Forum Discussion

bonners's avatar
bonners
Tuning in
10 months ago

My cable was cut by avonline network

Hi my cable was cut today by avonline network engineers trying to connect another property..they had problems pulling the cable  through so cut what they thought was right cable but cut mine instead..had I not been home I would not have known but I noticed my media and broadband had gone off so spoke to them..they said the cable they were pulling is from a different property so cut the cable which was actually mine..they reckon the two cables are co nected via a splitter along the underground ducting somewhere which they tell me should not happen...they connected my wire and I now have my media up and running albeit with a cable connected after being cut and a splitter also along the cable route.. I asked virgin on the phone to please send an engineer out as I now obviously need a new cable pulled through but they want to charge me for his service..wth  this can't be right..I'm so annoyed as this is not my doing and my cable needs changing.

Ian

  • japitts's avatar
    japitts
    Very Insightful Person

    bonners wrote:

    I asked virgin on the phone to please send an engineer out


    Forget the ins & outs when you're reporting your loss of service to VM faults, keep things simple to the telephone agents who might well not even understand what you're explaining. Treat this call as a means-to-an-end of getting a tech booked - once you have boots-on-the-ground, then deal with finer details.

    Did a tech appointment get booked? That's the important bit. They may even need to further arrange a re-pull.

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta

    Are you experiencing any connection problems since they re-connected you after the cable-cutting mistake?

    You might struggle to engage VM unless you have an actual 'total loss of service' or the quality of your connection is affected.

    In the meantime you could set up a BQM to monitor your connection and start tracking whether it shows any issues with the connection.

    https://www.thinkbroadband.com/broadband/monitoring/quality

  • nodrogd's avatar
    nodrogd
    Very Insightful Person

    The fix for a broken cable is to fit an inline coupler if there is enough slack available. They will only repull if they cannot do this. If your connection is still working to spec they will see no reason to change things. I would also point out that on some parts of the legacy network it was common for distribution kit to be installed in underground pits.

    There is also the strong possibility that they didn't actually cut the cable, but instead disconnected the wrong tap in the cabinet when connecting the new line, & all they did was plug you back in.

    • bonners's avatar
      bonners
      Tuning in

      They actually cut the cable in the ground after lifting pit cover  and trying to pull cable. I watched as he reconnected the to cut cable ends and then covered connection with tape.

      • Nathan_B's avatar
        Nathan_B
        Forum Team

        Thanks for your reply bonners. I can see you've been sent a PM from Zach last week. If you check your messages you'll see this.

        Regards

        Nathan

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta

    You'll have to demonstrate an actual fault before VM will send someone to repair it. 

    • goslow's avatar
      goslow
      Alessandro Volta

      It can sometimes take up to a few days for a VM person to respond. Bumping your post can sometimes have the reverse effect.

    • Zach_R's avatar
      Zach_R
      Forum Team

      Hi bonners,

      Thank you for your posts and welcome back to our community forums. We're here to help.

      I'm so sorry to hear about what has happened with the cabling outside. It's correct that in some circumstances there would be a fee for a engineer visit (more details here) but this is only in specific circumstances, and from what you've explained it doesn't sound like such a charge would be applicable in this case.

      Please respond to the private message that I'll be sending to you shortly and we can assist you further from there.

      Thanks,

       

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta

    They will only send someone to pull a new cable if your service is not working. 

    Underground repairs are often made. If a satisfactory repair was done, and your service was re-established, they will not come back. 

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta

    Unless there is an actual fault on your service, they are not going to come and dig up the road. 

    You are paying for broadband to arrive at your VM Hub, and you should complain if it doesn't. How it gets there is not your business and you are wasting your time complaining.