Broadband repairs - am I being unreasonable?

Jmoo

Hello

I had a broadband installation in the summer which seemed to be done as a rushed job. They refused to install the equipment in a discreet part of the room, slapping a large router and the wiring to the middle of the wall in the middle of the room, and told me it wasn’t possible to put anywhere else. At the same time they broke brickwork on the outside of my property and filled it all with see-through putty which looked a mess. The hole in the wall from the outside meanwhile showed daylight from the outside due to the poor nature of the hole they’d made. Unapologetically the engineer slapped himself of the back, and said it was one of the fastest installs he'd done.

We felt shortchanged after speaking to others who had their needs met with the installation. And what followed was weeks and weeks of complaints to this provider before someone eventually came out again.

They said there was limited scope for what could be done with broken brickwork outside, but filled more putty to try to neaten the outside issues, and moved the router again. They said it couldn’t go where I originally wanted because the fibre cable had been shortened too much meaning it was a little bit better, but not what we originally requested. They meanwhile left all of the wall plugs in claiming it was too tight to remove them. I still felt the job hadn’t been done properly considering the company was installing routers and equipment in discrete places elsewhere.

The eight weeks passed of me chasing up my complaint before I passed it to an Ombudsman. Things improved in terms of communication, but only a little.

A third engineer came out and did eventually put the router where it was intended to go in the first place, but to do that had to put further holes in the outside wall. They then mixed brick dust to try to neaten the outside, however, it does stand out compared to the colour of the outside wall. It’s been left to us to fill and redecorate around the holes on the inside. 24 hours the fibre optic cable apparently snapped taking me off broadband for a day, meaning another engineer visit and more drilling in the wall to fix.

I still feel that something needs to be done to improve the outside of the wall, and to compensate the work we’ll have to do on the inside. The company is prepared to give us £150, if we don't pursue through the Ombudsman, but we’ve yet been able to get a builder to do it for that price. They say anything more is unreasonable.

Am I asking too much of the company to at least cover the work required to put it right? Or should I accept and cut my losses? I agree that more than £150 is a lot - but it's the going rate and having spoken to numerous builders I'm unhappy digging into my pocket to put right their work.

Bradden

How much did they charge you for the installation? I cannot see it in the original post.

35har1old

Jmoo said:

Hello

I had a broadband installation in the summer which seemed to be done as a rushed job. They refused to install the equipment in a discreet part of the room, slapping a large router and the wiring to the middle of the wall in the middle of the room, and told me it wasn’t possible to put anywhere else. At the same time they broke brickwork on the outside of my property and filled it all with see-through putty which looked a mess. The hole in the wall from the outside meanwhile showed daylight from the outside due to the poor nature of the hole they’d made. Unapologetically the engineer slapped himself of the back, and said it was one of the fastest installs he'd done.

We felt shortchanged after speaking to others who had their needs met with the installation. And what followed was weeks and weeks of complaints to this provider before someone eventually came out again.

They said there was limited scope for what could be done with broken brickwork outside, but filled more putty to try to neaten the outside issues, and moved the router again. They said it couldn’t go where I originally wanted because the fibre cable had been shortened too much meaning it was a little bit better, but not what we originally requested. They meanwhile left all of the wall plugs in claiming it was too tight to remove them. I still felt the job hadn’t been done properly considering the company was installing routers and equipment in discrete places elsewhere.

The eight weeks passed of me chasing up my complaint before I passed it to an Ombudsman. Things improved in terms of communication, but only a little.

A third engineer came out and did eventually put the router where it was intended to go in the first place, but to do that had to put further holes in the outside wall. They then mixed brick dust to try to neaten the outside, however, it does stand out compared to the colour of the outside wall. It’s been left to us to fill and redecorate around the holes on the inside. 24 hours the fibre optic cable apparently snapped taking me off broadband for a day, meaning another engineer visit and more drilling in the wall to fix.

I still feel that something needs to be done to improve the outside of the wall, and to compensate the work we’ll have to do on the inside. The company is prepared to give us £150, if we don't pursue through the Ombudsman, but we’ve yet been able to get a builder to do it for that price. They say anything more is unreasonable.

Am I asking too much of the company to at least cover the work required to put it right? Or should I accept and cut my losses? I agree that more than £150 is a lot - but it's the going rate and having spoken to numerous builders I'm unhappy digging into my pocket to put right their work.

I assume they drilled from inside and that is why they damaged the brick.
In my case I instited on them  drilling from the outside and they could clearly see they would not be hitting anything internally.
It's sames to be standard practice for them to drill from the inside but in a brick faced house it's a bad idea

FreeBear

Jmoo said: They meanwhile left all of the wall plugs in claiming it was too tight to remove them.

Getting wall plugs out is far from easy. You can sometimes pull them out using needle nosed pliers. What I often do, is hammer them further in to the wall using a small punch (or an old bolt ) and then use filler to make good the damage.

NorfolkCanary

FreeBear said:

Jmoo said: They meanwhile left all of the wall plugs in claiming it was too tight to remove them.

Getting wall plugs out is far from easy. You can sometimes pull them out using needle nosed pliers. What I often do, is hammer them further in to the wall using a small punch (or an old bolt ) and then use filler to make good the damage.

