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Phoenixxy1's avatar
Phoenixxy1
Joining in
20 days ago

Delayed installation

I appreciate that this is a really common topic but I am pulling my hair out at this point.

I moved house at the start of April - as soon as I had a moving date I contacted virgin media to arrange to move my existing service to my new property.   Looked like it was all going to be smooth as the online check said they could supply my new property - great!  I booked my move for 5 April - this included an engineer visit as I couldn't see an external box so made sure to let them know. 

On 4 April I get an email to say my installation has been delayed - with a not very clear message.  I call VM who explain some external work needs to be completed but it has been rescheduled for 21 April (a bank holiday).  I ask if there is anything sooner and on the phone they are able to change to 18 April (still a bank holiday but sooner so good news).  I have to get by with no internet so I can't work from home or anything.  I was, of course, disappointed - I felt I had done everything right.

14 April - I get another similar message to say my installation has been delayed again - they say because the external works have been delayed.  The next date I get offered is 5 May (ANOTHER bank holiday).  I called to explain that I think this is really poor but was told nothing they can do but if the external work is completed earlier they will try and get an engineer out earlier and the person on the phone suggested this could even be 48 hours after the work is complete. 

15 April - I get a message to say the external works are now complete.  I call VM again - if only they hadn't cancelled my 18 April appointment.  The person I speak to says they will put in a request to revert to the original appointment.  

17 April - no update, I call again.  I was told that because 18 April was not available they are not looking for an alternative slot and I am still booked for 5 May.  I ask to request any earlier slot given the external work is complete and also ask for a phone call to confirm either way as I feel like I am left in limbo.  They person said they would make a note and suggested these requests take 48 hours so I should wait.  

I still have no phone call to update me on what happened.  I am suspicious that all of the dates I have been offered are bank holidays (which doesn't fill me with confidence).  I was told it should be quick once the external work is complete but clearly that isn't happening.

I don't know what else I can do here but I am losing faith and is it really the case that VM engineers are only available to come over on bank holidays!?

2 Replies

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  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    20 days ago

    Your expectations are not unreasonable but this is not how VM works as regards installations.

    Much of VM's installation work is sub-contracted and the communication and organisation between VM and the sub-contractor is routinely poor or non-existent as seen in so many past topics on here.

    The dates that VM gives out seem to be nothing more than whatever the sub-contractor feeds into the system and they may not bear any relation to real/actual installation activity, hence you see dates popping up on bank holidays.

    We have often seen topics on here where the pre-installation work has been completed (and the customer knows this) but the sub-contractor has not signed this part of the job off as completed so the order management system does not progress to the installation phase.

    Your installation may happen soon or may be weeks away but no one in VM can/will give you any information that you can truly rely on and upon which you can make reliable plans.

    Usual advice is to get yourself some kind of mobile data connection in the meantime to keep you online.

    Also, keep good records of everything that has happened along with accompanying evidence of all VM's failures to install as you will be eligible for compensation for the delay

    https://www.virginmedia.com/help/billing-and-payments/automatic-compensation

     

     

    • Phoenixxy1's avatar
      Phoenixxy1
      Joining in
      19 days ago

      Thanks for the response - sadly it is what I was fearing.  

      I have had a message from VM saying the external work is complete so had assumed that the system did know this but honestly who knows!