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"Exceeds construction budget" but CATV is in the pavement - can I lay my own duct for them?

PeterBoyall
Joining in

I've had a scoot around and found one ten page saga where someone did this to overcome a 160m run.  

Having ordered Virgin Broadband and then had no engineer turn up, I've received a voicemail to say that construction work was required and it exceeded budget so they have cancelled the order and marked the property as unserviceable.   It was good to get a voice call but unfortunately further details weren't forthcoming.  

I suspect it's down to having a block paved drive and the CATV cover is in the middle of the pavement so I guess no easy way to bring the cable up even for surface mounting - you'd have to drive over it.

If I got my own trench dug and ran in a duct, would Kelly comms be able to come and pull the cable?  I've seen mixed responses.

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

goslow
Alessandro Volta

Think this might depend on how much time/effort/sanity you have to devote to this project.

I have a dim recollection of a past topic where someone paid for a trench to be dug alongside a private road on the understanding that VM would then install but IIRC nothing ever came of it as VM failed to install in the end.

You would also have to factor in dealing with the multiple layers of sub-contracting which exist with VM to carry out such works. Even installations which are straightforward can get bogged down for months on end due to VM's bungling cable installation processes and unreliable sub-contracting procedures.

That said, there have also been a few topics where the customer prevailed in the end. These usually required huge amounts of effort on the part of the customer to keep trying and some involved the customer managing to make contact with the sub-contractor direct and cutting VM out of the process in order to progress. On some occasions the 'right' VM person turned up to look at the job (i.e. someone with the required knowledge and authority to action work) and progress was made. In another past topic, a customer achieved an installation eventually because VM had a new agreement to use BT ducts in that particular area so no digging was required but this was only realised/offered when the local area manager got involved and dealt with the case.

If you are on a private road, that may lessen your chances a VM often seems to avoid this due to obtaining the necessary permissions to dig up the road. Once you are deemed 'unserviceable' though by VM you may struggle to get VM to remove that.

See where this Helpful Answer was posted

2 REPLIES 2

goslow
Alessandro Volta

Think this might depend on how much time/effort/sanity you have to devote to this project.

I have a dim recollection of a past topic where someone paid for a trench to be dug alongside a private road on the understanding that VM would then install but IIRC nothing ever came of it as VM failed to install in the end.

You would also have to factor in dealing with the multiple layers of sub-contracting which exist with VM to carry out such works. Even installations which are straightforward can get bogged down for months on end due to VM's bungling cable installation processes and unreliable sub-contracting procedures.

That said, there have also been a few topics where the customer prevailed in the end. These usually required huge amounts of effort on the part of the customer to keep trying and some involved the customer managing to make contact with the sub-contractor direct and cutting VM out of the process in order to progress. On some occasions the 'right' VM person turned up to look at the job (i.e. someone with the required knowledge and authority to action work) and progress was made. In another past topic, a customer achieved an installation eventually because VM had a new agreement to use BT ducts in that particular area so no digging was required but this was only realised/offered when the local area manager got involved and dealt with the case.

If you are on a private road, that may lessen your chances a VM often seems to avoid this due to obtaining the necessary permissions to dig up the road. Once you are deemed 'unserviceable' though by VM you may struggle to get VM to remove that.

Kath_F
Forum Team
Forum Team

Hi PeterBoyall, 

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forums. It's great having you on board with us in the Community. 

We're sorry to hear that your house has been deemed as non serviceable. 

When this happens, we're not able to change it I'm afraid. We don't allow customers to make payments to get installed and the only way it would change is if the work required reduced in budget. This can happen if another person wants an install in the same vicinity such as your neighbour but not guaranteed. 

We can only apologise that we're unable to install you and wish you the best with choosing an alternative provider. 

Thanks, 

Kath_F
Forum Team

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