Phone transfer - no refund of advance line rental payment

[#1]

PN customer service has now degraded into arrogance and attempts to fob you off.
When I transferred my phone from BT to Plusnet in December 2010, BT credited my advance line rental payment from the date of transfer. Decided to transfer back to BT when Plusnet gave notice of changes to their phone charges.
After the transfer back to BT, I expected to receive a credit from Plusnet for advance line rental from date of transfer. This did not happen.
Raised a ticket. Requested refund and asked why this is not done automatically. This was the response:

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The reason you were billed for up to the 27th is due to to being on a 30 day contract, as we were not informed of the switch over in advance we would bill you for the month, therefore no refund is due.

That is not right. BT notify Plusnet of the transfer on my behalf. I replied to the ticket to that effect. I had an email from Plusnet dated 30/12/2010 which confirmed the advance notification of the transfer; the email stated:

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We've received notice of an order to transfer your phone line and call plan to another company. We're treating this as a request to end your telephone service agreement with us.

This was the response from Plusnet:

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On this occasion we will offer you a refund of 4.00. this will cover the 10 day period between 17/01/2011 and 26/01/2011.

What arrogance. They will offer me a refund on this occasion. Hold on. I am entitled to a refund. BT notified Plusnet of the transfer. I'm not in breach of the terms and conditions.
Before I was able to respond to the ticket, the refund was actioned and the ticket closed.
I am appalled at the arrogance of Plusnet customer service staff.
Did I get an apology? No.
Do Plusnet acknowledge it was their mistake? No.
Do Plusnet accept that I am entitled to a refund? No.
Will they take action to ensure this does not happen to other customers? Doesn't look like it.
I remain a Plusnet broadband customer, but now I'm a disgruntled customer. Well done Plusnet customer service, you now have another dissatisfied customer.

[#2]

One question which I think is rather important.
You changed from BT to PN in Dec 2010.
You then changed back from PN to BT it would appear during January 2011.
On what date did you initiate the transfer back to BT?

[#3]

Why is it important?
The Plusnet email acknowledging notice of transfer is dated 30/12/2010. The transfer was on 17/01/2011. The terms and conditions require 10 days notice. Plusnet got 10 days notice.

[#4]

It seems a few points need to be clarified here, I apologies if this has not been well handled and has been a little confusing.

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Raised a ticket. Requested refund and asked why this is not done automatically. This was the response:

We do pick up on outbound transfers but we do ask that customers inform us, our systems are not build to refund automatically I'm afraid.

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The terms and conditions require 10 days notice. Plusnet got 10 days notice.

That's actually for broadband and doesn't strictly relate to phone, there is no real notice period for a transfer of phone services.

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"On this occasion we will offer you a refund of 4.00. this will cover the 10 day period between 17/01/2011 and 26/01/2011".

I'm sorry if you view this as arrogant, its not meant to be. I've checked this and it is correct. You paid line rental on 27/12/10 and the line transfered away 20 days later on the 17th hence we refunded you for 10 days of line rental which was over-paid. As a proportion of the £11.25 this is £3.80 which has been rounded up.

[#5]

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We do pick up on outbound transfers but we do ask that customers inform us, our systems are not build to refund automatically I'm afraid.

You got notice from BT. Plusnet emailed me confirming that.

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there is no real notice period for a transfer of phone services.

Plusnet Residential Standard Terms refers to the service provided (paragraphs 19 and 20). The service provided is telephony or broadband etc. (paragraphs 1 and 2). So the 10 day period applies to both phone and broadband.

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As a proportion of the £11.25 this is £3.80 which has been rounded up.

Line rental is £11.99 /month not £11.25. No rounding up.

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On this occasion we will offer you a refund of 4.00

I take that to mean Plusnet don't consider they are obliged to refund the line rental, when you are.
If there is no notice period for phone, why did customer service state no refund is due?

[#6]

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Line rental is £11.99 /month not £11.25. No rounding up.

That's before VAT increased, it was £11.25

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If there is no notice period for phone, why did customer service state no refund is due?

I can only assume this was a mistake, I'd like to reassure you that as part of what I do here on the forums I do always investigate our apparent failings, I know its too late but feedback will be given to the individuals who didn't handle this as well as they could have.

[#7]

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We do pick up on outbound transfers but we do ask that customers inform us, our systems are not build to refund automatically I'm afraid.

In other words, Plusnet will charge customers for all telephone calls up to the date of transfer but will not credit them for any overpayment of advance line rental, and will not amend their software to correct this until they are forced to do so by the telephone regulator.
BT automatically refund any overpayment of line rental, but Plusnet don't ,and won't do anything to change this. Plusnet are quite content to overcharge customers.

[#8]

Not all companies have the systems in place to refund automatically, BT do as we've ascertained but we don't.
As mentioned I apologise if this wasn't handled very well initially as the but we have refunded you for the over payment of line rental, no one's hand has been forced and no deliberate over-charging has occurred. Let me know if you have any outstanding queries or concerns with regards to this but it seems to have been dealt with now.

[#9]

My original post confirmed that Plusnet have actioned a refund of the overpayment of advance line rental. 
This section of the forum is for feedback. You got my feedback.
We now know Plusnet don't automatically refund overpayment of advance line rental payment when a customer transfers to another company, and you're not going to change that practice.

[#10]

Quote from: ogawd

We now know Plusnet don't automatically refund overpayment of advance line rental payment when a customer transfers to another company, and you're not going to change that practice.

Ofcom think all phone companies should do this
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11605560
Regards
Mike

[#11]

Hi Ogawd,
I'm sorry to hear that you've had a poor experience moving away from ourselves.
The notice period for our home phone service is 10 days.  I'll make sure those who could have handled this case better are fedback to accordingly.

[#12]

Quote from: ITWorks

Ofcom think all phone companies should do this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11605560

Ah. I'm not alone. Thanks for that link. Very relevant.
Seems OFCOM are another of these pussy cat regulators who criticise but can't or won't take action to remedy the situation.