How long will it take to pull cable and send installation

[Ryansc]

Hi all 

I am wondering if anyone out there would be able to help me? 
I signed up to join Virgin media for phone line and broadband only with a confirmed install date of the 21st October 2021 however Virgin messaged me at 16.00pm on the 20th October saying the install had to be delayed due to requiring a permit from the local borough council. I sent a termination request to our previous provider which was sky 31 days earlier. I had made phone calls to Virgin and sky as our internet was cut off on the 20th due to the termination request and Virgin leaving it less than 24 hours notice to delay the whole install so now we are without broadband. 
virgin have rescheduled the install until the 8th of November which is not helpful at all as my partner works from home and requires broadband but with the delay it means we have no internet for at least 18 days at our property. Today 24th October we had the guys come out after being granted the permit to put the trunking in the ground which allows the cable pulling team to finally pull the cable. I really need to know if it is possible to speed this whole process up now as on my account it says the following 

service request 1st November 2021

Installation request 8th November 2021

it seems and feels like joining virgin has been nothing but hassle so far for us with plenty of let downs so not really feeling that great with customer service level either. 

I have made at least 10 calls to Virgin so far trying to explain the situation and disappointment so far and have even had the phone put down on me 4 times so far just for expressing my concerns. I had an active complaint that was closed off without explaining what the out come was and with no contact back from virgin and also no returned calls from virgin either when they said they would within 48hours. 
I feel like there is nobody willing to help within virgin install team for new customers. 
many advice would be greatly appreciated 

thank you in advance ryan 

[jbrennand]

This board is full of similar horror stories on installations taking many months to happen - just peruse a few threads

Bottom line is.... can you connect to OR, Sky, BT etc - or for a quicker connection - a 4G/5G service - perhaps on a 30-day contract? Three have some good 4G deals on 30day contracts for unlimited BB - see below.

If so do it now.

Let the VM install run its course. When it finally happens you have 14 days in which to cancel it at no cost to yourself and keep the other service. Or if VM is working to your satisfaction, keep it and cancel the other service (therefore better if you took a 30-day contract).

[Shatnerbassoon]

Out of curiosity how long did it take for them to close your complaint? I am waiting on my 5th installation date on wednesday (initial date 31st July), but the rolling pull date has already started again so I have very little optimism. Since I put a complaint in a couple of weeks ago though all customer services tell me is that there is an active complaint being looked at..

FWIW I am doing something similar to what the poster above suggests

[Ryansc]

Hi 

thank you for your reply I’m am also very sceptical as to how long this whole process is actually going to take. I’m not sure wether to wait it out or just go to another service provider that actually cares about their customers. It has been nothing but troubles since signing up to virgin so will give them a call in the morning and see what is happening. The complaint was closed in less than 48 hours of opening with the generic message “we are happy we worked things out” I will also be raising this tomorrow with them on the phone because I have had no correspondence with anyone within virgin in regards to the complaint. It seems as though they just closed it down because they do not want to answer to it. 
I will update tomorrow after I have spoke to them in regards to this. Kind regards ryan 

[Ryansc]

Afternoon 

Update on the situation. 
I called virgin today to ask them why the complaint I raised had been closed within 48hours of opening it with no corespondents from myself the rep on the phone said they was not sure why it got closed so quickly and asked for permission from myself to reopen this but under the attention of a manager as it’s an internal issue which he said they would be able to find out who closed it and for what reason but that there would be no feedback on this to myself which I thought was very odd. 
I also spoke to them about trying to bring the install forward but was told quite quickly that the hold up is because they are waiting for a permit in order to do the construction work outside, I informed them that the permit had already been granted 5 days ago by my local district council for the work to proceed and that I got this information from one.network.com which the rep seemed very surprised about especially when I provided them with the permit ref code which grants virgin to carry out the install as it’s now active. Yesterday we had the team come round that put the trunking in that allows the cable pulling team to do their job which would complete the 2nd part of the puzzle. I asked if there is any way to speed this process up as we require the internet as we are now both working from home and the rep said she had sent an email onto the install manager with the permit ref number to see if anything can be done. But then proceeded to ask why I hadn’t signed up for a tv package as well and tried to persuade me to add it to my package which I refused. In regards to the no internet situation the rep suggested I take out a SIM card from them from o2 at a cost of £25 a month for 10gb data which would increase my bill as it is a 12month contract to which I stated I did not want to do as it defeats the object of switching as it increases my monthly bills. I said to the rep that all I want is the package I signed up for and the install to take place asap as was agreed in the beginning and that all I am currently waiting on is the cable to be pulled and the installation engineer to arrive earlier if possible. I was then told I had a discount applied because of the delay which worked out as no installation fee and no set up fee to which I informed the rep that this was not the case as there was no set up or installation fee from the word go as that was the deal on u-switch when I signed up to which she seemed baffled by. I asked what is the probability of further delays and was met with the response that they cannot rule out any further delays because they have to apply for a permit which I know they already have had approved. The only answer I got today was basically I have to wait and hope that there are not any further delays and that there is not anything they can do to bring this install forward. I can’t help but think they are just stringing me along with no actual idea with what is going on or when it will be completed especially considering I know the permit has already been granted yet no one within virgin install team seems to have any idea about this. I just assume that there there is a huge lack of planning within virgin and possibly no communication either.

