Can I take Virgin to small claims court?

BFundleFan10

Hi,
My broadband cable was severed accidentally at the beginning of April last year and still hadn't been repaired by the time we moved out mid August. Virgin kept reassuring me we'd be added to the automatic payment scheme. CIFAS ordered them to do it in October- they didn't. I contacted Offcom earlier this year who found in my favour and gave Virgin 4 actions to complete. Virgin closed the case on 3rd July but have failed to do any of them. Nobody from offcom or virgin are responding to me. Can I take Virgin to the small claims court?
Thanks

Alderbank

You can take anyone, including Virgin, to small claims court.

Whether you have any chance of winning is another matter and you haven't yet given us anything like enough information to advise on that.

Which of the Virgin companies would you like to sue (you must sue the correct entity)?

What have they actually done? Did they sever your cable while installing other cables in the street?

I don't think you mean CIFAS! Did you mean CISAS (the Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme)?

If you meant CISAS, that's the wrong scheme. No Virgin companies are registered with them. Virgin Media and Virgin Media Business are both registered with the other ADR, the Communications Ombudsman.

born_again

Who severed the cable?

Did Virgin charge you for the period April till you moved out?

DullGreyGuy

You can take anyone to court, the court decides if it should be Small Track or one of the higher tracks (though the guidance is to put claims into the lowest track possible)

If you will win, if you get any money or have to pay their costs etc will all depend on if you've followed due process and the strength of your case/how you present the case compared to their response. 

BFundleFan10

Hi, 
Thanks for your comments.

Contractors working on the driveway next door severed the cable, which was quickly identified by Virgin media. I should have been put onto the automatic payment scheme after 2 days of them knowing about the fault, but that didn't happen. I asked for mobile broadband of some kind which they refused, but continued to charge me until late August. I followed their complaint process and was in contact very frequently. On 4 occasions, the engineering works to lay the new cable were cancelled either last minute, or they just didn't show up. When I called, they said it had been rescheduled and each reschedule was at least 6 weeks away. The last time they didn't come, I was told they couldn't give a new appointment date.

CISAS (sorry, typo) found in October last year (I went via the ombudsman website and was directed to them as they were responsible for Virgin until January this year). They told Virgin to put me on the automated payment scheme, which they failed to do. They also stopped corresponding with me.

In March this year, I contacted Offcom and they also told Virgin to put me on the automated compensation scheme. On 3rd July, Virgin closed the complaint saying all actions had been completed and the cheque was being printed, but it's now the 1st August and I've had nothing from them other than confirmation they're closing the complaint. 

I've notified Offcom who said they'd contact Virgin. I've also emailed Virgin 3 times on the email address I was given by them to contact if I had any issues with the resolution, but I've also had no response for the past 2 weeks.

If the ombudsman can't get them to pay up. I don't know who can, hence my question on if it's worth going to the small claims court.

Many thanks.

tightauldgit

If Virgin said they will issue you a cheque on July 3rd then i wouldn't panic yet - it might be on an automated system that generates cheques to a monthly cycle or it might be sitting on someone's desk needing approval. It's that time of year when people are off on holiday etc.