SLAMMED!! Now billed for £149 for "leaving early"!!! HORROR STORY!

[#1]

So, where to begin- In mid March I received an email and letter saying "sorry you are leaving us" etc etc, news to me I'd just renewed a 12 months contract with new router and was entirely happy with Plusnet who I have been with for 6-7 years. I phoned up and found out to my horror that I'd been "slammed"- some "neighbour"(none of the immediate ones who share the same street name) must have erroneously used my address and/or postcode in an application for phone/broadband. Over the next 12 days or so I was included in an internal chat thing (with a very helpful chap John Storey?) as Plusnet tried, in vain, to stop/reverse this slamming which I had not initiated and the upshot through all the ORDI, CSS jargon was that on March the 31st 2025 I lost my broadband, my landline I'd had for 16 years and my home phone number, all thanks to OFCOM and their "wonderfully convenient" One Touch Switching.... Quite incredible that this system has no "Notice Of Transfer" like it used to and a brutal way to be severed from your phone and internet. As none of this was my fault or of my doing I was rather shocked to get an email yesterday asking me for £149 for "terminating my contract early", or it's off to the debt collectors and credit agencies it goes. Considering the only way to get back on line quickly here rurally where I live was to pay for a (mediocre at best) 4G sim router and an antenna I'm already WELL out of pocket through someone else's "ordering mistake", and now I'm supposed to also pay for the early disconnection of my services?!
I tried phoning today but being a bank holiday it's closed, even phoning now is expensive as I have an old skool proper PAYG phone and always did any official business phoning from the landline, the landline I no longer have. I have an 81 years old mother 3 hours drive away with severe depression and anxiety and losing my phone could not have come at a worse time I can tell you, a lot of added stress... 
I would obviously like for Plusnet to drop this request and put an end to this sorry chapter in my life, and thought it best to put it here in the hope someone who works for them will pick it up and that there is a "paper trail" to be found.
I realise none of this "slamming" is due directly to Plusnet, but it needs for the ISP's to collectively get this practice of "one touch switching" to either be stopped or refined so this cannot ever happen to anyone else, there should be a way of halting erroneous orders when flagged up!! 
I've attached 2 screenshots to show the failed attempts to stop the slam, again though, why am I being financially penalised for a situation I absolutely never wanted? Put the shoe on the other foot and it's me that should be getting financially re-imbursed for having my contract broken, whether that's from BT and/or Plusnet!!! ( Incidentally, until this issue is addressed I will avoid ALL ISP's that go through BT Openreach infrastructure, it's happened once and there's no reason why it couldn't happen again under the current "rules", it seems 2 houses in the 10 where I live are registered badly by them, and I've let the other neighbours know)
Apologies if this is a bit of a rant, but I'm sure most people would be pretty annoyed to say the least....

[#2]

That sounds like a complete nightmare. Sorry this happened to you. There should be some protection in place that this cannot happen, like the person who applied would have gave a different email address/phone number than the one already registered on your account i presume.

Plusnet tech has gone to the dogs recently!

I would make a formal complaint to Plusnet.

[#3]

Biggwalloftexthardtoread

if you can edit it into paragraphs to make it easier.

Plusnet should/need to restore your service, back to exactly as it was when it was disconnected, that is for the same price you were paying and for the same duration at the same, or whatever is available speeds/conneciton type.

 If this deal you were with on plusnet included voice calls then this will also need to be restored

If you were on a copper based service ( router plugs into phone socket) and this type of service is no longer available as your area has been upgraded to full fibre only then Plusnet will have to re provide you with whatever is closest to what you had

Your phone number can be restored as long as 30 days have not elapsed ( as far as i know) if your area is full fibre only or its not possible to provide an analogue phone service ( ie digital voice only) then the cost of an alternative service and any equipment required for this will fall to plusnet

AS you have tried everything you can to keep the service, this would be the fault of plus net, and they need to either set you free to find a new provider for your calls and broadband, or re provision you either with the parent company BT who provide voice/digital voice calls, or sister company EE

You should not be out of pocket as a result of this

[#4]

I understood that the OTS system checked when migrating a service, that the name and address matched the current service provision. So a mistake on the address ought to fail the transfer automatically!.

I also don't understand why Plusnet weren't able to simply block the transfer.

@BarryC As has been previously said, if you haven't already, then raise a formal complaint.

