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Auto compensation

rubymcqueen
Tuning in

Between June 5th and June 18th I had no broadband connection at all. I am not a technophobe and have never had this type of total outage before in my 20 plus years with Virgin and Cable London before that. I was assured by the technical support people not to worry because I would get the auto compensation. So I went ahead and purchased an expensive data upgrade via my mobile provider to tide me over for the two weeks without connection.

The issue was finally resolved by an engineer visiting the premises.

Strange then that I am now being told I'm not eligible for compensation at all. Apparently it wasn't recorded as a complete outage. This makes no sense as the network did not appear on any device in my household for the whole time. 

Basically what this constitutes is a total lack of trust in Virgin as a provider. I will be looking to escalate this with the industry watchdog. I'm posting this because I want other members of this community to be aware that they may not get compensation and could find themselves out of pocket. Thanks for reading.

8 REPLIES 8

goslow
Alessandro Volta

There have been more than a few mentions on the forums about how/when/if compensation is applied. Also some past examples of customers not being given wholly accurate information when they ring in about it.

The two main pages of info below seem to be these, if you have not seen them already

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/automatic-compensation

https://store.virginmedia.com/the-legal-stuff/terms-and-conditions-for-fibre-optic-services/automati...

There are plenty of T&Cs and small print and various (legitimate) ways VM can avoid paying and/or pay less than might first be assumed when counting up days of no service (things like weekends, Bank Holidays etc. delaying the start time)

One of the key points also seems to be the way in which the outage is reported which can be by ringing in, by VM's automatic fault/test procedures or following a tech visit declaring a loss of service.

One of the forum team should pick this up in a day or so and be able to give you more information.

Cheers for the info, that's v helpful.

I have managed to resolve the matter via Virgin Media's Twitter account. I haven't got all the compensation but I have covered my very high data costs so I'm happy. A point of information for all, if there is a local fault at the same time as your specific fault, you won't get compensation, at least that is what happened to me.

Hi @rubymcqueen

I have had a further look at your issue from here.  I'd like to discuss this with you further.  I am going to send you a private message.

Regards

 

Lee_R


@rubymcqueen wrote:

<snip> A point of information for all, if there is a local fault at the same time as your specific fault, you won't get compensation, at least that is what happened to me.


This is a good example, from topics on here, of how the information relayed to some customers over the phone seems to be a mashup of what the conditions of the scheme actually say.

Have a good read of sections 8 through to 16 in the second link above.

A total loss of service is a total loss of service, irrespective of whether it is a general one in the area or at the customer's property. The VM get-outs for this seem to be if it is a planned outage and VM have given notification of the outage and/or the loss must always be judged via a wired connection (to discount wireless connectivity problems).

VM don't send tech's out if a general area issue is identified but, if you actually have had a total loss of service for that time and you registered it in the correct way, that should have been covered under the scheme see 8b where

8b. following an engineer visit or remote testing and diagnosis, a TLS is identified and a fault is (or should have been) recorded on that line or service

the 'should have been' bit may be relevant to your situation. The fact that a tech had to visit to resolve, and the length of time you mention having no connection, suggests something more specific to your individual connection.

Only you will know the specifics of the breakdown but see if any of the above fits with what happened and is relevant to your situation.

Looks like @Lee_R from the forum team is on the case for you and hopefully he can make some sense of it for you.

Here when you're ready @rubymcqueen

Regards

 

Lee

Hi @rubymcqueen

Just a quick note to confirm you're satisfied with the response and efforts of the forum team?  Remember if you ever need assistance in the future, our fantastic community and forum team are always willing to lend a hand.

Regards


Lee_R

Lee thank you so much, you have completely resolved the compensation issue by reviewing all the details. I’m really grateful. This community is brilliant!

That's fantastic.  Call on our assistance any time.  

Regards


Lee