Broadband deal where the wires got crossed...
MrsW.P.writes: In 2014, my mum asked me and my brother to buy her a laptop for Christmas as she wanted to have a go at using one and there were local computer classes for pensioners. As an add-on, I bought from Plusnet a oneyear phone and broadband deal. Throughout the year, she and her class tutor tried unsuccessfully to access the Plusnet email account.
In December 2015, she was called by Plusnet to renew the contract, and I started looking for a new deal elsewhere. After that, letters started to arrive, including one from a debt collector, though she informed Plusnet she had not agreed to a new contract.
It is now asking us for payment and insisting we signed up for a two-year deal. My mother, who is 80, thinks that everything should be on paper. A LETTER from Plusnet asked for £252, but by the time the demand had been put in the hands of the debt collector it had risen to £315 – though the debt collection firm promptly offered to settle for the original £252.
Officials at Plusnet accept that you did not sign up to a two-year contract, but they are clear that your mother renewed the contract over the phone on December 8 last year. The conversation was recorded and it shows that the terms were read out, including the cost and length of the contract, and that your mother agreed.
Your mother has since switched provider and Plusnet has not been providing either phone or broadband services to her. The demands are for an early termination fee, and not for the cost of actual usage.
Plusnet has told me it takes seriously its aim to provide a great customer experience, so as a gesture of goodwill it has written off the entire demand.
Good for Plusnet – and you and your mother should hear no more about it.