Plusnet - Sales Misrepresentation Act 1967

[#1]

When I called Plusnet to sign up to the value package after seeing it for £5.99 for 10GB limit (plus UNLIMITED MIDNIGHT - 8AM) in my area I could not believe my luck! When speaking to the sales manager he said quote, "you get unlimited downloads from Midnight to 8am great for things like P2P". That sold it to me straight away! After signing up and using I could not understand why between Midnight and 8am when I used P2P I was getting speeds on about 2kbps, thinking my line was adjusting to speed I left it. After a couple of weeks I contacted Plusnet to explain my concerns and they told me all about there speed limitations for various uses! (Just to point out the salesman never mentioned this as quote above shows) and that I would have to upgrade to Pro to do what I wanted at £19.99 pm month - £15.00 per month more - £10.00 per month more than my previous provider for the same thing! I was very annoyed and felt not only had I been lied to but also that the sales pitch was against the law - hence the subject matter Plusnet - Sales Misrepresentation Act 1967. I gave Plusnet a chance to rectify things with no success, just being told it is up to me to read terms and conditions.... rubbish..... when you speak to a salesman to select a package right for you you would hope that you could believe what he says. I am giving Plusnet another chance to listen to my concerns and hope that what I have wrote here prompts them into action. Come on Plusnet admit you got it wrong? Why would I sign up to a package that did not suit my needs? Your salesman mis-sold me a product that I signed up to an EIGHTEEN MONTH CONTRACT for and you have told me that I have to pay more to get what I was told that I would get with Value.
Regards,
Christian Doughton

[#2]

I'm afraid this is a sales pitch that a lot of ISP's use. Strictly speaking it is unlimeted though withing the speed restrictions imposed. If for instance you line could only support 1 meg then the speed restriction would not affect you. But of course if your line supported 8 Meg it does.
I was only thinking this morning what is the point of BTw spending bilions providing high speed interenet when it can't be used to it's full benefit because of restrictions imposed by ISP's.

[#3]

Quote

you get unlimited downloads from Midnight to 8am

This was an accident waiting to happen!!! It all boils down to the definition of 'Unlimited'. Plusnet, after a long period of saying that Unlimited broadband was a myth, finally capitulated with the Product Refresh and started to use the same pitch as other ISP's. It's still a myth though!! .
As glloyd says , in this context Unlimited ONLY applies to the total amount downloaded and NOT to the speed. This is in common with other ISP's and in Plusnets defence  (no I dont work for them! ) they do clearly state how the speeds are restricted, unlike most other ISP's.
That I guess doesnt help you doughc, and it MAY be that the salesman should have explained more fully, but it does I hope explain the situation. 

[#4]

Unfortunately, P2P is restricted to 256Kb midnight-midday on Value as it is on Legacy BBYW1. If you were on the "Unlimited package" P2P is unrestricted midnight-midday.
If you want to compare products http://www.kitz.co.uk/isp/plusnet_shaping2.htm
"Unlimited" starts at £11.99 then £15.99 if you're on a market 3 exchange otherwise £19.99. Pro is £19.99 12 month contract.
Whilst I in no way defend what you have been told by sales or their attitude, did you not following this link  Read more info on the main website. The information is displayed and you would have been able to cancel without penalty in 7 days?
Who was your previous supplier by the way?

[#5]

Oops , must read posts more carefully. I thought the OP was on 'Unlimited' but having re-read it Anotherone, I see you are quite correct in that its Value.
Must get my brain ( or my eyes ) seen too...

[#6]

I was with AOL for over five years and got my BB down to £9.99 pm month (Unlimited or 40 GB) but never had a problem with cap if there was one. I am getting the same response from Plusnet again and again they say, "did you read the terms and conditions"? The anwser is NO because the salesman explained it all to me. Why would he say UNLIMITED P2P Midnight to 8am if he knew which he SHOULD if he is selling the product that it was NOT unlimited infact it is not worth using for the purpose he told me.
There should BE BIG LETTERS UNDER THE PRODUCT - SPEED RESTRICTIONS APPLY WITH THIS PRODUCT (IT IS NOT UNLIMITED MIDNIGHT - 8AM) You are talking amount of downloads not linespeed BUT IT APPLIES TO BOTH! Unlimited should mean unlimited speed unlimited download not just ONE? In response to a previous question my line speed is 5.5 Mbs. I feel I have been mislead but Plusnet just quote you should have read terms and conditions and also say I could have cancelled in 7 DAYS! I was told when I first mentioned the problem that my line may be adjusting to speed! 7 DAYS it is a joke and they should get there sales pitch correct.
This must of happened many times, people jumping at them for the Value price and realising that there upscaled packages are not only limited but more expense than other companies, no one wants to know they feel like they have you by the short and curlies! I did try to resolve, I just hope that this post may help others before they make the same mistake. I could go to OFFCOM and use the Sales Misrep Act, I will have a think about this I am sure they get plenty of phone calls about telephone sales pitches and they will understand considering my circumstances mentioned - why would I have changed in the first place if I had not been mislead into believing what the salesman said? 

[#7]

Now you know why they introduced 18 month contracts and did away with the 90 day get out clause.

[#8]

I referred someone else to these threads if you have time for a read, says it all really, along with a multitude of other posts.
http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,74056.0.html ; http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,74429.0.html
Oh and there is this http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,75545.0.html

[#9]

What I want to know is, was what the salesperson said just his own 'view' on things or actual Plusnet policy to market the product in that way? If it was the former, then it was maybe forgivable as people do obviously make mistakes. If it was the latter however, then... I'm appalled.

[#10]

Quote

Why would he say UNLIMITED P2P Midnight to 8am

they were talking about it being unlimited usage(free) on the value product
And this is why the new unlimited product should be called plusnet unmetered  http://community.plus.net/forum/index.php/topic,74056.msg590818.html#msg590818

[#11]

Quote from: Be3G

What I want to know is, was what the salesperson said just his own 'view' on things or actual Plusnet policy to market the product in that way? If it was the former, then it was maybe forgivable as people do obviously make mistakes. If it was the latter however, then... I'm appalled.

But a salesman should not be giving his own view on things. He is there to sell a product. If he tells you things that are his view, but are in fact misleading then its not a good place for Plusnet to be in.
Unlimited is a really bad thing to use in a description and I agree with everyone else who said that the minute PN started using it, after saying bad things about other ISPs using it, that it was going to troublesome.

[#12]

Hi Christian,
We've tried calling you a couple of times today.
Could you please PM me with a suitable number and time to call?

[#13]

I will just say that somebody from Plusnet called me to listen to my concerns and we have come to a fair solution with a reduction in contract from 18 month to 12 month and an upgrade to Unlimited (not Value) for £3.00 discount per month. This has line speed downloads from Midnight to Midday 100% - I feel this a fair package as I cannot prove what was said in the Sales call but I was told that they do not think that I was lying so at least this solved my frustrations 
It took a few days but I feel that I was taken seriously in the end and I must say that I am now happy.
Thanks for the replies.
Christian
Peace out.

[#14]

and thats why PN has gd rep for customer service
iam sure you will be happy with the unlimited (usage) package.
seems PN have informed you of the full deatils of the package but if you want to double check the expected speeds on unlimited  have a look here
http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/quality_broadband/speed.shtml