Virgin Media - Postponed installation date twice!

DragonQ

Hi, my mum recently signed up to Virgin Media (cable) for her new flat. The installation date was meant to be 10/05 and we saw Virgin Media engineers outside a couple of days before this, presumably checking to see what they had to do. On 10/05 she got a call saying that permission from the council to dig up the pavement or road (can't remember) had been denied so they couldn't install until 17/05. On 17/05 she got another call saying they'd sent out the workmen but still didn't have a permit so couldn't install it still. She said she hasn't got a new date for installation yet and that the Indian call centre people couldn't understand the situation that she was explaining to them.

She already asked if they can provide her with a 3G dongle so she can use the internet in the mean time and they've said they don't do that (which is interesting since BT did this for me when they mucked up my Infinity installation).

What can she do about this and how can she get through to a manager based in the UK that speaks English rather than reading from a sheet of FAQ answers?

chanz4

They are right about permission to dig up in the highway, this can take time. About the dongle companys dont normaly offer this, bt may of done it as a one off.

spike7451

DragonQ wrote: »

Hi, my mum recently signed up to Virgin Media (cable) for her new flat. The installation date was meant to be 10/05 and we saw Virgin Media engineers outside a couple of days before this, presumably checking to see what they had to do. On 10/05 she got a call saying that permission from the council to dig up the pavement or road (can't remember) had been denied so they couldn't install until 17/05. On 17/05 she got another call saying they'd sent out the workmen but still didn't have a permit so couldn't install it still. She said she hasn't got a new date for installation yet and that the Indian call centre people couldn't understand the situation that she was explaining to them.

She already asked if they can provide her with a 3G dongle so she can use the internet in the mean time and they've said they don't do that (which is interesting since BT did this for me when they mucked up my Infinity installation).

What can she do about this and how can she get through to a manager based in the UK that speaks English rather than reading from a sheet of FAQ answers?

Quite simply this is why,when BT messed up your install the problem was down to themselves,not an outside agency.With VM in this case the problem is with the council,not VM.As it's a fresh install,a cable has to be ran from the street cabinet to your moms home,in this instance it sounds to me like the ducting to the cabinet is damaged & blocked so in order for the cable to be ran,the footway needs to be dug up.
Most councils will allow a certain sized dig to be made without permission HOWEVER that dig is much smaller than that required to access the ducting in most cases.It also has to be re-instated the same day,some councils wont allow digs within a certain time frame after new paveing has been laid unless it's for an emergency. (Gas leak ect)
BT provided you with a dongle because the fault was down to them & no one else &,I'm sure,you were already a BT customer at the time BUT your mom is NOT yet a VM customer as the service is not yet installed or activated.
In their eye's say your mom cancelled or the was a problem preventing the installation & VM gave your mom the dongle loaded with,say £50 internet useage,then they would have the problem of either loosing the £50 or billing your mom the £50.If your mom was already a VM customer,they might have provided a dongle,but not in this case,the chances of your mom getting a dongle is anorexic to zero.

DragonQ

Actually I wasn't a BT customer when I got Infinity but they still provided me with a dongle.

I don't understand why it would take this long though - they had over a week before the first installation to sort out permission and now it's been nearly three weeks.

spike7451

DragonQ wrote: »

Actually I wasn't a BT customer when I got Infinity but they still provided me with a dongle.

I don't understand why it would take this long though - they had over a week before the first installation to sort out permission and now it's been nearly three weeks.

Righto,but they still won't provide a dongle for a as yet 'non customer'..Were BT installing the service at the time when it went wrong?...I'd assume that your phone was changed over to BT just before the Infinity install.
The council can take ages to give permission for a dig or a wayleave,Not only that but VM got rid of over 80% of the 2 man install crews they had when I was there,concentrating more on 1 man installs,so they'd need to find a timeslot to re-arrange the install for.Not only do they have to take into account VM services but also other services.

Google "street works act excavations" for your moms county.

If the are any vacant flats & the are gray boxes on the outside of the block where the VM terminates,then why don't the installers use that redundent cable & swap the install addresses on the SMS?....I've done that a few times when installing & I got out to find the was no cable services installed into the flat I was installing.