Delayed installation and loss of service

[Lenly]

Hello,

On the 26th on April I informed VM that I'm moving house (account [removed]) and I'd like to take VM with me. We agreed that my last day at the old place would be 29th of May and on the 30th of May I'd have my installation at the new place as VM claimed it was possible.

On the 27th of April I got a text message asking to confirm some external work around my new property. I received a few emails reminding me to pack my router and my new account number - [removed].

I moved out on the 29th of May and on the 30th of May an installation engineer came to my new house and told me that he was unable to connect me because no external work has been done in advance and there is no cable.

This is where all the fun began.

I tried to raise a complaint via Whatsapp on the 30th of May, but a person from customer service didn't do it for me and just sent me to another team which could not help me.

Then I received a call from someone from VM telling me that they could not get a council permit in time and my new installation date would be the 22nd of June now. I also was promised that pre-installation external work would happen on the 3rd of June.

On the 3rd of June nobody showed up, I tried to contact customer service and was told that my appointment was moved on the 4rd of June. Next day the same situation. My appointment was moved to the 5th of June. Shall I say that no work has been done around my property today?

Also, my old account was disconnected, but the new one has never been connected. So basically I have no access to anything at the moment. I can't raise a complaint via a web form, neither I can track my appointments.

Finally, this morning I managed to raise a complaint via Whatsapp and this evening I received an email telling me that my issue was resolved and the complained was closed.

Nothing has been resolved.

So, I have a few questions and I really want to get some competent answers because customer service has been absolutely useless so far.

1. I'm on 18 month contract with VM. VM are not providing the service according to our contract. I lost my connection on the 30th of May and as per your compensation policy I'm entitled to £8.06 per day for a total loss of service after 2 full working days from registering the loss of service to us. I did register my loss with you and have my Whatsapp conversations saved. Please, confirm that VM is going to refund me £241.8 for 30 days and I don't need to go to ombudsman to resolve it?

2. The engineer from the installation team came on the 30th of May and could not install anything, hence I'm entitled to £5.04 per day if we don’t install your services on the promised day until installation’s completed. So my next installation booked on the 22nd of June now and it gives us 30 days again. Please, confirm that VM is going to refund me £151.2 for this inconvenience.

3. Please, explain why my complaint C-05062233 was closed without any resolution?

4. Please, give me update on my new account connection issue and why I'm not able to use my account now?

5. Please, tell me when my external work appointment keeps rescheduling everyday and has VM managed to get this permit or not? I have serious concerns about the 22nd of June, because based on all my experience with VM so far I can't trust you at all.

Thank you and I'm looking forward to answers to all my questions

Ellina

 [MOD EDIT: Personal and private information has been removed from this post. Please do not post personal or private information in your public posts. Please review the Forum Guidelines]

[Andrew-G · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, VM's installation process is a complete mess, and all attempts to cause things to go faster, be properly managed, or to see anybody take real ownership seem to result in no change - the process works (or doesn't) in its own sweet time.  Complaints, even to the CEO do not seem able to change this situation.  This has been the case for a couple of years now, and whilst VM are big on insincere apologies from staff who aren't responsible for the failings, they're apparently not at all worried about the shameful performance.  In terms of council permits, this is a regular excuse, but often a wrong one - VM should have applied as soon as the need was identified, and for the works VM typically need these would take a couple of days to issue - if you need the facts, phone the council department that manages streetworks, ask them if there's been a Virgin Media application for a Section 50 permit, when that was made, and when it was issued.

In terms of delays for this type of work, the longest that has been reported in the forum is now one year, one month and a day (and still not installed, but with a VM promise of 8th June that nobody has any faith in).

