Please help! Wire cut by Virgin Media, they never show to fix

[Thomas9]

Cable cut by a Virgin Media technician to connect a flat at the top of our block (we are on the ground floor). When we called out a technician to fix this is what he said had happened, and that someone would be back to send down a new cable from the roof, as it wasn't an easy fix.

This was over a month ago. We've had five appointments now where someone on customer service has promised Virgin Media will show, and they've messaged to say they will turn up, but they never do and they don't let us know. I have now made two complaints and again they promise someone will call back, but no one does. 

If they were to tell us the problem and give us a realistic timetable that would be one thing, but every time I talk to them promise someone will come soon, even saying "I guarantee it will be fixed tomorrow" 😅.

Can anyone help? How do I get through to someone who will be honest with me? Considering biting the bullet and siging up with BT but their speeds are significantly slower and I'm in a shared flat where we make heavy use. 

[TableTop]

So are you saying that you have been without any service for over a month, but you are still paying them?

If so then the (possible) good news is that you are entitled to compensation from them of £9 and a bit for each and everyday since you reported this (less two days they get to effect a repair) until it gets done. They now owe you around £300 which probably massively outweighs what you have paid them for the past month.

Now this assumes that you have no service at all, so what have you all been doing for the past month for internet connectivity? Mobile phone tethering?

You are on the ground floor, yes, so shouldn't be too difficult a job for them, nothing too far out of the ordinary. One possibility is that there is no spare capacity in the street cabinet and the tech cut your connection to provide connectivity for the top-floor flat, believing (or possibly not caring) that the connection was not 'live'. If this is indeed the case then it is quite possible that you won't get reconnected up anytime soon.

When you call VM, the person on the phone, literally doesn't know what the reality of the situation is, they can only recite what is on the screen in front of them, which has about the same relationship to reality as a Harry Potter novel. Promised call-backs, seem to be often made but rarely realised, and this is, sort-of, understandable as there is nothing they can do or tell you, so just promise anything to get you off the phone so they can move on.

Anyhow, do your research, what alternatives are available to you? A slower Openreach connection is probably preferable to a faster, but non-existent VM one!

[Thomas9]

Thank you! This £300 of which you speak is interesting - could you tell me how I go about getting that? 

Thanks!

[goslow]

See

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/billing-and-payments/automatic-compensation

In theory it is credited automatically within 30 days of your service being restored. Often VM's application of the credit is as reliable as its fixing of broken wires!

You mention a cable coming down from the roof to feed your flat. There have been similar topics on here in the past, in similar circumstances, where an existing customer has been disconnected to supply another customer.

In days gone by (when H&S rules were not so strict) the predecessors to VM installed cables in all manner of places such as roof tops and at high level. In the present day, it has been mentioned on here before that VM cannot actually service some of these cables any more as the location to get to them is deemed 'unsafe'.

No idea how applicable that is to your situation but such conditions might explain why you were disconnected in the first place and why it is taking so long to reconnect you.

In regards to the compo you should still get it even if you end up cancelling VM and you would also be due a missed appointment charge each time VM told you that you had to be in for an appointment but VM failed to turn up and failed to give you at least 24 hours of the no-show. If you cancel in a minimum term, VM may charge you early disconnection fees. If VM declares the fault cannot be fixed you should be offered an option to leave with no EDF.