Virgin Media Television

Code of Practice on Complaints Handling

Introduction

At Virgin Media Television we aim at all times to deliver the best service possible to viewers. As part of this service we are always interested in feedback from our viewers that may enable us to improve the service in any way. To give general feedback on Virgin Media Television/Two programming, you can contact us on vmtvinfo@virginmedia.ie or by post at:

Virgin Media Television
					Westgate Business Park
					Ballymount
					Dublin 24

In relation to more serious complaints, Virgin Media Television is required under the Broadcasting Act 2009, to have in place a Code of Practice for complaints handling. This Code of Practice sets out and explains our complaints handling process and ensures that all complaints made under this Code will be dealt with in an efficient and effective manner. We note that Virgin Media Television is a station that broadcasts programmes for adults/young adults, and as such all content on Virgin Media Television is intended for this audience and not for children, this will be borne in mind when assessing complaints.

It should be noted that this Code of Practice only deals with specific categories of complaints, as outlined herein.

1. What can I complain about?

If you believe that a broadcast on Virgin Media Television has breached one of the following obligations, you may submit a complaint to us:

i. News

We will ensure that our news programming is objective and impartial and that it does not contain any expression of our own views.

Code of Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality.

ii. Current Affairs

We will ensure that our current affairs programmes are objective and impartial and do not contain any of our own views and that we will treat the subject matter and all interests concerned fairly.

iii. Programmes

We will ensure that our programmes do not contain material that may be reasonably thought to cause harm and offence - however, while we will respond in the first instance to a complaint that a viewer considers to be harmful/offensive, Virgin Media Television will not respond in great detail unless there are a number of complaints on the same issue, in order to ensure proportionality:

- tend to promote or incite crime

- tend to undermine the authority of the State

- unreasonably encroach on the privacy of an individual

We will also ensure that all programming complies with The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's Code of Programme Standards.

iv. Commercial Communications

All commercial communications broadcast by Virgin Media Television shall be compliant with the following BAI Codes:

General Commercial Communications Code

Children's Commercial Communications Code

2. How do I make a complaint?

In the first instance you can contact Virgin Media Television by email at vmtvcomplaints@virginmedia.ie or by telephone on (01)4193333. A member of staff will attempt to resolve the matter effectively. If we are unable to successfully resolve the matter and you believe your complaint falls within one of the categories listed above, you should submit the following details in writing:

						your name and address1
						the category under which you believe your complaint falls (as listed above)
						the date, time and channel of broadcast
						the name of the programme/commercial communication that is the subject of your complaint
						details of what in the broadcast caused you to make a complaint
					

In order to assist viewers a complaint form can be downloaded from our website at: www.virginmediatelevision.ie

If your complaint does not contain all of the information required we cannot guarantee that it will be processed. Virgin Media Television shall not accept complaints which we deem to be frivolous and/or vexatious in nature, nor will complaints using offensive or threatening language be responded to.

Virgin Media Television is committed to protecting the rights and privacy of individuals in accordance with the applicable data protection legislation.

3. How soon should I make my complaint after the broadcast?

Under the Broadcasting Act 2009, complaints must be made no more than 30 after broadcast:

a) If the complaint relates to one broadcast the complaint must be made within 30 days of this broadcast

b) If it relates to two or more unrelated broadcasts on different dates, the complaint must be made within 30 days of the earliest broadcast

c) If it relates to two or more related broadcasts on different dates, the complaint must be made within 30 days of the latest of these broadcasts.

Complaints submitted outside of these time periods will not be accepted.

4. Where should I send my complaint?

You can submit your complaint to the following address:

						The Director of Government, Regulatory and Legal Affairs
						Virgin Media Television
						Westgate Business Park
						Ballymount
						Dublin 24
					

vmtvcomplaints@virginmedia.ie

5. What will happen to my complaint?

When a reasonable complaint has been accepted by Virgin Media Television, we will work to resolve the issue in question, as efficiently as possible. An appropriate member of staff will:

Contact you to acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 7 days.

