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No phone/Internet = compensation??

Hi

To cut a long story short BT were repairing a fault with someone's line across the road from our house - we live in a little cul de sac - and our phone and Internet services are no longer working.

We obviously only found this out after we got home to find we had no dial tone or Internet and were investigating if this was network wide. Coincidence? We think not... Clearly by fiddling with someone else's cables they have done something to disconnect ours. So I raise a fault with BT yesterday just before 7pm

After various phone calls and promises that it will be resolved within their 3 day service agreement which takes them til midnight next Monday (a week after the fault was raised) I will have full service. Bt claim that day 1 starts from Wednesday and not Tues - no I didn't understand this either. This is a 5 day SLA in my book...

So no phone or Internet for a week, will I be entitled to compensation? I have paid a years line rental upfront. I am more than miffed that it will take them so long to sort out their own incompetence.

To add insult to injury they had agreed to forward calls to my mobile. 90 mins later I ring my landline and it goes to someone else's mobile. How can a company be so incompetent that they can't get this right?
I feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. I rely on my landline and I feel totally lost without the Internet.

What are my rights?
Mortgages Oct 2020: £308,283 Jul 2021 £286,600 October 2022 £253,456 MFW-22 #9 MFIT-T6 #35

Comments

  • Buzby
    Buzby Posts: 8,275 Forumite
    Yes, your compensation will be a full rebate for services not supplied, from the moment the fault is raised - not when the fix is attempted. Unless you pay for a business line, no disruption costs are due.

    The fact your line was affected by a neighbours repair is not unusual, but the motion of opening a protective cover can inadvertently cause wires to be dislodged. Just one of those things!
  • What about for all if the additional calls I'm making on my mobile? I have free evening and weekend calls on my landline and grandparents in hospital who I want to ensure are ok. Obviously my mobile contract is limited in terms of minutes which my landline isn't

    This honestly could not have happened at a worse time - although that isn't BT's fault it is a massive inconvenience.
    Mortgages Oct 2020: £308,283 Jul 2021 £286,600 October 2022 £253,456 MFW-22 #9 MFIT-T6 #35
  • System
    System Posts: 178,224 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Buzby wrote: »
    Yes, your compensation will be a full rebate for services not supplied,
    Only the telephone. There is no SLA for the internet.
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
  • Buzby
    Buzby Posts: 8,275 Forumite
    !!!!!! wrote: »
    Only the telephone. There is no SLA for the internet.

    If you don't ask, you don't get. Assuming the BB is also provided by BT, the rebate will also cover this.

    To the OP - no compensation is payable for consequential loss. It was your choice to use a mobile, so they're not going to pick up the tab. You can certainly opt for a faster repair response SLA (1 day) but this is targeted more to business users, and costs considerably more.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    You can ask for whatever out of pocket costs you like, it's a matter for negotiation and goodwill. But on a residential tariff you are not contractually entitled to anything other than a downtime credit.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • Thanks everyone.

    I have no choice but to use my mobile. I need to contact my family as I have a grandparent in hospital after a major op that couldn't be done under GA.

    Its really odd being completely disconnected from the world. A lot of Internet sites don't work from my work pv but I'm lucky this one does!
    Mortgages Oct 2020: £308,283 Jul 2021 £286,600 October 2022 £253,456 MFW-22 #9 MFIT-T6 #35
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,128 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    How did we manage BM (before mobiles)?
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • macman wrote: »
    How did we manage BM (before mobiles)?

    There were a lot more pay phones around!!
    Mortgages Oct 2020: £308,283 Jul 2021 £286,600 October 2022 £253,456 MFW-22 #9 MFIT-T6 #35
  • System
    System Posts: 178,224 Community Admin
    10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    macman wrote: »
    How did we manage BM (before mobiles)?
    We wrote letters.

    Anybody remember them?
    This is a system account and does not represent a real person. To contact the Forum Team email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com
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