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DrToast's avatar
DrToast
Tuning in
24 days ago
Solved

No Infrastructure or Wiring at House, but "Previous Account" Stopping My Install?

I bought a house on 11th August 2025, and recently ordered M350 Full Fibre with an engineer install date of 11th October 2025. However, I have since been contacted to say that there is a previous account registered at the address and therefore my install cannot continue. The sales team tell me they will try to contact the previous owners to get the account cancelled, but I think an error has been made. There is no Virgin installation or infrastructure of any kind, anywhere, on the property. No omnibox, no cabling, no old trunking, absolutely nothing. There is a BT Master socket and overhead (copper) wire, but nothing else. I cannot see how the previous owners could have had a Virgin account without any installation hardware at the propery. I am also concerned that if the install does go ahead on 11th October (which seems unlikely), the engineer will be expecting the basis infrastructure to be in  place already - which clearly it isn't.

I tried phoning the pre-install team for further advice, but they were unable to help while the sales team are chasing down the previous account holders - which to the best of my knowledge, do not exist.

  • Thanks to forum mods who have helped me cancel the order.

8 Replies

  • OK with the help of a neighbour, we found the CATV box in the road - buried under soil, broken, and completely packed with soil and debris. This has never been used since the day it was put in.

  • My new address is No. 7, my helpful neighbour who helped me find the broken and soil-filled CATV box lives at No. 7A. He confirmed they do have a Virgin Media account, so my guess is that the address has been recorded wrong on Virgin Media's system - there should not be an account for No. 7 (my house), but there should for No. 7A (my neighbour's house). Is there a Mod or Customer Service Rep that could look into this for me please? If this doesn't get sorted out the pre-installation will never happen, becuase you only need to look at the state of the CATV box to see it needs a lot of work before I can get connected.

    • Robert_P's avatar
      Robert_P
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team

      Hello DrToast

       

      Sorry to hear of the issues setting up your account with us, we appreciate you providing us with all of the information via the forums and welcome to the community.

      I will send you a Private Message, please keep an eye out in the top right when signed into the forums for the envelope. This is where you will be able to find my Private Message and be able to respond.

    • jpeg1's avatar
      jpeg1
      Alessandro Volta

      Are you sure this is going to be a full fibre service? I ask because the original service connected (or intended to be connected) from that box would have been by coaxial cable.   If VM have recently installed full fibre in that street there would be evidence of their work and neighbours would be using it.

  • The saga continues... After several more fruitless calls I got through to a UK call centre with a very helpful gentleman who seemed able to sort things out. He told me there had been a "recent problem where accounts weren't opened up correctly" and that mine was one of those, but he could set it all up again for me on the phone. He duly did this, and even arranged for an earlier install date of Friday 3rd October. I told him about the state of the CATV box in the road and he said this was no problem, the engineer would probably use the BT telegraph pole outside the property anyway (quite a relief, there's another ground-level installation nearby on the road that is a dog's breakfast - cable not even buried, just draped all the way from the road over their front lawn next to their fence and then to their house). At this point I thought I was sorted, however...

    It turns out my guess about confusion between No. 7 and No. 7A was correct, I know this becuase the elderly gentleman next door - who has lived on the road for decades - came round to tell me that Virgin had disconnected them becuase of my move-in. That's how the "ghost" account at my house was dealt with allowing me to proceed, cancelling the long-standing service of the elderly couple who live next door. They are now without service, and being threatened with reconnection fees to restore it. I feel awful and what a terrible first impression to make when moving into an area.

    Next up, jpeg1 you're right, it's not full fibre any more. The first contract I had sent out to me clearly stated "Full Fibre", the new one shows "Hybrid Fibre". I did query this on the phone at the time but the guy said it was still "fibre to the premises" and just coaxial inside the house. Further research suggests this is not the case, and that "Hybrid Fibre" means co-ax from the cabinet.

    Finally, although the install date hasn't arrived yet, I have very little confidence that it will happen as promised. I have since been told that it is very unlikely VM will use the BT telegraph pole, and even if they did it would not be part of a "normal" engineer visit. The cable is instead likely to be connected at ground level, which then presents all sorts of complications getting it to the house under a paved driveway and patio slabs that go all the way around. I'll see what happens on Friday but right now I wish I'd never started this.

  • The fiasco continues. The engineer turned up, expecting to find a cable and omnibox installed already - which of course there isn't, because there never has been. Clearly ZERO communication about what has been going on, and I am heartily sick of not being listened to and having my time wasted. To cap it all, my neighbours next door are still without service nearly two weeks later, and are still being threatened with reconnection fees. Utter, utter, shambles - would someone please advise how I cancel this order?

    • Alex_RM's avatar
      Alex_RM
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team

      Thanks for the update DrToast, we're sorry to hear the situation hasn't improved. I can see you're in a private message conversation with my colleague already, please respond to the last message if you need further assistance. 

      Alex_Rm

  • Thanks to forum mods who have helped me cancel the order.