A new compensation scheme for UK home broadband users commences today, with Ofcom putting new rules in place to give money back to consumers experiencing delayed repairs, missed appointments and overdue starts to services.
With seven of the UK's biggest internet companies signing up to the new scheme, including BT Broadband, Sky, TalkTalk, and Virgin Media, they will automatically issue compensation without the customer having to ask if they experience one of these three different issues:
- Delayed repair: where service has stopped working and has not been fully fixed within two working days, there will be compensation of £8 for every day that it is not repaired
- Missed appointments: if an engineer doesn't show up when expected or cancels with less than 24 hours' notice, there will be compensation of £25
- Delay to start of service: when an ISP doesn't start a new service on the promised start date, there will be compensation of £5 for every day delayed
Ofcom estimates that the new scheme will see around £142m being returned to UK consumers and businesses that use residential broadband and landline connections.
“We think it’s unacceptable that people should be kept waiting for a new line, or a fault to be fixed," said Sharon White, Ofcom Chief Executive, "These new protections mean phone and broadband firms will want to avoid problems occurring in the first place. But if they fall short, customers must be treated fairly and given money back, without having to ask for it.
“We welcome the companies’ commitment to this scheme, which acts as a strong incentive to improve service for customers.”
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