Installation

[Neish1]

Installation date has gone, have been lied to about when works will happen! Promised phone calls not received. Complaint made and guess what they closed complaint on grounds that it had been rectified. Which it clearly hasn’t. The best yet phone last night at 8.30pm and was told that they were still coming to do the ground work outside last night. I said clearly they are not coming to dig up the pavement this late in the evening? To which there reply was they will be coming tonight. Promised a phone call this morning still has happened. What would you recommend!

[ManLikeT]

Wow I'm in the same boat, been waiting 6 weeks for installation and they keep delaying without explanation. Have registered complaint and repeatedly requested escalation but they are violating their own code of conduct by not getting a senior manager to call me. Have requested written consent to escalate externally to Ofcom but they simply ignore. Atrocious customer service, they only provide silly semi - automated responses and don't actually employ empathic people who can understand issues and resolve them competently. Have wasted HOURS trying to get through to somebody on the phone but they have the audacity to put you on hold (after finally getting through) and then simply drop the call. This has happened repeatedly. Really at the end of my tether now as I'm not calling up again and they can't string a proper response to an email. So no idea what is actually happening. 

[Zach_R]

Hi @Neish1,

Thank you for your post and welcome to our community forums. We're here to help.

I am so sorry to hear that there's been some delays and complications to your installation. Have you had any contact with the pre-installation team since? If so, what have the team advised exactly? Have we explained what's causing the set backs?

Thanks,
 

[Zach_R]

Hi @ManLikeT,

Thank you for your post and welcome to our community forums. We're here to help.
 

It's a shame to hear that you're also facing some complications regarding your install. When did you last discuss this with the team and what has been advised exactly? In regards to the complaints process you've mentioned, a senior manager would review your complaint if you escalate to that point but they wouldn't contact you directly.

Thanks,
 

[Neish1]

Hi Zach. I am no further on than what I have said. Outside groundwork has been promised everyday. Yet no one has been. When I phone they just lie to me. I’m seriously fed up with the whole thing. The biggest issue I have which they don’t seem to care about and completely disregard. My husband has a heart monitor connected to the internet so that the hospital can check how things are going, good forbid something does go wrong because they potentially couldn’t give us a warning. Unfortunately Virgin Media still have not given me any updates. 

[ManLikeT]

Hi Zach - I'm sorry but I genuinely believe you are NOT here to help.  My experience of Virgin Media staff to date has been that they obfuscate, prevaricate, peddle ambiguous platitudes and singularly fail to understand, much less resolve, your problem.

I WASTED two solid hours on the phone on Friday with zero results.  I am transferred from pillar to post by inept and uncaring staff who simply want to pass the buck.  Your wait times are atrocious and customer service levels worse still.  How can paid staff have the audacity to brazenly drop calls simply because they can't be bothered dealing with customer problems?  And that after you've been waiting in a queue for 20-30 mins!!  Wow - this has been causing me significant distress and mental health problems.

Over email, I have repeatedly requested my calls to be listened to, and WhatsApp chats checked as part of my complaints investigation but no-one has even acknowledged this request.  I have requested my complaint to be escalated to a senior manager - as per your own complaints code of conduct - but you have repeatedly failed to do this.  You are acting in brazen violation of your own complaints policy.  I have been promised on numerous occasions that a senior manager will call me, but never - not once - have I received a call, even though a date and time was agreed on one occasion and I rearranged meetings to take the call which never materialized. I have repeatedly requested over email for a 'Final Response' email or letter from you as I feel I have exhausted your internal (non-existent) complaints procedure so I can escalate this externally to CISAS and the Ombudsman.  Your Complaints Code of Conduct specifies I require this as I am within 8 weeks of raising the complaint but, again, in brazen violation of your own Complaints Code of Conduct, you have failed to even acknowledge these requests I have been repeatedly making for several weeks.  I receive semi-automated responses to my emails which fail to acknowledge any of the specific points I raise.  I have requested the name of the senior manager responsible for investigating my complaint - but again, nothing.

Trying to communicate with you over the phone or email is a complete waste of time as I get fobbed off with vague platitudes (over email) or transferred endlessly, kept waiting for hours, and then unceremoniously dumped by inept and uncaring staff.  No wonder, Virgin Media officially has the worst customer service of all providers in the country (https://www.yourmoney.com/household-bills/virgin-media-worst-telecoms-firm-for-customer-service/).  You should be ashamed of yourselves.

