No response to spotter request for a new build property and told address is unserviceable when it isn’t

[hyjt1]

Hello

I am having a problem ordering VM broadband to a new build property, and I can see that multiple other people have had the same problem as I am having.

We have moved into a new build address on a street where the rest of the houses are older. Our address isn’t yet listed on the VM website so we weren’t able to order broadband services online as there is no way to manually enter the address and place an order. Our address is now registered with Royal Mail and this was confirmed to me by one of your customer service agents.

I have checked every other address under the same post code on your website and they are all serviceable by Virgin Media including my next door neighbour who is only metres away. We can see their VM network address when we log in to our devices so I am 100% confident our address would also be serviceable. I have called multiple times to explain this issue and get passed from call handler to call handler who all say different things but most have said our post code is indeed in a Virgin Media area and it shouldn’t be a problem getting services here.

I have been told that a spotter was needed and that someone would be in contact within 10 days. Unfortunately nobody got in contact so I called up again. I was told that a spotter had indeed attended the property but was told that a second spotter needed to attend the address which they said they would arrange and was told again to expect a call back within 10 days. This never happened. When I called back again to chase this up I was just told that the address was unserviceable and there was nothing that could be done, which clearly doesn’t make sense if every other address under our post code is serviceable including our next door neighbour.

Please can you help us with this. We have been trying to sort this out for over a month and it seems silly that the only reason we can not just order directly on the website is because our address is not listed on your address checker, and that there is apparently no way of entering the address manually on the VM website in order to process the order and start the installation process. Furthermore this is clearly a recurrent problem with VM as multiple other customers in exactly the same scenarios as ourselves have had the exact same problem.

I look forward to your reply.

Many thanks

[Ayisha_B]

Hi 👋 @hyjt1,

A warm welcome to our Community Forums and thanks for your post. 

I am so sorry your address is currently showing as non serviceable and that you've not had the best experience trying to get some answers on this. We would love to have you on board if we're able 😊

I'm going to pop you a PM now to confirm some details so I can escalate this to the dedicated team who will be in touch directly to discuss servicing the property. 

Hope to hear from you soon!

[Ayisha_B]

Thanks so much for confirming the requested details via PM @hyjt1,

I have sent of your request to the team concerned and they'll be in touch within 10 days, though typically sooner. 

if there's any further issues with this, do let us know.

Keep us posted! 

[hyjt1]

Hi Aysha

I know it’s not your fault but with respect that’s what I get told every time i.e. that someone will be in contact within 10 days. But nobody ever does. This has been going on for about a month and I must have spoken to 20 different people from Virgin. It’s not good enough and I’d like this to be escalated to someone senior. 

I’m going to copy and paste a reply I got from another customer on this forum who was in exactly the same situation as I am. It took them over four months to get the situation resolved when it could have been sorted out much more quickly. Please could you have a look at it? 

Thanks

[hyjt1]

“It took me 4 months to sort this out in my case. I called Virgin Media almost every day for a month, but this is what worked in the end. Godspeed

1. Call pre-installation, insist that you want to speak with the construction team. Or dig up the direct number to the construction team somewhere online

2. Explain your situation to someone at the construction team, and ask if they would be willing to knowingly cheat the system by ordering a technician to do a site survey (instead of waiting for a spotter). The site survey must be ordered for your neighbor's address (which isn't allowed of course, hence cheating the system...)

3. Wait on the road/outside your neighbor's house on the day that the site survey technician is supposed to arrive.Talk to the technician, kindly guide them towards your address and ask them to assess that

4. Even if the site survey technician ends up submitting a positive report to state that your address is serviceable, then you might have a difficult time getting someone at Virgin Media (back office, internal house files team etc) to pay attention to that, seeing as the site survey wasn't booked for your actual address

5. Call Virgin Media a hundred times until you find someone willing to connect you to a "Network Sales Advisor"

6. Explain to the Network Sales Advisor that you have already had a site survey completed, that was booked with the help of construction. And that you would like your address to be marked as serviceable/added to their residential system based on the technician's report/findings

7. If you are lucky, then the Network Sales Advisor will add your address, and help you place an order

8. Wait 1-3 months for external work, pre-pull / installing Tees, main installation etc to completed. In the meantime you can ask for a free "construction data SIM" to keep you connected

9. Done”

[hyjt1]

“No worries, hope this was somewhat helpful. To add to my previous message, I have spoken to most, if not all "departments" within Virgin Media - including Virgin Media Business. I have tried submitting several spotter requests, ten or more "Tell us about where you live"-forms, two "hotdesk" requests (via pre-installation/construction), three requests to internal house files, two requests sent to the Area Field Manager(s), etc etc

The only ones that were able to make things happen were 1) the construction team that helped book a site survey, and 2) the Network Sales Advisor.

I assume that the Network Sales Advisor must be fairly high up in the hierarchy, and she was able to mark my address as serviceable with a click of a button. So if I were in your position I would probably start by calling Virgin Media again and again and again, until you get connected to someone that is willing to forward you to Network Sales. Best of luck!”

[hyjt1]

As you can see this person had to battle for 4 months to get this sorted out when it should have taken minutes and this isn’t really great service and isn’t acceptable. The Network Sales Adviser was able to change his house from unserviceable to serviceable at the push of a button, and the Construction Team were able to book a site survey very easily. I would appreciate it if you could escalate my case to these two teams, or failing that provide me with a means of contacting them myself. 

As I’ve said, my house is smack bang in the middle of an area serviced wholly by Virgin Media  including my next door neighbour who is literally 2 metres away and whose Virgin Media network address I can see when I log into my devices and go on to Network Settings so I know for a fact I can get Virgin broadband at my address. I really don’t want to have to wait 4 months to get this sorted out like this other customer had to. 

I appreciate your help. Many thanks. 

[Ayisha_B]

Hi @hyjt1, 

I'm so sorry there's been no progress with this 😞

I'm going to reach out to the Area Field Manager on your behalf to get you some answers and will follow up with you as soon as I have any update. 

Thanks for your continued patience.

[hyjt1]

Thank you.

Please bear in mind however that the fellow customer I was speaking with had his case escalated to the Area Field Managers twice to no avail. The only departments that were able to help him get services set up was the Network Sales Adviser and the Construction Team as outlined in my previous correspondence. 

Kind regards 

[Ashleigh_C]

Thank you @hyjt1

We understand the frustration, but we will do all we can to chase this for you. Please do await an update from Ayisha.

Thanks again