Overcharged Too Early?

[#1]

Hope someone can help. I`ve just received my monthly email bill notification from PN saying I will be charged £32.75p (I should be charged £28.05p for September/October)? 🤔 But having read a couple of other posts around overcharging, I realized this could be a system glitch or, I`m being charged in advance, but my current FTTC contract doesn`t end until October 14th. See snip below:

[#2]

Sorry, it wouldn`t let me type underneath the image. I think I may be paying slightly `out of contract` pricing if I`m reading that correctly? I haven`t re-contracted yet but was thinking about FTTP as my next move but don`t know when is the best time to sign up for that? Should I do that now, or wait until my final payment is taken? 

[#3]

@plusmouse 

When you post an image "in line" your cursor ends up in the bottom right hand corner of the image. You need to hit enter first to start a new line for text.

Brian

[#4]

@bmc , I don`t know what "In Line" means?!! But yes, my cursor did end up stuck in the lower right-hand corner and wouldn`t jump below the image when I hit the return key. 

[#5]

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@plusmouse wrote:

I haven`t re-contracted yet but was thinking about FTTP as my next move but don`t know when is the best time to sign up for that? Should I do that now, or wait until my final payment is taken? 

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Unless you have other reasons not to, the sooner you upgrade the fewer out of contract charges you will endure. If you don't want to change to FTTP right now, then recontract for your same service you have now to get a discounted price, and then Upgrade to FTTP when you are ready. My understanding is that you can upgrade mid-contract and no early termination charges will apply (though you will have to start a new (24 month) contract.)

Ian

[#6]

@IMM , thanks for that. Yes, I have the choice to re-contract for the same BB & line but the advice has been that I should get FTTP now rather than delay it as my area/property seems to be a priority exchange for FTTP now so even though I could take the easy route, I`d face changing over to FTTP mid-contract and as you said, I should be able to do that without early termination fees as long as I agree to a new 24 month contract. 

Just want someone from PN to reply to my original query around my latest bill and why I`ve been charged £4.70p more but I suspect that`s due to my contract length ending on October 14th. I really don`t know.  

[#7]

@plusmouse 

Posting "in line" means you're adding a picture to the text as opposed referencing an added attachment which is the other way.

Did you click on the cursor in the bottom right hand corner before hitting enter - this is the only thing I can think of for it not working.

Brian

[#8]

@bmc  No, but I`ll be mindful of that next time. Or, I`ll type what I want to say first and then post the image below! 

[#9]

Getting back to my original question just so I understand if the extra £4.70p on this September bill is because my NEXT bill for October will possibly run into/or over the end of my current contract? I do plan on re-contracting with PN for a FTTP package and lose our phone line but want some advice about whether I should just do that now, or wait until my FINAL bill is paid? Or will it even matter as they are likely to cross-over anyway? 

Thanks. 

[#10]

It appears that your previous bills are calculated as £51.54 minus a discount of £23.49 = £28.05. However for this month your discount is 24/30 of £23.49 = £18.79 resulting in a bill of £32.75. This is probably due to your contract ending before the end of the billing month so that you are not entitled to the full month's discount.

[#11]

@plusmouse 

PN bills are generated in advance of the actual billing date so will always reflect what the system thinks the contract is. So, if you go out of contract at some point in the next billing period the bill will reflect that if not re-contracted before the bill is generated.

I'm not sure how it works when you change to FTTP but until the order is placed the system will consider you out of contract if the bill is generated before the order at the very least.

The billing system tends to catch up when the next bill is generated and will issue credits if required (usually!).

If there's nothing otherwlse stopping you go now for FTTP.

Brian

[#12]

@DelT : Thanks for that breakdown and the possible overlap of my contract ending before my next due billing date, that explains things. I had a feeling this is what was happening with that cross-over between contract ending and final bill looking strange! 

@bmc : I had a look at my account Offers earlier on and the cheapest FTTP for me is 74mbps at £27.99p. Funny that as last week it showed as £26.99p!! Erm....how can a price change like that all of a sudden?

I`m thinking a call to the PN team may be in order to see exactly what my options are because although I could just click on an online price, I still don`t know if switching over to FTTP from FTTC is going to be a smooth process for me or a lengthier one and I`d rather it was agreed before the end of next week (and by that time the payment above for £32.75p will be paid). 

[#13]

@plusmouse 

If you login to your members page you can see details of your bills.

If you're ready to jump phone the PlusNet Customer Options Team on 0800 013 2632

From a PN point of view the transfer to FTTP should be seemless - your connection might be down for a few minutes but that's all. Assuming no install complications of course.

How long you have to wait for an install appointment is unknown until you place the order.

Brian