Virgin Media Community

[farai7625]

We had broadband installed in September, M350. We had to have an engineer have to come and do the installation as the previous residents removed the virgin cabling. It worked for around 2-3 weeks at top speed then got intermittently slower and eventually just stopped altogether from the end of September.

We had an engineer come to our property to rectify the issue, in the beginning of October he determined the cable was dead and a repull was necessary as he couldn't find the source of the fault.

We had to wait an entire month for the 2nd engineer/s to come on the 28th and it wasn't the two man team we expected, he exclaimed "i have no idea why they sent me - it should have been a team here today" he didnt have the right resources to resolve the issue, we were then promised the issue would be resolved that week, it wasn't - a 3rd booking for the cable repull was then scheduled for the 11th of November! meaning we will have been without service for a month and a half. 

This was then pushed again via text with apologies to the 16th of November and nobody turned up, I called and the customer service team tell me it was logged as resolved - nobody showed up! Then they told me to expect a call from the field manager in 48 hours (more on this later - but no surprises no one called), I receive a notification on my account for the 17th of November - again no one shows up, I call the technical team, they call the field team, the technical team inform me it was a field audit and to again expect a call the next day, nothing happens. I get a text on the 18th telling me my cable repull has now been pushed to the 3rd of December. 

I call again, they schedule an engineer for the 21st of November - what is this person going to find that the previous two haven't.

I have spent well over 20+ hours on the phone in between all of this trying to have this sorted and i keep getting the run around.

This is completely unacceptable and really unfair. We're still being charged a bill, we have to work from home and the support has been very relaxed when some urgency is needed. We've paid hundreds of pounds for mobile hotspot solutions for the time being and we can't do this anymore. We've paid too much money, we cancelled our previous provider for the promise of superior service we're now going out of pocket to stay connected, I already flagged there was a vulnerable person in the house and apparently this has only been recently acknowledged, I've logged a complaint and there's been no follow up we will be going to over 8 weeks with no service, still being charged and I'm looking at my legal options now for a remedy. 

Has anyone experienced similar, any guidance or advice to get this rectified sooner rather than later? It seems this whole thing just isn't working out and we'll have to go to BT or something. 

[Andruser]

Truly appalling. 

There's two things here - getting your service restored (if you still want that), and restitution for the abominable service and payments taken whilst there's no connection.  Hopefully the forum staff can get the service restored pronto, and I'll flag your post for their attention.

From the point of view of restitution, read and follow the VM complaints Code of Practice. I always recommend putting complaints in writing and sending by recorded post. If VM can't sort your complaint out to your complete satisfaction, then after eight weeks you can escalate to the industry arbitration scheme CISAS. Obviously this is slow, but probably better than the misery of trying to contact VM by phone, and getting fobbed off again with promises that will certainly not be kept.  

Make sure your complaint is clear, starts from the beginning, includes as much detail as possible on the contacts you've had with VM, including (if relevant) any rudeness or being cut off or disconnected. It should also specify exactly what you want: Refund of all charges to date, compensation for the inconvenience, wasted time, additional costs caused by their persistent failure, and a generous "goodwill gesture" (compensation) for the sheer unpleasant inconvenience of the whole thing.  If you've had enough, this is the point also to demand immediate release from the fixed term contract without penalty.  Also request an immediate deadlock letter if VM won't settle the complaint in full on your terms.

If the forum staff can grab this and get it sorted that will be quicker and easier for both parties, but don't settle for any compromise or inadequate goodwill gesture just because it's easy.  If it goes to a formal complaint, you might get good service but don't be too surprised if VM either lose, ignore or close the complaint, or to come up with an inadequate resolution.  If you have a deadlock letter you can immediately escalate to the arbitration scheme CISAS who work in a very similar manner to the Energy Ombudsman, if you don't then you'll have to wait eight weeks before they can consider it (add in more compensation for any further messing around by VM during that time.

[John_GS]

Hi farai7625

Thanks for posting and welcome to the community. My apologies for the experience you've had here. It's not the level of service we aim to provide.

I can see you've got a technician visit booked in today and the repull booked in also. 

I've contacted the field team to bring the repull forward as your account is classed as a vulnerable customer account due to information you've previously provided. 

Please let me know how today's visit goes.

Kind regards,

[farai7625]

Andruser thank you so much for your guidance on this issue I will certainly look into the code of practice as I logged the complaint over the phone and have attempted a few times to get a follow up, but again i'm given false hope, given the run around (the complaints department will be in touch).

I just feel very powerless at the moment and there's absolutely nothing I can do to alleviate the elevated stress the situation has for the person I take care of. They work from home too, they've shown incredible patience but it's really the final straw - this 2nd lockdown has made it even more unbearable and the financial toll its taking is just unbelievable.  

I will update if and when someone comes and should I need assistance with CISAS, I'm also looking into getting some additional counsel from the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Thank you again, I really appreciate you sharing the insight and knowledge. 

[farai7625]

Hey John, thanks for this and for escalating. Very much appreciated.

Just to share.

I really am a bit lost for words though. I can only say "i hope"

I hope the engineer shows up today to offer "temporary relief" - they have about two hours to arrive - i have very little faith they will show up. This will make 3 no-shows

I hope the cable repull is indeed pulled forward and we're up and running again within the week. 

We have exercised an incredible level of patience for months, I've kept on it more so for the sake of the person I live with - they can't exactly pop into the office or find a coffee shop to work for the day. 

Bit of a vent but I'm sure you'll agree I'm warranted a winge about this whole thing

I will reach out again with an update but I am looking into my legal options in parallel - it's been awful.

[John_GS]

Thanks for coming back to me.

I do fully understand what you're saying and do keep me posted with how today's visit goes

Kind regards,