PN are charging me for their error

[#1]

If that's correct Plusnet haven't got a leg to stand on - in fact if anyone who had a SN notice that only linked to the website without giving the actual cost and who has been billed the higher amount from the start may well have a case for claiming a refund!

[#2]

#jelv.  This is a copy of the email from PN, is this what you want?  Sorry I do not know how to insert HTML.
 
Important Information about your
Home Phone Service
Dear xxxxxxxxxxx,
Here at Plusnet we have always done our best to give you the highest quality of service and great value products. We're writing to you to let you know that on the 11/05/2009 we will be making some important changes to your Home Phone Anytime package.
Free voicemail
As well as your 240 anytime minutes to UK landlines*, from the 11/05/2009 we'll be making voicemail (1571) completely free of charge and reducing the cost of caller display to just 99p a month**. If you don't already have these features you can add them via the Member centre. Please note, this page will show the current call feature prices until 11/05/2009.
Inclusive calls to customer support
Your package will also include calls to Plusnet support at any time of the day, so if you ever need to call us for any reason it won't cost you a penny extra.
Line rental changes
From the 13/05/2009 your line rental will be increasing to £10.95. This is the first increase in line rental price since we launched our Home Phone products over 2 years ago. We'll also be making some other changes which you can read all about on our Community site.
 

Read more about how we did
in the 2009 uSwitch awards


Great value broadband
You may have heard about some recent changes that we've made to our broadband products, and that we now offer the UK's cheapest standalone broadband. If you'd like to find out more then please click here. If you want to switch to either of the new products then simply select 'Check availability' and follow the steps.
Finally, if you've got any questions about these changes then have a read of our FAQ or contact our support team by using our online help assistant.
Kind regards,
Anthony Vollmer
CEO, Plusnet
P.S. Remember, your package includes all calls to other Plusnet Home Phone customers at any time*. That's another reason to recommend Plusnet to your friends and family and save money on your monthly bill.

Award-winning services year after year
View details of all our awards  
* Calls to UK landline numbers beginning with 01, 02 & 03. All inclusive calls have a maximum free call length of 60 minutes for 01, 02, 03 and Plusnet Home Phone customers. After this they will be charged at the standard prevailing rate. Please check the Home Phone FAQs for more details about Home Phone call charges.
** Voicemail currently 98p a month. Caller display currently £1.47 a month.
This email has been sent as it contains important information about your service from Plusnet. Please do not reply to this email, as this is an unmonitored address.
Plusnet plc
Registered Office: Internet House, 2 Tenter Street, Sheffield, S1 4BY
Registered in England no: 3279013
 
 © Plusnet plc. All Rights Reserved. E&OE  

[#3]

Sorry guys, the Service Notice is SN67333440.  The text is the same as the email though.

[#4]

they completely mucked up mine, also on the 24 package, charged me 1.96 for the caller display,

see below, both taken off net 11th Aug

[#5]

Yes, that's right, pierre_pierre.  That's what they did to me, charged me £1.96 for Caller Display but did not charge for  Anonymous Caller (ACR) @ £4.00 per month.  They have refunded my  (or are going to)  £1.96 x 4 and then going to charge me £4.99 x 4 on my next bill.  Had PN made it perfectly clear from the outset that the Anonymous Caller had increased to £4.00 per month, I would have cancelled ACR at once.  The fact that I was being charged £1.96 per month, I assumed that they were charging me £0.99 for Caller Display and the remainder of £0.97 for ACR.  So they couldn't even get the charge for Caller Display correct; they did the same to you; I assume they have put yours right.  This is why I am so peeved with them, I still maintain PN should not charge me for their error.  Had they charged me the correct amount of £0.99 for Caller Display only, I would have picked up it and sent them a ticket.  Has anyone else had the same problem?

[#6]

Did either the email or the SN have an actual link to a page on Community detailing the changed charges?
If not and as the website has only recently been changed they cannot claim this retrospectively.
I suggest you contact Trading Standards.

[#7]

#jelv
No, there wasn't a DIRECT link to the new price increases, although there was a link to the Community site concerning the Home Phone changes and then there was a link within this notice to the new tariffs; you would need to be a clairvoyant to pick this up.  I do not think it necessary to contact Trading Standards at this stage, I am still hoping PN will see the error of their ways and be understanding enough not to charge me for their error.  PN staff have gone very quiet!!
Here is the link to the Community site:-
http://community.plus.net/blog/2009/04/06/new-home-phone-products/?
WT.mc_id=ec_200904hprany240&link=otherchanges

Here is the link within the link from the Community site:-
http://www.plus.net/pdf/tariffs/homephone-tariff.pdf

[#8]

Why couldn't they have included a link to the PDF on the email/SN!
Nowhere in the blog posting on Community does it say that the price of some features has increased although they do point out the rental rise.

Quote

The sharp-eyed amongst you will have noticed there is a slight increase in the line rental element of the products

As that is the only reference to price increases you were fully justified in assuming that there are no other increases. It's not good enough and they have no grounds for asking for back payment.

[#9]

Production of a link or any other mutable material would be laughed at if it was produced as "evidence".
Actually, it is doubtful if Plusnet could produce any hard evidence, given the state of their accounting system.
It must cause headaches in accounts every time the auditors are in town.

[#10]

I don't know why anybody would choose to buy their Line Rental from BT or PlusNet when you can get Line Rental for £9-49 +VAT from Primus PlanetTalk with:
Free Evening and Weekend calls
NO Call Connection Charge
Local/ National calls at 3p/ Min
USA/ Canada Calls at 2.5p/ min
Europe at 3p/ min
Caller Display at £0-56 (Yes 56 pence) per Month
0800 number for Faults/ Customer Service
I could go on but I think you get the picture.

[#11]

not a lot of difference in the cost to what mine shouild be £0.04  and I get 240 mins any time to 01,02,03 24/7 and free call to PN via 0845 on top of that

[#12]

BT charged me about £32+ for line rental (3 months) - I think that's net of VAT.
Total call charges were £4-80 for 3 months, so it makes no sense to change from a reliable telephone provider.

[#13]

The BIG difference is the absence of the Call Connection charge which is of the order of 5p per call. The International rates are also considerably if you use these.
I'm not trying to sell Primus and I have no connection with them other than being a customer. I recently had a line fault and reported it on 6 July using the 0800 number. They immedistely put a divert on the line to my Mobile; then Called me back to say that they had tested the line and found it to be faulty. They registered the fault with Openreach who came out the following morning and put a dongle on the socket; coming back an hour later to say that they had identified the line to the exchange but that it would take until the morning to be fixed. The line was live again at 09:00 on 8 July.
I did not have to queue when I called and comparing this with the horrors of my time with BT, I would not want to deal with that "reliable"  telephone provider.

[#14]

You should ask Anotherone how quickly I got his line fault fixed

[#15]

now my turn, Due to an Agents error, I was robbed £32.39 from my bank account this morning.
According to me it should have been BB £5.99, Line rental £10.95, call features £0.99 = £17.93, you owe me £14.76
Over to James or Matt