Plus £1.50 charge to pay by credit card

[#1]

They've absorbed the VAT increase for ALL customers (who are on a current product), which is brilliant when margins in this competitive industry must be in tiny slithers here and there. You are happy to forget about that "hidden" perk!
OK, I understand this is much less than the increase for CC payments, but Plusnet have made a policy decision there. CC payments cause more problems for them, and cost them money to handle and rectify.  I presume the costs versus benefits don't add up for Plusnet, so from now on, those that want to continue on CC have to pay for that staff time and all the fees. This is your £1.50 charge.
It is unfair for all customers to absorb the costs and staff time associated with handling credit cards... so from now on, CC customers will pay extra to pay their own way.
You have three choices:
Move to DD and save the fee
Pay the fee
Move to another supplier
I can fully understand your frustration, but at least you still have a choice with Plusnet. Several broadband suppliers have stopped accepting CCs completely!
Mike

[#2]

@ rgsuk
Your flogging a dead horse mate. Its your fault if you didnt do the proper research. I, and plenty others, read the T's + C's although your situation is irrelevant to me as I signed up a month ago. Being a web developer doesnt give you the ability to read them any better than anyone else. I completely agree with what mand said regarding both costs and believe it to be fair as you still wouldnt have to pay a years sub- unlike me(but im happy since they set me up for free+re-connected my phone for free). The fact that it linked to another page to detail the costs would have been a big warning to me and I would have clicked said link as, being in sales I wont sign up for anything unless I read EVERY single word on the contract.
As to DDvsCC, most isps do this and many energy companies will give massive discounts/credit for paying by DD. I dont get the problem, whats wrong with change, did you cry when all the shops stopped accepting cheques?!?

[#3]

I don't like being forced into something that i don't want to do but if it saves me 18 pounds a year then so be it. Funny that plusnet use to be known by the name 'force 9', well they should change their name back to something like force 1.50 instead.

[#4]

Contract terms need to be fully incorporated in a contract and in a consumer contract any statements made by the company should not be unfair or likely to mislead the average consumer.
All you people talking about reading ALL the terms before signing up should realise that consumer protection law  is not interested in this and is highly protective of the consumer who may be induced by the lovely big banner statements of NO CONTRACT - NO FEES - WE LOVE YOU ETC ETC. Bigger companies than Plusnet have fallen foul of misleading marketing  and unfair terms cases against them.
Whether you 'bury' terms or whether they are unfair, or whether your statements are misleading (regardless of the terms), it all comes out the same.
I actually think the 'no contract/activation' option is potentially misleading in that there should be a clearer statement that 'Other charges may apply/will apply' or similar right next to the or in close proximity to the inducing statement.
My point isn't that Plusnet are right or wrong here. Or that the customer is right or wrong. My point is that it's not simply a case of READ THE TERMS.

[#5]

@mikeyriot - obviously some people who have plenty of time will sit and thoroughly read through terms and conditions that are more than 6,000 words long and presented in a 4cm high framed window? While others will skim through them at best.
At average reading speed of 300 words per minute it would take 20 minutes to read 6,000 words properly.  By the way, according to the Guardian, nearly half of UK workers have the literacy skills expected of an 11 or 12 year old.
This is about certain business practices and whether they are fair on the consumer.
It's a bit pointless discussing it on this forum. I don't expect any result from Plus.net's complaint procedure: just more platitudes and fobbing off. After which I will follow it up and highlight the issues to people who may actually do something about it - including my MP and the regulator.  

[#6]

Your MP ?????

[#7]

The post is getting long so if this has been covered before dont shout at me.
Plusnet by having  payments of DD's may be in a position to want to go to money lenders at any time and ask to borrow money as they can show they have a regular income from x number of accounts that is guaranteed.
Peterxrm

[#8]

I don't object to extra charges for credit card payment but I find it hard to support extra cost for paying by debit card.
IMHO PN should have increased their charges in proportion to the VAT rise and left the other costs alone.
Another issue is that the email about this subject is highly misleading when it states "Save £1.50 on your bill each month by paying using Direct Debit".  This is untrue as you cannot save £1.50 a month; you can only avoid an increase of £1.50 per month, which is not the same at all.

[#9]

That can be argued both ways as you are actually saving £1.50 by using DD.
Truthfully I can't see what all the fuss is about as paying by DD is so much simpler and controllable. I'd actually not do business with any company that wanted me to pay by CCA.

[#10]

No. Saving means a reduction in cost.  If you pay by DD then you will pay the same as now.  If you don't you will pay more.  There is no saving there.
I don't object to paying by DD but PN keep "losing" mine.

[#11]

In December you were notified that your payment would be £1.50 higher than you had been paying up to then.
In January they tell you how you can save £1.50 of of your next bill - where's the inaccuracy in that?

[#12]

I don't recall receiving any such notification in December.  Even if it was sent out I keep to my view.  It's like a supermarket doubling the price of a product for a week, then returning to the original price, claming it is 50% off.  It's misleading and dishonest.

[#13]

Did you get an email telling you that the VAT increase was going to be absorbed by Plusnet?

[#14]

SAD........
I have been a happy plusnet user for many years and paying by easy convenience of CC......no it seems they are joining the non-enlightened company's!! what I particuarly object too is burying new terms and conditions within the avalanche of Emails I get from them that are automatically consigned to JUNK!!
Either stop sending JUNK, or ensure changes to T&C's are properly seperable from the JUNK please.

[#15]

can you say what you get as Junk to your Postmaster box? as my % is about 5-10%