How Virgin treat us

MondoMondoMondo

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]My name is Ray .

My wife and I have spent three months refurbishing our property spending all of our money,time and effort to achieve a beautiful new home for our family to move in to - one of the last things we had to do was install a cable provider - I persuaded my wife to change from Sky to virgin for our new property after seeing their adverts claiming faster and better services and reading their customer service promises contained in literature sent to our home.

We started to move into our new home and moved the tv's and pc in on Friday the 25th of March to facilitate the installation with the final move planned for the next day.

The engineer who called was later than was promised - told me there were no options for cabling and that he had to drill through my inner wall - he used newspaper and not the dust sheets he is provided with and did not use his pipe finders which he also is provided with - he drilled through my hot water pipe and flooded my whole ground floor - he did not apologise or help to stem or mop the flow of water.

The damage has proved to be devastating to our home and ourselves - the new wooden floor - down only 36 hours has been ruined beyond repair as well as a carpet that had also only been fitted that week.The engineer said to my wife that we would not receive compensation when she asked if they were insured and then claimed he didn't know who he worked for and did not know their number - my wife asked him what the number of his boss was and then used that number to phone his manager who turned out to be a sub-contractor from Mapgroupuk.

I phoned Virgin and was then passed from pillar to post after many push botton menus and 20 minutes of holding was told I would be called back within the hour - I was not called back and rang again 2 hours later to register my complaint and also to complain about customer service re my previous call.I was told I would be contacted in less than five days to deal with my complaint - I said that this was unacceptable and I needed to be reassured that this was covered by Virgin and cost and repair would be their responsibility - the person on the phone said that they would put a note on the complaint file explaining this point.

Mapgroupuk were contacted by my wife and they said they would provide a plumber and plasterer to repair the pipe and damage to wall - the engineer then proceeded to fit the cable around the sides of my house which he said before the incident was not an option so he had lied to us saying this was because he hadn't had time as he was too busy - Virgin's literature says that we are to be given all options available to hide cable.

A plumber was called who fixed the pipe and a plasterer came the next day leaving us an ugly unsanded wall either side of our newly decorated house and a ruined floor and carpet.

I rang virgin twice in the next few days but was only told I would receive a reply in the five day time span re my complaint .I rang again on the ninth day since the complaint after having had no response - I was promised a call the following day which I received from a complaints manager finally ten days after my complaint - I received a phone bill from 02 mobile for 60 pounds more than usual due to the calls made about this complaint.I asked for the bill on my Virgin account -( which won't show details because the website hasn't worked properly for 2 weeks ) to be stopped as I hadn't even moved in to the property due to this damage and it still hasn't been removed.

I have also learned that Mapgroup the subcontractor are going back on their promise to pay up front for replacing and repairing the damage done by your negligence to our home.



I am writing this because I am distressed that I have been and continue to be lied to and all promises made have come to nothing and to ask if anyone has any advice ?


Regards,
Ray[/FONT]

macman

If you have legal cover on your home insurance, why don't you just hand this over to them to deal with?
You need to send VM a formal complaint and claim by recorded delivery, phoning/emailing will not get you anywhere with an issue like this.
The sub-contractor has no liability to you, as you have no contract with them-your claim is against VM, it's up to them to deal with Mapgroup.

chanz4

if it was water, wouldnt the carpet just dry out? Also the laminate you should be able to get a new pack and just replace where damaged.

MondoMondoMondo

Hello,

my contract is with Virgin but they kept batting it back to Mapgroup the subcontractor who did not honour their promise to pay in advance for getting my property back to it's original condition and after a while stopped responding to calls and e mails. I asked Virgin's CEO to deal with this and they have contacted Mapgroup and today after 18 days Mapgroup left a message saying an insurance adjuster will be contacting me to make an appointment as the cost has become to much - I have arranged for a company to re fit the same floor but now have no confidence and have indeed been advised by Virgin's head of complaints not to arrange the new fitting until the insurer gives his approval to pay - so even they have no faith in their subcontractor keeping their promises .
This is being treated as though I am claiming insurance - I am not - I am asking for my house to be repaired because of negligence and a failure to abide by Virgins code of practice and guidelines for installation- Insurance is for them to recoup after repairs and the customer being satisfied - I now have more delays with no timescale promised or a way for me to judge.I mean after 18 days they decide to bring in an insurance company ?

