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Pre installation

Smiffie
Tuning in

Hi, 

I’m new to Virgin Media. My wife signed up to the virgin ultimate volt package back in November and was given a pre installation date of 9th December. No one showed up. My wife contacted virgin, to find that our order had not been processed. 2 days later a pre install team turn up in the dark with snow falling and a phone torch to see what their doing. Half an hour later, their gone couldn’t pull the cable through. My wife phone’s virgin again (usual 50 minutes of waiting!) everything is great you’re pre installation team did your cable yesterday, no sign of cable.? Oh, today their due. Weeks passed. Installation due tomorrow. Wife phone’s virgin again, no record of the team turning up (apparently my wife is a liar!) and they can’t do the installation if there’s no cable. Postponed till February. So, another month of no landline, no broadband and no TV package. 

just wondering how you can actually run a business like this? Awaiting phone call back! What are the odds on receiving a call?

9 REPLIES 9

-tony-
Alessandro Volta

if you get the call back then look at buying a lottery ticket - you have more chance of winning that

unfortunately your story is one of many that are the same - once they have your order chaos breaks out - no one has any idea when things will happen - well they do - its always tomorrow because thats what the computer says - then tomorrow again and again

if you have an actual install date that they have missed - not the pre install date then yu are due compensation of a fiver ish a day - if you have not been given an install date then tough

what to do

1 - look at what your alternatives are - maybe a rolling 30 day contract or a longer term one that you know will happen in the time scale given

2 - look at a 4g - 5g deal - a smarty sim at £20 a month [4g] or a 3 router at £25 a month on a 30 day contract [4g or 5g if you are in a 5g area]

3 - what not to do

DO NOT cancel the VM install - let it happen even if you decide to go elsewhere - you will roll up a fiver a day compensation until it goes live and there may be a few missed appointment £25 added in - once its up you have 14 days to cancel at no cost if thats what you decide - you also have the knowledge that all cables are in place for the future

you can raise a complaint - yo may need that if you want to go to CISAS when they dont want to pay you what compensation you are due - come back here for help if that happens

dont waste your time on the phone - you will get nowhere as no one has a clue other than its all happening tomorrow

staff here may be able to help but dont hold your breath and if you do ting be prepared to be lied to - hung up on and promised call backs that will not happen

there is no good news when it all goes wrong

 

____________________

Tony.
Sacked VIP

Thanks for the info. Installation date tomorrow.
No call back, apparently, my wife has trust issues. With them not turning up or calling back.

Andrew-G
Alessandro Volta

@-tony- wrote:

you can raise a complaint - yo may need that if you want to go to CISAS when they dont want to pay you what compensation you are due - come back here for help if that happens

 


For complaints escalated for adjudication from 1 Jan 2023, VM are using Ombudsman Services, although the key points about how the process works remain as before.

I took this from money saving experts website: 

 

as previously stated by (Alessandro Volta)


If something goes wrong, you could be due compensation

Ten providers – BT, EE, Hyperoptic, Plusnet (including John Lewis), Sky (including Now Broadband), TalkTalk, Virgin Media, Vodafone, Utility Warehouse and Zen – have signed up to regulator Ofcom's automatic compensation scheme, which means customers could get money back from their broadband/landline provider when certain things go wrong. Ofcom says it covers 90% of broadband users.

  • If your landline or broadband stops working and is not repaired within two working days of reporting it, you'll receive £8.40, and then £8.40 for each day it remains unfixed.

  • If your new landline or broadband service is not up and running on the day promised, you'll receive £5.25 for each calendar day it's delayed, including the missed start date. There's no limit on this, so you'll keep accruing the compensation until it's sorted.
     
  • If an engineer doesn't arrive for an appointment as scheduled, or it's cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice, you'll receive £26.24.

Note: Figures correct as of 6 May 2022.

However, right now, as coronavirus continues to present challenges, Ofcom says it may allow providers to refuse to pay automatic compensation in some situations. For example, where an engineer can't come into your home if you need to self-isolate. But your provider must tell you beforehand if it can't pay you compensation and give a reason why.

If you are due compensation, it's automatically paid as bill credit within 30 working days of the issue. If you choose to leave your provider while you still have bill credit to spend or before you get it, this will be refunded to the bank account you use to pay your direct debit or sent as a cheque.

goslow
Alessandro Volta

@Smiffie wrote:

I took this from money saving experts website: 

<snip>


Sadly, your description of events has been repeated many times over on here.

In order to claim appropriate compensation, it would be wise to keep detailed records of all your comm's with VM since you first placed your order (telephone calls, SMS notifications, emails, missed appointments, visits where no work took place etc. etc.). Put them all onto a timeline so you can track all of VM's failures and broken promises in chronological order.

A key date to keep a record/evidence of is the date, when you first placed your order, that VM confirmed in writing that they would activate your services. It would be this date that any compensation would be applied from.

VM often provide two dates, one to install the cable and a second for the VM tech to show up and install the equipment and activate services (example at the link below in message #5)

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/QuickStart-set-up-and/Install-date-date-can-I-have-an-honest-an...

Ideally you should capture a record of that original technician/activation/installation date.

VM's past MO on here, in similar topics, is to give the customer a clear installation date when the order is placed then, when they try to install the cable and run into difficulty, VM tries to start reverse engineering the schedule of works and start claiming dates were only ever provisional ones and so claiming no compensation would apply. Usually the customer finds the dates shown online keep changing as each one is missed (which is why it is important to capture a record of the original installation/activation date you were given, if you can).

In the meantime, you should do as suggested by -tony- above and decide on a backup plan for when VM let you down again. You might well be in for a long wait for your VM services, sorry to say.

Thanks for your help, really appreciated.

Timeline under way. 👍

Hi @Smiffie

Thanks for posting and welcome to the community.

Sorry to hear of the delayed install. I will send you a PM now to get some details, ensure this is with the relevant team

Best,

John_GS
Forum Team


Need a helpful hand to show you how to make a payment? Check out our guide - How to pay my Virgin Media bill

Hi @Smiffie

Thanks for joining me on PM and providing me the details.

I have emailed the field team for you, letting them know what you've told me and asking if it can be brought forward.

I'll be in touch as and when I've heard back.

Best,

John_GS
Forum Team


Need a helpful hand to show you how to make a payment? Check out our guide - How to pay my Virgin Media bill

Thanks for your help. Really appreciated.