The owner of a small business complained to us after three unplanned outages left Food Shop without phones, EFTPOS or the internet.
The owner claimed compensation for business loss as he had to send staff home and close Food Shop for three days in a row.
They said they reported the outage to XenTel on the first and second days of the outage.
XenTel said it had no record of the report, and the outage was the fault of the
statutory infrastructure provider.
We reminded Xentel that Food Shop had no contract with the statutory infrastructure provider and it knew about the outages so should have told the owner about them.
Xentel offered Food Shop $300 as a ‘good will’ payment.
The owner rejected the offer, saying they wanted at least $1,000. Xentel upped its offer to $600 to resolve the complaint.
The owner again rejected it.
We reminded Xentel the owner said they wanted ‘at least $1,000’ in compensation for business loss.
We suggested improving the offer to get closer to ‘at least’ and reflecting on what the owner’s actual loss may have been.
Xentel raised its offer to $1,000.
The owner told us he wanted more.
We reminded the owner they said at least $1,000 and pointed out if they accept, the complaint will settle right now.
The owner of Food Shop accepted.
The owner was satisfied we helped them find a compromise with Xentel, resolving the complaint quickly and letting them get back to business sooner rather than later.
*Names of individuals, organisations and companies have been changed.
