Compensation for loss of service

mbl — Tue, 16 May 2023 19:19:42 GMT

I pay up front for a broadband & unlimited calls contract. On March 6th My BB & LL service were suspended due to late payment (my fault I know). I immediately paid. It was not reconnected 24hrs later so I called & was told it should have been automatically reconnected but there was something wrong with my account so they would get it fixed by the 10th.

I was then issued another bill, which I paid on time.

On the 10th neither the BB or LL were working again so I called back & was told there was something wrong with my account & it would be fixed by the 15th.

On the 15th neither the BB or LL were working so I called again. This time they told me there was a problem with the LL that was affecting the BB & after a long phone call they managed to get the BB back on but still no LL. They said they would fix it, but instead gave me a restricted service which would not let me make any outgoing calls & played a messages saying "You cannot make calls from this line, please contact your provider".

On March 31st I still had no outgoing calls so phoned again & was told there was a fault & I needed an engineer. The engineer came & said there was nothing he could do as BT had put me on a restricted service and he couldn't change that. I called back & once again was told there was a problem with my account & they would look into it.

On April 5th my LL finally started working again (a month after they turned it off).

I was then issued another bill and a reconnection charge. I then called to enquire about compensation & my account was credited for £49.50 & I was told any other compensation would be paid by May 13th.

On May 13th I was not given any compensation, but was issued another bill. I opened a complaint & was informed by Loretta that I was not entitled to any compensation because I did not have a total loss of service. She said the £49.50 was all I was getting to cover the period my BB was down but I wouldn't get anything for my LL not working & she closed my complaint. However the automatic compensation owed for that period comes to £58 not £49, so that is wrong & I also paid upfront for unlimited phone calls that I couldn't make, which wasn't refunded.

I then reopened my complaint because Ofcom confirmed to me that having no LL for a month does count as loss of service.

I then had another phone call from BT saying that yes I should get £58 instead of £49, but I was not entitled to any other compensation because the issue was not caused by a fault but by them choosing to turn my LL off. And as it wasn't a fault I was not entitled to automatic compensation. They then refunded my upfront charge but not the extra £9 they admit they owe me. I told them I was not happy and would like to escalate my complaint.

I then spoke to Ofcom again who confirmed a Loss of Service is a Loss of Service no matter what the reason is, and as BT have admitted it was their mistake I am entitled to automatic compensation for the entire month I was without a LL.

I have not heard anything else from BT who are trying to get away without paying for their mistake. I am going to take this to an ADR dispute if they do not sort it out but they seem unwilling to reply to my complaint. Their customer service is appalling.

Re: Compensation for loss of service

DanielS — Wed, 17 May 2023 09:47:56 GMT

Hi @mbl,

First of, I am sorry for the experience that you've had. That's not good enough on our part.

Check out Lifting restrictions on your BT service. It states that we will reconnect you within 24 hours of processing your payment.

If we fail to get your line back on within a day after you've paid us for service, then that's our fault.

I'd like my team to take full ownership of this for you and help you.

I'm going to send you a private message that you can reply back to me on.

After you reply to it, one of my team will get in touch with you within a few working days.

Thanks
DanielS

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Compensation for loss of service

Re: Compensation for loss of service