Useless service

[DClem]

When i ordered my new broadband package, the system ran checks and said I was eligible for a self installation. It turned up yesterday and there is no port, anywhere for the coaxial cable to connect. From reading other posts here I've gathered i need an engineer visit. Theyre coming Saturday, great. All fine there.

Then began the WORST customer services experience of my life, that is still ongoing as I type this.

I urgently need internet for my work. Yesterday, when on the phone to arrange the engineer, the woman i spoke with said she would refer to a different department to arrange for a dongle to be sent out, free of charge, that would allow me to use the internet in the interim before the engineer turns up. It then rang for 10 mins then went silent. 10 minutes of silence later I hang up.

Tried again today, Im now 2 1/2 hours into being on the phone. I have been hung up on twice. I have been referred back and forth between the same two departments over 8 times. Multiple times in the same calls! Eventually, I took to just asking to speak to supervisors, as hopefully they might actually know who I need to speak to. They hung up again. This is a cry for help. Is there some department I need to ask to speak to? since clearly noone on the phones actually knows who I'm supposed to speak to, maybe someone here will?

I'm sure its obvious, but I'm fed up.

[jem101]

Ah well, welcome to the weird and wacky world of VM's customer services provision!

The first thing I would say is if internet connectivity is really vital for your work then you could do worse than investigate getting a 4G or 5G router from whoever gives the best coverage in your area and ideally on a monthly rolling contract. These can be obtained on a next-day delivery or pick up from a store basis and should tied you over.

The VM offer of a dongle, probably should best be taken with a big pinch of salt - it does seem to depend on pot-luck as to who you speak to. There have been a handful of posts on here from users who claim that they were sent one, but far more report that they were faithfully promised one but it never turned up, or were told that no such thing exists - so, really, don't get your hopes up.

The second thing to consider is that there is always a (albeit slight) chance that when the technician turns up on Saturday, they might still, be unable to connect you up if the cables have been cut away at some point or faulty - they won't be equipped to carry out any major repairs, and if a new cable needs to be run from the street cabinet, well that's a whole new world of pain! In this scenario having the 4G/5G router will be a life-saver as it could quite literally be months before the work gets done.

Of course if you get connected up on Saturday and it all works, then happy days, at worse, you have wasted the reminder of the month line rental for the router, but that might be a small price to pay for a bit of peace of mind, knowing that you won't be left hanging.

[goslow]

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@DClem wrote:

When i ordered my new broadband package, the system ran checks and said I was eligible for a self installation. It turned up yesterday and there is no port, anywhere for the coaxial cable to connect. From reading other posts here I've gathered i need an engineer visit. Theyre coming Saturday, great. All fine there.

Then began the WORST customer services experience of my life, that is still ongoing as I type this.

<snip>

I'm sure its obvious, but I'm fed up.

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Have you had a look outside your property to see if there is a plastic 'omnibox' bringing the cable from the street to your home. If there is one, see if you can trace any cables coming into your home. Sometimes inside there is no VM wall box (or it may be branded with one of the old cable TV company names). Sometimes the connection is just a trailing wire which can be hidden inside or behind furniture. Sometimes only a short stub of wire is left behind a plastic faceplate or sometimes a previous occupier has removed the connection altogether.

The only 'official' mentions of VM offering mobile dongles AFAIK is as an alternative to VM paying compensation for failed connections/repairs. Reports on here are that they are hard to get hold of and do not work that well when they are provided.

If you are in the situation of a failed 'Quick Start' connection then you are due compensation for the delay as per paragraph 6 here

https://www.virginmedia.com/legal/fibre-optic-services-terms-conditions/automatic-compensation

at £8.40 per day after 2 working days subject to the T&Cs

If connectivity is essential for working from home, consider looking into making your own arrangements for some kind of temporary mobile connection/hotspot arrangement. Your connection might (probably will) get installed by VM when they do turn up. If, however, a problem crops up you will need some kind of backup in place as VM's ability to resolve difficult cable connections can be very poor indeed for some unlucky new customers.

[Gareth_L]

Hello DClem.

Thanks for your first post and welcome to our Community.
Sorry to hear you are having an issue with the quickstart kit.

We do only offer this service if the property has had services with us before.

What we can't see is if the previous tenant / homeowner has removed the wall plate or its been damaged etc.

You mentioned a visit on Saturday to get this looked at and resolved.

Sadly the dongle is not something we can sort out form here.

Can you please let us know how the visit goes.

Gareth_L