Engineer fails to attended, what if?

[#1]

I have now lost count of the number of times plusnet have pointed out to me over the last six months that should an engineer visit my premises and be unable to gain access then a charge of £50 would apply. My question is, should they fail to attend am I within my rights to then charge them £50, or is there time more valuable than mine? The same applies if the fault is caused by their equipment, external wiring or as a result of 'damage' to BT equipment.  

The threat of such charges normally goes over my head but after nearly six months of the same fault and the same formal notice it's become rather irritating to say the least.  

[#2]

I may be wrong , but i remember seeing somewhere if BT engineer fail a appointment PN gets paid compensation  from BT

[#3]

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@Minivanman wrote:

should they fail to attend am I within my rights to then charge them £50,

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quite simply, not you aren't within your rights i'm afraid.

[#4]

"Quite simply, not you aren't within your rights i'm afraid"

Why not chenks76, surely if I give them notice of intent then what applies to me should apply to plusnet - or any other organisation that provides such a service come to that.

Am I missing some 'hidden' small print here?

[#5]

simply giving notice of intent has no legal bearing at all.
i can give you notice of intent that i'm sending you an invoice for an arbitrary fee, doesn't make it enforceable.

[#6]

Well you may be right, but I'm so so sure to be honest for why should one party be able to impose such a condition but not the other?

Is there a legal eagle in the house? 

PS. The other scenario of course is that I could give notice of refusal to pay...... just saying. 

[#7]

and openreach can refuse to repair... just saying.
the "charge" is almost certainly written into the agreement that you have for the provision of service.

[#8]

Fair enough, although I did advise plusnet when they asked for one of their (by now) many appointments that should the engineer fail to attend then I would charge them £50. They still attended so.......  the proof is in the pudding I guess. 

[#9]

as i said, you can say whatever you like to them about charging them, it doesn't mean that you can actually do it.
well, you can do it, however the invoice would simply be filed in the bin.

[#10]

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@rongtw wrote:

I may be wrong , but i remember seeing somewhere if BT engineer fail a appointment PN gets paid compensation  from BT

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I believe that is the case - that Openreach will compensate the ISP for the extra admin and potential claims from end users.

Any claim from you would have to be lodged with Plusnet, and would have to be based on provable actual losses rather than just inconvenience.

[#11]

Small claims court?

Here's and interesting example.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20068927

[#12]

"Any claim from you would have to be lodged with Plusnet, and would have to be based on provable actual losses rather than just inconvenience"

Forgive me for saying so, but that does not always seem to be the case. This guy got paid £195 for his time plus the cost of electricity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20068927

[#13]

one crucial part of that case "But now one man has successfully claimed back the cost of his time from a firm which called him when he had specifically asked them not to."

[#14]

@Minivanman this information may help : http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/delivery-rights

 I have used it a few times to get a satisfactory outcome when BT OR have failed to attend.

First thing to do is open a complaint with PN : https://www.plus.net/help/legal/complaints-code-of-practice/

Regards
Mike 

[#15]

Indeed, but as said in my post earlier chenks76, I did advise plusnet when they asked for an appointments that should the engineer fail to attend then I would charge them £50 - which in my mind at least carries the same weight as "had specifically asked them not to" 

I'm beginning to wonder whose side you are on friend, the consumer or the provider.