Allow Customers to Set Extra Usage to Zero

[#1]

One day before my internet download allowance re-sets, I get charged £5 for going a couple of MB's over my limit, which I can't afford and didn't ask for.  In fact, I specifically tried to set the extra bandwidth limit to zero, but it only allows you to enter a minimum of £5, and if you leave it blank it automatically charges you £5 when you hit your limit.
This is a horrible little con, because when I first signed up to Plusnet you could set this limit to zero, and you'd just get severely throttled when you hit your limit, rather than punished with this unavoidable cash penalty.
My 12 months are up soon, and if this problem isn't addressed I think I'll be asking for my MAC code. There are plenty more ISP's out there.

[#2]

You can set it to zero
- see this picture as mine is

[#3]

This is what happens when I try to set it to zero...
"Please enter an amount that is higher than £5.00."
See screenshot below.
Have tried entering 0 and 0.00 and every other variation of zero.

[#4]

I'm not in the office to check, but it's probably because you've already had a 5GB block added, therefore you can't add 0 because there's already some added. If you set it too £5 it should stop any more usage being added and you can change it to 0 after your next billing date.

[#5]

Thanks for the replies... if you're right then hopefully I might be able to avoid any more of these charges. It's just strange that I already set the extra usage to zero when I first signed up, and somehow it's reset itself back to 'Not Set', which defaults to a £5 charge when you hit your limit.

[#6]

Hi there,
I believe 'Not Set' will carry on adding usage as there's no limit set, so if you use up the 5GB another 5GB block will be added... not sure how it reset though, that doesn't sound good (unless it happened after you tried setting it to Zero when a block of usage had already been added, which would make sense).

[#7]

mothco... i look  at my usage  every  other  day.. and NEVER  over the  usage  allowance , that i  have  of 10gb,,,

[#8]

If you change product then I believe it always reverts to default or: 'not set'.
This is something that many are not aware of (until it's too late) and, in my opinion, needs to be made much clearer both on initial sign-up and product change to avoid unwanted charges (and arguments).

[#9]

Yeah, I was just going to say that I upgraded my package shortly after signing-up with Plusnet, and that, or some other account change must have reset the extra download allowance.
I guess I'll have to micro-manage my account a little more if I decide to stay with Plusnet, which is something I really didn't want to have to do. I'm not a mega busy person, but I do have better things to do than log-in to my ISP all the time to try and avoid extra charges.
Upgrading your account shouldn't be punished by defauting your settings to unlimited download charges. I hate sneaky little charges like this.

[#10]

It resets because I believe its based off of maximum spend, not maximum usage.  Either way, when you change products, both of those change, so it's not immediately obvious what to move the numbers to.
I guess if it was set to cap at no additional, we could replicate that, but its not that simple if you've set it higher?   
Either way, it is definitely not an intentional sneaky way of charging you for more usage.  I'll flag up to see if we can get a way to put a message on the account change success screen to warn you to reset it.

[#11]

Could the default not just be changed to zero extra?
I'm sure that some in the 'commercial' department would not want this but for those in the 'happy customer' department it would be a very positive move. 

[#12]

Yep, I second that with bells on. It's a simple solution that would save others going though this little drama.
And if you tell the commercial department this change will keep customers happy and stop them changing to a new ISP,  it makes financial sense too.

[#13]

Agree 100%

[#14]

So do I! I fell foul of the product change wiping out my previous setting of zero some time ago and Plusnet refunded the £5.

[#15]

I've requested a refund and will let you know if I get it.
But if as Kelly says "it is definitely not an intentional sneaky way of charging you for more usage." then I can't see any reason why they wouldn't impliment this change, at their customers request. Afterall, it's easy to add extra download allowances, while impossible to remove them once they've been added (without going through all this detective work and frustration).
Let's see if Plusnet does the right thing or weasles out of it.