I have found it to be increasingly common practice on this forum for VM to seek to wriggle out of its binding obligations to pay customers automatic compensation where it is clearly due.
It does this with sneaky offers of miniscule "goodwill gestures" and attempts to fob off and distract claimants with dodgy excuses for non payment.
I now see that VM has gone a significant step further.
In its dedicated page on automatic compensation here on missed engineer appointments it falsely states, in black and white:
"We try our best to meet our appointment times, but these are for guidance, although we’ll always try to get in touch if something unforeseeable stops us. If we arrive outside of these guidance times, this will not trigger compensation if we do arrive during that day. "
This is utter nonsense and is a clear and explicit breach of the Ofcom Code of Practice on this, which VM is a signatory to, which states (at paragraphs 24 and 25):
"Subject to paragraph 40 (exceptions), a Communication Provider must pay
automatic compensation if:
a. a customer requires an engineer appointment for the provision or repair of a
fixed line or broadband service; and
b. the Communication Provider confirms an engineer appointment slot to the
customer; and
c. the engineer does not attend in the confirmed appointment slot provided by
the Communication Provider.
25. Compensation is not payable if the Communications Provider gives notice of a
change or cancellation of the appointment at least 24 hours’ in advance of the
original appointment time or if the customer otherwise agrees to a change in the
appointment time slot for the same day (such agreement must be recorded by the
Communications Provider or its agent on its behalf, which may be done by a
customer service agent on the phone or by an alternative means)."
I'm not a Very Insightful Person (just a little bit, sometimes). I don't work for Virgin Media (but then nor do any of the offshore customer service agents).
