Guidance needed on OFCOM Automatic Compensation (CoP)

PaperPauper

I've been royally messed about by Virgin Media over the last month and left without internet, TV or phone after they messed up our house move on 28th November. I'll spare the full details but as many of you probably already can attest to, their customer service has been diabolical. It looks as if they now won't be able to install us until 16th January at the very earliest.

Having failed the install on 28th Nov, they were meant to install on 21st Dec but sent me a message at 6.45pm on 20th to say they were putting it back. They said they will automatically credit me £26.24 on my next bill which is the standard rate for a missed appointment.

However, they have not mentioned the daily compensation which I should receive for Total Loss of Service according to the OFCOM Automatic Compensation Scheme Code of Practice (CoP) of which VM are a signatory. This would amount to £235.20 (28 days @ £8.40) and will be £394.80 (47 days @ £8.40) by 16th January 2023.

When I raised this with them, I was told that "when you have a total loss of service the Auto Compensation is added once the fault is fixed, in the meantime the bill will be generated as normal." though it seems wrong that I have to keep paying my bill but they don't have to compensate me until after the issue is resolved or the contract is terminated.

I checked through the OFCOM CoP (full copy is available in PDF form from the above link) and it's not clear to me:

1. Whether I still have to continue paying a bill for a service I've not received. I'm sorely temped not to (since I'm already having to shell out £25/month for an unlimited 4G SIM) but that could land me in breach of contract. The CoP doesn't seem to mention this which I assume means I have to keep on paying it.
2. What happens if I cancel? The CoP para. 30 states "Any compensation shall be made in a timely manner and no later than ... 30 calendar days after the Total Loss of Service is resolved or the customer or Communications Provider terminates the service" - so it seems I should be compensated for lack of service even if I cancel, but I can just see VM flatly denying its responsibilities.

Has anyone been through this who could give me any guidance on how to take this forward?

littleboo

I would think that a house move would count as a "Delay with the start of a new service" and so £5.25/day from 28/11, because technically, that's what it is. A house move is effectively a stop of service at one address and provide a new service at another. And yes, I believe that you continue to pay the bill, and then get compensated within 30 days once the new service is working, or alternatively, if you cancel, within 30 days of cancellation.

PaperPauper

littleboo said:

I would think that a house move would count as a "Delay with the start of a new service" and so £5.25/day from 28/11...

Thanks for responding. The OFCOM guidelines don't give guidance on which category a house move falls under but I would argue strongly that this is a continuation of an existing service. Here's my logic:

I've been a VM customer since at least 2007 and had received the VM service in my old house for four years. I notified VM well in advance (9th Nov) that I was moving on 28th Nov, and further, I advised them that a cable pull would be required as the new house was a new build. This was acknowledged and accepted by VM (I have the chat transcript) so it was incumbent on VM to investigate any potential issues and address them prior to the move date, and they had ample time and opportunity to do this.

Given these factors I would say that I should have a reasonable expectation of continuity of service. However, I have moved and one month later I still have no VM service of any kind, even though I am being billed for it (there was certainly continuity of billing!)

On that basis, this is equivalent to me still being in my old house but the VM provision has completely failed and they haven't fixed it, in which case I am continuing monthly payments, but I should be entitled to the £8.40 compensation off of the bill for each and every day I am without service.

Either way, VM have not mentioned either provision and haven't offered any short term substitute (e.g. a 4G SIM card), which leads me to suspect that they will either reject the automatic compensation or, more likely given their abysmal customer service, simply fail to pay and I will then have to escalate the matter to OFCOM or go through CISAS. 

iniltous

TBH it’s pretty clear that it’s a delay in the start of a new service, rather than failure to repair an existing service , so compensation will be the £5.25 a day
Personally I’ve not really seen any discussion  if the compensation is in addition to not being billed for the days without service or the quoted compensation is provided, but the customer continues to be billed normally.

I suspect the reason there are two compensation figures, is to take the two scenarios into account, if it’s a failed install its  the lower amount, if it’s  a delay to restore a previously working service its the higher amount, because the bill for new service normally only starts from when service actually goes live , not when the provider assumed they would be providing service ,no one should pay for a new service before it’s actually provided.

 In your case I would think any payment made for a service not yet provided should be refunded , and in addition you get the £5.10 per day compensation, someone who had  a delay restoring a previously working service would get £8.40 but not be refunded the rental payments.