Complaints response

[cjsteenekamp]

Does anyone know of a way to get a response out of this useless company regarding a complaint?

The klutz that they sent to my house to install my broadband broke my brand new TV set and I have not been able to get a response from them in 6 weeks, despite their very friendly bot constantly promising that "You'll hear from us soon".

Companies showing this level of disdain for their paying customers should have their business licenses revoked!

[goslow]

VM's responses to complaints are often poor (and have previously earned VM low rankings in OFCOM satisfaction surveys as a result).

Suggest you re-post in the 'Quick Start' forum as VM forum staff don't often reply here in 'Community Natter'.

The CISAS arbitration scheme (next step beyond a VM complaint) does not deal with property damage so guess you would have to go via a small claims route or house insurance etc. to claim compensation for the damage.

See info here

https://www.cedr.com/consumer/cisas/complainnow/

and helpline no. at bottom of page if you wish to discuss/confirm with them first.

[goslow]

Your topic has now been moved into 'Quick Start'. One of the VM forum team should reply here in due course.

[jem101]

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@goslow wrote:

Your topic has now been moved into 'Quick Start'. One of the VM forum team should reply here in due course.

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And I have no doubt that they will respond here in due course, in the meantime, though, could you expand on the 'broke your TV' statement? What did they do, what worked before and what doesn't work now?

[Ashleigh_C]

Hi there @cjsteenekamp

Thank you so much for your first post to our community forums and welcome to the team! It's great to have you here! 

I'm so sorry to hear that this happened during your install! This isn't at all what we would expect from an engineer and we are so sorry again that this has happened.

I'm going to pop you a PM so we can get some more details about this and look into the issue for you.

Please keep an eye out for the purple envelope in the top right corner of your screen alerting you to a new message. 

[cjsteenekamp]

The technician who came to install our broadband turned the TV set without first checking that there was sufficient play on the cables. In doing so he severed the analogue aerial jack from the TV, because that cable has very little play. To add insult to injury he failed to report what he had done and simply left. The TV was expensive (>GBP1000), less than a month old and can now not receive any analogue signals (i.e. BBC).

Almost two months later I am yet to get a response out of VM. Truly abysmal customer service!

[cjsteenekamp]

Last week I finally received a visit from VM to assess the damage and yesterday they arbitrarily, and without consultation, issued me with a £40 credit as resolution of my complaint.

This is a complete joke! The TV is barely 3 months old and cost £1,300. There is no chance that it will only cost £40 to repair, if it can be repaired at all.

There does not appear to be any way to challenge this "resolution" on the website. Does anyone know how one can take this further or do you have to subject yourself to the sheer torture of the complaints process again?

[Andrew-G]

Normally I'd say reject the comedy "resolution" and escalate the matter to CISAS, but that's not an option in the case of property damage which is outside their terms of reference.  However, that isn't the end of the matter - contact Citizens Advice, see what they can advise.

Potentially you'll need to make a court claim against VM, but that can all be done online these days, and Citizens Advice can guide you on how to do this.  

[cjsteenekamp]

Thanks Andrew. I will look into it.

This has now become a matter of principle for me. All I want is to have an adult conversation with a human being to resolve this issue that has now been dragging on since 15 July 2022. I simply find it incredible that a supposedly respectable business thinks it can treat customers this way. I refuse to subject myself to the torture of their automated "customer service" any longer.

They have poked the bear. I will submit a complaint every day until someone picks up the phone and calls me. I have done this before. It is tedious, but 100 consecutive daily complaints worked the last time.

[Andrew-G]

Well, the other way forward rather than trying to wear them (and yourself) down, would be to contact CISAS and complain not about the TV damage, but about VM's inadequate handling of your complaint.  If CISAS agree that's in scope, they can order VM to pull their finger out and resolve the matter, and you'll perhaps be pleased by the fact that VM will be charged costs by CISAS, that fall in the range of £150-400.  The lower of those is where VM immediately settle the complaint with the customer, the higher when they contest the matter.  You should of course do a quick summary complaint to Ofcom about the poor complaint handling, and follow up with Citizens Advice.  I suspect it will come to issuing proceedings. 

One other option would be to join Which? Legal Services.  That's a hundred quid a year, but gets you unlimited telephone advice from qualified lawyer who really know consumer law.  That'd often be the same price as an initial consultation with a high street generalist lawyer, but you've got the option of contacting WLS whenever you need.  Have a look, see if seems like a good thing for you.  You could even try and add the first year's subscription to the cost of your claim against VM.  Based on my own experience of using WLS, with Which on your side, VM's bungling liability dodgers don't stand a chance.