Am I entitled to compensation if my net drops up to 30 times per day for 60 seconds each time?

[Proteus]

Am I entitled to compensation if my net drops up to 30 times per day for 60 seconds each time?

I am a streamer (People watch me plays games) and I make money doing it. But the constant disconnections, even just for a moment have meant i could not stream.

I did not have a total loss of internet, I had a consistent loss every 30 mins to 1 hour for 2 months and it has caused me a ton of problems.

There is a notice that work in the area will start on the 13th which i presume is to fix it.

But I'd like to know if these dropouts count as valid for compensation.

[Andrew-G]

You're not entitled to compensation, as for example under Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme, since that does not cover drop outs and temporary interruptions, but you potentially have a case for claiming compensation under the terms of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 that requires any consumer service to be provided with "reasonable skill and care", and under the Ofcom Fairness Commitments, that state "Customers’ services work as promised, reliably over time. If things go wrong providers give a prompt response to fix problems and take appropriate action to help their customers, which may include providing compensation where relevant. If providers can’t fix problems with core services they have promised to deliver within a reasonable period, customers can walk away from their contract with no penalty."

Your case depends upon you being able to put forward a reasonable argument with evidence that (a) the connection has drop outs of VM's service excluding wifi issues, and (b) you have contacted VM and given them reasonable and probably multiple chances to resolve this, but they have not done so in any timely manner.   VM contracts whether residential or business exclude liability for consequential losses, so your chances of claiming loss of income are not good, although there's nothing to stop you trying to claim.  If you want to make a claim, you'd need to read and follow the VM Consumer Complaints Code of Practice and make a formal complaint to VM. If VM can't sort your complaint out to your complete satisfaction, then you can either reject any "resolution" and ask for a deadlock letter, and use that to take the matter to Ombudsman Services, or if you don't have a deadlock letter then after eight weeks you can take to the ombudsman.  Make sure your complaint is clear, starts from the beginning, includes as much detail as possible on the contacts you've had with VM, including (if relevant) any rudeness or being cut off or disconnected. It should also specify exactly what you want by way of resolution.

[goslow]

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@Proteus wrote:

Am I entitled to compensation if my net drops up to 30 times per day for 60 seconds each time?

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Under the recognised 'automatic compensation scheme'

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/billing-and-payments/automatic-compensation

you would be paid for a 'total loss of service' for phone or broadband.

Intermittent problems are not covered by the above. You would need to make a formal complaint to VM about the connectivity and request compensation (which is likely to be fobbed off and ignored) and you would then have to go to the ombudsman with your complaint.

There is no service level agreement though on a residential connection and it is not intended for business purposes. So, if your question is along the line of compensation for loss of earnings from your streaming/gaming activities then you are not likely to get very far with that.

[newapollo]

Hi @Proteus 

What happened with the tech visit that was arranged on the 5th December on your other thread <<< here >>> ? 

"Hi for the past week or so my net constantly drops. I'm a streamer so this impacts my work"

[Paulina_Z]

Hi @Proteus,

Welcome back to our Community Forums! Thank you for your post and I'm very sorry to hear that you're experiencing some ongoing intermittent connection issues! We can understand how hard this can be, especially taking your profession into consideration.

As the other Community Members advised, as you're experiencing some intermittent, you won't be entitled to our Automatic Compensation Scheme, as this requires a total loss of service for over 48 hours.

I've taken a look at our systems and I cannot see any local issues, or any problems with your power levels. 

Have you recently had a technician come out to your property about a similar issue? If so, please let us know what was advised so we can help.

Thank you.

[Proteus]

Forgive me but how can you not have information showing no local issues when i've been reporting the issue for so long, the engineers themselves have reported the problem as netowkr related and the local service status shows that work will commence on the 13th of January in my local area to fix the issue?

Here is a picture form your own service status.

The service status also showed this for months

I've have had several engineers out. The router has been replaced, the power levels are fine and the house was re-wired.

Again, forgive me but how can you not know that there is an issue?

I've not had internet for more than an hour for months. This is post-covid where people work from home. This has impacted me massively.

The last engineer I saw said he has reported the problem and the "network boys" will fix it in the new year.

Is there anything you can do for me compensation wise and to actually fix the issue or atleast get some knowledge on the situation?

I signed up for 18 months of this and I NEED it fixing or i literally cannot work.

[Proteus]

This is today, every red/yellow spike line is a disconnection from the net.

How can this not be valid for compensation? It has been months.

[goslow]

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@Proteus wrote:

This is today, every red/yellow spike line is a disconnection from the net.

How can this not be valid for compensation? It has been months.

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Some general observations ...

I am pretty sure I have seen that same cyclical pattern of BQM disconnections every 30 mins in other topics of complaint on here. If I can find any, I will post some examples.

Earlier posts above have advised that you might be able to get some compensation for the issue(s) but it a) won't be via the automatic compensation scheme (as it is an intermittent fault) b) is unlikely to cover your lost earnings (as this is mentioned in several places in VM's T&Cs as being excluded).

You may get compensation via a complaint to VM (likely to be ignored) but then on via Ombudsman Services. Refer to Andrew-G's info at #2 above.

A further complication to throw into the mix is that under the automatic scheme you would not be covered for planned work about which you are notified in advance (as per planned work on 13 Jan). Therefore, not sure how exactly that would be assessed and considered during any arbitration process.

[Proteus]

Thank you for this info and your help. I'll try and have faith in them as i havent mentioned the compensation directly to them yet. I just wish they knew what was going on with their own network as everyone is saying different things.

[goslow]

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@Proteus wrote:
Thank you for this info and your help. I'll try and have faith in them as i havent mentioned the compensation directly to them yet. I just wish they knew what was going on with their own network as everyone is saying different things.

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Here are a couple of recent past topics which show a similar cyclical pattern of disconnections to your own BQM

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/QuickStart-set-up-and/Cable-Replacement-Needed/td-p/5136136/pag...

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/Still-Unusable-Broadband/m-p/5143366

Beyond my tech skills to tell you if the pattern indicates something specific by way of a particular kind of fault issue.

One of the topics mentions a SNR fault. No idea if that is relevant to the BQM pattern though. A tech guru may happen on your topic and be able to give you a proper answer.