WIFI POD HOT & BLACKENED WALL

[garethleetaylor]

Hey. This seems to be a common problem with these pods. I’ve had two of my three now overheat and damage my sockets/walls with black smoke? I’ve switched them all off for now for safety but this is impacting my internet coverage in my home. How do I get replacements and is there an alternative available?

 

[Robert_P · Accepted solution]

Hello garethleetaylor

Very sorry to see the issues caused by your Pod's and the concern this has caused, we appreciate you taking the time to raise this via the forums.

I will send you a Private Message, please keep an eye out in the top right when signed into the forums for the envelope. This is where you will be able to find my Private Message and be able to respond.

[Cardiffman282]

Do please report these very serious incidents to Trading Standards https://www.tradingstandards.uk/consumer-help/ 

[jbrennand]

If this has happened on more than one Pod I would suggest you get a qualified electrician to look into any  socket where that has occurred . The old boosters are known to be prone to this... but AFAIK the Pods aren't.  At least I have never seen multiple pods causing this issue

Please update this thread with the outcome so we can note the solution.  Thanks

BTW - yes there are many options for improving the wifi connection that dont involve Pods - you can source your own...

... you would need to get either a… (1) Mesh System, (2) Wireless router, (3) Wireless access point(s), (4) a pair of good quality Wifi Powerline Adaptors, or a combination of (2&3). £40-100 - should sort it for most customers with an average property and usage.

Spend more for additional advanced“features” - if required.

[asim18]

If I was the CEO of VM I'd be posting that dodgy pod to Big Clive along with a blank cheque to find out exactly what went wrong.

Has VM ever actually investigated these items? or do they just end up in an executive's bin?

Wait, does VM even have a mechanism in place for such important information to reach someone who has the executive power to launch an investigation?

[jb66]

Is it near a radiator or is your house abnormally warm, the fact it's happened to more than one suggests it's an environmental factor

[garethleetaylor]

Not sure why you would assume that. One is upstairs, on a landing area with lots of airflow and nowhere near a radiator and the other is near the front door, again with lots of airflow and nowhere near a heat source. My home never goes above 19.5 degrees. 

[garethleetaylor]

It’s a new build house, only been here 10 years and lived in it from new. Never had a problem with the electrics or any other devices. It’s unlikely to be an electrical fault and is much more likely to be the pods themselves. They get to a ridiculous temperature. 

[garethleetaylor]

Still no solution thus far. I was messaged by a Virgin Media Rep, who at the time was very helpful and apologetic however, despite being told that a complaint has been raised and I would be contacted by Virgin Media for an Engineer to attend my home and inspect the issue and replace the pods, there has been no contact over a number of (working) days. I find this quite alarming given the potential risks posed by the pods but in the meantime continue to suffer poor internet coverage across my home whilst I await a solution/resolution. 

[garethleetaylor]

Update - Despite Robert from the Forum Team being very helpful, I’ve had no direct call back from Virgin regarding this issue even though this has been promised on two separate occasions. I have pushed this myself and as a result, an Engineer visited yesterday and removed the three pods and photographed the damaged. According to him, this is not the first time he has seen this issue and he himself had a pod that literally exploded when it was plugged in, which he also reported to Virgin and had replaced. Unfortunately, he isn’t allowed to replace the pods with alternatives or even order them on my behalf, so I continue to chase and am no left without coverage across most of my home in the interim period.