Transfer away from Skinny, got charged but didn't cancel prior

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Transfer away from Skinny, got charged but didn't cancel prior

sustel

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#303291 30-Jan-2023 11:35

Hi all,

Wanted to check if this sounds right.

Just had an interaction with Skinny support about being charged for another month after I had transferred away from them.
Admittedly I didn't contact them separately to cancel the account prior but the transfer date (26/1) was before the the dates on the invoice(27/1 to 27/2) that I am being charged for.

Asked if I could get a refund of this but they refused to go there.
In the past I had no problems about not separately arranging a cancel with the prior ISP but it seems it ain't the case here.

Is this just standard procedure?

Quinny

812 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#3029378 30-Jan-2023 11:39

I organised a transfer with 2 degrees, let them set the date and still got charged. Most have a one-month notice as normal.

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Blurtie

432 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3029436 30-Jan-2023 12:16

Uh oh.. doesn't sound promising. I have a transfer to 2degrees booked in for tomorrow. My billing cycle with Skinny ends on the 2nd Feb..

From my understanding/discussions with Skinny - they don't require a notice period and you can transfer anytime before your billing cycle ends (and therefore not be charged an extra month). Would be interested to hear from others if this is not the case.

lxsw20

3192 posts

Uber Geek

#3029488 30-Jan-2023 12:28

Quinny:

I organised a transfer with 2 degrees, let them set the date and still got charged. Most have a one-month notice as normal.

I did the same, booked it 2 days before my Skinny connection was due to renew for the month, then 2Degrees nicely changed the date on me so it's overlapped....2 months payment for me.

Blurtie

432 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3029541 30-Jan-2023 12:34

From a quick search i found this page on skinny

https://www.skinny.co.nz/help/mobile-help/general/general/cancel-my-skinny-account

Looks like you need to let them know you're cancelling, but it doesn't say anything about providing a notice period. I've just filled in the details asking for cancellation of my service by 1 Feb... Hopefully that avoids the double charge..

sustel

4 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3029545 30-Jan-2023 12:50

Well seems like it's fairly normal practice. I just naively thought that the ISPs themselves would be notified and that would be that.

A bit miffed but hope we all avoid those double charges in the future!

cokemaster

Exited
4780 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#3029553 30-Jan-2023 13:14

@sustel, ISP's are definitely notified by the LFC's when they lose a connection. Some ISP's will prorate to the day, some ISP's will apply a 30 day rule and some ISP's might continue to charge until you tell them (and quite require 30 days notice). I know a certain major Telco implemented the 30 day notice period solely for revenue and retention reasons (previously they prorated to the day)... so there is some financial outcomes overriding customer experience.

Check your T&C's - if they've breached them, then I'd approach them with a complaint with the view of escalating if not resolved.

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myfullflavour

859 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

Full Flavour

#3029602 30-Jan-2023 13:28

cokemaster:
@sustel, ISP's are definitely notified by the LFC's when they lose a connection. Some ISP's will prorate to the day, some ISP's will apply a 30 day rule and some ISP's might continue to charge until you tell them (and quite require 30 days notice). I know a certain major Telco implemented the 30 day notice period solely for revenue and retention reasons (previously they prorated to the day)... so there is some financial outcomes overriding customer experience.

Check your T&C's - if they've breached them, then I'd approach them with a complaint with the view of escalating if not resolved.

Quite common for the LFC not to notify the losing ISP e.g. every time the gaining ISP sets up the transfer by doing a "2nd port ONT activation" rather than transferring the existing live connection.

Our standard practice is to do "2nd port" activations, particularly for small business customers as it means the customer can manage the outage/transition at a time that suits them (typically after hours).

And with our rural connections, if we are switching a customer from DSL or 4G, the losing ISP will receive no notice because we're installing a different connection type at the property (fixed wireless via rooftop antenna).

So I think with all these nuances, ISPs requiring a 30-day notice period which allows sufficient time to schedule the termination with the wholesale provider is quite reasonable.

We apply a bit of common sense, e.g. if the current billing cycle ends in three weeks and the customer has just given us the 30 days notice, with the customer's agreement, we'll typically bring the notice period forward forward to match the last day of the billing cycle.

Wheelbarrow01

1441 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Chorus

#3029806 31-Jan-2023 00:45

myfullflavour:

Quite common for the LFC not to notify the losing ISP e.g. every time the gaining ISP sets up the transfer by doing a "2nd port ONT activation" rather than transferring the existing live connection.

Yea maybe..... When an RSP issues a 2nd Port activation, there is an option for them to send a notification to any other RSP with a pre-existing connection on the same ONT:

The idea is that all RSPs with a pre-existing connection on that ONT will receive the below notification, and it should trigger to enquire with their customer whether they still require the original connection:

The only problem with the way this has been setup (in my humble opinion) is that the sending of this notification is optional - if the RSP issuing the 2nd Port activation chooses not to send a notification, then obviously the original RSP will be completely unaware. On the flipside, not sending a notification has its place - where a customer wants two simultaneous connections for instance.

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

Wheelbarrow01

1441 posts

Uber Geek

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Chorus

#3029807 31-Jan-2023 00:45

With regard to the OP's original query, ultimately it is up to the RSP to decide whether they require a notice period or not. Looking at Skinny's terms:

Notice period: If you end your plan at any time before your next monthly billing due date you will need to give us at least 24 hours’ notice of the end date. You will be responsible for any charges incurred prior to that billing date and any early termination or plan transfers fees outlined.

I believe this means the OP would realistically need to have advised Skinny on or before 25/01 of their intention to transfer, or the transfer would have to have been completed by close of business on 25/01, in order to avoid further charging. If for example the Skinny billing cycle rolls over at 12.01am on 27/01, then the transfer would need to be completed or notified prior to 12.01am on the 26th (so the 25th in practice) in order for them to have received a full 24 hours' notice.

Once Chorus effected the transfer, we would have sent a notification to Skinny, but if the transfer happened late in the day on the 26th, then that notice may not have been received and/or processed by Skinny until 27th - possibly after the billing cycle rolled over.

Hopefully what I've said above makes sense.

The views expressed by me are not necessarily those of my employer Chorus NZ Ltd

Blurtie

432 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3030504 1-Feb-2023 18:38

So just an update on this - the switch over to 2degrees went smoothly. Connection was through the same port on my ONT.

After not hearing anything back from Skinny, I used the live chat function to cancel. The CSR mentioned that they didn't receive any notification from Enable about the transfer... So she's gone ahead cancelled the plan for me... Here's hoping I don't get billed again!