Virgin Media Community

[MrsBokko]

To summarise ...

• I have been without a home phone since 22 March.
• I have had 8 missed engineer appointments.
• I have had 4 engineer visits and each time they have said they are unable to help as it needs a different team to be able to fix.
• I have telephoned 5 times (using my mobile which has cost money because the only number to use is an 0345 number).  
• The last call I made, which was today, lasted nearly two hours - most of which was spent with me on hold.  At the end of it they could give me no date for when it would be fixed and just said it would need to be escalated.
• I have been told 3 times that a manager will phone me back but no one has.
• I have tried chat twice and got no where as I've been told that another department needs to sort and I need to phone them (which is the same department I've spoken to 5 times without any help).
• I completed an online complaint on 1st April and got an email today, 5th May, saying 'We tried to ring .... but couldn't get through' - yes that's because my phone doesn't work.  Even more frustrating the email then went on to say that 'an engineer will be visiting your property on 02/04/2021 to fix the fault.  Today is 05/05/2021.
• Because it's taking so long to fix today I asked if my home number could be diverted to my mobile (free of charge) so that I didn't miss any important calls.  I also asked if I could have Voicemail Plus (free of charge) so that I could access any missed Voicemails.  I was told this wasn't possible as the phone isn't working.  Our business line is with BT and when there was a fault with that line they were able to divert calls etc so I do not understand why Virgin can't.
• Today I tried twitter and that was basically shocking - the person who responded didn't read what I'd said and I had to repeat the same thing over, they then told me to phone even though they knew I'd already tried that, then they gave me a link to the standard contact pages - just basically really unhelpful and clearly demonstrated how frustrating it's been trying to sort.
• I dread to think of the amount of time I have spent trying to get this resolved!

I understand I'll get compensation for the missed appointments and for every day that I've been without the phone.  That's all great but ultimately I just want the phone fixed.  

Any ideas on how I get someone who can actually make something happen to do something?

[Katie_WT]

Hi there @MrsBokko

Welcome back to our Community and thanks for your post - I was sorry to understand that you  have has some issues with your landline and that you have had some issues getting updates on what is happening. 

From locating your account I can see that some external cabling work needs to be completed; unfortunately during the last visit it was not able to be done in full and it requires another type of technician to attend. 

Unfortunately due to the nature of the issue, even if we added Call Divert to your line, you would be unable to activate this as it can only be done from the landline. The same would go for upgrading your voicemail; in order to remote access, it has to be first activated from the landline. I can only apologise. 

What I can do for you is escalate your issue and contact the Area Manager to see if we can get an update for you on what is exactly needed and when this may be going ahead. Once I have an update, I will be sure to post back to the thread - if needed, I will pop you a Private Message so we can chat freely. I will also update your account and complaint for you. 

Thanks for your ongoing patience. 

[MrsBokko]

No one has kept me up to date and I'm so fed up of phoning, using chat, complaining, etc and just being let down every time.  Can you find out when it will actually finally, definitely be fixed and keep me informed on here please?

[Katie_WT]

That's the plan @MrsBokko 🙂 

I have already contacted the Area Manager for your region to request an update and once I have a response, I shall let you know directly 🙂 

[Katie_WT]

Morning @MrsBokko

You'll be pleased to understand that i have returned to work this morning to find emails from the Area Managers for your region who have advised that this will be looked into and dealt with as soon as possible. 

I can see that this has been reassigned for an assessment visit with the intention to see what the cause of the delay is and how we can best get this resolved for you. 

Once I have any more details to provide, I will let you know. 

Cheers

[MrsBokko]

Thanks for the update.  Very frustrating though as previous visits have identified what needs to happen.  The cable needs to be run from one pit to another and that would involve road management - and that’s why they couldn’t do it last time.  Why do they not report all this after they’ve been? Appreciate they are going to come and look and see what needs doing but they could have identified that 7 weeks ago and saved me a lot of hassle.  

Feeling more fed up today as I contacted a company I have been waiting for crucial information from and they said that they left 4 messages on my home phone but because I didn’t return the call I’ve missed out.  I’m not going to go into detail but this is pretty heartbreaking for me.   I really hope there’s not other important calls that we’ve missed.   With this in mind can you clarify how Voicemail Plus works.  If you dial our home number you get voicemail so surely I should be able to use Voicemail Plus to get access to any messages?

[Katie_WT]

We understand that is what the previous technician notes advised @MrsBokko - however, I am sorry to advise that this was not passed on to process the work and as such the teams need to see exactly what the issue is that needs work. 

In order to be able to access Voicemail away from your landline, it needs setting up with a PIN which needs to be activated from calling 1571 from your landline at home. As you currently have no landline, this cannot be done. I am sorry. 

Once I have any further information on what work needs doing and if we have a timescale, I will be sure to let you know. 

Cheers

[MrsBokko]

An update....

I managed to find an email address for the Chief Executives office and emailed them yesterday with the situation.  I got a call within hours apologising and letting me know it would be sorted as a priority.  Engineers arrived this morning and they have fixed the phone.

Shame it took the Chief Executive’s office to sort but maybe lessons have been learnt.  

[Zoie_P]

Hi MrsBokko, 

Thanks for your reply, I am glad to hear you have had this resolved

Zoie