Compensation for delayed install - VM playing games
Long story short, virgin media broadband ordered 22nd July and install booked for 10 August
7th August Virgin media email informing of delay of installation due to them needing to do some ‘outside work’, installation delayed a month till 09/09/23
Few weeks go by and I am constantly pushing for updates, at this point I am aware that the cables need to be pulled ?? Whatever that means, reading online forums and can see this is a common occurance
Eventually after many phone calls I am told my ‘outside work’ has been completed and I am able to change my install date to 01/09/23
installed fine on 01/09/23 so I go down the route of chasing compensation which I believe I am entitled to, £5.83 a day for 22 days delayed install + 1 missed installation day (around £150 in total)
receive a letter today informing I am not eligible for compensation due to something about 1 man or 2 man install ? I have no idea what this means, none of this was informed when I booked my install date & my email confirmation for date of original install mentions nothing about what type of installation it will he
am I being fobbed off? Can I take this further? What steps do I need to take?
thanks
Point 1 is something VM has invented to avoid, or reduce, paying out under the auto compensation scheme. Point 2 is something VM has invented to avoid, or reduce, paying out under the auto compensation scheme.
VM has tried to conflate parts of the auto-comp rules to do with non-payment for a missed appointment (when 24 hours notice is given of the cancellation) alongside not paying at all the daily rate which should be paid, if the 'date initially confirmed in writing' to 'activate' services is missed.
Whether it takes 1, 2 or 10 people to do the installation is irrelevant under the auto compensation scheme. VM also tries to confuse the picture further by talk of 'provisional' installation dates also linked to the 1 or 2 person claim.
These smoke-and-mirrors tactics are designed to confuse the customer in the hope they will give up and just be glad that the installation is finally completed.
If you read through the past topics above (reporting successful feedback cases), you will see that the above ideas from VM were dismissed at arbitration where the adjudicator decided either a) VM never gave any indication at the outset the installation date was 'provisional' or b) VM kept issuing installation dates which could not be achieved because no cable was in place.
So, the part which is relevant is the 'date initially confirmed in writing' when VM said it would 'activate' your services. Key words being 'confirmed' and 'activate'.
If your first confirmed activation date was 10/8/23, and you were actually activated on 1/9/23, that would be 22 days @£5.83 per day = £128.26. You can add in £29.15 per missed appointment (which VM said you had to be in for) where VM failed to give you 24 hours notice of the cancellation.
VM is supposed to proactively issue you with a deadlock letter once deadlock is reached. You can go to arbitration with the deadlock letter or 8 weeks after you first complained. IMHO a 28 day delay to issue a deadlock letter is unacceptable (you should report this to OFCOM, as per info at the end below). Ombudsman deadlock guidance to suppliers is here
It costs you nothing (other than time/effort) to progress the matter to arbitration. It is likely to cost VM in fees a lot more that the £130-ish that is in dispute. You already seem to have a good outline of the case on this topic which you would need to formalise into evidence for the ombudsman in a timeline with supporting evidence (messages, emails, texts, dates, times, phone calls etc.)
So, if you think your situation fits in with the above, and you are minded to follow up with submitting the case to arbitration, you should go ahead with the claim.
You can share your unhappy complaint experience with OFCOM.
They launched an investigation into VM on 13 July 2023 specifically into VM's cancellation and complaints processes and whether VM is referring customers on to ADR/arbitration
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/bulletins/enforcement-bulletin/open-cases/cw_01275
Case ref. no. and an email at the bottom of the above page or submit with same info via the contact form
https://ofcomforms.secure.force.com/formentry/SitesFormCCTMonitoring
Submitting information won't help your individual complaint but it will contribute to the OFCOM investigation and it sounds like your experience is directly relevant to the terms of reference of the investigation (specifically in a very slow timescale to provide you with a deadlock letter)
Good luck if you do go ahead with the arbitration case and post back the outcome on here (good or bad) which does help others in future in the same situation.