What a damn shambles PlusNet is in.

[#1]

Received my bill for this month and are being charged line rental when I have paid a year in advance.
The referrals are a mess, this would have been fixed a lot quicker if it was customers who owed the money. Phoned C/S who apparently can't detect callers phone numbers now so you have to enter it. After hanging on for 45 minutes I was cut off. Tried ringing again and waiting 35 minutes gave up with ear ache.  Yet despite all these problems they spend a fortune advertising for new customers whien they don't have the facilities to handle them or the current customers. Not a lot of good saying they are opening a new call centre, that should have been done before touting for new customers.
Edit trying again at  9.00pm, 45 minutes so far and still waiting,
Right after finally getting through and being put on hold several times for ages again I'm now told I have to wait THREE WEEKS for a refund for the line rental and an unknown time for referral back payments. Now as I'm short of a few quid I wonder if PlusNet can loan me twenty quid, interest free, for a couple of months.

[#2]

Sorry to hear about the issue @glloyd and for the long waits.

Quote

I'm now told I have to wait THREE WEEKS for a refund

I'm not sure why you were told that, we just need to wait for the currently pending payment to clear, which I'd expect to happen within the next few days after that the refund would be about 10 working days.
I'll set myself a reminder to check on the status of that in a couple of days to make sure you're refund is processed as soon as possible.

[#3]

*/cough
A few days plus 10 working days is just about  3 weeks

[#4]

And yet, most of us can now pay bills from our bank accounts 'instantly' - the money is transferred within 2 hours - thanks to a wonderful thing called internet banking, doesn't Plusnet have access to the internet. 

[#5]

I've also always wondered why it's PN's policy to only refund an overpayment after the money hits their bank account?  Why should customers have to lend their money to PN to cover a mistake not of their making?  PN ought to refund the overcharge prior to the DD being drawn so that the customer isn't out of pocket!

[#6]

If anyone incurs extra changes (e.g. bank charges for going overdrawn) Plusnet should reimburse people - they have done so in the past.

[#7]

...and what should happen if the DD is not honoured by the customer's bank (for whatever reason)?
However, it ought to be possible to get the funds returned quicker than 10 days.

[#8]

".and what should happen if the DD is not honoured by the customer's bank (for whatever reason)?"
Quite probably the same as if there were no refund due because of PN's error. PN would chase the money owed.
Any refunds  are totally separate to routine DD payments anyway and should be treated as such.
Looks like the o.p. has had a similar problem, with their LRS, to the one I had/have which is still not resolved. I'm now not being charged line rental because the system now thinks I have paid LRS, which I did but has since been refunded!  
So, yes, shambles does sum things up nicely.

[#9]

One way or another you seem to be agreeing that refunding an incorrect charge before the charge has been completely processed (received) has significant potential to create an even bigger shambles.  Therefore not refunding (returning that which has already been received) before having actually been received makes good sense.
Question: if it was YOUR business would you return money you had not yet received?  Clearly you - we all - would strive not to get things wrong in the first place, but despite best efforts things do go wrong.  In such circumstances, resolutions should seek to limit the potential for further issues.

[#10]

If longer notice was given for payment being taken (like many other companies) they could be challenged and rectified before payment taken. It is not good enough to say wait until payment clears then we will refund you two weeks later. Money illegally taking money from my account which you are not entitled to. In this day an age £15 could mean the difference between children having food or not (fortunately not in my case.
To add insult to injury I had to try three times at 45 minutes a time to get through then constantly put on hold when I did get through.

[#11]

Quote from: Townman

One way or another you seem to be agreeing that refunding an incorrect charge before the charge has been completely processed (received) has significant potential to create an even bigger shambles.  Therefore not refunding (returning that which has already been received) before having actually been received makes good sense. Question: if it was YOUR business would you return money you had not yet received?  Clearly you - we all - would strive not to get things wrong in the first place, but despite best efforts things do go wrong.  In such circumstances, resolutions should seek to limit the potential for further issues.

But the refund is over and above what the DD should be. So yes, PN  should refund money that is not theirs whether the DD has been taken or not.
Even if the notice were extended it would make no difference, PN, as it stands, will not refund what is not their's until the full bill has been paid.
Under these circumstances, where the error is down to PN, they should have a system where the customer is not out of pocket, but they don't. More important when the error has been admitted. Which, to be a little bit fair, the error is usually acknowledged.
But I think the main issue, whether the refund is actioned before or after the DD, is the time it takes. 10 days is ridiculous in this electronic age. In my case one refund took longer!

[#12]

And your "bigger shambles" seems to indicate you agree it is a shambles already.

[#13]

Myself and many customers, I'm sure, like to know exactly what is going to be taken each month.For the last two months line rental hasn't been added to my bill. A system error? It is going to be taken using my registered debit card rather than the DD. When, I don't know because nobody must want to tell me. So I'm going to have that payment taken at some random time of the month. There will be funds in my account to cover it but for some people it could be a problem if they at not able to budget very well.
I added to the relevant ticket with a reminder four days ago. No reply at this time. Is that acceptable? I bet it wouldn't be acceptable if I just sat back, said nowt and be £14 plus better off every month.

[#14]

I don't think I have never been overcharged by PN but have been by other companies (albiet not very often) and have always used the Direct Debit guarantee where the wrong amount has to be returned by the bank immeditaely who then sorts out the issue with the company involved.
In this instance, what would PN do if the bank contacted them for the money they returned to the customer? Would PN then automatically cut the customer off until a manual payment is made or simply refund the bank and take the correct amount from the customer at the first opportunity (notifying them beforehand, of course)?

[#15]

Billing is a complete joke, when it go's wrong:
With PN you are unable to do the following ( with most other companies you can)
Change bill date
Have a bill changed when the bill is wrong.
Have money that PN has overcharged back in your account in 1 to 2 days (Why should PN borrow money for up to 10 working days)
Have a reasonable time from billing date to money been taken ( 3 or so with PN, but 10 - 14 with most companies , so any mistakes can be changed)
PN , as Mav has already indicated,  what would happen with a customers broadband connection if they use the direct debit guarantee ?
Regards
Mike