New customer installation issue

[James152]

Hi,

I recently signed up to Virgin Media for the first time.  After signing up I called the pre-install team as I wanted to ensure I could have a site survey to discuss where the external cables would be placed.  Mainly because we are getting a new resin drive in a few months, so wanted to ensure the cables were tacked to a sidewall we have leading down to the house.

Site survey came as planned, said this would all be fine and marked on the pavement where the new access point would be (about 2 metres from where an old access point had been used).

Fast forward to today, external engineers have arrived and installed from the old access point with the cable dug up underneath grass in the centre of the drive.  As it stands, when the new resin drive is installed the cables would have to be buried underneath which seems a very bad idea.

I only caught the external engineers at the end of the visit, when asked they said they couldn't install at the access point marked by the site survey as they'd need planning permission.  So I'm now left with cables installed specifically where I'd asked them not to be.

Phoned VM tonight, hard to get much clarity after a 45 minute call - all they could tell me is they would send another external engineer who would re-assess.  My existing broadband deal ends in October now so if they do need planning permission I suspect getting set-up by that point is unlikely.

Is there anyone who can assist?  If I can't have the external cables relocated easily I need to reconsider.  Not sure what the point was of the site survey as they said very firmly it could be installed where requested..

Thanks,

James

[goslow]

You've certainly been served up a large dollop of VM 'confusion' here between the VM site survey and its cable-installing sub-contractors.

How has the cable been installed at the moment? Was it installed/buried in plastic conduit and to what kind of depth? If it was within conduit (so it could be accessed for any future maintenance/re-installation/removal) and at a suitable depth for protection and with some slack to work with in the cable then it would not necessarily be a problem being buried under a future driveway, as long as your driveway contractors can work around that.

Having gone to all the the trouble of getting the VM survey done though, you have every right to expect the cable to be installed as agreed. You are, however, correct in your assessment that this might delay your installation date if you request the cable is re-routed as agreed.

In any event, the general advice on here is to always try to overlap your two services for a short time, old service to new VM service, so that you have a chance during your 14 day cooling off period with VM to evaluate the new VM connection and make sure it is working to your satisfaction and to specification before committing to it. Doing this also means you will avoid a scenario of being without a connection if anything goes wrong with the VM installation or there is a delay, so maybe keeping the existing service going on a rolling contract and getting the VM cable rerouted might be an option, if that's possible. 

The VM forum team will reply here within a day or two and will try to assist.

[James152]

Thanks.  It’s in plastic conduit, not buried deep at all.  It just seems asking for trouble for that to be buried under a new resin driveway!

When I spoke to the external engineers they seemed to suggest a lot of planning apps go through in a few weeks and that it would be down to VM to sort.  VM said the opposite and its down to the external engineer after their next visit.

I’d already handed in notice to our current supplier which I’m regretting massively as things stand..

[goslow]

It's not really a planning application, it is a permission for street works. Should be a formality for simple tasks and for organisations who regularly need to do such work like VM. If you are simply digging up pavement, that should not be a major issue. Problems arise when it is necessary to close roads, put in traffic control etc. etc. Speeds of granting permission might vary between local authorities but this 'local authority permission delay' is massively over-used on here by VM and its sub-contractors as an excuse for their own organisational failings. In some past topics on here, customers have actually caught them out by contacting local authorities direct, only to find requests to dig have never been made or have already been approved.

Nothing to stop you contacting your current telecoms supplier and seeing if they can 'un-cancel' you onto a rolling package of some kind, without contract, until VM gets installed.

Hope you manage to get it resolved following the revisit by the VM engineer and have the cable installed in the way you want it.

[Natalie_L]

Hi James152, 

Welcome to the Community and thank you for posting. 

I am very sorry to hear the cables were not able to installed in the location previously discussed with the surveyor, this is not the level of service we expect to deliver. 

I have taken a look from our side and can see you have recently spoke to the team who have been able to assist further. 

As I am not able to discuss the details of the call, please do feel free to update the thread with the details and let is know if we can assist further at all. 

Thank you, 

[James152]

Hi Nat

I spent an hour on the phone Wednesday night and was told I’d get an email the following day with details regarding the relocation.  Nothing arrived so I spent another 45 minutes last night re-explaining the situation.  The first half of that call was very frustrating as the person just kept telling me the site survey and external install was complete according to their notes.

In the end, he said again I’d get an email in the next 24-48 hrs.  My concern is the install date still shows as the 26th September but right now I have little confidence that the external engineers will firstly come out before that point or whether they’ll have submitted for permission to move the access point.  No one I have spoken to at VM has given me confidence on those points.

Thanks

James

[jpeg1]

Please do follow @goslow 's advice to extend your existing contract. 

These installation problems can take weeks or even months to resolve.  The solution may seem simple to you, but becomes difficult when lost within Virginmedia's morass of subcontractors and broken communications. 

[Zach_R]

Hi @James152,

Thank you for expanding on this. Have you received an email or any other contact from the team since your post? It'd be worth checking your spam/junk folder too if you haven't done so in case it has landed there by mistake.

Thanks,
 

[James152]

Hi Zach - no still nothing received.  Checked Junk.

[Robert_P]

We can see you have spoken to a member of the team yesterday, were they able to help resolve this issue or provide you with an update James152?

Rob