Internet installation 3 months delayed and some issues

[Kirkquil]

Hi,

Can anyone help me on this matter? Basically me and my partner recently mortgaged a flat (1st floor), last June we’ve decided to get an internet connection as there wasn’t any. (I believe the previous line in the flat is BT). Since i mainly work from home which requires a lot of online meetings, we decided to get VM instead. Good thing that VM was available in my area when i searched. So i finally made a contract which will get installed in 2 weeks at that time, but then only to find out it got pushed back for 2 months. It was fine, i didn’t mind it, so i waited patiently. Here comes August, i went to check the app and my appointment schedule was gone, so i called up. They told me it was cancelled due to my neighbour not replying for this permit (i don’t know who exactly this neighbour they’re contacting?). So VM reassured me to rebook my appointment and made sure the documentation was right. My next appointment was supposed to be this coming 24th. But not until last couple days my appointment disappeared again. So i called up yet again, and they told me that it was cancelled, he then proceeds to tell me the reason was the engineer couldn’t get a permit from my neighbour. So now i’m really puzzled, cos this (6 rooms) flat i’m living only has 3 tenants who lives there (including me). Then 3 rooms are empty. On the ground floor, no one lives there, literally empty rooms. I’ve talked to those other 2 tenants about this, they haven’t received any thing from VM regarding installation form/permit. And now VM couldn’t rebook my appointment until they get a permit from my neighbour, they suspected that VM might have sent out a post to those empty rooms. I was then advised to contact my estate agent, and i did. When i explained it to them they weren’t keen on us having to install VM as it might require some digging up which in their head might damage the property etc. Upon discussing my situation It sounded like they want us to use the BT line which was already there, i’m like but i want VM as a preferred provider. It’s annoying cos we can’t get internet we want due to this, it’s affecting my work as i have been using my mobile phone data. I also want to point out that my neighbouring building has VM connection too, and i realise why can’t i? It seems unfair.

Is there any way that i can get this installed at all? Should i still convince my estate agent? I don’t know what the law regarding this but i literally need a form of permit that my installation will be green lit… Or should i wait for whoever lives on our ground floor and let them agree for it? (Those rooms has been recently sold)

Thanks for the help,

Kirk

[jb66]

Virgin can't dig up your downstairs neighbours garden without permission from the land owner not the tenants. If the landowner refuses then you can't get VM

[Kirkquil]

What confused me every time i call VM the reasoning behind my appointment cancelling is due to my “neighbour” not replying back to their wayleave. I even clarified, they even said they’re sending a post and not getting it back to them, then they kept rebooking me for another appointment and reassured me that it will work this time, only to find out it’s cancelled again. That’s what made me lost cos i was trying to figure out who this neighbour was, or who’s they trying to reach. There was no explanation, it was unclear to me what the usual process of this

[goslow]

You are dealing with two problems here. One is the merry-go-round of VM's installation processes and the other is gaining the necessary wayleave/permissions to bring a VM cable from the the street to your flat.

VM's installation procedures are overly-reliant on automated processes so, when one installation fails, another automated cycle is started. From the past topics on here, quite often no human intervention happens and, even when it does get to a person being involved, they are unable to break the cycle of automated tasks taking place. Hence you keep getting failed installations followed by new installation dates which also result in failure.

The second issue might involve several different parties depending on who-owns-what in your building. The freeholder/owner of the building will probably need to grant permission for holes to be drilled and cables attached to the building. If the cable has to cross a garden at ground floor level, then you need to find out who owns the garden (which might be the ground floor leaseholder or freeholder for shared land).

The wayleave T&Cs from VM which appear online do not seem very advantageous to anyone accepting them. If that person does not benefit from the VM service, there would not be any particular reason they would want to sign such a document (even if you could find who the right person is).

Estate agents' and letting agents' default answers to such requests are often likely to be a 'no' as they will have no particular interest in getting involved in what might be a complicated and time-consuming process.

One of the VM forum team may be able to add something more when they get here within a day or two.

[John_GS]

Hi Kirkquil

Thanks for posting and welcome to the community. Apologies to hear of the install delay and cancellation due to the wayleave not signed. 

It's either what you have advised or we've contacted the estate agent responsible for the garden (if the other flats are empty) and they're either refusing the permit due to what you've said. Sadly nothing we can do in that regard so it maybe worth speaking to them again if they would be the people we'd be contacting.

Best,