Virgin Media installation experience so far.

[Alan782]

Thought I'd add my own voice to the comedy of errors which is the Virgin Media installation merry go round.

Where we live (small block of flats in south London) we can't get fibre broadband from BT Openreach (as our phone line is connected directly to the exchange which isn't fibre enabled), so that rules out fibre via BT, SKY, PlusNet etc..etc..

Luckily, we were cabled in for Virgin Media the other year (the fibre cables were run into ducting in the hallways, not into individual flats).

Due to more internet enabled kit (smart TV’s, Alexa’s etc..) plus now with hybrid working the existing copper broadband from BT simply isn't good enough anymore (max of 10 - 12mb download speed).

Got a great deal on the Virgin Media 350mb package so thought why not.

I'm aware of the issues that a lot of people have with Virgin Media so haven't cancelled the BT Internet (thank god).

Anyway, after that long intro..

Was scheduled to be connected on 14th October. Engineer turned up, couldn't complete the installation as he said that the fibre cable was damaged and needed an MDU team to do a cable re-pull.

Fair enough I said, Cable re-pull was scheduled for 1st of November and 2nd engineer visit scheduled for 2nd of November.

Engineer turns up on the 2nd of November, clearly doesn't know how to tie his shoelaces, didn't know what cables were Virgin Media's (I had to point them out to him), he denied they were Virgin Media cables, disappeared for around 30mins and then re-appeared and confirmed that actually yes the cables were theirs.

But, he couldn't complete the installation as he had no idea where the cables terminated and so would have to get another engineer out who knew the area better, he stated this engineer would turn up on the 5th of November, but as it's an appointment made 'within' the team it wouldn't appear on the Virgin app etc.

This I thought was a bit odd and sure enough no engineer appeared on the 5th (meaning the 2nd engineer clearly lied about the additional visit simply so he could leave without doing any work).

Rang Virgin Media and they confirmed that no MDU team turned up on the 1st of November to do a re-pull, have got another re-pull scheduled for 27th of November and 3rd Engineer visit scheduled for 9th of December.

The only reason I haven't cancelled my contract with Virgin Media is simply down to lack of options, I haven't even been connected to them yet and already the customer service is so shockingly bad, they really have no idea what they are doing.

I even raised a complaint on the 16th of November about the installation (or lack of) and was told I would be contacted within 48 hours, surprise surprise, no call ever came, so rang them this morning to chase the complaint and initially spoke to Customer services, who passed me to the pre-install team who said they couldn't deal with my complaint and passed me to customer services who said they couldn't escalate it and passed me back to the pre-install team (it's a total joke).

The person I spoke to the 2nd time on the pre-install team said that they were doing the re-pull on the 27th of November because (according to an engineer) our block has no connections to Virgin Media??? well that's funny says I, because other residents are connected to Virgin Media and I could go outside my front door, open up some cable trunking and touch the Virgin Media cable...

What's going on??

They have now arranged a site survey to be carried out on the 24th of November to check if any external cabling actually does need to be carried out.

For a broadband service provider the lack of knowledge about their own infrastructure is frankly embarrassing, you wouldn't think it should be that hard to get connected, especially as the cables already exist (and if they are damaged, as the 1st engineer stated, you would think it should be easy to replace).

The shocking ineptitude from the engineers is astonishing, that, and customer service seems totally unable to assist, all they say is "we need to pass you to the pre-install team" who just don't care that you’re having issues, raising a complaint is pointless as no-one addresses it and they simply don't care at all.

If I had any other options I would take them (I even offered to pay BT/Openreach to have another line installed, going to a green street cab so I could get fibre broadband, but they can't do it).

So... at the moment, if I want download speeds above 10mb then I'm stuck.

Sorry peeps, rant over, just thought I'd share my experience (And it's not over yet!).

[jbrennand]

Yes when its a non-straightforward plug it in and works option... the installation process is the very definition of "omnishambles" - I usually just say this....
_____________________________________________

Can you connect to OR,Sky, BT etc - or a 4G/5G service - perhaps on a 30-day contract? Three have some good 30-day packages on 4G.

If so.... do it now. Let the VM install run its course. You will pay nothing until VM's service is installed and operational. 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 (hence better if you took a 30-day contract).