They certainly know how to drag out every ounce of pain from someone's misery.

Thanks for your advice - I took it and it made no difference it seems.

Regards,

Ray

MondoMondoMondo

yes - the carpet did dry out but the water that came from the pipes was mixed with the drilled plasterboard debris and cement ,mortar and brickwork and this left a stain which did not come out when professionally cleaned - and the wooden flooring was real wood which was glued together so warped - stretched and split as it expanded and contracted.

spadoosh

chanz4 wrote: »

if it was water, wouldnt the carpet just dry out? Also the laminate you should be able to get a new pack and just replace where damaged.

I can understand jumping on sue culture types but tihnk the op has a very valid claim here.

And actually most laminates once their in place theyre not supposed to be 'unclicked' as this voids any guarantee. Even whilst fitting the boards your only supposed to attempt it 3 times as any more than this weakens the join and, again, invalidates any guarantee

OP sure your not going to let it drop nor should you! Keep asking to go as high up as you can as your sure this will be a substantial claim and needs to be handled quickly or costs could escalate further.

spike7451

MondoMondoMondo wrote: »

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]My name is Ray .


The engineer who called was later than was promised - told me there were no options for cabling and that he had to drill through my inner wall - he used newspaper and not the dust sheets he is provided with and did not use his pipe finders which he also is provided with - he drilled through my hot water pipe and flooded my whole ground floor - he did not apologise or help to stem or mop the flow of water.


Regards,
Ray[/FONT]

I started as an installer for VM (then CableTel) contractors wayyyyy back in 1997/8 & we were not upplied with dustsheets or cable tracers.In fact,I have never heard of this as in most cases,the contractors have to supply their own tools (they're bought for them by the contracting company & you pay the company back) & it was only when I started for NTL Cabletel that we got such tools.As for using newspaper,I use that method too.tape a sheet of paper to the skirting board,drill thru & then use a small brush to dust the dust onto the paper,fold up & bin.

It's also impossible to promise that I'll be there at such o'clock unless you are on your first job.I've been to jobs that I've been in & out of in under 20 minutes & others where I've been there a couple hours.You don't know what's involved until you turn up to the job.

I had to Google Map Group as I'd never heard of them so I presume these are they;

http://www.build.co.uk/company_9408.htm

However it does sound like the installer was a bit of a cowboy to me...And I've known a few of them in my time.Sadly,VM decided to get rid of the In-House engineers in favor of contractors despite us having a better quality rate & were cheaper too.

Hope you get it sorted..You need a face to face with the Installs Manager,it's the only way you'll get a result.

daggy

Lots of good advice here.

If I were you, I'd also consider pursuing compensation for the extra living costs. If you can't move into your home because of their negligence, then they are responsible for putting you up, until you can move in.

Also, as previously mentioned, you should deal with VM as you have a contract with them and not the contractors. Unles you signed anything from the contractors?

Hope you get it sorted

clivejohnson

i would be fuming if it were me.

Is there any chance you would consider legal action?

MondoMondoMondo

I wish I had consulted a solicitor but was led to believe that Virgin's promises would be kept but it remains an ever increasing possibility and I have contacted various media nad consumer agencies for advice now.

Regards,

Ray

MondoMondoMondo

it's 23 days since Virgin flooded my property ruining my wooden floor and carpets - we still have no way of installing our washing machine due to floor being raised and warped - my wife has now been ferrying 4 peoples washing from our house to her mothers house then back to ours for this amount of time.Our kitchen hass visible trip hazards due to floor gapping and turning up.Virgin still have not agreed to sanction our new floor fitting despite having had quotes for 2 weeks and say they are waiting for the ok from the insurance company who didn't even inspect the property until the 20th day after the engineer flooded us through gross negligence.Originally they promised to pay but reneged when they said it was too much - yes - it is too much - too much to expect people to suffer for this amount of time !

Regards,

Ray