Install date cancelled and rescheduled 3 times over 2 months due to 'extra work required'

[Tamps]

Hello!

Looking for a bit of advice as to whether this is needs escalating or not.

My area has recently been cabled via telegraph pole. I signed up for Ultimate Volt bundle on the 28th of August.

My original install date was booked for the 9th of September. I've since had 3 reschedule notifications on the 9th of Sept, 30th of Sept and 22 of Oct due to needing 'extra work outside'.

Whilst this is slightly annoying, I'm happy to wait if that's what's required. I'm just a bit baffled that my next door neighbour, who must have signed up with VM around the same time as me, already had their cable installed back in September (I saw the engineers running a new line to the house from the VM box on the telegraph pole over my garden).

I have previously contacted VM to check that all is okay and I was told that extra work was required, but couldn't get any detail of what exactly it entailed.

So, I'm wondering if somethings gone wrong somewhere or if I should just keep sitting tight? Anything I can do to check either way?

[Tamps]

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@Chris_W1 wrote:

Hi Tamps, thanks for thanks for the message. 

I am sorry to hear that there is a delay to your service and that a prepull is needed.

When this done on the 3rd of September we will be then able to install the service. 

We would book the next available install once the works have been completed. 

Kind regards, Chris. 

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I love your rampant optimism Chris. Never change. 😎

[Tamps]

New 'interesting' process that's appeared.

I've had a text message telling me that Virgin Media wants to ring me to discuss my installation and that I should expect a call in the next 24 hours. I've had this message for three days running and zero calls. You really do get the feel that there's some automated workflow going on behind the scenes but nobody is doing anything with it. I wonder if this text message is being automatically triggered because I've reached (and now passed) the 28 day limit whereby I can take my complaint externally. A sort of last ditch attempt to assure me that something is being done?

I'm professionally curious about this complaints case tracker thingy. It updates silently (interesting design choice) so you have to go in and check to see if anythings happened. And for all the updates I've not once had any contact with VM employee. It's so bizarre! I'm kind of fascinated by this placebo efffect approach to complaints managment.

[Tamps]

Duh, I've just realised the 28 days is the time limit from the point that VM propose a solution to my complaint and I have to get back to them.

It's actually 8 weeks from the point that the complaint was raised that I have to wait before the CISAS will take it on. So I'm in for a bit more of a wait. 28th of December to be precise.

[Andrew-G]

Regarding the placebo approach to complaints management, that's entirely the thing.  All first line complaints are farmed out to offshore agents, who then use a mix of free text and drop downs to cobble together a poorly worded resolution letter that often completely ignores the original complaint, and is composed by somebody with no knowledge of or training on UK regulatory obligations or consumer law.  The whole point for VM is only to tick a box that says "We have a complaints process", there's zero interest in handling complaints promptly and professionally.  VM know this because they designed their process this way, Ofcom know this as so many complaints to Ofcom are about VM's dismal handling of complaints.  Nobody is working to improve this situation, nobody cares, and that applies to the complaints process as much as it does the new installations process.  Franz Kafka would be impressed if he'd ever encountered Virgin Media.  

Which begs the question of what outcome you're hoping for?  CISAS can order VM to pay compensation, but there's little evidence in the hundreds of similar complaints in this forum that CISAS were ever able to force VM to expedite a delayed installation.  Consider also the possibility that the problem is that the estimate for the install exceeds the relatively small budget that VM allow for new installs.  In that case VM may decide very late in the day that your property is unserviceable.  CISAS can't force VM to do anything the company consider uneconomic, in which case eventually they'll say they can't connect you, and then try and blame the council for the delays to minimise their compensation payment (as per an earlier reply of mine).

You did have a scan of both content and frequency of reviews on Trustpilot for VM before you ordered?

[Tamps]

I thought I'd come back and do a quick update of my ongoing saga.

I received an update about my complaint on the 7th of December.

The construction works appear to be resolved, and your service are active and online.
When it comes to construction, we can never guarantee an install date as we must pre-empt a multitude of different variables. However, rest assured knowing that we can now confirm you are now installed, and it appears your services are active.
It is important to get things right, however we must also recognise the times when we do not. So, we have reviewed your account for the automatic compensation scheme, and we have applied a total credit of £199.50 to your account.

The only slight snag being that..

• External work to run the cable to the house still hasn't been done
• Internal work hasn't been done
• I now have no appointments scheduled to do any work

I responded to the complaints email to let VM know that the complaint was still very much not resolved and got this back...

"We appreciate Neil for being our valuable customer and we value the time you have taken to write to us. As per your complaint, we understand that you had issues with the installation as it was delayed. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused. To help you further with the installation, we recommend you to contact our customer service team on the below mentioned number."

The number mentioned (0345 454 1111) doesn't actually have any options that specifically mention complaints, so it looks like I'll have to brave a run through the maze that is the VM customer contact centre. I was offered the option of dealing with my query via text message, which appears to have hit a dead end almost immediately as I've not had a response to my initial query which was sent 30 minutes ago.  

I could moderately tolerate this when VM wasn't burning my time with their incompetence. But now I feel duty bound to ensure my complaint isn't quietly swept under the rug whilst doing absolutely zero toward resolving it. I'm honestly more worried that VM will start billing me for services that they think are active. 

In related news, my next door neighbour (who had their external work done in early September) have a VM engineer in today to do their in-house install. So it looks like it's not been plain sailing for them either. But at least they had the line run from the telegraph pole to the house, which remains the point at which I appear to be stuck and nobody in VM can tell me why it's not happening. 

<sigh> What a mess.

[Tamps]

This is what I now see when I go and check my complaint via account management...

I suppose disconnecting my access to report a complaint is one way to manage it! 🤔

[Tamps]

Whatsapp chat in progress. Being asked to raise a new complaint. I'm insisting that the current complaint is re-opened as it's not resolved.

I shouldn't be surprised how difficult this is, but there appears to be very little in place for customer services to manage a complaint... other than asking people to raise another complaint.

[Tamps]

I've just noticed that the complaints form that's linked in the Whatsapp chat is for 'Ireland customers only'. I'm not in Ireland. I wonder where it would've gone if I had filled it in?

[Jonny-M · Accepted solution]

Give up and go to CISAS

[Tamps]

I persisted and my complaint will be allegedly re-opened. Although, based on previous interactions with customer services there's a fair chance I'm just being told whatever I want to hear to make me go away. I guess I'll know either way in 4 hours time.