[risc19]

Sound normal to be honest. 

I think a lot of people use virgin, myself included as there is no other option where they are. 

However with other high speed networks expanding all the time, their days are numbered. 

I would be willing to accept a tenth of my current download speed if another provider was available. 

[jpeg1]

I'm also in south London.  I use EE's 4G as an automatic failover connection when Virgin goes down. On regular tests the 4G is never less than 40Mb download.  If I upgraded to a 5G dongle I'd be getting over 100Mb.  

Depending on where you are, you may have a similar option.

[Alan782]

Thanks for the responses guys, looking at these forums I'm clearly not alone in having hells own job trying to get connected, I'm just fortunate that I still have an internet connection through BT whilst I await to see what happens with Virgin Media.

[Tom_F]

Hi Alan782, thanks for getting in touch.

Very sorry to hear about the issues and delay with your installation.  Sometimes delays can occur due to unforeseen circumstances, and getting permission to carry out work/arranging for the correct teams to attend can take longer than is ideal.
Compensation will often be provided (based on these guidelines: https://www.virginmedia.com/help/automatic-compensation) but I appreciate such a long wait and repeated delays will only add to the frustration.

Although we can't do much to help directly from here, I'd like to ensure your concerns have been logged correctly and that your case is escalated with the relevant teams who are best placed to help. Please get back to me via PM (the purple envelope icon) and we'll take it from there and hopefully be able to push things along.

Tom 

[Alan782]

Just to add an update to this saga.

24/11/2021

Fingers crossed things are progressing.

An amazingly helpful engineer turned up today to do a site survey, unhelpfully he was only allocated 10 mins to do the job by Virgin Media, but, he set about his task with gusto.

I pointed out to him the manhole cover containing the virgin media cables and where the cables come into our block of flats and the trunking in the hallway containing said cables.

I informed him that the 1st engineer said the cables were damaged and needed replacing and that the 2nd engineer couldn't find where the cable terminated at all.

Luckily this engineer clearly seemed to know his stuff and was able to find the terminating point of the cables very quickly (within a few minutes), turns out they terminate in a green box on the edge of the residents car park, he has checked the cable and everything seems to be ok with it, he has even labelled the cable up so the home install engineer (due to arrive on the 9th of December) shouldn't have any problems identifying it.

The only interesting thing is that I'm due to have a cable re-pull done this Saturday (27th Nov) and asked him if I should cancel the appointment and he advised me not to and to just let them turn up and do their thing.

It was really refreshing to actually speak to someone who knew their stuff and I'll give this engineer top marks, I just wish I could have him back to do the home installation.

So..... I still don't have Virgin Media broadband yet, but it appears that I might be one step slightly closer.

Watch this space....

[Tom_F]

Thanks for getting back to me with those details and the update Alan, really glad to hear there seems to have been some clarification and progress. 

I can see there is already a case logged with the relevant team (ref.# C-161121390) who will look further into all of this for you and do all they can to prevent any further issues and delay. 

If you don't hear from them soon, or things don't go as expected please let me know and we'll be able to chase this up for you. 

Tom

[Alan782]

Well...

I'm back with another update.

I had 2 Virgin media engineers turn up yesterday to connect me up, and low and behold they were actually able to do so.

They took around 2 and a bit hours to drill holes, feed the cable where I wanted it and get me all setup and running.

I thought they were very helpful, seemed very professional and only left when I was happy.

They did a speed test to ensure that I was getting the correct speed (I have the M350 package).

Now, it's almost 24 hours later and I'm just curious, because, although I have blistering fast speeds compared to what I had before, it's not consistent.

e.g. when downloading a game on my xbox (which is connected via ethernet cable, not wifi) the download speed varies between 370mbps (at the fastest) and less than 100mbps at other points.

So, my speed is much better than before, but doesn't appear to be consistently fast.

I've looked in the logs on the hub, but, if I'm honest can not make heads nor tails of it.

I will post the logs here and hope someone can tell me if it is configured correctly or not.

[Alan782]

Cable Modem StatusItem Status Comments

Acquired Downstream Channel (Hz)	267000000	Locked
Ranged Upstream Channel (Hz)	25800000	Locked
Provisioning State	Online