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Can you complain about "free"?
hsbcarter_2
Posts: 44 Forumite
Last night, I turned on my laptop to watch BTSport's Liverpool vs Everton which I get as part of my BT Infinity deal.
Unfortunately the stream was unwatchable as it buffered every 5 seconds (very strange because I have a 76Mbps connection!)
I complained to BT and their answer was, "yes there was a problem last night and you are not entitled to any redress because BT SPort is a free service."
As a customer this doesnt seem great but wondered if I had, potentially, a legal right for the service to work, or even a moral right.
Just because they provide it free - and use it as a marketing tool - should I have any "rights" over its failure to provide?
What do you think?
Unfortunately the stream was unwatchable as it buffered every 5 seconds (very strange because I have a 76Mbps connection!)
I complained to BT and their answer was, "yes there was a problem last night and you are not entitled to any redress because BT SPort is a free service."
As a customer this doesnt seem great but wondered if I had, potentially, a legal right for the service to work, or even a moral right.
Just because they provide it free - and use it as a marketing tool - should I have any "rights" over its failure to provide?
What do you think?
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Comments
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They are using weasel words.
It isn't "free" at all. If it was, the whole country could watch it without paying for it!
It's "complimentary" for their bb customers.
Though check the ts + cs as they probably cover themselves for this sort of problem0 -
Just because you have a big fat pipe coming in, it doesn't mean the traffic can run at full speed all the way to you.Unfortunately the stream was unwatchable as it buffered every 5 seconds (very strange because I have a 76Mbps connection!)
As there are no consequential losses if the service isn't present, what is there to complain about?Just because they provide it free - and use it as a marketing tool - should I have any "rights" over its failure to provide?
What do you think?Understeer is when you hit a wall with the front of your car
Oversteer is when you hit a wall with the back of your car
Horsepower is how fast your car hits the wall
Torque is how far your car sends the wall across the field once you've hit it0 -
As a customer this doesnt seem great but wondered if I had, potentially, a legal right for the service to work, or even a moral right.
No, unfortunately. Even though BT Sport forms part of your contract it is included at no extra cost (I won't say 'free').
The last time this happened the BT Sport app got over 1m hits and the BT servers couldn't cope with the demand and so some of them crashed. BT said less than a thousand people were affected.
BT issued an apology. No one got a refund.
They have now doubled their server capacity to cope with the phenomenal demand at peak times. But there are now clearly a lot more users. But they will know about it and take action.
hsbcarter, the next time you want to watch a game, log on early and book your place on the server then this shouldn't happen again. But sorry you missed the match.0 -
Surely the consequential loss is the price the price hsbcarter would have to pay another provider to get the service which BT isn't delivering?0
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There will be no guarantee of service in the contract so no chance of claiming compensation.
If this were a pub and the service failed there would be a consequential loss but also there would be a lot bigger charge for the service. Even then I suspect there would be weasel words in the contract preventing any claim.0 -
Surely the consequential loss is the price the price hsbcarter would have to pay another provider to get the service which BT isn't delivering?
But BT aren't charging for it in this particular instance to start with, it is a channel that is (as already said) "included at no extra cost".Understeer is when you hit a wall with the front of your car
Oversteer is when you hit a wall with the back of your car
Horsepower is how fast your car hits the wall
Torque is how far your car sends the wall across the field once you've hit it0 -
kwikbreaks wrote: »There will be no guarantee of service in the contract so no chance of claiming compensation.
I agree. Though for long periods of loss of service BT do give a goodwill payment/refund if one asks.0 -
I agree. Though for long periods of loss of service BT do give a goodwill payment/refund if one asks.
Usually any goodwill payment/refund is based on the value of the service that has been affected. If it is a 'value added' service with no cost assigned to it, then the compensation would be based on what the customer paid for this service - so nothing. All the costs in the contract are assigned to other elements of the service.0 -
Quiet_Spark wrote: »Just because you have a big fat pipe coming in, it doesn't mean the traffic can run at full speed all the way to you.
From BT's response; "yes there was a problem last night " - it sounds as though they weren't stuffing it in their end of the pipe fast enough.........0 -
Usually any goodwill payment/refund is based on the value of the service that has been affected. If it is a 'value added' service with no cost assigned to it, then the compensation would be based on what the customer paid for this service - so nothing. All the costs in the contract are assigned to other elements of the service.
I agree. But its a difficult one this.
BT are including BT Sport as an included incentive for signing up to BT BB or fibre. But if that 'no value' incentive doesn't work? Everyone is correct in saying there is no 'right', legal or moral, to a refund, but if it happens long enough, BT do always give a goodwill payment. But they wouldn't do that for a two hour broadcast, as they would regard that only as a blip. Hope that makes sense.0
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