Virgin Broadband - compensation?

cadillacs

I hope someone can advise me on this...

My broadband connection with Virgin was lost for 4 weeks. After numerous phone calls, and several different excuses from Virgin, they finally admitted that the fault was theirs, following what appears to have been a disastrous "upgrade".

As my business relies heavily on having broadband, I lost some business during the 4 weeks. I certainly intend claiming back my monthly fee, but before I write to their Customer Services dept, I wonder if I could claim any compensation for the inconvenience caused, and for lost business?

Anybody else lose their connection with Virgin?

Many thanks

CLLC

Hi ,

sorry that i can't help much but i know of clauses in the terms and conditions of many isp's

They say 'they are not liable for any damges whether it be financial , data etc.

But they may provide you with some compensation through goodwill ????

One last thing is , are you allowed to use it for commercial use???

CLLC

Nilrem

Was the connection a business one or a normal residential one?

If it was a residential one then all you're likely to get back is the monthly cost, possibly with a credit to the account for a bit extra.
VM like most ISP's don't offer any additional compensation for loss of earnings/business on a consumer line (one of the reasons their business connections cost more), and indeed I believe you aren't strictly meant to be using a consumer connection to run a business.

If it was a business line, check the contract it might offer some additional compensation in the event the line is down for more than X hours or Y days.

soolin

I've tried getting compensation from Virgin without any success, I'm lucky to even manage to talk to them on the phone. Since the last set of upgrades I can barely stay online for longer than 5 minutes and I've just this minute called them again (having had them fail to call me back for the past 3 days as arranged) only to be told they are too busy to take calls and to phone back another time.

It's a great way to run an internet business isn't it, I never know from one minute to the next whether I'll be able to download my orders.

Tea3

Definately dont mention you use the connection for business reasons unless you are paying for a commericial connection. I had problems with them last year and mentioned I have a website which I need access to and the guy on the phone started spouting about how they can cancel the connection and back-date the charges for the difference in price between residential and commercial package and installation etc and how I was breaking terms of contract. Thankfully I also have a website I created for a family friend about their travels so was able to say that was the website I was refering too and was not business related but I was slightly paranoid for a while that they may monitor my account etc after that. I think if you are paying for a residential package only then best you could hope for is the money back for when no or poor access and maybe a little goodwill amount, but could end up costing you if you mention the business use. Sorry its not what you want to hear but from someone who was in a similar situation its the cheapest and best outcome it seems.

cadillacs

Thanks so much for your responses. I'm glad I didn't write to them before I came on this forum, as I had intended to mention my business use. I don't advertise on the net, or even have a website, it's just for sending work (I'ma cartoonist) by email.