I have just called plusnet again and spoken to a helpful adviser called Ciaran, regarding closing the account. As I had added myself as an authorised user of the account as advised by another forum user, I thought I might now be able to close the account, but, no, I still can't close the account, I have to be the the account holder and no one else due to UK / European law. I was told that by creating the account under someone elses name I was in fact breaking the law and I should have used my name and address, which as far as I can see, means I would be creating the account for me at my address not my brothers, as the forms you fill out, as far as I can remember don't give you any options for setting up an account in my name at a different address. After I explained this I was told the only way to do this properly was to have a power of attorney and you could hear in the advisers voice he had had enough of explaining to me that I couldn't do anything except getting my brother to call. When I said I'd talk to my MP, he said that my MP would not be able to do anything, as he should know the law.
So I have three options..
1. Cancel my direct debit and leave Plusnet to chase my brother for money owed due to not closing the account. black marking him and possibly ending him up in court and causing him even more problems with his mental health.
2. Phone up and pretend I'm my brother, again breaking the law, as that would be classed as impersonation and misrepresentation.
3. The last option and the one I'm going to have to do, is when my brother is having one of his better moments, get him on Skype, then call the Plusnet help line and with him ready to confirm his name and that he confirms he wants to close the account. When I spoke to Ciaran I did say this is what I was going to do and that I didn't want any other questions being asked as I wouldn't want him upset in any way.
I did ask that the website be changed to alert people in a clear and concise way that creating an account for someone else can only be done with a power of attorney, as this would then allow that person to legally alter and or close the account.
As far as I can see, this is a form of discrimination against people with disabilities or mental problems. Having access to the internet and phone can be a godsend to that person, it can also be part of a care package, as with my father-in-law, where we use the internet for monitoring him via cameras and his emergency panic button.
Something needs to change with the way plusnet handles its online activations. They need to have more information up front that explains this and or have two name and address inputs, one for the account holders name and address etc and one for the account install location.
Hope all this helps others in my situation.
| Quote from: vulpine |
My name is Mark and I have created a number of accounts for family members, who are not able to do so themselves due to age or disability. A few years ago, I set up an account for my brother, who suffers from severe depression and other problems and at the time wasn't in a fit state to set up the account for himself. I am the one who pays for the account, I have an email redirect to my account for all email that come from Plusnet, so if there is a problem I can sort it out.
Unfortunately, my brother has got worse and due to many issues is now getting evicted and is now having to move back home to our parents in France so someone can look after him. I explained all the to the person in the support department that deals with account closures and all he could say was I cant close the account because I wasn't the account holder and the account holder needs to call in to cancel. So again I explained that he was no in any fit state to do so and was NOT to be contacted. But the moron would not listen and refused to pass me on to someone that could deal with the problem.
I also suffer from something called Fibromyalgia and any extra stress exacerbates the problem further and all the problems I'm having to deal with, my brother being one of them, the last thing I needed was some idiot not to try and help when it was so obvious that I was basically the account creator and holder for my brothers account.
It's things like this that give companies like Plusnet a bad name, with the way they treat people with disabilities and medical problems. If I had known I would have had all these problems, I would not have created the account in the first place.
Because of this, I will not be coming back to Plusnet when I am well and working again and will be canceling two other accounts that my father and my partners fathers have with plusnet and will be going for a company that has some compassion for people with disabilities and or medical problems.
I look forward to hearing what other people think.
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