Forum Discussion

danhar's avatar
danhar
Joining in
1 day ago

Property "unserviceable"/too expensive

Hi All, new to the forum and looking for advice/help.

Decided to switch to virgin media at the start of December 2025 as now need the higher speeds they provide for both work and family. Address checker confirmed virgin media available. My home never had virgin connected. So when told activation date 19th dec 25 i was sceptical and fully expected a delay. Within a week or two i was informed an engineer had been out and some external road works was required. The engineer spray painted the road for pull through and virgin media called me to say applying to council to get permission for work. New install date 31st Jan 2026. At no point any issues at this stage. Then 31st Dec i get email from virgin saying they have cancelled my installation and account. (No call, just email)  Clearly disappointed, i called virgin. Having been passed around 3 agents was told the 3rd party agent had been out the day before, looked at the job and concluded it would be too expensive and so property unserviceable. At no point had a memeber of the third party agency knocked on my door or called me to explain and the virgin agents not able to answer any questions i had. They declined to give me contact details of the 3rd party agency , claiming they have no clue who they are! Hard to believe. Eventually they agreed to get 3rd party to call me within next 48hrs, but unsurprisingly no call. As the customer if comes across as if someone came to review the job; thought it looked not straight forward and so couldnt be bothered, then leave poor virgin agent to deal with a distruntled customer and not able to answer questions. Poor service all round.

Basically has any one had any contact with the 3rd party that virign use? I just want an explanation as to my property is unserviceable and what options were considered? 

Both our next door neighbours are connected to virgin (their homes, detached like ours, and are literally 1 metre apart!) so why cant a pull through from their connection a few feet up the road 1. Not be possible 2. Be "too expensive". Surely virign/3rd party are connecting new customers daily and require ground works. Also my home is connected to current internet via a telegraph pole. From reading this forum it seems virgin can offer overhead connection  but why wasnt the option suggested for me? Furthermore, no discussion about passing costs on to customer (appreciate this may be very costly but no offer/suggestion)

No other providers (openreach, brsk, other independent providers) that offer full fibre connection is in our area, so putting my hope in virgin media being the saviour.

Do i have to grin and bear or has anyone had a positive outcome from a similar predicament?

Sorry for the long read

 

 

7 Replies

  • Roger_Gooner's avatar
    Roger_Gooner
    Alessandro Volta
    1 day ago

    VM has internal SLAs for construction tasks, and a Christmas works embargo (often imposed by councils) can easily cause a permit to be delayed resulting in automatic cancellation of the order if it goes beyond the SLA timeout period.

  • Alby41's avatar
    Alby41
    Superfast
    1 day ago

    Just seen this .. I find it incredible that one of the top ISP's in the UK cannot sort you or help you with over 5 million customers ,  VM in the UK.. 5,704,300  to be exact as audited by a popular ISP site .. phew looking at the grief and rigmarole you have endured in trying to secure an internet connection with VM maybe its better that you find another ISP !. there is only apprehension and woe here as you can see ..I hope you get sorted with VM .. make it to 5,704,301 ..good luck

    • Adduxi's avatar
      Adduxi
      Very Insightful Person
      1 day ago
      Alby41 wrote:

      I find it incredible that one of the top ISP's in the UK cannot sort you or help you

      I don't.  All ISP's will only connect where is makes financial sense to do so. There are many cases where properties can't get broadband and have to resort to mobile or satellite, and they are not always "in the sticks".  A quick perusal of other ISP forums will have similar tales.

  • nodrogd's avatar
    nodrogd
    Very Insightful Person
    1 day ago

    It is very unlikely the VM service in your area is full fibre, as this only currently accounts for 5% of their network. The vast majority of connections are Hybrid Fibre Coaxial, which can provide “fibre” speeds over a copper connection. That is, if the area is not over subscribed, which commonly happens in areas where there dare no other true fibre providers.

    If the postcode checker offers a maximum speed of 1GB you are on HFC, which is a DOCSIS connection and by nature a shared resource with everyone else on the same cabinet. VM will only dig a certain amount of tarmac to connect a single customer. Further complications (blocked ducts, road crossings etc) can make connection uneconomic, & as VM has no legal obligation to provide as BT have, they can refuse.

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    1 day ago

    Just a few more points from your OP. 

    VM are only connecting via telegraph poles in a few specific areas, so you appear not to be in one of them. 

    VM will never put you in touch with their third party installers. The only way you might to speak to them is if you happen to meet them in the road. 

    Any promise from VM to phone you back within 48 hours is usually just a way to close the call. 

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    1 day ago

    The usual VM reply on here once a property is deemed unserviceable is a 'no' to further discussion/investigation as to why.

    If your original activation date in writing was 19 Dec and you were cancelled on 31 Dec you should be eligible for consideration of a small amount of compensation as per terms and conditions below

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

    https://www.virginmedia.com/legal/fibre-optic-services-terms-conditions/automatic-compensation

    although, if you have been deemed unserviceable, it is likely VM will try to find a reason for not paying.

    A VM person should reply to your post within a few days.

    • goslow's avatar
      goslow
      Alessandro Volta
      1 day ago

      Forgot to mention, do refer to 'Limit on Payments 32. ' in the second link which mentions a 'cease notice' which VM should provide if it is no longer going to pay you any compo for a further 30 days beyond that notice (which is relevant if VM cancels on you)