[#5]

Thanks for the replies. As I said this to and fro went on for 12 days between teams behind the scenes and including BT, yet none of them could stop it somehow, nobody could manually override the system. I'm not actually miffed with Plusnet, I phoned OFCOM and was more angry with them it's their system and it's created some other TOTSCo entity which has cost millions and seems to make profit from these one touch transfers. I cannot be bothered complaining I just want someone to recognise that I'm the victim in all this and leave me alone to get on with sorting out the best alternative I can. They advised after the slam (nobody called me, I had to endure an hour of nonsense hold music) that they could install broadband but no guarantee of a phone line. The guy didn't really have a clue he was reciting his spiel about a minimum download of 29mbps thinking we had fibre to cabinet or whatever it's called and I was telling him that there's no fibre in the location, this isn't possible! He said there was no guarantee that copper would be available (fibre has been installed in the village over the river several miles away where the exchange is in the village there, and quite possibly 75% of the houses it caters for there do now have it so maybe copper isn't now an option). The 4G system will do for now, and I won't have to phone a call centre again at least, that's gotta be worth it. I doubt fibre will reach us anytime soon so when copper is killed outright in 20 months we'd have no choice other than 4G... I think the "failsafes" you refer to may be what has been ditched, I know a lad who did communications in the RAF and he was in that field in civvy street and he said to me there was a Notice of Transfer but that's all gone since OTS came in, that it's a complete disaster they have unleashed with OTS. I even said to the guy at Plusnet, this could be "weaponised" in a neighbour or business dispute then? Just apply for broadband, give their details and watch them get severed without being able to stop it?!

[#6]

Any chance you can break that wall of text up into something readable?

[#7]

That's the edited version I do tend to ramble I'll admit lol. Anyway, I've put in a complaint it was relatively simple, including a link to the original "question" thread that went on for 12 days so whomever reads it can see the history.

[#8]

@BarryC wrote:

"so when copper is killed outright in 20 months"

Copper is not being switched off at the end of next year - you are getting confused with the shutdown of the Public Switched Telephone Network, (PSTN).

.

[#9]

@Mr_Paul 

So a basic Google AI response says it is:
Yes, ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is being phased out in the UK as part of the wider transition to digital landlines and fibre-optic broadband. The old copper-based ADSL network, which relies on traditional landlines, will be permanently switched off by January 31, 2027. This means that users will need to switch to either fibre-optic broadband or other digital solutions. 

and broadband.co.uk says :
"ADSL broadband remains a budget-friendly option, but since copper phone lines on the Openreach network that many providers in the UK use will be discontinued by 2027, switching to fibre broadband is recommended"

So genuinely, if it's not can you post a link to where that info is located as I'd like a read. Only fibre we'll get is in our Shreddies....

[#10]

@BarryC 

I think what you will find is that yes, ADSL will no longer be available, but your service will become SoGEA.

ADSL is broadband with a traditional telephone line and SoGEA is the same broadband but without the telephone service.

If you put your telephone number into BT Wholesale's Availability Checker, does it say ADSL is unavailable, but SoGEA is available?

https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

.

[#11]

@Mr_Paul If the OP - as  I think he has intimated - is one of those who can currently only get ADSL, he will not be able to get SoADSL with PN, or the vast majority of mainstream ISPs - they don't offer it.

[#12]

@BarryC 

The copper line itself will remain in use.

For lines that can get VDSL (FTTC) the internet service will continue to use the copper line from the cabinet to a property using SOGEA. The copper line from the Exchange to the cabinet will become redundant.

ADSL is a different kettle of fish. The copper line form the Exchange direct to the property will continue in use but largely without a phone service. Some lines will be able to get SOADSL which removes the phone element. If that's not available I'm not quite certain of what will happen.

When Full Fibre is installed it removes the copper element from the equation completely.

Brian

[#13]

I think that BT offer SoADSL, so I would guess that the OP, and others in a similar situation will be offered the option to transfer penalty free to BT. Or, Plusnet could start offering SoADSL to their remaining customers who have no other option.

There must be a lot of people all over the country in this situation. I just cannot see them all suddenly having their broadband switched off and being left to find a solution for themselves.

.

[#14]

Thanks for that link, that's excellent! Funny they have sorted out our address now we've been slammed, think Plusnet did that but our neighbours at number 1 are still under the totally wrong written address...No sign of SoGEA, (that sounds like what my mums house has with 39mbps D/L, ie a "hybrid" FTTC- copper to the house from the cabinet)...we're in the dark ages for the foreseeable with BT by the looks of it.... No idea what the situation is with other companies but "Highland Broadband" have installed in the nearest town and the speeds they offer are way faster than what BT are stating going by some postcodes I checked.

[#15]

@BarryC 

The image shows SOADSL as available so you;ll at least get some sort of internet when the phone service is switched off.

However PlusNet doesn't offer any product using this. I believe BT may one of the few who do.

Brian

Edit : Have you checked your post code here - https://highlandbroadband.com/