Billing Problems Continue to Afflict Customers of UK ISP Plusnet
Several months have now passed since budget broadband ISP Plusnet, which is part of the BT Group, migrated their old billing system to a “brand-new” platform and sadly it appears as if some customers are continuing to report a variety of different problems and bugs.
The provider originally described last September’s upgrade as “one of the biggest projects the company has undertaken … As part of this we’re making some changes to what your bill looks like, and introducing some new features. It should make information about your payments and services much clearer and easier to understand.”
Sadly migrations of major database driven systems (email, billing etc.) rarely complete in a trouble free fashion and that was certainly true of Plusnet’s effort (here). Since then many of the biggest bugs have been resolved but for others the problems appear to be on-going and Plusnet is busy tackling such concerns individually with those affected.
A quick look at the ISP’s Community Forum page for billing/accounts, as well as various Facebook posts, highlights a fair few on-going issues with missing or delayed refunds, incorrect or late bills (e.g. double payments), account pages that don’t work with certain web browsers and rejected payments etc. Metro has also highlighted this.
A Spokesperson for Plusnet said:
“We’re aware that a very small number of customers are still experiencing problems from the introduction of our new billing system, and we’re working hard to fix these legacy issues. We’re sorry that this isn’t the service customers have come to expect from us and give our assurance this will be sorted as soon as we can.”
The situation is much improved from last year but it’s clear that not all of the new system’s bugs have been weeded out yet. On the other hand most major ISPs will suffer from at least some sporadic billing problems, often even with an otherwise functional platform.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Does it seem to be affecting just existing customers who were migrated to the new system or are new customers having issues too?
So far as I can tell it’s existing customers. Hard to be sure about new ones.
From my experience it is potentially any customer that changes anything. I moved from a residential account to a business account, and Plusnet couldn’t close the residential account (or give a refund), and they still can’t bill me for the new business account. Another residential account I have was unaffected – until I re-contracted recently, when all the negotiated discounts went AWOL, and I was billed the wrong amount. It certainly doesn’t affect everyone, but I now have a track record of 3 out of 3.
[Admin note: Comment removed as not from an official Plusnet spokesperson]
Take your time. I’m enjoying the free broadband!
Unfortunately, it won’t be free, you will be billed for every bill that you currently haven’t all in one big bill.
erm…actually you will only be billed for a max of 3 invoices/months… so speak correctly or not at all thanks 🙂
Since PlusNet’s inception they’ve always had billing problems as well as network problems. I suspect in a few months they will announce another new billing system. So glad I left them years ago.
network problems?? erm.. think we are all at a loss what that means sorry..
The company is a joke, cancelled my mobile they took last payment then told me it wasn’t cancelled after all then tried to add another 30 days notice to quit … liars only out to grab your money
PN always say a small number of customers affected , it happens every time the update any part of their systems.
I am a PN customer for 10 years ok the connection is 95% good but support is terrible every time they say give us time we will get there , still awaiting to arrive .
I moved house last year , and did not get last bill for old address, and have not had a bill at all for new address , this billing problem has been going on for at least 6 months , and they had problems before the move to the new system hence the fine from Ofcom
erm.. youve not had a bill… and thats bad??? idiot
Yes I’ve had billing issues too with Plus.net.
I moved house towards the end of last year and they failed to bill me for several months, then finally charged too much. It took about 3 months to finally sort out, but fingers crossed it is all now resolved.
I have problems until now I left the contract since November 2018 and still charging me.im very upset about this and no one sorting it out,they saying I didn’t paid the termination fees I but I did,I send all they details that I been paid and now I keep receiving letter for depth collection.very disappointed I’m still waiting for them to sort it out until now
I’ve just received my monthly bill from PlusNet and as usual my discount is missing. They promised to refund it for last month’s bill but didn’t. Complete shambles from PlusNet billing – this has been going on for months. I made the mistake of upgrading from an existing ADSL contract to FTTC mid-contract.
It effects new customers as well. I signed up in November and my next bill date is still shown as 5th January. So far I have wasted over two hours on online chat with their customer support and I have yet to receive any information from the company as to a resolution to the issue. A support ticket has been raised but seems to be being ignored on an ongoing basis.
The billing issues I’m having started around the 23rd Dec 2018 causing me endless grief from my family especially around an already stressful time of year. After hours on the phone going around the house implementing several suggestions by the ‘engineer’,I kept telling him that everything was fine, I had manually paid the bill that they should have taken via DD, I was still getting ‘billing failed’ window on my fire TV devices. He tried to fob me off with ‘interference from the Xmas lights power adaptor’ and that we should be using a wired connection etc etc… He finally said “I’ll try resetting your account’ and the moment he did that everything was back up and running in an instant. January and February were similar scenarios but slightly less frustrating, nether the less, I shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. On the plus side, the connection (when the billing issues aren’t present) is fantastic, I mean just fantastic and at a good price too… (When they actually take the money out).
I have not had a bill since November last year and they cannot speculate on when I will get the next one.
Hi – just to inject some balance here.
