But, What happens if we don’t have internet for several days? We can and must consult the legal conditions of each operator to find out if we are entitled to any kind of damages or compensation if the internet is not working. This depends on our operator and depends on the type of fault present or why our line is not working for us and how long it has not been working for us.
What can we claim? In general, we can make claims if the service interruption exceeds a certain number of hours or if it occurs in a certain period of time (e.g. during the day and not at night), however, the specific legal conditions of our operators must be aware of what we are entitled to, how to make a claim or what money to ask for if the internet is not working.
What to consider
We have to take into account that we have to make a distinction when the internet isn’t working for us two different cases: that the internet doesn’t work on the cell phone due to the data rate or something The internet does not work at home if we have ADSL or fiber optics. It is very rare for the data not to work for us and is usually due to a massive operator outage, worldwide.
But there are many factors that can lead to the internet not working at home, from your cat eating the router cables to a CTO outage or a fiber optic cable break. With home internet much more likely not to work via fiber optics or ADSL than internet on a mobile phone, times are changing when it comes to the right to claims.
Even though it depends exactly on the respective operator and its legal framework, there are a number of aspects that are repeated in almost all companies: We can demand compensation after six (sometimes eight) hours of service interruption in the mobile network from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. or we can do something if the error does not fixed within 48 calendar hours after you reported that there was a bug and the internet was not working at home. That means you don’t have fiber or ADSL.
Generally, technicians have a fixed period of 48 hours to resolve an incident and that period will apply when the period begins to run in which you can claim damages. You can go up to two days without internet and are not entitled to any compensation or payment. In other words: what do we have to consider if the internet is not working at home and we want to be compensated for it? The first, You must report the incident as soon as it is discovered because it will be the moment when this term established in the legal conditions begins to apply. Secondly, we must respect the times and deadlines indicated by the operator. And third, you must ask for compensation: you won’t get it if you don’t claim it.
How much will you pay us?
The amount you will pay us for the service interruption It also depends on the operator and we can find the amount or percentage in the different legal conditions. For example, orange points out that the discount for fixed services is the “discount corresponding to the proportional part of the monthly fee corresponding to the fixed service on the days when the customer is off-duty after 48 hours without service”.
Movistar It is also included in point 6.1.2 of the general conditions of its legal conditions: “will reimburse the Customer the amount corresponding to the proportionate part of the subscription fee for the Service during the period in which the Service is unavailable.”
Vodafone it also tells us how much he will pay us… Due to the disruption of the fixed internet It is an amount equivalent to the 10% monthly fee that we pay for the plan. The same in case of disconnection of the landline telephone. And in the case of Internet access from mobile phones after eight hours, Vodafone says they will refund an “amount equal to the monthly fee for the service affected by the interruption, pro rata for the time the commitment was exceeded”.
Do I have to pay in the event of a breakdown?
There is one last factor that we must consider: The operators do not pay us if the internet is not working due to our fault. Orange explains this in its legal terms: “In the event of service interruptions for reasons beyond Orange’s control and which are attributable to the customer, the latter is relieved of any liability in this regard. There is no compensation whatsoever for service interruption for breach of contract by the client”. Of course, they won’t pay you compensation if you removed a cable and that’s why the internet doesn’t work, if you turned off the router or if you ripped out the fiber optic cable.
Can the opposite be the case? Can the operator charge us in case of internet failure or if the connection doesn’t work for some reason and we let the technician come home to fix something we broke? It’s unlikely, but it can happen and it depends on where the fault lies or why you called the technician. There are cases where yes the defect will be considered chargeable but there are usually few occasions when this happens. It’s up to the technician to tick the box for the operator to charge the customer in case the error is “his fault”. And it depends on the responsible company or operator since not all of them have that box declaring that it was the customer’s fault.
In other words, if the internet isn’t working because you hit the router with a hammer or because you didn’t turn it on and that’s why it didn’t work, the technician can notify your company so they can charge for the travel and for going home to fix a problem you caused. However, this depends on the operator you have signed (some will never charge you even if it is your fault) and in general we don’t have to pay anything and it is unusual for these glitches to be called “billable”
