Still waiting for deadlock lettet

[Musha]

Total loss of landline for 25 days. Now its finally fixed by the engineer, VM first said no compensation but after our complaint, theyonly want to compensate £26. We said no as we are sure the automatic compensation comes into play here. Nobody replies despite Oliver at customer service saying they'll send a deadlock letter to enable us to go to the Ombudsman. 

[goslow]

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@Musha wrote:

Yes we did report the phone fault as a separate issue once the TV/broadband had come back on again. It was the same day. And again in the days after as well. 

No, the one day outage of all services was not notified to us in advance but during the day it happened. It was an unexpected fault that day. We have all of the emails and fault numbers involved. 

Our landline was plugged in the wall but when it was fixed by the engineer 25 days later (along with a new box for the TV, that was out for 3 days again) an adaptor was then fitted to the router for the landline. It then worked. 

We have had a lot of tv faults in our area lately and ongoing. It seems since we had the 'free' upgrade which involved new remote controls, the apps don't work and we have had nothing but trouble, as in no service, some working, some not at all. It's really not been very good. 

We have a fault in our area now which results in the loss of some apps. VM keep sending emails saying when it will be fixed.

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With all that in mind then ...

VM gets 2 clear working days to fix a fault before any compensation applies.

Once the two clear working days have passed, you qualify for an initial payment of £8.40 (the payment trigger time). Thereafter it is £8.40 per full calendar day until the service is restored. VM has a get-out for planned maintenance work if they give you 24 hours notice in advance.

Review details in the OFCOM minimum requirements doc for compensation and work out yourself what you think you are due based on everything that happened

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/216962/Industry-Code-of-Practice-for-Automatic-...

and updates rates

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/automat...

Sadly, many topics on here suggest that VM will seek to avoid paying compensation, where due, with a range of excuses and 'get-out' attempts by offering lesser 'goodwill' payments. You may need to process a formal complaint to VM first of all in order to allow you to escalate to Ombudsman Services for arbitration and payment of the correct compensation if VM fails to pay out

https://www.ombudsman-services.org/

Hopefully the VM forum team can resolve for you without all of that hassle.

(Unfortunately TV faults, for your ongoing problems, are not covered under the auto compensation scheme)

[Musha]

Thank you for your reply goslow.

I did put in an official complaint. Someone called me the day before the engineer was booked then booked another call with me, for 2 days after to check all was okay, even tx me the date and time. She never called me again, hence me calling VM and getting a different person everytime. But it's just as you say, they're trying to get out of it. Last call, the bloke said he will issue a deadlock letter so we may take this to the ombudsman but it has not materialised. We have all the reported fault numbers, texts and online correspondence. 

See how this goes....

[goslow]

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@Musha wrote:

Thank you for your reply goslow.

I did put in an official complaint. Someone called me the day before the engineer was booked then booked another call with me, for 2 days after to check all was okay, even tx me the date and time. She never called me again, hence me calling VM and getting a different person everytime. But it's just as you say, they're trying to get out of it. Last call, the bloke said he will issue a deadlock letter so we may take this to the ombudsman but it has not materialised. We have all the reported fault numbers, texts and online correspondence. 

See how this goes....

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You can go to Ombudsman Services 8 weeks after you complained if VM has not resolved, whether they issue a deadlock letter or not. VM is supposed to automatically issue a deadlock letter if VM will go no further with the complaint. Here is Ombudsman Services guidance to suppliers on how they should deal with deadlock letters

https://partners.ombudsman-services.org/resources/guidance-notes/eight-week-and-deadlock-letters-com...

If VM is dragging its heals, or fails to issue the letter, that would be an aggravating factor in the complaint.

Give the VM forum team a chance to resolve and, if they fail to do so, then go to Ombudsman Services.

VM's complaints procedures are so poor, along with a poor understanding of the compensation scheme rules, that they regularly fall foul of the rules and have to pay out in arbitration judgements in topics on here. Here is a recent 'total loss of service' example where VM lost (see message #60). The circumstances of that topic sound very similar to your own problem.

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Home-Phone/Landline-not-working/td-p/5067512/page/6

Unfortunately for the customer though it can involve some time and effort from the customer to get what is due. VM relies on this fact in the hope that most will go away and accept a lesser 'goodwill' payment, based on the topics on this subject which are regularly described on here.

[Musha]

Thanks for all the info goslow. I shall keep it all in mind when going to the Ombudsman.

With Ofcom, you can report the problem, but they don't help. The Ombudsman do.

It's interesting how VM can cause so much stress to people by providing services that fail frequently and fobbing people off and lying when they call for help. Not everyone is young and able. The services people pay for are their only form of contact and  entertainment. 

I will post back with the outcome, even if it takes 8 weeks or more.....

[jem101]

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@Musha wrote:

Thanks for all the info goslow. I shall keep it all in mind when going to the Ombudsman.

With Ofcom, you can report the problem, but they don't help. The Ombudsman do.

It's interesting how VM can cause so much stress to people by providing services that fail frequently and fobbing people off and lying when they call for help. Not everyone is young and able. The services people pay for are their only form of contact and  entertainment. 

I will post back with the outcome, even if it takes 8 weeks or more.....

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Please do report back here on the outcome of the escalation to the Ombudsman service, it is always good to be able to point others in a similar situation to you, to a reported resolution.

As ‘goslow’ rightly states above, failure to provide a deadlock letter promptly, is itself a breech of the OFCOM code of practice which VM signed up for and in itself will be a mitigating factor in your favour when requesting additional compensation from them for the poor service and poor complaint handling.

Ad regards OFCOM’s role, it is true that they don’t involve themselves in resolving individual complaints, however as the industry regulator, they do collect and compile complaints about the conduct of companies like VM and their compliance with agreed levels of standards. Now it is true that so far, OFCOM have proven to be, well less than aggressive, in using their statutory powers to punish companies for failure to behave properly, however, there is always the possibility that one day, a Government needing a bit of good news to show that ‘they have teeth and are on the consumer’s side’, might well quietly lean on OFCOM to initiate action and fine a certain company a truly eye-watering sum of money, ‘pour encourage les autres’!

[Musha]

One week has passed and we are still waiting for the resolution team to come back to us, despite them saying they would, in 48 hours time..... This was a week ago!

[Steven_L]

Thanks for coming back to us Musha, I will check this with my colleague to see what is happening and why this hasn't been sent out to you yet.

Kind Regards,

Steven_L

[Akua_A]

Glad to hear you are happy with the given resolution @Musha 

I have closed your complaint for you. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any further help.

Thanks,

[Musha]

Just an update.

After keeping all the correspondence with VM and a million messages back and forth that became quite stressful, also reporting VM to Ofcom, I'm happy to report the final outcome. Awarded 23 out of 25 days auto compensation for TLS and a goodwill payment as well.

Thanks to you guys on here for your expert advice, and to Akua_A for liaising with the VM resolution team to bring this to a satisfactory conclusion. 

Very helpful!! Thank you so much.

[Akua_A]

No problem at all. Happy to help. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any further help.

Thanks,