Automatic compensation not applied for 14 days TLS

[Solosheep]

I will try to keep this short. I joined Virgin Media Fiber BB on the 3rd of October. All was going well until the 23rd of October when I lost service. I won’t go into detail of the pain this was to get this fixed unless needed but I would not get service back until the 9th of November. Since then, I have been in a battle with Virgin media customer service. They are only offering me one day of lost service at £9.76.

They have failed to return my phone calls at time requested latest was today at 11am.

I have sent them my breakdown of what I believe should be the compensation but this is not going anywhere. So I have lost faith on what to do next does the community have any advice to offer?:-

Based on my calculation for the TOTAL LOSS of service I see this figure as:-

TLS Compensation:

Notification of TLS = 23/10/24 at 17:49 this was done by phone 

Wait two working days = 25/10/24 at 17:49

Compensation starts thus from the 25/10/24  -> 08/11/24 as service was restored on the 09/11/24  - so expected compensation at the rate of 9.76GBP x14 days = £136.64

Missed appointment

On the 26/10/24 - Virgin did not attend a pre-booked appointment and did not inform me they would not attend based on this as a missed appointment compensation of £30.49 is due

Incorrect billing

On my October bill I was charged £24 when it should have been £21 thus expecting a further credit of £3

Extra

As we did not have internet for 14 days, we had to buy extra data on our mobile device this was £5 and receipt can be provided. 

In total I'm expecting total credits/compensation to be £175,13

Any advice?

[goslow]

Looks like your TLS calc should also include another £9.76 for the first few days of the outage 23/10 to 25/10 inc. (VM's 2 working day opportunity to fix but failed to do so, called the 'payment trigger time') so your TLS total is £146.40

The auto comp scheme does not provide for any claims for you buying an extra data allowance, just the daily rate of £9.76.

Have you put this issue in a formal complaint to VM (as opposed to general comunication via the usual support routes)?

A formal complaint to VM is required first of all

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/complaints

but there are regular topics on here where customers report that VM has failed to pay what is owed under auto comp. If/when that happens via the formal complaint you then escalate to the ombudsman via the timescales and processes here

https://www.commsombudsman.org/our-process

A VM forum team person should reply here within a few days and may offer to look into it for you which might bypass the above.

[jpeg1]

It seems to me that the "automatic" compensation is anything but, where VM are concerned. 

I wonder if Ofcom know how many times VM have resisted paying what is due under their scheme? 

[Solosheep]

Hello, Thanks for your reply. Yes I started the offical complaint process during the 14 days outage. Which is also why I'm frustrtrated as nothing seems to be happening in this regard and they call me at very random times and not when we have arranaged a call back. 

I'm aware of the Ombudsman proccess I was just hoping if there was a way to speak to a UK based person on the issue as I have to always repeat myself with the india based call centre/email. 

With regards the extra days you talked about - I dont know if this would apply because they said it needs to be two working days since the logged call so this is why I did not count the 23rd/24th.

As the auto compensation did not apply I added the "extra data" purchase to my calculations because it appears this will have to be added manaully anyway. 

[jpeg1]

You can't claim for the cost of data. That is what the compensation is to cover.

[goslow · Accepted solution]

The auto comp scheme applies when you experience a 'total loss of service' of broadband and/or phone. The OFCOM scheme is explained below. 

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/consultations/uncategorised/98684---automati...

and a TLS is defined at para 23.

If you experience a TLS, VM gets two full working days to fix the fault (known as the 'payment trigger time'). If VM fails to fix the fault by the end of the payment trigger time, you get an initial payment of £9.76 to cover the first few days of the outage, the payment trigger time. Thereafter it is a calendar day rate of £9.76 for each full day until the fault is fixed. You need to phone in the fault to VM to start the compo clock ticking or use one of the automated tests to acknowledge the issue.

VM has 30 days from when your service is restored to credit your account with any compo due. Many dozens of past topics on here describe VM support agents failing to apply the compensation scheme correctly and either invent their own lesser amount of compo or try to come up with a figure based on package price. Legitimate ways VM can reduce/avoid payouts are in para 40 above.

So, if you had a TLS for 14+ days and you reported to VM in the correct way right at the start then the auto comp would apply.

An easy read summary is here

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/service-quality/automatic-compensation-need-know/

Work out what you think you are due, in line with the scheme, and make sure you get that. If you don't think you have received what is due you can escalate to the ombudsman. The reports, on here, of those who have used the service have said it was a fair and accessible process.

The VM forum team will reply here in due course and may be able to bypass all of the above to ensure you are paid correctly but, while waiting, there is a useful post below on how to prepare evidence for the ombudsman.

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/QuickStart-set-up-and/compensation-for-delay-in-broadband-insta...

the above was actually for an installation issue but the same principles apply to claiming for a fault.

[Solosheep]

thanks for this information I have logs of all the conversations I have had during this time. I also will take note of the extra two days of the £9,76 into my calculations. I hope as you said the forum team do respond here as yet again I have had nothing back from the offical complaint since they faield to return the call we arranged on friday. 

[John_GS]

Hi @Solosheep 

Thanks for posting and welcome back to the community.

Apologies for the loss of services firstly and also the issue of the disputed compensation plus the callback that didn't happen.

I'll send you a PM now to assist further.

[Solosheep]

Replied to your DM