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charlieannear's avatar
charlieannear
On our wavelength
14 days ago

No Broadband Service - How do you report it to VM?

Apologies if this is the wrong section to ask this.

We've had no broadband service since Friday afternoon, (apart from a brief burst of about 4 minutes at 4pm on Saturday). The service status has known we've got a problem, although it suggests intermittent connectivity when actually we've had none, zero, zilch. Which means loads of our stuff doesn't work and our teenage son is having to talk to us during his Easter school holiday.

I understand we should be able to get a refund for every day that we've had zero service, but apparently, despite the VM service status knowing we've had a problem, the refund period is apparently from the point we report it.

We haven't reported it because the online service status was aware of the issue and gives no 'contact us/report it' functionality, and I can't find a way to speak to anyone because the phone service (150 on a Virgin landline) also knows there's a service issue and won't give an option that gets me past the robot.

Is there a Virgin person on this part of the forum who can help (there are on other sections), please?

Thanks!

5 Replies

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  • Tudor's avatar
    Tudor
    Very Insightful Person
    14 days ago

    Check with Area faults on 0800 561 0061 If you have a VM landline 150 this goes down to post code level. You could also try the web service status page, but this is not recommended as it only covers issues that affect a very large number of customers.

    VM will not dispatch any technicians while an area fault exists.

    If no area faults found:

    The primary place to report faults or for service requests is Customer Services on 0345 454 1111/150 if you have a VM landline or wait two or three days for a VM staff member to get to your post. This board is not a fault reporting system.

  • charlieannear's avatar
    charlieannear
    On our wavelength
    13 days ago

    VM knows there's a fault, it's on the service status and when I call 150. I am getting text updates. That's not the problem.

    The problem is they all indicate intermittent service whereas I am getting zero service, but because they know there's a problem there's no way for me to report I have worse service than they think. I need to be able to report zero service in order to get the refund (and possibly escalate the fix)

  • nodrogd's avatar
    nodrogd
    Very Insightful Person
    13 days ago

    Compensation kicks in after 48 hours of continuous outage, so does not apply to the 1st 48 hours. As it is a residential class service this gives VM the chance to fix the fault in reasonable time.

    If it was a failed amplifier on the HFC network this is usually a 24 hour fix, as a new amp has to be pre-calibrated & bench tested before it can be reliably installed at any particular point on the network segment.

    It is more than likely something is either causing noise or signal issues in the segment. If you are using a cable (DOCSIS) Broadband service it could easily result in some customers getting partial service & some getting none at all. It’s not unusual.

    • charlieannear's avatar
      charlieannear
      On our wavelength
      13 days ago

      Is it unusual for it to have been off, with VM aware, for 4 days, day 5 today, with the estimated service restoration being 2pm on day 8? Which is a bank holiday, so that doesn't inspire confidence...

      Anyway, just to report I managed to try different phone options until I was able to speak to someone. They confirmed the system log shows we've had a problem since Friday morning and that the engineer notes (so someone has attempted to resolve it) say we've got zero service. Therefore the refund should happen.

      But I am very curious as to what could cause such a seemingly property-specific outage for such an extended time, when it seems that engineers have been looking into it. The fault is listed as postcode specific, rather than just a general area. We're on the 1GB plan if that has a bearing on why we've got no service when others nearby do?

      • Sabrina_B's avatar
        Sabrina_B
        Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
        11 days ago

        Hi charlieannear 👋.

        Thanks for reaching out to us, sorry to hear of the issues that you are facing with your broadband service. Can we ask, since your post has the service returned? If it has not, please respond to the private message I have left you. 

        Sabrina