Landline changing to fibre network

[brianpointy]

We have received an email informing of the upgrade of our landline to the fibre network. As I understand it our phone's base will need to be plugged directly into the superhub after upgrading. This will be  inconvenient for us, as currently the landline is downstairs and the superhub is upstairs in a back bedroom and we would rather have the base unit/answerphone where it is now in our lounge (neither of us would be fast enough to be able to get upstairs to answer it!). I have read on this forum that our wiring can be changed by VM to accommodate our current setup. Is this likely to be a complicated job and will there be any charge for sorting it out? 

[Akua_A]

Hi @brianpointy

Welcome back to our community forums and thank you for your post.

Thank you for flagging this possible issue with your landline switchover. We want to do our best to help. Typically we advise in cases like this to use wireless landline devices. This way the master landline can remain connected to the hub and then you can have the other devices wherever you need them. In rare cases, we can get an engineer out for the appointment however this may incur a call-out charge as seen here https://www.virginmedia.com/legal/price-guides and this would be accessed by the tech to see if the scope of work can be done.

Thanks,

[goslow · Accepted solution]

It should be a free visit to modify phone wiring as part of the switchover process according to

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/landline/switchover

Do I need to book a technician visit?

You’ll need to book a free technician visit if...

• You rely on your landline for accessibility needs or don’t have a mobile to make an emergency call – we’ll provide you with an Emergency Back Up Line so you’re always able to call emergency services.
• You’ve got connected devices such as a burglar alarm linked to a control centre, use a telecare device, or have other phones connected to extension sockets. You’ll need to contact your provider and let them know about the switch if you have any of these to make sure they’re compatible with a fibre service.
• The Hub and your home phone can’t be placed near each other.

[brianpointy]

Thanks for the reply - however I don't think we should have to buy a new phone just to be able to receive the same service we currently get. I suspect we will have to go down the route that @goslow suggested.

[Jodi_S]

Thanks for coming back to us brianpointy,

We can certainly arrange for additional wiring or a relocation free of charge as our valued member @
goslow has stated on the last post.

We can get this booked in for you nearer the time or whenever is convenient for you. Please post back on here and we will invite you in for a private chat to get this arranged for you.

Kind regards Jodi. 

[brianpointy]

Hi Jodi, thanks for clarifying this.
The email we received says that our switch over day will be April 14th and the adapter will be posted to us before then. It would be great to get this sorted out before then.

[Jodi_S]

Of course, brianpointy.

We can get this arranged for you. I will pop you over a private message to take some details and get this booked in. Please click on the purple envelope to accept the chat.

Kind regards Jodi. 

[John_GS]

Hi Brian
Thanks for joining us on PM and providing me the details so I could book the tech visit in for the wiring relating the upcoming migration. The visit will be viewable in your online account - virg.in/myVM - shortly, where you can amend/cancel if needed.
There will be no charge for this visit unless:
• The technician diagnoses the faults as not being caused by our network/equipment 
• The technician discovers that the fault or problem relates to your equipment
• The technician discovers that the fault or problem relates to any system that we are not responsible for
The technician will confirm during their visit if any of these instances apply, and if so, a £25 charge will be applied to your account. 
Please ensure there is someone over the age of 18 present at the time of the visit. If you need to change or cancel your appointment you can do this online or via the MyVM app by 4pm the day before the appointment.
If you do miss an agreed appointment for any reason, a £25 missed appointment charge will be applied to your account on the day of the appointment

The visit will be to sort the wiring out for you so there is no issue when the migration happens, it may even happen on the day of the visit as well, depending on the tech.
Let us know how the visit goes or if you need further assistance with anything.
Best,

[brianpointy]

Just an update to this thread. The engineer visit went well. He re-located our superhub downstairs so we could directly connect our landline to it with very little trouble and everything works as expected.

However, as stated above in the posts from Jodie_S and goslow there should not have been a callout charge for this visit as it was part of the landline migration but our bill for this month includes an extra £25 callout charge. Please can someone from VM arrange for this to be waived as promised by Jodie_S above(and by John_GS in DM) as soon as possible? Thanks.

[Chris_W1]

Hi brianpointy, thanks for the message and welcome back to the forums. 

I am sorry to hear that there has been a charge when you were promised there would not be. 

I will send you a private message so that this can be looked into further. 

Please look out for the purple envelope. 

Kind regards, Chris.