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Lightning- everything blown up - virgin washes their hands

Gillyathome
Up to speed

Can anybody help me with a contact number / email address for the zero harm division ?

 

the chief exec's office is blaming "god" for lightning blowing up my TV and Computer...

does "god" only pick on 12 virgin customers at the same time ?

I've never had such a poor experience from any customer care team. been bounced

from head office to cisas, pointless waste of time.... they can't help.

 

457 REPLIES 457

The VM isolator deals with surges up to a point. When a thunderstorm is coming, the best thing to do is to unplug everything. I would also disconnect the coaxial cable from the termination box.

--
Hub 5, TP-Link TL-SG108S 8-port gigabit switch, 360
My Broadband Ping - Roger's VM hub 5 broadband connection

Your issue is going to be split into several parts.

If you claim the surge was on the coax, you need to prove that. Reading through you are saying several other people with VM services had the same issue so that may be cushty.

THEN you have to prove it was due to VM's negligence. Thats going to be an issue as the isolators are over rated. So unless you can prove a weak link in the chain between the street cabinet and you, that would make the isolator ineffective...

THEN you have to prove that by their negligence, you suffered damage or loss that would NOT have happened during the normal course of events.

So say the lightning strike hit the mains would the result have been the same? Are you running a MOBO with surge protection? Modern MOBO's have LAN surge protection because in an always on Interwebs world, power surges are a thing.....

Basically its time to seek legal advice.

 

 

Hi Thanks for your reply.

yes I have %100 proof I was zapped via the coax cable, I  tested the power supply to the V6 after it exploded, fine 12V

I made a point of only having the v6 box replaced and not it's power supply, this proves the power supply didn't get a whack or that would also

have exploded, so we are talking %100 coax

the engineer that visited unscrewed the faceplate from my wall socket and said , "that's your problem" pointing to an isolator that virgin

no longer use, as they only work %50 of the time, the network manager that visited me confirmed this.

if an engineer visits, and doesn't replace this "old" type of isolator, they can get sacked. both the manager and engineer told me.

 

the reason it's still there, I do self installs when I get a new modem / tv box.. no body's checked the socket for years. or asked me

when I do a self install whats fitted... i'd be happy to unscrew the 2 screws and take a look whats inside.

one guy did come to fix a telephone issue, and didn't spot it.

 

12 houses took a whack the customer services advise me, the worst affected is a guy 2 doors from the house that got hit...

His NAS box exploded and caught fire, the pcb inside it vaporised , his network patch leads became totally rigid - copper inside tempered by the lightning

 

think that's enough,,,? LOL

 

As far as I am aware this is the current type of isolator that VM supply but there are older types still in use.

https://goo.gl/images/oVTKs7

This is a similar isolator that includes it's specifications.

http://www.tiitech.com/repository/datasheetlibrary/220.pdf

As you can see it can handle voltages in excess of 2000 volts which in normal circumstances would be ample but look at the article extract below and you will see that a typical lighting bolt is millions of volts at currents in excess of 30,000 amps.

This is from an article that explains it in more detail.

'An average bolt of negative lightning carries an electric current of 30,000 amperes (30 kA), and transfers 15 coulombs of electric charge and 500 megajoules of energy. Large bolts of negative lightning can carry up to 120 kA and 350 coulombs.[38] The average positive ground flash has roughly double the peak current of a typical negative flash, and can produce peak currents up to 400,000 amperes (400 kA) and charges of several hundred coulombs.[39][40] Furthermore, positive ground flashes with high peak currents are commonly followed by long continuing currents, a correlation not seen in negative ground flashes.'

In short an isolator has no chance of stopping a direct lightning strike, and the amount of intense electrical energy and the inevitable damage that it may cause.

 

sorry for the delay, updating everyone. I had a busy week last week and couldn't do much.

 

I took a day off work today, visited the local CAB office in Romford, once i'd explained the situation, and virgin's woeful response to my problems.

i.e customer srv offering 2 months free internet and TV for a blown up TV & Computer that cant be used.

referring me to cisas that wasn't able to help

promised a virgin claim pack that never came.

