External work blocked duct

[pfishers]

Virgin Media please help, I am at a loss, I am a long standing customer having recently moved home (end of Nov 20) and awaiting a new installation of Virgin media. I was told that a line needed to be fit to connect my property to virgin medias network, your technicians attended multiple times before the internal installation date (which was 04/01/21), they attempted to put the fibre through the ducting but said the ducting is blocked and would require digging up to remove said blockage.

my installation date was then moved to 15/01/21 and i was told that someone would attend to dig up the road, since then no-one has attended and my installation has been moved 3 more times (31/01/21 - 09/02/21 - 25-02-21) and still no sign of an install.

with each move of date i have been promised that the external team will be out to dig up the road and clear the blockage "Tomorrow", and every time this turns out to be untrue.

My wife and I are working from home and have no broadband, we are relying on a 4g SIM card. And as coverage is bad in my area speeds are very slow and inconsistent. I have had to pay for this and a 4g router (over £200 in expenses so far). Every time I call I am promised it will be installed "tomorrow" and yet tomorrow never comes. I honestly do not believe a word you say anymore, I am sick and tired of chasing you up and getting no-where, I really don't know what to do anymore, I don't want o cancel as I have enjoyed your services for many years but it seems I have no choice

[Z92]

Note that external works to unblock blocked ducts are carried out by external contractors which may require council permission to dig up the road. Typically your date will continuously roll over until these works are completed. Typically this means a delay of anything upto 8 weeks. 

[pfishers]

Hi Z92, and thank you for the quick response. I understand that this can take some time and that external contractors are/need to be involved, the issue i have is that i cannot find any information o how far through the process (if at all) this job has got. i have no way of tracking it and when i call i get the answer of "the external work is booked in for tomorrow" and "we promise this will be done in time for the booked internal installation date". i can see that on the roadworks section of my local council website multiple others in my area are having work done by virgin media to unblock their ducts for installation over the next couple of weeks, but mine isn't even showing on there (and i know i booked mine in before them as i was one of/ if not the first to get it booked in my area). i just want to be able to communicate with someone who can check the progress on the council permission and external contractors and update me with an actual status/eta etc.

[pfishers]

I am also waiting for a callback from a "Manager", I was told they would call me back within 24hrs.....this was over 48hrs ago.....Can anyone from Virgin Media please help me?

[jpeg1]

Thr "Manager" call never comes.  Your best bet is to wait for a VM person to see your post here.  Could be hours or days.

[jbrennand]

If its gone to the council then VM will know diddly squat - it is in black hole limbo - might be days, weeks, or months before it emerges from there so they have no info to work with or pass on. Only when it comes back from the council can they start the process of scheduling contractors, - which is again outwith their control. When the contractors finally get to it and do the work then VM can schedule their own teams - and in theory... they are back in control of the process.

Whether their communication will improve once that point is reached is debatable though and there is little data that supports that it does.

[pfishers]

Hi jbrennand,

Thanks for the response, i am now starting to understand the way it works, i just wish VM staff would have explained this to me over the phone instead of the "they are coming today/tomorrow" stuff. i have managed to find a way on my local councils site to track roadworks (i can see others having the same job done local to me through this). at least i have somewhere to check on progress, although this is far from ideal i am hoping to see mine pop up on this (one.network)

Thanks.

[pfishers]

This is absolutely ridiculous, I have now had another (6th) appointment cancelled, and still no sign of external works to be done. i still haven't received a response to my complaint filed on   08/02/2021, i am stuck with nowhere to go from here as the phone support are not helpful and do not know how to track where my installation is (is it with the council waiting for them to accept roadworks, is it with BT as its their ducts, is it with a BT sub contractor.....or is it simply lost in the system) all i get from virgin media is "iT WiLl bE iNsTaLled tOmoRrow wE pRomiSe".

[pfishers]

i see so many people with the same issue as myself, i am currently on my 6th rescheduled appointment (which requires external duct unblocking) with no end in sight, no way to track and constant lies. myself and my wife are both key workers having to work from home for the majority of our roles. we have very bad 4G reception in the area so are currently resorting to using a 4G dongle which is very flakey. we moved into our property last November and brought VM with us (so we didnt have a choice to stick with a previous supplier, as we didnt have one), all our communications currently rely on a single sim which we use in a 4G router and wifi calling (the phone network we are on does not have signal in the new house, the sim on the 4G router is from another carrier). the issue i have is that between the lies and not been told when the actual work will take place we so no way out except to try leave VM and start the whole process over with Sky (who our current neighbors have said are great).

[pfishers]

Hi, could i have a response to this please as i am unable to get an answer from any communication method, i have been trying phone, email, sms, social media, forums and web chat and i cant get anything on when this will be done, i can see others near me having work done to clear their ducts and have fibre installed when they have booked in way after me and mine is still going nowhere (not even showing up with council. i feel as though this has been lost in the system somewhere.