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!).

[Serena_C]

Hi @Alan782

Thank you for coming back to us on this thread. I'm so sorry that you are disappointed with our customer service regarding your installation and that the re-pull team did not arrive. That is not the high standard of service we aim to provide, I'm sorry. Has your re-pull appointment been rescheduled since then?

I have taken a look at our systems and can see that your credit has been applied and will be showing on your next bill.

Best wishes,

Serena

[Alan782]

Hi Serena,

The guys who did the actual installation in my flat were great, can't fault them, but apparently the cable is damaged which would cause the "noise" on the line and therefore cause the Post-RS errors and the T3 timeouts.

No, to the best of my knowledge the re-pull has not been rescheduled yet (this being the 3rd failed visit), a member of the forum staff (Travis) has been dealing with this issue and is trying to find out information from the area manager and I'm waiting to hear what he finds out.

I have checked my account today and can see the credit has been applied to my account which I'm very pleased about.

Fingers crossed that Travis finds out information from the area manager in the next couple of days and can then re-schedule the re-pull.

Regards,

Alan

[Paulina_Z]

Hi @Alan782,

Thank you for coming back to us. I understand that this journey must have been very frustrating for you.

I have been in touch with my colleague Travis, to see if there are any further updates on your re-pull. At the moment, he is still waiting on a reply, and has chased the Area Manager again for an update on your situation.

We will keep you updated on this and will add any further information as soon as we have it.

Thank you for your patience.

[Alan782]

Thanks Paulina, I appreciate the update.

Hopefully the Area manager will come back to Travis very soon with a new date for the re-pull.

Regards,

Alan

[Alan782]

Time for another update I think.

It's been 4 weeks since I was supposed to have my cable re-pull done (where no-one turned up... again).

To be fair to the Forum team they have been chasing the "Area Field Manager" for an update just about every week, but they have apparently heard nothing back. If I was them I'd perhaps think it might be a good idea to send out a search party for the Area Field Manager to ensure that nothing has happened to them as they have been out of contact for 4 weeks (maybe they've quit and not told anyone?).

To not be able to get even any kind of response from an Area Field Manager in a month is pretty terrible, it shouldn't be difficult to find out why no-one turned up to do the re-pull (they overran previous jobs, were sick, stuck in traffic... whatever) and when they will next be available to try again, but to simply get no reply to repeated requests for information is just appalling, if I was like this in my job I would have been fired a long time ago.

Can someone from the Forum escalate this further please? I know you have said it's been 'escalated' but what exactly does that mean? because even in it's escalated state you still have been ignored by the Area Field Manager for a month, show's that the 'escalation' doesn't mean anything...

Or, are your hands tied? can you do no more than simply ask for more information (if that's the case then please just say so).

I am very fortunate in that my broadband is working (is that why my appointments etc.. are being ignored?), however, apparently the external cable is damaged and needs replacing, and I would rather have that done proactively instead of waiting for the cable to fail.

If you could please provide me with an explanation as to why you haven't heard anything in a month, I'd be grateful.

Regards,

Alan

[Alan782]

So, this morning I get a text message from VM stating that "External Works" will be taking place at my property on friday the 4th of March.

Is this the re-pull or something else?

I'm assuming it's the re-pull but can't confirm as I haven't had any contact from anyone else at VM.

Will be interesting to see if they turn up this time (4th time lucky?)

[David_Bn]

Good Afternoon @Alan782, can you please provide us with an update?

Have you been able to obtain any further information on the work that is due to take place?

Judging by your recent update, this does sound like it may be related to the pre-pull you're waiting for

Kindest regards,

David_Bn

[Alan782]

Hi David, thanks for the message.

Unsurprisingly there has been no additional information given to me apart from the original text message stating that external works are due to take place outside my property on the 4th of March (tomorrow).

I don't know if there is a way to pass on a message to the re-pull team (not pre-pull) that I would appreciate them contacting me before starting any work as our broadband Is currently working, and as I am WfH currently, any interruption in service would have a negative effort on my work.

I will post on here tomorrow as to whether indeed the re-pull team turned up, if they contacted me, and if they actually did anything.

Watch this space.

[Anonymous]

Some of these threads are more compelling than the top 10 on Netflix. 

[Vikki_M]

Hi @Alan782

I wanted to check in to see how the visit went on Friday?

Has the external work now been completed?

Please pop us a reply when you can.