Moving on to compensation - your requested sums are reasonable and well founded, don't expect VM to pay up without a fight.  The original attempt to raise a complaint via Whatsapp that didn't work - that's a breach of Ofcom's General Conditions Condition C4 Annex 3, para 1.  When you did get round to raising a complaint, and had it immediately fobbed off (I know how this works, had it myself recently), that's a breach of para 7 of the same Annex 3.  Your options to take the complaint forward are to reply to the "resolution" offered by VM, rejecting that and asking for a "deadlock letter", which you then use to approach the industry complaints adjudication scheme, CISAS.  

If you've had enough, you're within your rights to ask to be released from any continuing VM contract without penalty: Paragraph 4 of Ofcom's Fairness Code states "Customers’ services work as promised, reliably over time. If things go wrong providers give a prompt response to fix problems and take appropriate action to help their customers, which may include providing compensation where relevant. If providers can’t fix problems with core services they have promised to deliver within a reasonable period, customers can walk away from their contract with no penalty".  If you do decide to cancel, you'll almost certainly need to use CISAS if VM resist (I'd say 50/50 chance), and because VM try and evade payment of delayed install compensation when a customer cancels (evidence in these forums).

If you need to approach CISAS, ask for the amounts you've identified already, plus compensation for each of (1) the poor handling of the house move, (2) the botched connection works, (3) broken promises to resolve things, (4) poor customer service, and (5) poor complaints handling.

Maybe the forum staff can leap in and sort this sorry mess out, and if they can it would be easiest for you - but don't settle for less than you believe you're entitled to.

[Kain_W]

Hi there Lenly,

Thanks for your post and welcome to the community.

Really sorry about the delays regarding your new service.

Just to clarify, have you now moved into the new property? As the delayed installation credit would be the £5.04 as you inputted as opposed to the £8. Are you relating this to the prior account closing?

Also regarding the installation complaint, this should've been assigned to our field team for further investigation if external work hasn't been completed.

Since being advised of the council permit, have you received any contact ince?

Let us know,

[Anonymous]

Where are you getting the £5.04 rate from please Kain? The current Ofcom rate that VM is signed up to is £5.25.

 

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/automat...

[Lenly]

Hello Kain,

Yes, I moved to a new property. But I have an ongoing contract with VM and despite my notification in advance VM failed to connect me back in one day as they promised.

Are you saying that loosing connection for an existing customer is acceptable from VM point of view if a customer moves home? It does not sound very client oriented and friendly.

To answer your question, I was not given any updates and nobody contacted me. My new account doesn't work, my old account is disconnected. I'm not able to get any support from VM customer service and now you're saying I'm not entitled to £8 per day compensation for the full loss of service.

What would you do if you were me in this situation?

[Kath_F]

Hi Lenly, 

Thanks for coming back to us on this one. 

Whilst we appreciate the issues you've had, these are not the normal ways that a moving connection happens. On occasions, there is an issue which requires further work and delays then happen. 

The £8 a day relates to anyone who is part of a recognised fault which is creating a total loss of service. This doesn't apply to you. 

When moving, you essentially open a new account at the new address. Whilst we work hard to try and connect you within 24 hours of your previous services being disconnected, this is not always possible. 

The account itself will be assessed for compensation automatically and you can read more about this, and the correct amounts here. 

If you have any further issues, or need any help then pop back and let us know. 

Thanks, 

[Lenly]

Whilst I appreciate your hard working, I can clearly see it didn't help you to connect me at the new place with more than a month notice.

Where can I find all your rules regarding connecting existing client at the new place? I'm not sure I have it on my contract.

Also, you change my contract start date without notifying me about any changes. Where can I read about any regulations for it?

[Anonymous]

@Kath_F they are not the correct amounts.

For the correct amounts please see https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/automat...

[Natalie_L]

Hi Lenly, 

Thank you for getting back to us. 

The information regarding the compensation policy can be found via the link provided by Cardiffman281.

I would be happy to provide you with further information regarding the installation and the account status but I will need to confirm some details via private message.

I will pop this over to the purple envelope on the top right of this page now.

Speak soon,