Forum Discussion

Samfoster0003's avatar
Samfoster0003
Just joined
2 days ago

Waiting for Wifi since May

Hello, 

I ordered a self install kit that was delivered on 10/05 and quickly realised that something wasn’t working. I called the helpline and an engineer came out on the 13/05, he told me that our fibre cable was damaged and I needed a new one. Someone came out the very next day to replace it and discovered that I needed a new access port for the cable. So I’d have to wait for someone else to come out, dig the concrete, install the new access port and then the fibre wire for the wifi box. I was told this would be done within the week, but three and a half weeks later nothing had been done. I called customer support to follow this up and we had another engineer come out to my property to confirm that this work still needed doing. He told me that the previous engineers had closed our ticket which is why no one had followed up with me about the ground work that needed doing. 

During the three weeks I was waiting for the original ground works to be completed I contacted customer support. After this call I received an email apologising for the inconvenience and offering me £9.98 in credit for every day that the wifi wasn’t working. Unfortunately at the end of May I received a bill asking for payment in full. I completed a complaints form trying to dispute this bill, and explained the circumstances with my unusable wifi and in return I was offered £15 credit, which wouldn’t even cover 50% of my bill. After this I called customer support and explained my problem once again, the man on the phone was very apologetic and told me that the bill would be easily waived. Because of the situation he arranged me a callback with a manager that I was supposed to receive on the same day, but it’s been four working days since then and I still haven’t heard a word from them. I’ve now got two outstanding bills from May and June totalling over £75 that I don’t feel I should have to pay since I’ve had no wifi for the full two months and any help I’ve tried to get about this issue has been a complete dead end. But because I’ve got two outstanding bills I’m not able to contact the customer support line until I’ve paid them. 

It’s now been a whole two months since my kit was delivered and I’m no closer to getting wifi than I was then. I’m very unsure of what to do next. Any advice is appreciated.

 

1 Reply

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    2 days ago

    The use of the 'Quick Start' kit assumes that you simply plug into a working connection and off you go.

    VM will typically start billing you shortly after the kit is delivered based on this assumption.

    If your 'Quick Start' connection does not work for some reason, VM classes this as a fault and so you become due for the higher compensation rate of £9.98 per day, two full working days after you report the problem to VM. You can also claim £31.19 per missed visit if VM says you have to be home and fails to give you at least 24 hours notice for cancelling.

    The higher rate of compensation (compared with the failed activation rate of £6.24) is offset against the fact that you are still expected to pay your monthly sub's even though you are not receiving a service (because you are deemed to have a fault).

    You should be eligible for the compo but we see regular topics on here where VM tries to dodge paying, or reduce the pay-out, by trying to blame others for the delays. VM's agents often try to put forward lesser 'goodwill' payments in lieu of the proper compensation amounts so be wary of this happening.

    You need to start keeping detailed notes and evidence of everything that happens while VM fails to remedy the problem. The notes and evidence are important because frequently the customer has to go to the ombudsman to get paid what is due as reported in many past topics on here.

    When you are discussing the issue with VM, you should refer to a total loss of service of your broadband (rather than calling it 'wi-fi') as that is only likely to cause further VM 'confusion'.

    A VM person should reply to your topic within a few days and may try to help.