Plus £1.50 charge to pay by credit card

[#1]

I think the dates are incorrect as mine was the 3rd Dec so Jelv probably meant 2nd to 4th Dec

[#2]

Quote from: Mand

The failed billing team is now at least 12 full-time agents, possibly more since I last checked, as the vast majority of these are failed card payments perhaps this will give you an indication of how much we need to rein these costs in.

I have been paying with a card for five years. I have two two problems of a "failed payment" in that time. On the two occasions the card has been renewed I updated the new card details into plusnet's system.
This process failed both times. So are your 12 agents dealing with failed payments or nursing a not fit for purpose billing system?

[#3]

I didnt realize that they kept copies of e-mails like that, another arrow to fire at those who said they wernt informed

[#4]

They'll next deny that they received the email, then Plusnet will check the mail logs and confirm that they did actually receive it. In all the years I've been a member I can't remember an occasion when the service notice was there but upon investigation it was proved that the email had not been sent.

[#5]

If you've got a service notice you've been sent an email, as they're either generated automatically by the script that sends the emails, or in the case of some mass-mails they're added as soon as the whole batch has been sent.
We can debate semantics of sent v recieved or actually read, but they're not arguements for this thread IMO.

[#6]

Quote from: mapletree

@jelv: Yes we have been here before.  I've already told you that I did not receive the December email you mentioned and, even for those who did, it does not represent a saving since no-one has paid the extra £1.50.  Therefore there are only two possiblities: you either pay more or the same.  Anyway, I see absolutely no point discussing this particular point any further so you can have the last word.

I suspect Mand may have quietly checked your account to confirm that the service notice is present. What is clear is that you didn't read the email, but I rather think you are on very dodgy ground in alleging that you did not get it.
You are making a very, very serious accusation, that Plusnet has changed your terms and conditions without giving you formal notice. You had better be sure of your ground and be absolutely certain you did not receive the email and bin it without fully reading it.

[#7]

Quote from: Oddball

...I have been paying with a card for five years. I have two two problems of a "failed payment" in that time. On the two occasions the card has been renewed I updated the new card details into plusnet's system. This process failed both times. So are your 12 agents dealing with failed payments or nursing a not fit for purpose billing system?

I have been with Plusnet for 8 years and have recently had my first CC failure.  The number on my main CC and was changed and I was waiting for a replacement.  I did not worry about the invoice as I had a secondary CC in place.  Guess what, Plusnet's systems can only use a secondary CC if the primary card has expired.  So I got an SMS message about the failure and telephoned to make a manual CC payment.  This took about 2 minutes so I have to wonder what 12 people are doing and what the CC problems are?
If the problems are expired cards, how about Plusnet sending an automatic email or SMS when the CC has less than say 2 month to go?
So maybe I agree with Oddball's comments - is the problem with failed CC caused in part by Plusnet's systems?

[#8]

It gets dafter by the moment. If DC fail more than CC then surely DD must also fail by the same amount.

Quote from: Mand

A couple of clarifications..... When I said people may not have sufficient funds to pay by card etc I meant credit card and debit cards. Debit cards fail payments more than credit cards, you're right there.

[#9]

why?  I see no logical reason for that to be the case.

[#10]

I can see where he's coming from in that both DD & Debit Cards require funds in current account to be honoured.
For that reason I really fail to see why people pay by debit card when direct debit gives them guarantee and ability to cancel.

[#11]

@lucerne - a company has to earn my respect, it isn't given. And when that company does things that I think aren't transparent or are unfair, they have even further to climb up. Why shouldn't I think that Plus.net may be introducing the card charge to increase profits? If it wanted to be transparent it wouldn't introduce an opaque fee like this across all card payers in the way it has.
@Mand - I'm self-employed and I would love to be able to take money out of the bank accounts of the people I do work for. Unfortunately I have to invoice them. The longest I have waited for payment is five months and then they started arguing about how much was owed because the staff had changed and even though it was all down on paper.
BT seems to live in a different world to the rest of us with its reminders for payment two weeks after the original bill. No surprise to see Plus.net singing from a similar hymn sheet.
This whole country is stacked against small people. If  I tried to charge my customers a late payment fee or a fee for paying by the method they prefer they probably wouldn't employ me ever again. Whereas it seems big companies can introduce whatever they like.
When the spotlight was shone on bank and credit card charges wasn't the verdict that they were making way more on penalty fees than from interest charges on the money loaned?
If Joe doesn't have enough money in his bank account to pay the direct debit then Joe gets charged. Why am I going to be charged every month for people who pay by card just because I pay by the same method?
Stop press! Save £100! It's been announced that from today every customer will pay an extra £100 each month. However we are offering a special discount of £100 for anyone who is a customer.  So you can all save £100 every single month with our company!

[#12]

Quote from: rgsuk

If Joe doesn't have enough money in his bank account to pay the direct debit then Joe gets charged. Why am I going to be charged every month for people who pay by card just because I pay by the same method?

This is a good point.  If a CC fails charge that person for the failure.
If a DD fails all other users are not charged by Plusnet for this so why should CC payers?

[#13]

Quote from: rgsuk

BT seems to live in a different world to the rest of us with its reminders for payment two weeks after the original bill. No surprise to see Plus.net singing from a similar hymn sheet.

Quite common for all utility suppliers you'll find

Quote

This whole country is stacked against small people. If  I tried to charge my customers a late payment fee or a fee for paying by the method they prefer they probably wouldn't employ me ever again. Whereas it seems big companies can introduce whatever they like.

I'd check your legal position with regards to this - I believe that you can charge late payment fees if you so wish legally.  Certainly the utility companies try to.