Health and Safety Restriction

[GazHackney]

Hi All

my flat has had virgin for over 6 years.

it was under the tenants name, he abruptly left and i have since moved back in, it is a flat.

I have asked for a gone away form to be processed several times but now i am being told the flat has been restricted because of health and safety, the rep also said this is weird because there is 0 notes on why and no one knows what to do

who can i speak to, to remove this mistakingly put health and safety restriction so i can place an order?

I have been trying for weeks now, i have spent over 8 hours on the phone to no avail

thank you all

[Christy_D]

Hi there,

Happy to take a look into this for you.

I'll pop you a private message to take some details and we'll see what we can do for you.

Thanks.

Christy

[VM-Jon]

Hi there,

There are many flate, mainly in London where H&S restrictions have been applied. This is becuase there is no way for us to access parts of the innfrastructure now. This is important as if anything develops a fault we need to be able to fix it. It could be that you have had service their previously but as those accounts are closed we have to shut the property down for this reason. If not we could be left in a position where we are obligated to fulfil a contract that we cant for safety reasons.

[GazHackney]

Hi, nothing has changed accessibility wise and the infrastructure is acccessible. it is only a 4 level building.

Could it simply be a mistake?

I believe the tenants did not formally disconnect so would even be happy to take over their account 

[VM-Jon]

Unfortunately I don't think you would be able to simply take over the account as it would require a new contract in your own name. As the building is locked down for safety reasons new contracts would not be permitted. 

I am really sorry but at present it wouldn't be serviceable, this may change in the future though if the block is set to be recabled in a safe manner. Unfortunately I cannot say if this is the case though.

Jon

[jbrennand]

nodrogd - gave some thoughts on your post about possible reasons.

The only way to get more precise information is to wait for a VM person to respond on your thread (usually in 2-3 days) who might then be able to explain which of the reasons apply to you

[awg102]

Not sure if I'm missing something but my post appears to be taken down each time I post it. Here it is again:

The same has happened with my property, which I've just purchased. The previous owner had Virgin Media services (via fibre-optic cable) for 10 years +, as do a number of leaseholders within the same building (it is a set of flats). When I phoned up to place an order for new services I was told a health and safety restriction was present on the seller's account. The customer service rep was surprised (they'd never seen this before) and stated that this must have been a mistake because the property was currently being serviced, so there could not be an issue. I was encouraged to make an order for new services (the health and safety restriction was removed on that basis) and was told I could self-install, because the property was already connected.
Following this, I received a notice that an engineer would need to attend the property, although I was not told why. Then, I received another email saying that my order has been cancelled, and an engineer would no longer be attending the property because the health and safety issue was valid (after all) and there was no way for Virgin Media engineer's to access their cabinet on the roof of my property. This is despite the fact there is no need for an engineer to make a connection (the cables have already been fitted in the property), and a number of other flats are currently receiving services without issue. The seller's account was also active (and receiving services) until a couple of days ago.
I do not understand why there is a health and safety issue for new accounts (that do not require installation) but not for existing accounts that continue to be serviced? Either there is a health and safety issue or there isn't?
I have also tried repeatedly (during hours of calls, over numerous days) to try to speak to someone who can explain to me what the health and safety issue is? Is it a problem with accessing the roof, or something else? Is it something that can be rectified? The condition, and access to, the property has not changed since the cabling was originally installed, so I do not understand how a health and safety risk can exist one day, and not the next? And only for certain customers in a building, and not for others.
Virgin's customer service has also been awful. When the customer service rep realises they cannot give me a reasonable answer they simply hang up, or purport to transfer me to another department (and then hang up). Or they say they'll phone me back (but don't). It's clear no-one wants to deal with this issue, or provide an explanation for what is happening. How hard can it be for the engineer (who apparently visited the property this week) to explain what the issue is?
I am not impressed. And looking through the other community discussion boards this seems to be a common problem issue experienced by Virgin customers.

[newapollo]

@awg102 

A member of the Forum Team has already responded to you in the following thread <<< here >>> 

[sulekhaali]

Hi 

I have had the same issue when I was a Virgin Customer in 2018

I noticed that I was not getting the speed that was promised over a few months but this was getting worse around May 2018

I raised a complaint and was told that I will be refunded but this never happened.  I had had enough at this point and cancelled my contract with Virgin. 

When I went to other providers I was informed that a health and safety flag was put on the flat and have not have internet since then

When I called virgin media then told me that yes this was the case, so they offered me a contract and was charging me for speeds that they were not able to provide.

My complaint has never been resolved so far and Virgin media have gotten away with a breach of their contract for taking my money and not provide me with the appropriate service. 

If anyone knows how to help me get the health and safety flag lifted please do let me know and I hope that Virgin Media will grow a conscious and do the right thing and refund the money that they have taken from me.

It has been a difficult time for me and my son who had to have internet connection at home during the pandemic and it just seems so unfair.

[goslow]

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@sulekhaali wrote:

Hi 

I have had the same issue when I was a Virgin Customer in 2018

<snip>

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You'll need a VM person to look into this for you in detail and comment but your post is a bit hard to follow.

Are you saying that you were a VM customer upto May 2018 but you left because of poor service and went to another provider? When you now want to return to VM you found that this H&S marker now stops you getting a VM connection. Is that correct?

What options from other providers are available to you apart from VM?