract along with what the rate would be once the contract has finished.

This information is also displayed under the Broadband tab within the portal.

This would also have been mentioned in one of the tickets opened on your account at the time.

I'm not sure Plusnet can be blamed for the fact that you never noticed this?

Hopefully a member of staff will be along with further advice.

[#3]

Not at all. 

I never started another contract, it simply continued. 

I have checked emails and the few I do have, do not mention anything.

So it is Plusnets fault for not reminding their customers enough. How many other people is this happening to?

Of course Plusnet is not going to remind them enough because that way they know they can get more money

With your attitude no wonder Plusnet does not have the reputation that it once did!

I shall continue with a complaint that I have raised.

No need to reply further because if that is your idea of 'help' then you really need to find something better to do.

[#4]

So this was a new contract.

There is absolutely no reason to be rude as I was only pointing out the obvious. I am not staff and use my own time to help run and maintain a friendly and helpful forum.

[#5]

I joined Plusnet in Nov 2020 and each month money has come out from my bank account until May 2022 at £27

From May 2022 to the current date £48 a month has been coming out of the account. 

I never entered into a new contract and I never received any notification that I was being charged almost twice.

Therefore I have paid about £450 extra for a service which is not even that good anymore

[#6]

Just to add you did not seem very friendly or helpful in your initial reply, which is why I responded as I did. 

As I am therefore not in a contract I do not have to give a months notice to Plusnet? 

[#7]

You are on a monthly rolling contract, so yes, you do need to give notice.

[#8]

@JPA   ISP contracts offer a fixed price for a given length of contract, more recently inflation is also included in the contracts.

No matter which ISP you chose they will also let you know what the price is when you reach the end of the minimum term - almost always as per the post @Mav  showed you, the standard out of contract price.

ISP's also - provided you have let them know contact details - tell you several weeks before the end of your minimum term that it is coming to an end so you can find a new deal with PN or elsewhere.

Were it a month or two after the end of your minimum term perhaps some sympathy may be applied, BUT - come on, you need to take some responsibility for your own lack of attention to your own finances! 

[#9]

"Elsewhere" is not really an option for some people, given the "stop" that BT have quite recently introduced.

We live in "interesting times"?

[#10]

@JPA 

I am afraid that you will get no sympathy from forum members.

The contract is not the total length of the time that the ISP will supply the service, it is the minimum term that they will supply you the service at the quoted discounted price after which the cost reverts to the quoted 'out of contract' rate unless you take a new contract. This is advised to you by email and is shown on the home page if you log in to your account. Additionally you are sent an email every month advising you of the amount that will be taken from your account, presumably by Direct Debit.

One must assume that you have been happy to pay this but are miffed on realising that you missed a trick by not renewing your contract.

[#11]

@JPA I can see the complaint is with the Higher Level Escalations team so I will leave it for them to contact you about this but I will check back in a couple of days to make sure it has been picked up.

[#12]

Thanks Will

Just to reiterate I was NOT notified by any form of communication that my contract was ending and I was NOT therefore told what amount I would then be paying. I have checked thoroughly. 

The problem is that millions of people don't know when their contact ends, or don't realise that it already has. A ruling by Ofcom attempts to address this by bringing a greater level of fairness and transparency to broadband pricing (and it applies to pay TV companies, too).

From mid-February 2020 onwards, your internet service provider must contact you by letter, email or text message, between 10 and 40 days before your contract ends, telling you:

• the end date for your contract
• the price you've been paying while you're in contract and how the price will change after it has ended - normally an increase
• any notice period you need to provide to end your deal - this may be 30 days
• what their best deals are, including details of prices they usually reserve for new customers

The provider will have to contact you with this pricing info every year you remain on your old deal

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[#13]

Just to be clear, you say you received neither notice of contract ending NOR Plusnet's advice of £48 being debited to your account every month instead of the £27 you were paying under your old contract? Have you not checked your bank account since February 2020?

[#14]

Hey there @JPA I can see you spoke to [CSA Removed] in our HLE team to discuss this. Do you have any more questions at this time?

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): CSA name(s) removed (to an area staff can see) as per Forum rules.

[#15]

@JPA Have you logged on to your Plusnet account to check your email address is correct?

As mentioned above, you should receive an email in advance of your contract ending to let you know your options. Also, you should get a monthly email telling you how much will be taken from your bank account. If your email address is correct, then perhaps they have been mistakenly sent to your spam folder?

When you set up the contract in Nov 2020, you would have been told that it was for 18 months, so I'm surprised that it's taken nearly another 18 months before you realised that the contract was over. I check all of my utility bills monthly to make sure they are correct.