2 months and counting still no phone- any options?

[jdobrick]

Apologies in advance as I am an American who has just moved to London so maybe I have not set my expectations correctly.

On Feb 2nd I called Virgin and signed up for the VIP package. I was told due to customer demand the install would not happen until Mar 5th.

On Mar 5th the installers came and when they left broadband and phone services were not working. Broadband took many weeks to resolve but that is a story for an other day (it is now working). I was told on the 5th that construction was needed to get the phone working and that the the phone would be working on the 16th of Mar

16th of Mar no phone service yet, called Virgin who say the construction crew are scheduled for the following weekend.

Next weekend, no phone service yet, called Virgin (still running up money on my mobile), I am told the reason the phone isn't working is because construction is needed (which I knew three weeks ago). I was promised a call the next day with a day and time for the construction. No call of course

Repeat the last step two more times. Just tried calling again but keep getting a busy signal.

Any magic numbers to call to get in touch with somebody who can actually help here? What are my other options? Can I cancel outright or would I be stuck with the broadband and TV contract? To my first point about being new to the UK, is this expected?

Thanks in advance- Jeremy

[peter_jacana]

Jeremy

There are times where I am ashamed to be British, this is one of them.

I have lived overseas for many years but I have never come across such an uprofessional, disjointed and uncaring organisation as VM.

Please see my earlier thread "VM=Very Mediocre" for details. I suggest we both cancel our contracts!

cheers
Peter

[MovedGoalPosts]

jdobrick :welcome: to Cable Forum, and the UK :tu:

Something's obviously gone wrong with the construction side of things. VM do have only a few such crews, but even so it's clear nobody has taken proper ownership of your problem at VM.

Cable Forum does have some high level contacts with VM who can be good at banging heads toghether. If you want us to get them involved please send me a PM with your customer name, address including postcode, account number and daytime phone (your mobile). We'll forward this and see what they can resolve.

[MovedGoalPosts]

I've oassed your details to our contact, Let us know how you get on.

[NTLVictim]

Can someone in the know enlighten us as to what "construction" covers?

It's nice to know this place has contacts for banging heads together, but maybe they should be aiming lower.

And harder.

It's nice to know there are some human beings in VM, but there aren't enough of them, obviously.

While all this keystone cops style service is going on, nothing will improve, because the opposition doesn't even have to try.

And that is bad news for everyone.

[jdobrick]

Rob,

Thanks much- will update on progress.

Peter- read your thread, I took little comfort in learning I wasn't the only one!

[Lord Nikon]

Jeremy

There are times where I am ashamed to be British, this is one of them.

I have lived overseas for many years but I have never come across such an uprofessional, disjointed and uncaring organisation as VM.
[snip]


Ever flown with US Airways? but that's a topic for another thread :D

[jdobrick]

A bit of an ironic update. Still no phone (hopefully I'll hear from somebody at Virgin this week), but I did get a notice in the mail yesterday indicating my account was overdue and that if I did not send payment within 5 days they would turn off my phone!

So now I have yet another headache to call VM and say that I paid exactly what I was told to pay and the amount they say I owe is the credit they gave me for not having phone for two months and broadband for three weeks. How about they pay me for all the minutes on my mobile I have used trying to get my phone and broadband working!

AAARRRGGGHHH

Regards- Jeremy

[jdobrick]

Total time from the day I first called Virgin 3 months 15 days.

Since my last post:

I received a call two weeks ago (finally) from somebody in Virgin's executive office. He actually took ownership of the problem and gave me a number to reach him which was a big help. It seems that despite my letters and countless phone calls, my install paperwork had fallen through the system and that the construction still needed to be scheduled.

Construction was expedited and a second cable was pulled to my house but the construction crew was unable to actually complete the install- they could just pull the cable so the actual install date was set for May 10th. As expected by now, on May 10th nobody showed up for the installation. Armed with my contact in Virgin's executive office a new install date of May 16th was set and the installer came by yesterday.

The tale of course cannot end without some irony. The installer takes a look at the junction box currently feeding my broadband and TV, takes a look at the phone hookup from the original installation, takes a look at the new cable that was just installed. Verdict, the new cable wasn't needed, the original cable was fine but not connected correctly to the junction box. Time to get the “install” completed- 15 minutes (plus three and a half months)

I was given a one month credit which is some recognition of the poor job Virgin did here. Now I am going to have to talk a deep breath and wait at least a month before I am mentally ready to start dealing with my next issues.

1) Broadband latency is terrible. 100+ms ping times at peak hours.
2) I did not sign up for the phone feature that allows me to change my voicemail greeting. The free voicemail message is recorded by the same woman's voice that is on Virgin's customer service line. After three months of listening to her "OK let's get you some help quickly" the very sound of her voice makes my skin crawl. Maybe it was all a plot to get me to sign up for a more expensive voicemail service! :-)

Thanks to this forum for getting somebody's attention at Virgin and helping get my problem sorted.