Getting walls plugs out is fairly straightforward, thread an appropriate screw into the top of the plug by say 1/2" (if it pulls out with the claw hammer you'll need to screw it slightly further in) lightly tap with hammer in all directions to loosen. Then using the claw hammer pull up and out, of course the wall will need patching with red devil one time or Toupret (source I've removed 100+ from my house).

As for the brick outside, if you can get hold of a similar brick you'll probaby be able to shape one to patch the hole, their brick dust idea is used to try and soften the look. The brickwork will of course weather in over time. May be worth searching local FB area group to find a recommended builder / handyman to see if they'd replace and fix any damage

phillw

Jmoo said:

The company is prepared to give us £150, if we don't pursue through the Ombudsman, but we’ve yet been able to get a builder to do it for that price. They say anything more is unreasonable.

I would get a couple of quotes and send them in, and ask them how they have calculated that the £150 is the highest reasonable amount.

It would cost them more than £150 just for the ombudsman to make a decision on your case, so depending on how much higher the quotes are then they may cave. But clearly if you put in quotes at £1000 then they would take their chances with the ombudsman.

Do you have legal cover on your house insurance? You could also ask their advice.

Jmoo

I am aghast by the ombudsman's handling of a complaint about my broadband company. 

They have ruined the walls inside and outside of my property by not following orders. Grain, who provide the service, lied their way through the process. They claimed we'd left loads of furniture in the way of where we wanted our equipment installed and denied we'd even complained about it at the time despite my evidence of telephone calls being made. I also provided photo evidence from the time of the install to prove there wasn't large furniture in the way. I felt I had a very strong case. 

All I wanted was my £220 to fix the damage to my walls which I'd been quoted by builders. 

Grain didn't even response to the ombudsman before the cut off date and I was told consequently their response was listed as "null". 

Bizarrely the ombudsman has sided with Grain today, saying that their account is convincing, but acknowledging bad customer service. They had accepted the documentation I'd previously been told didn't count, and was told its not the job of the Ombudsman to look at things like broken walls.

They said I could have £40 but that's all.

I am so angry, the lies from the general counsel is terrible, and what's worse is they've not even looked at much of the evidence I've provided. I had been told their account wasn't being considered. 

I just genuinely don't believe the ombudsman is there to help the consumer. 

Jmoo

phillw said:

Jmoo said:

The company is prepared to give us £150, if we don't pursue through the Ombudsman, but we’ve yet been able to get a builder to do it for that price. They say anything more is unreasonable.

I would get a couple of quotes and send them in, and ask them how they have calculated that the £150 is the highest reasonable amount.

It would cost them more than £150 just for the ombudsman to make a decision on your case, so depending on how much higher the quotes are then they may cave. But clearly if you put in quotes at £1000 then they would take their chances with the ombudsman.

Do you have legal cover on your house insurance? You could also ask their advice.

The ombudsman has decided its not in their duties to look into damage like this. 

Neil_Jones

The Ombudsman only deals with the internet/broadband/billing side of things, not the installation of it or the consequences of the installation request.

If you wanted the cost of the repair to the wall you'd probably do better to go to Small Claims Court in all honesty.

ElaniArtin

Jmoo said:

I am aghast by the ombudsman's handling of a complaint about my broadband company. 

They have ruined the walls inside and outside of my property by not following orders. Grain, who provide the service, lied their way through the process. They claimed we'd left loads of furniture in the way of where we wanted our equipment installed and denied we'd even complained about it at the time despite my evidence of telephone calls being made. I also provided photo evidence from the time of the install to prove there wasn't large furniture in the way. I felt I had a very strong case. 

All I wanted was my £220 to fix the damage to my walls which I'd been quoted by builders. 

Grain didn't even response to the ombudsman before the cut off date and I was told consequently their response was listed as "null". 

Bizarrely the ombudsman has sided with Grain today, saying that their account is convincing, but acknowledging bad customer service. They had accepted the documentation I'd previously been told didn't count, and was told its not the job of the Ombudsman to look at things like broken walls.

They said I could have £40 but that's all.

I am so angry, the lies from the general counsel is terrible, and what's worse is they've not even looked at much of the evidence I've provided. I had been told their account wasn't being considered. 

I just genuinely don't believe the ombudsman is there to help the consumer. 

I am with you- I have the same type of experience with the energy ombudsman... I am guessing the companies are just so flush with money they are running rings around the ombudsman that is less trained, less cut throat, and really just overwhelmed by the volumn of complaints. Tried C.A.B., also overwhelmed. After  a five year experience I am learning... take photos, screenshots, of everything. Name of the game is proof. But, I do think the ombudsan has run it's course. The big companies just bulldoze the bullsh- till everyone gives up. I am writing ofgem, and after that going to my local representative.

tacpot12

It seems odd that they said that it outside of their scope, and yet they awarded you £40. I think I would take the £40, and comfort in the fact that you have highlighted that the Ombudsman service is rubbish, and move on. If the damage has been repaired, it is unlikely that you will need to have any further installtion work done while you live in that house. 

You could complain to the Ombudsman. I think you have a valid complaint - if this complaint really WAS outside of its remit, it should have told you that much sooner. However, I'm not sure that it is outside of their remit. The issue might easily be clased as a Billing complaint if you withheld your payments until your supplier paid up for damage they have caused. 

Which Ombudsman was it?