Consider the issues raised in your complaint and review the broadcast identified in your complaint.

If appropriate, we will contact any person to whom your complaint relates i.e. advertiser, producer, presenter, in order to allow them to provide their input into Virgin Media Television's response.

Will respond to your complaint within 21 days of receipt, and will, as far as practicable, address all issues raised in your complaint. The reasons for Virgin Media Television's decision will be set out in this response.

We shall keep all valid complaints accepted under this Code on file for a period of 2 years from the date of receipt.

6. What are the potential outcomes for my complaint?

Your complaint may be upheld or rejected by Virgin Media Television. If your complaint is rejected, it means we believe our broadcast was in compliance with our obligations listed in this Code of Practice.

Upholding a complaint means we believe that our programming did not meet our obligations.

If your complaint is upheld, we will attempt to resolve it to your satisfaction. The manner of resolution shall be decided on a case by case basis and may take the form of an apology, a correction, clarification and/or the offer of a rebuttal as appropriate.

7. What if I do not receive a response or am not satisfied with the response I receive?

If we have not responded to your complaint within 21 days or if you are not satisfied with our response you can then refer your complaint to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. The BAI will consider your compliant and may carry out a review of the complaint and Virgin Media Television's response. Information on how to refer your complaint to the BAI is available on the BAI website www.bai.ie or from the following address:

						Complaints Officer
						Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
						2 - 5 Warrington Place
						Dublin 2 Email: complaints@bai.ie
					

8. Record of complaints

We are required under the Broadcasting Act 2009 to keep a record of all complaints submitted in accordance with this Code of Practice for a period of two years. We are also required to provide these records to the BAI Compliance Committee of the BAI, if the Committee requests them. Our records will include copies of your complaint, our response/s and the copies of the broadcast material in question.

9. Virgin Media Television reserves the right to alter this Code of Practice upon placing and revisions/alterations on this URL

If you have any further queries please contact Virgin Media Television on vmtvinfo@virginmedia.ie

Please include your name and postal address or email address below to ensure that Virgin Media Television can respond to your complaint:

Your Name *

Your Email / Postal Address

Details of your complaint:

Channel: Virgin Media One/Virgin Media Two/Virgin Media Three

Programme:

Date of broadcast:

Time of broadcast:

Is the complaint an infringement of:

Objectivity & Impartiality: Virgin Media Television News:

Objectivity, Impartiality & Fairness: Virgin Media Television Current Affairs:

Code of Programme Standards in regard to Harm and Offence:

Requirements regarding Privacy of complainant or Promotion of or Incitement to Crime or Undermining Authority of the State:

Commercial Communications Code:

Please give details of your complaint below:

 

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The details you provide on this page will not be used to send unsolicited email, and will not be sold to a 3rd party.

Right of Reply

Where a person is of the opinion that their reputation has been impugned by an assertion of incorrect facts or information, they are entitled to seek a right-of-reply under Section 49 of the Broadcasting Act 2009. Please note that a Right of Reply is about the correction of incorrect facts or information; it does not provide for the broadcast of an alternative or contrary opinion.

Anyone wishing to exercise this right should contact Virgin Media Television in writing at the following address:

						Right of Reply Section
						Legal Department
						Virgin Media Television
						Westgate Business Park
						Ballymount
						Dublin 24
					

Any such request must be made within 21 days of the broadcast. The request should include the name of the programme, date and time of broadcast and should contain sufficient information to enable the identification of incorrect facts or information that are alleged to have occurred. Please note that broadcasters are not liable for any costs incurred by the requester of a Right of Reply in relation to such a request.

Virgin Media Television will decide whether to accept or refuse a request within 10 days of receipt. If the decision is to allow the right of reply Virgin Media Television and the requester will reach a decision with regard to manner of the broadcast of the right of reply.

If Virgin Media Television decide to refuse the request for a right of reply or the parties cannot reach an agreement regarding the form of right of reply the requester may appeal to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland by letter or email:

						Compliance Committee,
						Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
						2-5, Warrington Place,
						Dublin 2
						info@bai.ie
					

Any appeal should be made within 21 days or receipt of the refusal to grant a right of reply. The BAI's Right of Reply Scheme is available online.