 

they where more than happy to refer me to their consumer specialist , they should be in contact with me next week.

 

somebody was telling me, footballs on the TV,,,  if only

Gilly

Hi Gilly, 

Thanks for coming back to us with an update. 

I'm glad to hear things are taking another direction for you. 

On this occasion as you've already been through our complaints process, and CISAS has agreed with our outcome, there is nothing I can do to raise this any further. 

Feel free to keep us updated on how things go however there most likely won't be any further response from the Community Team on this.

Take care,

Kath_F
Forum Team

New around here? Check out the do's and don'ts, in our Community FAQs


Hi kath , thanks again for your valiant attempt to help . you where my very last hope.

this saga has now been going on since the 28th may, ive had various contacts from virgin chief exec offices - so I can forgive you

for not being fully up to speed on my case.

i'm far from happy resorting to legal action, I have no other option left. I've been left in limbo without any contact.

legal action and having to take time off work was the last thing I wanted to do.

your facts aren't correct , sorry to say.

email from cisas the day after I logged a case with them....

 

We are contacting you regarding CEDR Resolution Centre Case: 541***.

Following receipt of your application for adjudication against Virgin Media on 07-Jun-2018, I regret to inform you that your application cannot be accepted for adjudication. This is because your application is not eligible under the CISAS Scheme Rules on which we must operate.

The reason for rejecting your application is as follows:

Dear Mr G**** Unfortunately your dispute appears to of not met the conditions of our application process. As stated on our website and application, you may use these services if you fall within the scope of the scheme. Please refer to our CISAS Rules for further information. Apologies that we are unable to assist you in this matter. As your claim relates to damage of property you may wish to refer to your local Trading Standards. Kind regards, CISAS. .

In light of the above, your application is now classified as closed and we are sorry that we cannot help you on this occasion.

You can see a full copy of the CISAS Scheme Rules of Adjudication on the CEDR website which include details on the reasons why we are obliged to reject some applications in section 2.2. 
Kind regards,
Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution
70 Fleet Street, London, EC4Y 1EU, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7520 3814
E: cisas@cedr.com  

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

so i'm not sure what part of that email agrees with virgin.. case rejected under 2.2 of the rules.

I didn't even make the starting blocks.

when I came back to virgin to ask for another impartial arbitrator, I was promised the long awaited virgin claim pack.

this never came...

i've now exhausted any hope of any claim pack turning up..

 

Have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts :0)

Gilly

 

 

 

Hi Gilly, 

Thanks for coming back to me on this. Apologies if I mis-understood. As you only said that 'cisas took all of 5mins to reject my claim' I assumed this was in agreement with us. 

CISAS is our arbitrator and as they have advised to go to Trading Standards, this is the action I would take. 

Apologies that I'm unable to help further. 

Thanks,

Kath_F
Forum Team

New around here? Check out the do's and don'ts, in our Community FAQs


Hi Kath, I'm very sorry you cant help. even though cisas didn't agree with virgin.

when i called cisas to ask why my case was rejected.

the nice chap there, said

"i don't know why virgin have referred you to us, we don't deal with that sort of thing"

my deadlock letter had all the details of what i was asking for - so why virgin sent me to cisas baffles me.

you sent me to an arbitrator that couldn't arbitrate .. wonderful.

cisas then spoke about my other options

Ofcom - trading standards

that's when i came back to virgin for another impartial arbitrator , since then radio silence

last Thursday i gave up waiting anymore and visited the local CAB for some free legal advice. .

what a shame it's come to this... i'm very much a virgin fan customer since 2003

 

yes i spoke to Ofcom and trading standard organisations - neither of them have the power to make you replace my equipment.

so it has to be legal action from here on.

i wont be offended if you can't reply to me updating the community kath from here on.

 

i haven't heard  back from the CAB consumer specialist.  i will keep the group updated on my quest to put things right.

tennis i hear, and football.. what a time to be without a TV

 

Gilly

 

 

 

 

Hi again, back with an update.

 

the CAB cam back to me after a 2 week wait. i cant say why here... but.

green light - YES !!!!!

I will have a claim for liability.

i will keep you all updated.

 

Gilly