No internet (send engineers to check after 4 days) ~ Terrible service

[Winnie]

The internet cannot connect suddenly at the midnight. I tried to call the CS advisor. They will send an engineer to check after 4 days. So I will have no connection at least 4 days. It is very terrible as I and my hubby work from home. The attitude of the CS is so rude. They are not polite to help you to solve the problem. It is very bad experience to have NOW broadband. 

If you cancel the engineer appointment, you need to wait 24 hours to make a new appointment! It is unreasonable. 

Do anyone have same experience to me? Could you please share how to solve it finally?

[gavs82008]

@Winnie 

It will be down to the system that is used by OpenReach. All I can suggest is to keep calling the team until a resolution is agreed.

See link for number.

https://help.nowtv.com/article/how-to-submit-a-broadband-complaint1

[RoyB]

@Winnie 

You will receive about £8 a day as compensation for your broadband being down.

This is often enough to cover the extra costs of using a mobile phone as a WiFi hotspot over the outage, so you can continue to WFH.

But Now is domestic broadband, not business, and was never intended for critical business use.

With two of you working from home, you might want to look at Sky Business broadband, which can be surprisingly close to Now pricing, with a 4G dongle for backup connectivity if the landline goes down.

[Winnie]

Thanks @gavs82008 , @RoyB 

But CS said we only can claim the compensation if the engineer cannot fix it. If the engineer can fix it at the day they visit, we have no compensation. It is really unfair. We are unhappy to have such terrible service!!! We really hope we can can appoint the engineer asap, however they said they cannot arrange. We use our mobile data. We highly not recommend NOW to anyone 

[RoyB]

@Winnie 

I don’t know who CS is or are, but they are wrong. If this is advice being given by Now Broadband, then whoever is giving it needs re-educating.

Here is Ofcom’s definitive pronouncement, where you will see that Sky/Now are signed up to it, and if your broadband is not fixed after two full working days, you are entitled to automatic compensation starting then. You never have to claim it, it just gets paid to you.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/automat...

So for a fault occurring at one minute past midnight on the 18th, then you are entitled to compensation from the minute you reported it plus 48 hours (as we are midweek in this instance), until the fault is fixed. Paid, without you having to take any further action, within 30 days of the fault being fixed. (With various provisions if the fault goes on longer than this, all spelt out there).

But Now had to start the compensation clock ticking from the moment you reported this issue, irregardless of any resource or other constraints that Now or Openreach might have.

If the deal that Now have with Openreach means that Now are happy to pay you at least £16.80 because Openreach can’t or won’t get to your issue fast enough, then that’s just weird.

But it seems to me that OFCOM’s clear intention was that broadband outages should at least start being addressed within two working days, so a four day delay before yours is even looked at seems to me to be outside the spirit of what Now signed up to. Though perhaps there are special circumstances here?

But certainly Now should not have said to you what you report them above as saying to you😢