Broadband users have been warned of an instant fine they could receive from four major suppliers - Virgin Media, Sky, TalkTalk and Vodafone.
You may not realise that these providers charge a fixed fee if an engineer visits and you don't answer the door.
Customers are furious about the charge which ranges from £25 to as much as £110 for a missed appointment.
Although you can be paid compensation if an engineer misses an appointment, this amount is generally less than what you'd pay for missing the appointment yourself, Manchester Evening News reports.
This is how much the biggest broadband providers will charge you if an engineer is called out to no avail:
- Virgin - £25
- Sky - £25
- TalkTalk - up to £65
- Vodafone - £110
These firms have been approached for comment.
Virgin Media customer Emma Robinson, 42, from Surrey, hit out at the doorbell tax to The Mirror.
She said: "I have two young children and it's not unusual for me to fail to hear the doorbell ring if I am upstairs giving my baby a bath.
"Now Virgin want to fine me for not answering my door when they rarely pick up the phone themselves and offer some of the worst customer service on the market. Unbelievable."
Martyn James, of complaints handling group, resolver.co.uk, said: "Anyone who has spent ages trying to get an appointment for a fault – or has waited at home till the evening with no knock on the door – will be outraged that a missed appointment could result in a charge.
"The broadband industry has a pretty terrible reputation for missed appointments, service and sorting complaints. Until the sector has its house in order, it shouldn't be charging extra for anything – including missed appointments and exit fees."
Households can also get compensation if they have booked an engineer who fails to turn up.
This is £26.24 if an engineer either does not arrive or cancels an appointment with less than 24 hours' notice.
The compensation is set by regulator Ofcom. You should not need to do anything to get the money, as providers are meant to pay the cash out automatically.
Broadband firms only pay out if they are signed up to this Ofcom compensation scheme - but the good news is most of them are. The list of providers signed up is BT, EE, Hyperoptic, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk, Utility Warehouse, Virgin Media, Vodafone and Zen Internet.
A Virgin Media spokesperson said: "Unlike many other providers, all our customers benefit from service and repairs at no extra cost – even if we need to send out an engineer.
"Charges for missed appointments are common across the industry to ensure we best serve all customers and we're proud that our charges are amongst the lowest in the market."
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