UPDATE Citizens Advice Scolds BT Openreach for Slow Installs and Repairs

The Citizens Advice agency has described the broadband market’s current compensation system as being “deeply unfair” after it revealed that Openreach (BT) had failed to complete over 20% of repairs (364,000) and 6% (281,000) of installations on time between April to September 2016.

Overall Openreach is said to have installed approximately 4.46 million new connections and made 1.78 million repairs to broadband and landline connections during the 6 month period. However the CA claims that each week an average of 14,000 consumers and small businesses “waited longer than they should for broadband and phone line repairs“, while a further 11,000 experienced late installations.

The CA also claimed that an analysis of 1,000 broadband problems reported to the agency revealed how people are repeatedly having to “negotiate with providers to get engineers out or receive any kind of financial compensation“.

On top of that the CA believes that ISPs “are typically paid compensation” by Openreach for each day that there is a delay fixing a landline fault or setting up a new service, while customers who have been inconvenienced “can get nothing to make up for their losses.”

Gillian Guy, CEO of Citizens Advice, said:

“It is deeply unfair that broadband suppliers are automatically compensated but customers have to fight for every penny.

Companies are paid every time a broadband or landline repair or installation is delayed. But customers who bear the brunt of these problems have to fight for compensation from their broadband company – and may not get any.

When installations or repairs are delayed this can leave broadband customers without an internet connection for days. On top of the hassle and frustration of trying to rearrange the call-out, not having a working broadband connection can make it harder for people to complete important everyday tasks like applying for jobs, shopping online, and even running their business.

The Digital Economy Bill gives MPs the opportunity to make sure broadband customers hit by delays get compensation automatically instead of having to negotiate and fight for it. It is important that clear standards are set for this compensation so people know exactly when they are eligible and how much they can claim.”

Earlier this year the Director of Openreach, Kim Mears, admitted that their “biggest failing” was missing 1,000 appointments every week (here): “When we get it [installs etc.] wrong, we repeat the problem by missing appointments. We repeat the problem due to systems, process, ways of working – it could be a multitude of issues,” said Mears. The CEO of BT Group, Gavin Patterson, similarly chimed in to add, “We’ve got to be faster in repairing service.” Sky Broadband has raised similar concerns in the past (here).

However it’s worth pointing out that the situation for ISPs isn’t quite as straightforward as the CA suggests. Providers sometimes complain that they can be forced to foot the bill for Openreach to find and repair faults in its own network (e.g. disputes over SFI charges / missing broadband faults due to inadequate testing etc.).

On top of that the level of compensation that an ISP receives isn’t always quite so clear cut. Openreach does compensate reasonably well for phone line (PSTN) faults, but getting compensation for broadband is a bit more complicated and tends to reflect a much smaller amount. This isn’t always an issue for Openreach either, sometimes it’s more of a matter for BTWholesale and TalkTalk Wholesale etc. (e.g. Openreach doesn’t sell ADSL).

Similarly if a problem on OR’s network causes an ISP’s customers to become angry and leave or complain (e.g. loss of service due to a fault), then the ISP takes the hit and possibly hundreds of pounds in ADR complaint handler fees, while Openreach as the supplier avoids this.

Lest we not forget those times where people can be hit by a charge because the engineer claimed the person wasn’t home for their visit, when in fact they were present and the engineer either vanished before the home owner could get to the door or the home owner simply never heard or saw anybody (this has happened to me too), despite waiting inside all day.

In fairness if you want a better level of service then the solution is usually to pay for a business connection and better Service Level Agreement (SLA), which might at least return some compensation for any loss of service and could also result in the fault being fixed more quickly (depending upon the cause and availability of local engineers etc.).

Meanwhile Ofcom’s changes are forcing Openreach to improve and in July the operator revealed that their engineers had fixed 84% of faults within just 2 working days, which compares to 67% when reporting began two years ago (here). Openreach also said that 93% of new lines are installed on time and they’re on track to halve missed appointments this year.

Clive Selley, CEO of Openreach, said (July 2016):

“Improving the service that we provide to customers, is my number one priority. These latest figures show we’re making real progress. Everyone at Openreach recognises there’s more to do, but these are encouraging signs that our investments and focus are having a positive effect.

We’re recruiting 1,000 engineers this year, and by simplifying the way we work and giving our people the training and tools they need, we will achieve even better outcomes. I’m particularly pleased that we’ve managed to repair faults faster than this time last year, despite the wettest June on record.”

Ofcom are now proposing further improvements as part of their Strategic Review proposals (here), one of which includes a new “automatic compensation” requirement for when consumers suffer a fault that causes a “loss or reduction of service” (details); the latter is being introduced as part of the Government’s Digital Economy Bill 2017.

The Citizens Advice agency also wants Ofcom to set clear standards on when consumers would be entitled to compensation because of delays and how much they would get. The group suggests that this could work in a similar way to the £75 compensation people receive from their energy company for delays when their electricity is not up and running again 12 hours after a power cut.

However broadband is a much more dynamic and complicated service, where identifying the cause of a problem can be very challenging. For example, it may not be the ISPs fault, such as in the case of a faulty laptop or bad home wifi setup.

Ofcom has indicated that they may also need to review the compensation arrangements between wholesale and retail providers, although others argue that this is more of a private contractual matter for the ISPs and their suppliers to resolve. On the other hand some ISPs feel as if Openreach is so big that they would have little prospect of negotiating a reasonable change (here).

One other risk from such a system is that we could all end up paying higher prices for our broadband so that ISPs are able to cover the costs of offering automatic compensation, particularly if they’ll struggle to recoup the money from their suppliers. Describing this as a complicated problem would be an understatement.

We did seek a comment from Openreach earlier this morning, but the operator has not responded to our hails. Ofcom’s original intention, assuming it still stands, is to post the outcome of their consultation before the end of this year.

UPDATE 5th Dec 2016

A spokesperson for BT Consumer / Retail has informed us that the ISP will “proactively introduce automatic compensation in 2017.” On top of that Openreach has also offered up a statement.

An Openreach spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:

“Openreach has been making a lot of progress with customer service over the past year. We’ve been exceeding the targets set by Ofcom and we’re on track to halve the number of missed appointments we’re responsible for to 2.5%.

We offer service providers a range of repair levels that vary from six hours to three days, allowing them to decide the best options to offer their customers.

Around 80% of our repairs are carried out within two days, but if we miss an appointment or fail to fix a fault within the agreed timeframes, then we pay compensation to our service provider customers automatically.

We are sorry where people have suffered or are still suffering service problems. Openreach does get things right the vast majority of the time – and managing more than 20 million broadband connections is not a simple task – but improving service is our number one priority.”