Product Change Policy

1. General Policies
2. Residential Broadband Product Changes
3. Business Broadband Product Changes
4. Product Changes between Business and Residential
5. Dialup Product Changes
6. Home Phone
7. Table of Charges

 

1. General Policies

1.1. It is PlusNet policy to only permit a single product change in a 30 day period.

1.2. Product changes should generally be requested via the Member Centre "Upgrade" link on our website. For product changes between Residential and Business products, customers must raise a ticket via the Help Assistant.

1.3. Product changes to products where the new subscription fee is higher or equal to the current subscription fee take place immediately. If relevant, a pro-rata charge is calculated based on the difference in cost between the two products and the remaining days in the current billing month.

1.4. Product changes to products where the new subscription fee is lower than the current subscription fee take place on your next billing date. No pro-rata payment or refund is therefore due in these circumstances.

1.5. There may be a charge for some product changes. Any one-off charges in respect of a product change would need to be made by credit or debit card at the time of the product change. Customers must have valid card details on their account in order to complete the change. Card details for customers who pay their subscription by Direct Debit will only be used for one-off payments such as a product change, or unless you opt to pay your subscription in this way.

1.6. Any upgrade or downgrade that requires a change in the underlying wholesale product due to a change in speed (i.e. from 'IPStream Max' to ‘IPStream Max Premium’) will result in a charge of £14.99 for residential customers and £14.99 + VAT for business customers. An example of where this may take place is a change to or from our ‘business’ product which has a higher upload speed and is based on the ‘Max Premium’ product.

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2. Residential Broadband Product Changes

2.1. Original Product : Broadband Your Way

2.1.1. Switching Between Options.

a. Customers who are on a Broadband Your Way product can move between the different options free of charge in most cases.

b. There is an exception to the above point when customers have opted to receive a free wireless router as deferred hardware on Options 3 or 4, and wish to switch to Options 1 or 2. As this hardware is not available on Options 1 or 2, we would expect the customer to settle the deferred amount first.

c. Customers who have opted to receive the deferred hardware on Options 1 or 2 (a free wired router) do not incur a charge when switching options.

2.1.2. Adding or reducing included extra usage

a. Customers can change their included usage once every 30 days for no charge.

b. Adding extra included usage part way through a billing month takes effect immediately, but is charged at the next billing date, as well as the extra usage for that following billing month.

c. Reducing extra included usage takes places at the next billing date.

2.2. Original Product : Previously Sold Products

2.2.1. Switching to Broadband Your Way

a. When we introduced our Broadband Your Way Products, we withdrew all other residential broadband products from sale. However, we made it clear that we would allow customers to remain on their current product.

b. If any customer decides that they wish to change from a previously sold product to a Broadband Your Way product then no charges will be levied as part of the change. Previously sold products include :-

- ADSL Home
- ADSL Home Surf
- Broadband Home Lite
- Broadband EasyStart
- Broadband Premier
- Broadband Plus
- Broadband PAYG


c. Changing to Broadband Your Way from a previously sold product is irreversible.

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3. Business Broadband Product Changes

3.1. Broadband

3.1.1. There is no charge for customers who are moving to another business product that is of equal or higher value as this is classed as an 'upgrade'.

3.1.2. There is a charge of £29.99+VAT for customers who wish to change to a product of lesser value as this is classed as a 'downgrade'.

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4. Product Changes between Business and Residential

4.1. Upgrades to Business Products from Residential Products

4.1.1. Business products are designed for use by genuine businesses, or customers who are using their broadband connection to trade as more than just a hobby.

4.1.2. An upgrade from a residential account to a business account is processed free of charge.

4.1.3. An upgrade from a residential account to a business account is a manual process and can only be performed by certain PlusNet Support Analysts. Customers wishing to make this product change should raise a ticket via the Help Assistant advising that they are a business.

4.2. Downgrades to Residential Products from Business Products

4.2.1. Residential products are not permitted for use by businesses, or customers using their connections to trade as more than just a hobby.

4.2.2. Customer information will be retained for 6 years and 1 quarter. This is in accordance with VAT regulations and the Limitation Act of 1980.

4.2.3. The hosting provided with residential accounts cannot be used to host business websites.

4.2.4. Customers wishing to change to a residential product from business must raise a ticket via the Help Assistant explaining their reasons for wishing to make the change.

4.2.5. This change is a manual process and can only be performed by certain PlusNet Support Analysts.

4.2.6. There is a charge of £29.99 + VAT to make this product change.

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5. Dialup Product Changes

5.1. Switching between dialup products

5.1.1. There is no charge to change between any of the dialup products.

5.2. PAYG Dialup to Broadband

5.2.1. Customers with a free PAYG dialup account, who wish to ‘upgrade’ to broadband are treated in the same way as a new signup to broadband. Customers can take advantage of included activation and receive a router or wireless router (depending on which option is selected) for free as long as they are with us for 12 months. (http://www.plus.net/residential/broadband/freesetup_bbyw.shtml). This product change is processed using the ‘Upgrade’ journey on our website, or customers can signup a new account.

5.3. Subscription Dialup to Broadband

5.3.1. Customers with a subscription dialup account, who wish to ‘upgrade’ to broadband are treated in the same way as a new signup to broadband with regards to new charges. However, once the broadband has been activated and the account change takes place, any pro-rata unused credit for the dialup product is refunded.

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6. Home Phone

6.1. A Home Phone product change to that of a higher or equal monthly subscription is actioned immediately and a pro-rata fee taken for any extra subscription due for the remainder of the current period.

6.2. A Home Phone product change to that of a lower monthly subscription is charged at £14.99.

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7. Table of Charges

Product Move	Cost
Business > Residential Product Change	£29.99 + VAT
Business Downgrade to Product with lower monthly subscription fee	£29.99 + VAT
Residential Wholesale Product/Speed Change	£14.99
Business Wholesale Product/Speed Change	£14.99 + VAT
Home Phone Product Downgrade	£14.99

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Policy Changes

We will list changes to the policy as they occur, to make it easier for you to see if and how the policy has altered since you last read it.

Date	Change Summary
4th September 2007	Policy first published

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