I will just have to wait until the 1st of November and if there are anymore delays I will just have to sign up with a different provider that will carry out an install with no hassles as all I get currently is excuse after excuse. 

[-tony-]

1st thing dont cancel anything even if you decide to go with another isp - if you cancel all work orders are likely to be cancelled and if you sign up in the future you are back where you started - so whatever you decide let them install - you then can cancel foc in first 14 days

as to work orders and contractors the communication is non existent between VM and contractors - you can push and things might happen but then again it might not

i recently had similar - damaged cable and blocked duct - things happen when they happen - i learnt that quickly - contractors arrive and tell you what you want to hear and leave doing nothing - sooner or later the right team turn up and there is progress

i used a mobile sim from Smarty - £18 a month unlimited - it worked - it was slow but reliable - think about that if you want to go with VM

[John_GS · Accepted solution]

Hi Ryansc

Thanks for posting and welcome to the community.

My apologies for the install delay. I can see you've spoke to the team since posting. I hope you've got everything resolved but if you need further assistance let me know. 

Best,

[Ryansc]

Hi all 

update on the situation so far 

STILL NO INTERNET

we finally had the cable pulling team come round 2 weeks ago who have pulled the cable to the pavement outside our property and service setup was scheduled on my account for the 28th October and has been rolling over every day because no one has shown up to do it. From what I have been told it is the team that set the cable from the cat box on the pavement under the Astro turf and to the side of the house which is no more than 6 meters of cable but these guys never ever turn up.

Installation engineer was booked for yesterday 8th November so my partner took the day off work in order to be available for the engineer as he needed access to the inside property to set it up. The engineer turned up yesterday at 4pm but could not do the install as the service setup had not been done and said that there had been over 20 households in the area that had the same issue so as you could imagine he was not a very happy crappie as he said his whole day had been wasted and I was even more angry with virgin because the install has been delayed yet again 3rd time now.

as soon as he left I called virgin to find out what is going on and was told the service request was scheduled and had to be patient as they would be here by 18.30 guaranteed. And with no surprise they failed to turn up again so was scheduled for today 9th. I received a call from virgin at lunch time saying the install had been put on hold because of cable issues so I asked what the issue was and they said I need a cable laying in our front garden under the lawn to which I said I already knew because that’s what has meant to have been done over the last nine days.

I called virgin again when I finished work to try and get some answers and to inform them the service request team again was a no show and she said it was because they required a permit so I said no permit was required as the main cable had already been pulled and all we needed was the cable laying in the front garden. I said it was becoming very frustrating being let down so much and she abruptly said if your not happy to wait for virgin then look for another provider, I asked to speak to her manager and she said it was not possible and that he wouldn’t be able to help me in any way and that she would transfer me to the pre install team so I said please do. 

pre install team answered and I explained the whole situation and that we are waiting for the service setup team to come around and lay the cable in the front garden but they never turn up and the date just keeps on rolling over. She was very understanding and also said no permit is required and that they should be here any time now to do the service setup I asked her when this would be and she said guaranteed on the 11th with installation engineer pre booked for 22nd November which is another 2 weeks away again. 

I honestly can’t see how comes the service setup team get away with never ever turning up? This is just constantly rolling over and over now and every time I speak to someone I get false information with no definitive answer as to what is happening. 

I really am regretting the decision to sign up for virgin and my install has confirmed the horror install stories you read online are true. 

also I asked about the automatic account credit compensation I was meant to receive for each day because of the failed install which works out as £5 a day until instal is completed and was told sorry you can’t receive that because you don’t have an account which I clearly do. I mentioned the ofcom promise they have in place but apparently I’m not entitled to the compensation and don’t understand why? 

[jem101]

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@Ryansc wrote:

Hi all 

update on the situation so far 

STILL NO INTERNET

Snip..

also I asked about the automatic account credit compensation I was meant to receive for each day because of the failed install which works out as £5 a day until instal is completed and was told sorry you can’t receive that because you don’t have an account which I clearly do. I mentioned the ofcom promise they have in place but apparently I’m not entitled to the compensation and don’t understand why? 

---

Well last night, (because I am a sad person with no life), I read through the entire OFCOM documentation on this sort of thing which VM signed up for and agreed to honour, and in my opinion you were simply lied to! Which is actually a good thing as when you initiate a formal complain to CICAS (and you are going to escalate the complaint aren’t you?) it’ll all count in your favour when you win (and you will) and they calculate the compensation owed to you..

No worries if you aren’t sure of the procedure, there are a few of us here who understand the system (arguably better than most VM staff), and can step you through the process of making a formal complaint which is free for you to do but does costs VM money.

John

[Alex_RM]

Hi Ryansc,

I'm sorry to hear you're no further forward with this,

So I can take a closer look I've popped you over a private message (purple envelope, top right hand corner)

Alex_Rm