I have discovered this community forum and posted my issues here without holding out much hope of anything different happening. I am STILL waiting for installation after 5 weeks and THREE SEPARATE last-minute delays, but have not been able to actually get through to a competent and empathic human being over phone or email who is able to comprehend the issues and put some effort into solving them.  I have no confidence that the line will be installed when you say it will next week and regrettably cancelled my old line over a month ago.  My entire family have been surviving off a temporary dongle which is far from adequate and constantly cuts out.  I have requested VM to confirm that I am eligible for Ofcom's automated compensation scheme, but you have simply ignored these requests and not acknowledged them in your ambiguous, nonsensical response to my emails - hence I am none the wiser as I CANNOT GET THROUGH TO ANYONE WHO WILL GIVE ME A STRAIGHT ANSWER.

Zach - will you actually do something different and provide a meaningful response based on a proper engagement with my issues and complaint?

[ManLikeT]

Zach - I am reproducing the following VERBATIM from your 'Consumer Complaint Code of Conduct'. You state above that the manager will not contact me directly, well that's not what is promised below. I have repeatedly requested for the manager assigned my complaint to contact me, but they haven't - its been impossible for me to discuss my case with any sort of manager!! Hence I have requested to escalate but again this has just been ignored. I've kept records of all correspondence and can't wait for the Ombudsman to get their teeth into this as you need to be taken to task.

For the avoidance of all doubt: I WANT MY DISPUTE TO BE SETTLED BY INDEPENDENT ADJUDICATION AS YOU HAVE IGNORED YOUR OWN COMPLAINTS POLICY AND MY REQUESTS FOR ESCALATION TO DATE. I WANT YOU TO SEND ME A LETTER OR EMAIL CONFIRMING I HAVE THE RIGHT TO REFER MY COMPLAINT FOR INDEPENDENT CONSIDERATION THROUGH ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION.

Here goes, directly from VM 'Consumer Complaint Code of Conduct':

If you don’t feel your complaint’s been resolved:
When we get your complaint, we’ll aim to resolve it to your complete
satisfaction. If you don’t feel this has been done, you can ask to escalate the
issue to a manager. If you call in, a manager may be available to talk to you
immediately or they may call you back at a time that suits you. If the manager
has to call you back, please let us know which daytime and evening contact
numbers work best for you. The manager may get back to you in writing as
well. If, after discussing your case with a manager, you still feel we’ve not
dealt with your complaint appropriately, please ask for your complaint to be
reviewed by a Senior Manager.
Just so you know, if your complaint is referred to our specialist Resolutions
department, it means your case is being reviewed by a Case Manager at first
point of contact. If you still feel dissatisfied, your complaint will be reviewed by
a Senior Manager.
If, after following the process above, you’re still not happy with the outcome of
your complaint, you can refer it to independent adjudication.
4. Independent adjudication
If we haven’t reached an agreed settlement within 8 weeks of receiving
your complaint, or we agree in writing before the 8 weeks are up that the
dispute should be settled by independent adjudication, we’ll send you a
letter or email confirming that you have the right to refer your complaint
for independent consideration through Alternative Dispute Resolution. This
service is absolutely free of charge.

[Gareth_L]

Hi ManLikeT, 

We can see the Complaint you have raised is sat with the right team to deal with this issue.

They will be in contact as soon as they can with a resolution.

As you are aware you can take the complaint to a 3rd party if you are not happy with the outcome. 

Gareth_L

[ManLikeT]

It may be sat with the right team but that's precisely all they've done since it was raised more than 5 weeks ago - sit on it.

I don't want somebody to sit on my complaint for so long (it's not an egg waiting to hatch after all) but for somebody to investigate it, action it, resolve it!

You have all blatantly disregarded your own VM complaints code of conduct in failing to escalate the complaint despite my repeated requests. Yesterday, I filed an official complaint with Ofcom and look forward to their impartial investigation which will hopefully shine a public spotlight on your awful customer service. You should be ashamed of yourselves in so casually and callously causing intense distress and inconvenience to customers.

For the umpteenth time, please tell me the name of the manager assigned to investigate my complaint? Please ask them to contact me directly with a personalised response? As you have failed to do this, please provide me with a deadlock / Final Response letter so I can go directly to CISAS without waiting for the 8 week period to expire? Go on, I dare you to actually follow protocol and take customer service seriously by doing just one of the above! 

[Dadocreate]

Same here, 

a lot of waste time and nothing done. It’s over a month.