External work required but rescheduled 3 times with no status update

[james02]

Hello VM community.

I signed up for Virgin Media broadband and my start date should have been the 4th of November but I still have no service.

An engineer came in once to check for faults and said that some external work is required to complete the job and this has been scheduled 3 times so far (19 Nov, 29 Nov, and 6 Dec) but never completed for unknown reasons:

I also never got any confirmation about wether or the job was completed, just a reschedule text as you can see from the screenshot above.

Last time I called the customer service I spoke with a great guy (I can provide his name if helps) who said that he will personally make sure that my installation will go through and that he would call me back but guess what? It never happened.

I just contacted customer service again via WhatsApp and they told me that another external job has been booked for the 17th of December, but honestly I don't really think that this will be done at all considering how they have been handling this.

This is the situation outside the property:

The engineer who came once said that there is continuity between the internal VM wall box and the outside, but that "there is not an available place to connect me to", hence the external work required.

Can you suggest what to do? Can/should I escalate this since I've been for more than a month without the Internet?

Thanks!

[jem101]

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@goslow wrote:

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<snip> Looks incredible I know, but that's the reality...
Snip…

Hopefully the VM forum team will respond here soon to unravel the mess for you.

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You’re hopeful, aren’t you!😉

It does strike me that what we have here is one branch of VM realising that the OP isn’t connected up and hence not making a charge against the DD, while another branch is working on the basis that they are connected up but refusing to pay!

Anyone might be forgiven for thinking that their internal systems aren’t entirely ‘fit for service’, which is fine, except when it puts innocent customers in financial difficulties, in which case all sorts of agencies and bodies feel the need to justify their existence and start taking an interest.

[goslow]

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@jem101 wrote:

---

@goslow wrote:

---

<snip> Looks incredible I know, but that's the reality...
Snip…

Hopefully the VM forum team will respond here soon to unravel the mess for you.

---

You’re hopeful, aren’t you!😉

<snip>

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Hope springs eternal! Although I'm finding that reading the exact same VM customer service disasters recounted over and over again on here in the exact same way all by different people is sorely testing that saying!

[james02]

Update 27th Jan 2023:

I was supposed to have an engineer coming in today to double check if I actually need a cable re-pull since from the (broken) omni-box outside I can actually see that there is a cable coming from the ground, see picture below:

Cables are quite damaged but I thought they could swap the splitters and make it work (?). 

Anyway back to the engineer, it's needless to say that no one turned up. 

Mind that I have received 4 reminder texts for this appointment:

Contacted VM via the WhatsApp chat again (because why not?) and they said that the engineer "has closed the work as completed" and they wanted to know from me if they visited my property. Of course I said no.

VM also asked again if my connection issues started recently or from day one... Despite this could be the 10th time that I make them know that nothing works.

Stay tuned for the next episode!

[Paul_DN]

Hi james02,

Thank you for reaching back out, sorry to hear the latest Technician Visit hasn't resolved this, as you have advised a repull is needed a tecnician will arrange this and let you know once able to do.

Regards

Paul.

[james02]

Hi Paul,

Just to clarify, the latest technician visit didn't happen at all.

Meanwhile the morning after I received an e-mail with subject "Your Loss of Service" and the following body:

I mean, really? How can you send an e-mail like this if nothing has been done? My external omni-box still looks exactly the same.

[Andrew-G]

It will be no help in getting the service working, but when it gets to Compo o'clock, don't forget the £25 compensation you're due for any "no-show" appointments by VM.  I suspect that given the continuing Laurel & Hardy performance that even when VM get round to fixing the problem, you'll have to take the matter to Ombudsman Services to get what you're due.  On the plus side, three months compo for loss of service is around eight hundred quid plus any missed appointments.  Make sure you ask for it as a cheque, rather than a credit to your account - otherwise you're giving VM an £800 interest free loan for about 14 months, added to which the effectively free service will be worth what, £50 or so per month and that won't be as much fun to spend as £800.  

[james02]

31-01-2023 update:

Today I was supposed to have an engineer coming to do this freaking cable re-pull but no one turned up (usual story).

I would like to challenge the fact that I need a cable re-pull since the omni-box is present (see pics from my previous post) and there are already cables coming from the ground.

Can someone from Virgin Media please read this thread? I don't want the process to get stuck for a re-pull that I might not need to begin with!

[james02]

I just received an e-mail from ExecutiveTeam(at)virginmedia.co.uk, is this a good sign?

I also saw that now there is an item under the "complaints" section of the My Virgin Media Portal and it results opened today.

Just reminding to VM (if you folks are reading) that the issue is here from day 1 (04-Nov-2022).

Btw, next appointment for the cable re-pull is now on 18-Feb-2023, fingers crossed!

[Kain_W]

Hi again james02,

Thanks for the update, can I ask did you receive a response from the team via email?
Also do keep us updated regarding the appointment that is scheduled.

Regards,

[james02]

Update time of the 15th of March:

Since my last post several external work jobs were scheduled, but around 11PM of March the 13th, someone actually did the cable re-pull!

I now have another non-broken omnibox outside:

Despite the loooong wait I was quite happy, until the day after when I received a call from a VM field engineer who was supposed connect the newly pulled inside the property.

This very kind guy said that the contractors connected the new cable to a decommissioned VM cabinet, hence there is no signal...

He also said that from his system the closest "active" cabinet is 0.2 miles away, I'm now wondering if a VM cable can be laid over such a distance.

I'm a bit shocked to be honest. I get that the re-pull has been done by external contractors, but couldn't they figure out which was the cabinet to reach before doing the job?

I've been told that a VM field manager will call me soon, let's see!

PS: So far 131 days have passed since my original install date (November the 4th, 2022).