Have been with Plus for 10+ years, and have encouraged lots of friends and family to join. Was nervous to hear that BT had bought them a few years back, but as it happens generally no deterioration in service.
Connection is fine, and billing was fine if a little old fashioned – until this new billing system came in. Yes, it is clearly a disaster. No, I am not thinking of changing ISP.
Why? Because Plus still have excellent call centre people (in this country and apparently decent pay) and in particular have a great customer forum, which is even more detailed and responsive than the call centre people.
If the latter deteriorates I shall consider leaving, but for now I and family members are staying due to combination of good support, no sales pressure, pleasant call centre people and competitive pricing.
I’m still having billing problems since November 2018. Really shocking thing is that PlusNet keep telling me that they have no idea when it’ll be resolved.
I am a plusnet customer 10 years , and yes they are bad with any Major upgrade to any of their systems .
Their old billing system was bad but this one is terrible , i moved house in december and have not had a bill since then , their forum says they will not take payment for more than last 90 days after its fixed IF ever .
And yes they always say its a small number of customers 🙁
Why not leave them ?
probably cos hes not getting billed so nothing to pay maybe is a good reason why…what a stupid ass question..why not leave them”
I moved house in September and have not had a bill since, I have now given up contacting plusnet it’s a complete waste of time and just makes it more frustrating because the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing I’m sick of being fobed off when they say we can’t tell you what the problem is but we are working on it twenty four seven to put things right ,yes and I’ve just seen a flying pig. It’s a joke.
Hi. I’m in the same situation Liz – it’s such disgraceful customer service. They don’t seem to realise how stressful the whole situation is!
you arent being made to pay…its free and mad 3months bills..why are you not celebrating and praying it lasts longer what more can someone do.. have broadband…its free…and you still whinge jesus…
I am sick of giving PN an interest free loan every month of £7.99. They should be banned from taking any new customers till this is resolved
I moved house last September and it’s now End of April and I’ve not yet had a bill! I keep ringing and getting fobbed off. My worry is, if I get a bill for 9 months service in one house! I just can’t understand why it is taking so long for this bill problem to be sorted out! Would I be within my rights to change supplier, even though I’ve still got a year and a half contract to go? I ring every month, but am no further on getting answers! It’s stressing me out
I’ve added Plusnet’s TV service and because of the billing issues they have they cannot add the full service, but they’ve got me in a 24month agreement for this TV service according to them, I don’t think they have a leg to stand on keeping me on a agreement where they cannot supply the service. Im giving them a few more weeks to sorting this Billing system out and Im pulling away from them.
I have just got off the phone to there leaving department, and after looking at my billing over the last year (every one wrong) they said that they weren’t going to argue or charge me any leaving charge, they admitted their mistake and said I could leave anytime without cost…….however they would not then be refunding my overpayments for not receiving my discount.
I am looking for a new provider immediately !!
I have also not had a bill since October ’18 but if we try to exit the contract before 12 months, there will be a charge, I believe. They have no idea when it will be resolved and said they will accept a payment plan if the eventual bill is unaffordable in one go.
you would only pay a max of 3 months..but that said.. then i bet nobody put the said money away and spent it knowing full well they owed it..
What a totally disgraceful company. Since last September i’ve Experienced failed billings and instantly being served limitations on my account. For many years dealing with Madasafish who where subsequently bought out by Plusnet i’ve Had nothing but grief. In better times money was taken from my given source of payment automatically. Now it’s a different story…..
Please just login to the Plusnet community and read failed billings. Not trying to dodge my bills but no way of making payment
Actually spoke to the “Help” team for 40minutes on the 20th explaining I wanted to pay my bill two days early via the phone. “No can do”.. you’ve paid up for June already and we can’t accept bills if your in credit. Guess what happens on the 22nd? For Christ sake shape up. This is the 9th consecutive month this has been going on. Bloody shambles.
erm…well your bill was not generated in order to pay it…so i am somewhat confused???you wanted to pay a non existant bill???there would be no balance to oay 2 days prior to your bill??
I joined P/net earlier this year on a 18 month contract with line rental paid up front. My contract should then have left me with a bill for £13 / month. The contract billing is completely wrong – I haven’t paid anything monthly yet and the figures on the bills do not relate to the contract figures. Spoken to help team several times and been told they are working on the problem. The speed of sorting out the problem is shocking. Surely Im not the only new customer having a problem?
Hi, I Joined PlusNet recently, the service keeps dropping out on the router and I am now at the point of telling them to take it out. Everyday 5-8 times the router goes off saying no internet connection. They have tested the line and everything was fine apparently and I never had any problems with Sky previously. I have spent endless hours trying to get this sorted, being given links in chat conversations that don’t work and it also kicks you out the chat so you have to start all over again its very very frustrating. I just keep getting told they are working on my issue.
I had the same problems at the start of my contract. Their router is an absolute rubbish piece of kit. It is a version of an older BT hub (Bt hub 4 I think) Just buy a BT HUB 6 and use it instead. I did that and I had no issues since. Also I have a better speed ( For uk is fibre a mere 48MBs lol ), With their Hub barely I managed to get 30MBs.