These terms and conditions and the Virgin Media Television Site are governed by Irish law.

Feedback

Your Name *

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The details you provide on this page will not be used to send unsolicited email, and will not be sold to a 3rd party.

Data Protection Officer, Virgin Media Television, Westgate Business Park, Ballymount, Dublin 24.

Your Name *

Your Email Address*

Your query*

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This section will be used to capture information about Access Services issues on television programmes. It has been designed to try and capture as much information as possible about the problem which should give the broadcaster and platform provider a better chance of resolving the issue.

This is a pilot programme which has been developed by the BAI, broadcasters and platform providers. The programme will be developed over time based on feedback from all stakeholders.

We will require some personal information to allow the broadcaster contact the viewer for further information. In line with GDPR requirements, this information will only be used for this complaint and will be deleted afterwards.

This section asks you to provide information about yourself, the programme you watched and how you watched it. You can only complain about a programme broadcast on a channel listed in the Access Rules. These channels are:

RTÉ One, RTÉ Two, RTÉ One + One, RTÉjr, RTÉ News Now
						Virgin Media One ,Virgin Media Two, Virgin Media Three
						TG4
						Eir Sport
						Oireachtas TV
						Cork Community Television
						Dublin Community Television

You cannot complain about programmes on BBC, ITV etc.

1. Personal Information

Please provide some information about yourself. You do not have to provide all the information requested.

If you wish to be contacted by text only, please click this box

Your Name

Contact telephone number

Your address

Email address

2. Programme Information

Please provide the following information about the programme.

What was the name of the programme?

When was the programme broadcast? Please provide the date and time.

What channel was the programme on?

Choose from this list RTÉ One RTÉ Two RTÉjr RTÉ News Now RTÉ One + One Virgin Media One Virgin Media Two Virgin Media Three TG4 Eir Sport Oireachtas TV Cork Community Television Dublin Community Television

What language were the subtitles in?

Choose from this list English Irish

Please provide some information about the complaint, eg. there were no Audio Description, the subtitles stopped half way through the programme etc. The more information that you provide the easier it will be for the broadcaster or platform provider to find the cause of the problem.

3. How you viewed the programme

Did you watch the programme on a television set?

Choose Yes or No Yes No

If you selected “Yes” from the drop down list above please proceed to question 4.

If you selected “No” please go to question 5.

4. Viewed programme on a television set

Please enter the manufacturer and model of the television set in the box below (eg Sony, Panasonic)

Manufacturer

Model

4.1 Did you watch the programme as it was broadcast, on a catch up service (eg RTE Player), or record it for viewing at a later time?

Choose from the following list

Choose from this list Live Recorded for later viewing Catch up service

If you chose “Live” or “Recorded for later viewing” then go to question 4.2.

If you chose “Catch up service” then please provide the name of the catch up service in the box below.

Please go to question 6.

4.2 Did you stream the programme via the broadcaster’s website on your television set?

Choose from the following list

Choose Yes or No Yes No

If you selected “No” please go to question 4.3.

If you selected “Yes” please proceed to question 6.

4.3 Did you receive the programme through the television, eg. built in Saorview, or via an external set top box, eg. Sky, Virgin Media etc?

Select your programme provider from this list

Choose from this list Saorview built in to TV Saorview set top box Saorsat set top box Sky box Virgin Media box Vodafone TV box Eir Vision box Free to Air/Combo box Other

If you selected “Free to Air/Combo box” or “Other” from the drop down list above please provide the manufacturer and model number in the box below.

Manufacturer

Model

5. Did not view programme on a television set

You have said that you did not watch the programme on a television set. Please choose from the list below the device that you watched the programme on.

Choose from this list PC Laptop Tablet Mobile phone

Please specify the make and model of the device.

Manufacturer

Model

6. Final question

Please provide the name of your internet provider in the box below

 

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