Compensation for loss of service in September

[#1]

Through no fault of my own I had no internet access for a total of nine days last month. I was informed I would receive compensation for (at least some of) those days. 34 days have passed since the fault was fixed. In Billings and Payments it says that my usual payment will be taken from my bank account at the end of this month, and my balance in billing and payments is still £0.

I figured that the total compensation amount would appear in my balance in billings and payments, and my next few bills would be paid from that amount rather than taken from my bank account. Is that not the way it works?

I tried to phone support to discuss this, but was told there was a twenty minute waiting time, and soon gave up. Also, when I was having this trouble last month all my calls to Plusnet were free on an 0800 (and I hardly had to wait to speak to someone) number, but now it's changed to an 0330 number, which costs me. Has that just changed?

[#2]

You need to look at the detail of the bill, not the summary page.

Compensation is applied as credits to the account and will appear in the billing cycle following the 30 days mentioned.

The process might well report that "Your payment will be taken on or around" even with a negative 'outstanding' balance ... but nothing is actually processed to the bank.

So your key consideration is what does the Outstanding Balance box report - for example...

[#3]

Latest bill (to be paid at the end of this month) shows:-

Other Items £0.00

Outstanding Balance:< regular amount I pay each month>

[#4]

Would you know if the service outage was associated with a Major Service Outage (MSO)?  MSO issues do not get the automatic compensation automatically - it requires staff intervention.  Call support.

[#5]

I just called them (and got trhough straight away this time), and was told I would not receive any compensation .

As said on call, the fault symptom was no synchronisation, and so we unfortunately we don't give out compensation for that type of symptom.

It was lovely speaking to you. 

That was in the email they just sent me. I get nothing, not even a reduction in my monthly bill for the nine days I had no internet, engineers in my house for hours, all the time consuming phone calls to Plusnet I made. Nothing. I don't know what that '

no synchronisation

bit means. I do know I was told several times that there was nothing I could do to fix the problem myself.

Oh well, such is life.😬  Thanks for replying to my posts, something nobody from Plusnet did.

[#6]

Wow, that is shocking. Personally I wouldn't accept that. "no synchronisation" means there is no service, so there is a fault, and they have a couple of days to fix it and if it takes longer then compensation should be due. There are some causes where compensation isn't due, but they would have to explain just what that circumstance was. 

[#7]

@Zasps I'd have to agree with @corringham here, the type of fault is irrelevant, if there's 'no service', there's 'no service', irrespective of what caused the fault, and compensation should be due. There are some circumstances, such as in the case of a Major service outage(MSO) where compensation may not be due. I'd suggest raising a complaint, there's a link to the complaints code of practice at the bottom of every forum page. 

[#8]

Thank you, both. On reflection I don't think it's fair, either. Plusnet has been my ISP for the last sixteen years, and until last month's incident they've been alright. I think this is shoddy, though. I have filled in the complaint form and sent it. I'll update this topic as and when events unfold..

[#9]

@Zasps 

Let us be clear here; it does not matter what the cause of a total loss of service is ... compensation should be forth coming, so long as the "without service and no hinderance to rectification" criteria are met.  Here is my boiler-plate guide to the scheme...

Ofcom Automatic Compensation Scheme

Plusnet is signed up to the Ofcom Automatic Compensation Scheme - see Automatic Compensation FAQs. Plusnet will pay automatic compensation in the following circumstances:

1. Delayed activation of your broadband and/or landline service
2. Delayed repair following a total loss of service
3. Missed appointments

For compensation to be paid (as a credit to your account), you must have a CONFIRMED date for the failed activity. Compensation is credited within 30 days following the resolution of the issue giving rise to the claim.

To see what is happening in detail, check the ticket history on your account - log into the portal in another tab, return here and click the PN TICKET link below. Look at the details of the tickets; if there appears to be no activity after the due date, contact support.

Note: Outages arising from a Major Service Outage (MSO) event need to be processed manually, so you might need to contact support.

A total loss of service due to a MSO is covered, albeit, that the compensation payment is not processed automatically.  Would you know if other properties in the locale were similarly without service?

The fact that you've had several BTOR engineers on site, suggests a difficult issue with BT Openreach's infrastructure.  There must be more to this scenario which someone is not being clear about - compensation is ultimately paid for by BTOR ... so one wonders why the matter is being ducked?

@James_B though this individual's case is with the HLE team, can the circumstances in which "a total loss of synchronisation" has not been deemed "a total loss of service" as defined by the Ofcom Automatic Compensation Scheme, be examined please.  The advice given (without clarification of mitigating circumstances) seems potentially flawed.

[#10]

Hello @Zasps. 

I have reached out via Private Message for some more information regarding this. 

When you have a moment please check your community inbox. 

Speak soon, 

Katie

[#11 · Accepted solution]

Plusnet have contacted me following my complaint form message, and I have in fact now received some compensation. Not often I complain about anything (and I really don't like having to do so!), but I'm glad I did so on this occasion.

Thanks for all the input in this topic.