Hacks, service outages and your rights. What to do if a service goes down and you lose out.

(22/02/16)We live in an ever more connected world. Online and networked technology touches almost every corner of our lives, from internet banking, to online shopping, to gaming, to streaming on-demand television, music or video services.

All of this makes us increasingly reliant on the connectivity of our services. When the technology works, it’s great. But when it breaks down we leave ourselves vulnerable to having reduced key services, or possibly even our personal details compromised.

So this week I’ve been looking at what you can do if you’re let down by your connected world.

Internet service provider going down.
Without a working home internet connection, you’re going to be limited to mobile phone data – or nothing at all if you live in an area with no 3g or 4g signal.

Having no broadband when you are paying a monthly fee is a very frustrating experience. Depending on who your service provider is will affect your outcome. Contact your service provider as soon as possible to alert them to the service failure. If you are unhappy with your broadband provider’s response, you should contact their customer services department via email, giving clear details of your case – such as what happened, when and why you are complaining. Depending on the length of time the service was not available for, you can ask for a refund or service credits.

Refund

If the equipment turns out to be faulty it is likely you will be given any refund for the service not working as service credits (i.e. a discount off the next bill) based on the number of days the service is not working divided by the number of days in the month.

Wish to make a complaint about your broadband? Raise your issue free via Resolver

Bank going down Most financial institutions will work to ensure that online banking is always available, but sometimes a site will need to be taken down for maintenance – this is usually done in the middle of the night. If you experience issues when trying to reach the website at another time, check that your network, computer or internet browser are not to blame. If you still have an issue, I recommend calling the company’s support line.

If a bank’s gone down due to a system failure or a hacking attack (as has happened twice this year with HSBC), then you can at least expect the bank to be generous and waive any fees incurred due to a service outage. There’s no firm legislation surrounding this, but you can always take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service if you feel you’re not being offered the recompense you’re due.

Have a financial issue? Raise it via Resolver now

Mobile provider failure
No mobile phone service when you are paying a monthly fee is a very frustrating experience or even if you are on pay as you go. You should contact your service provider as soon as possible to alert them to the service failure, although if extensive they may already be aware and you can often see this trending on Twitter. If you are unhappy with the issue you should contact their customer services department and write giving clear details of your case – such as what happened, when, and why you are complaining.

Have a problem with your telecoms provider? Raise your issue via Resolver

Streaming service out
It is very important that you check that your broadband speed if fast enough to stream video before paying for a video streaming service. You can check your broadband speed with your broadband provider, and there are also website that can measure your internet speed.Video streaming providers will state the minimum broadband speed required in their terms and conditions. It is important that you check this, as the company won’t be liable if, for example, your film was forever buffering due to not having a suitable broadband connection.

However, if your broadband connection is suitable and you are experiencing problems streaming video, then the company would be liable for not providing the service you’ve paid for.

Protecting yourself
If the data of any company or other third party that hold sensitive personal details about you compromised, you should always change your passwords and user detail(if possible).