Plusnet won't stop billing me

[#1]

Hi, I am writing this post to let you know how bad Plusnet is. I was a user - from my point of view - for a year from mid-2022 to mid-2023. In November 2023 I called to cancel my number and any subscription and they told me it was okay. It is February 2024 now and after tens of calls where I explicitly tell them that I don't want to have anything more to do with them, the only results I've got are to get my number suspended and direct debit back in place because "they need to refund me". Result of the story, I have been billed and I am still being billed every month since November 2023. I am considering suing them.

Stay away from them and as a result stay away from EE!

edit: I'm just now reading the other discussions about this problem, I would greatly appreciate if you could PM me or reply to this post if you had similar troubles so that we might think to join forces and have a stronger case.

[#2]

It is February 2024 now and after tens of calls where I explicitly tell them that I don't want to have anything more to do with them, the only results I've got are to get my number suspended and direct debit back in place because "they need to refund me". Result of the story, I have been billed and I am still being billed every month since November 2023. I am considering suing them.

@marcoabrate are they actually taking money ? or are the bills just saying the account is in credit ?

It will take at least 2 billing cycles from cancelling to the account closing.

What should happen is that the 1st monthly bill after cancelling will show the account in credit. At some point between then and the next monthly bill, the credit will be returned via the direct debit (assuming its still in place). The next bill will show a charge equal to the refund, thus giving a zero balance. That should be the last bill!

Now not having the DD in place will prevent the credit being made automatically and thus delay the process. There's also been a few instances of refunds being delayed over the Xmas/New year period which caused a further months billing cycle before the account closed.

[#3]

are they actually taking money ? or are the bills just saying the account is in credit ?

I removed the direct debit right after the call to cancel my account in November 2023. However, I kept receiving emails about being billed. At the beginning I didn't pay attention to these, but then I received a £10 fee because my payment was late (both by email and on my online account). I wasn't in the UK for a couple of months at the time and since I didn't want any trouble I decided to pay with my credit card. Once I got back in January I called them again about cancelling my account, because I thought they just didn't do it. Nevertheless, I kept being billed and taxed because of "my payments being late".

What should happen is that the 1st monthly bill after cancelling will show the account in credit. At some point between then and the next monthly bill, the credit will be returned via the direct debit (assuming its still in place). The next bill will show a charge equal to the refund, thus giving a zero balance. That should be the last bill!

Nobody has ever told me to keep my direct debit in place. This is extremely complicated and I have never received an email clearly stating that my account was closed!

Now not having the DD in place will prevent the credit being made automatically and thus delay the process.

I have never seen such a process, and I had many mobile providers in many different countries. I am happy to give my bank coordinates for the refund I deserve, but I will never re-activate a direct debit with Plusnet ever again after what I experienced.

Also two additional notes. It is extremely suspect that "they are not able to give written email confirmation that my account has been closed" considering how easy it is to automatically send an email when an account is closed. And it is also very suspect that "they are not able to generate a final account-closure statement with the sum of positive and negative balances" and a way to pay or get refunded. These are two very common practices in all the countries I have lived in the past for any kind of subscription (mobile, broadband, bank, gym, ...).

[#4]

I am happy to give my bank coordinates for the refund I deserve, but I will never re-activate a direct debit with Plusnet ever again after what I experienced.

The system will only automatically use the bank details from an active DD, there is no way to manually supply bank details. If no DD is in place then the system will (eventually) send a cheque to the account address.

And it is also very suspect that "they are not able to generate a final account-closure statement with the sum of positive and negative balances" 

Once any refund has been processed, the  system does generate a monthly invoice with a balance of zero and the monthly price plan listed as 0.0 which indicates that the account is cancelled.

Also , note that you can still login to the account after cancellation. My account was cancelled in Aug last year , I can still login and see the last bills.