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View Full Version : /as a comms. engineer and a customer, I am appalled at the service received. Cancel?


TheWire
21-04-2011, 05:48
After have my original delivery date put off, first by a day by the engineer who never turned up the second day as promised. I was told by Virgin that my order consisting of the 50mb cable and the M phone package(it actually worked out cheaper with the phone).

Well, Virgin said they had run out of 'connections' for the phones but were able to offer another appointment on the 13th of April(over two months after giving me my original install date).

The main thing for me, the broadband, the superfast 50meg broadband, well eventually that got installed, late by over a month, they could not tell me what had happened but I know that Broadband is new around this estate however they have inherited a lot from Telewest.

The original engineer that came around did a quick site survey, I live in a small block of flats, 3 flats on 3 levels. He did arrive late during the day and told me once he realised I was savy about things like this that there was an issue with the junction box RIGHT opposite the house, I am sure one of the many terminations originate here, as it happens the existing termination point he choose was the electric cupboard on the ground floor, my flat is on the ground floor. That point is little more than 6 feet from my front door.

What possessed him to use my aerial wire(the SMATV is in that electrical cupboard as well, that 'cupboard' is pretty common to most buildings when I was installing phone and satellite from the 90's(many motorised systems and or shared LNB SMATV systems, anyway). The SMATV system at this stage just is terrestrial simple UHF aerial but in the next week it is all being changed to all flat get Free-view, Free-sat, Sky, etc. and I think they will want that cable(it is rightly theirs not Virgins) to muliplex their channels down, so I should imagine they would disconnect Virgins pirate connection on this line(theirs a thought, is their no product where in his situation or the coming situation the signals could be multiplexed?).

Now first of all, the installer was just being lazy by doing this. I did protest at first and said that he could come in any number of other ways and they really would not have taken too much time, ok I would have tried to find some friendly located scenario but worst scenario I would have to have drilled through two thick walls, well I know it is not fun drilling with the long long masonry drill, especially twice(but I reckon he'd get lucky on some conduit, fusebox terminates above front door!) once in the flat I was not fussy about it being concealed as my house is being decorated anyway... I only wanted the internet termination box right next to the front door, VERY easy install that him and his assist made even more easy.

According to him, I did'nt know what I was talking about(really? The Master Aerial Fitters Association and my customers seemed to think I was ok?) their was no other way he could get broadband in my front room other than using the aerial wire as the connection wire and if I did not want it he would have to go and he did not know what would happen when I said I wanted to talk to someone in technical or a fitter about this job, he could not get me his superviser. I am disabled now and have great pain moving, I have just got this house back after some people decided to live here while I was in hospital last year so it is in a mess though getting into shape fast. I think he took the if state of the house and my state and felt I was a dosser/whatever and the job he did was a joke, even the last part, I said I wanted it at the back of the 20 foot front room, so he cut off 20 feet of cable and said now I'd be able to reach the other end, I would have least of clipped it.... I would not be involved in a job like this anyway.

I am greatly missing my TV aerial now, never thought I watched so much of it! I am certainly getting far less than 50mb in any speed test, max 40mb, once. I know nowadays cable modems and TV connections can use suppose both use RG62 but God knows what the 15 year old stuff is they have used.

I feel that Virgin should send out an engineer and sort this out, then sort out the 'engineers' that have made me put up with this second rate service. I really have missed DTS TV and streaming does not quite cut it I am afraid.

I hope for Virgins response, I will try and get photos of the whole thing, the path of the able from the cabinet to my the different locations.

My phone that was supposed to have been installed last week was not installed. Nobody called, I have got a new mobile phone but I am sure Virgin have it. In any case, no one came, called or whatever. This service is a joke and to make things worse I was speaking to one person about the costs and I was supposed to have a 12 month contract 6months, £27.99 for first 3 months £37.99 after that with £40 towards fitting. Now what happens I have no phone? I called Virgin a few times and the last time they promised everything was ok and ready to go, I understand I still have a few days left to cancel which I may. I really feel Virgin should come and do the job properly and professionally.

I feel someone with some technical understanding and some power should look at my situation and call me. In case there are people on this forum who can do this, I am quite well right now so if you could give me their contact details, or I could PPM my contact details. I intend to post my problem and email it to people at Virgin. You have to understand sometimes I am bed bound for days so a/I need my TV aerial back b/I need to forward my cause as much as possible when I am well c/nobody else with Virgin has had this happen to them, they all got a separate cable. Sorry if I sound childish, I like the fast(most of the time) speeds but their are seperate issues, I knew of those and took them as part of doing business with Virgin.

This sort of install and treatment by installation staff, Virgin in general(you get cut off so many times calling them). Being later, so on - etc, is totally unacceptable, that they thought I would put up with this service the install team made a judgement, a rather ugly judgement.

My email is simon-bryant@hotmail.co.uk(probably best today/this week) or simonbryant@thetechnicalfrontier.com(this ones just been set up for my 'official role'.... got to set it up on my machine properly but I'm giving it out all the same for use in important business, it will be on my Android- I hope!).

Thanks for reading such a long thread!

Nopanic
21-04-2011, 08:21
Clearly VM have let you down and although we don't represent VM on this forum, I am sorry.

The big problem here is the forum is not part of VM, so unless one of the Mods wants to pass your details over to the complaints team they work with, we are limited in what we can do.

As you are having no luck with calling them, it would be worth posting on Facebook or Twitter, as I have said many times, the guys who support those pages from VM are excellent and well connected throughout the business.

If you feel you are getting nowhere drop me a PM and I'll talk to you in private.

thedavid2007
21-04-2011, 20:34
Just noticed you joined various forums and posted the exact same blurb. Are you saying that the installer connected broadband to your freeview aerial cable?

haydnwalker
21-04-2011, 20:52
I've just noticed this thread and out of interest I looked up the "thetechnicalfrontier.com" in whois and it isn't even registered, so I've no idea how that email's going to work...

martyh
21-04-2011, 20:56
not sure it's a good idea to post email addresses on forums

pip08456
21-04-2011, 22:00
I've just noticed this thread and out of interest I looked up the "thetechnicalfrontier.com" in whois and it isn't even registered, so I've no idea how that email's going to work...

As he does state it's just been set up it may not have yet permiated the web if indeed DNS has been set up yet.

thedavid2007
23-04-2011, 13:43
Not many responses, huh? I don't have time and patience to read such a long post. Who's interested in an engineer drilling through 2 walls, etc? You need to edit your post down to something that I can read in about 30 seconds. It's too much mental effort to study your long post. I have better things to do online.

DABhand
23-04-2011, 18:33
Not many responses, huh? I don't have time and patience to read such a long post. Who's interested in an engineer drilling through 2 walls, etc? You need to edit your post down to something that I can read in about 30 seconds. It's too much mental effort to study your long post. I have better things to do online.

Wow you could have done something better with your time than post what you did.

The guy is having a tough time and was poorly treated, then you hit him with how dare he make a long post because it's too long for your lazy ass to read.

Wow just wow.

adzii_nufc
23-04-2011, 18:45
Wow you could have done something better with your time than post what you did.

The guy is having a tough time and was poorly treated, then you hit him with how dare he make a long post because it's too long for your lazy ass to read.

Wow just wow.

:clap:

Stuart
23-04-2011, 19:36
After have my original delivery date put off, first by a day by the engineer who never turned up the second day as promised. I was told by Virgin that my order consisting of the 50mb cable and the M phone package(it actually worked out cheaper with the phone).

Well, Virgin said they had run out of 'connections' for the phones but were able to offer another appointment on the 13th of April(over two months after giving me my original install date).

The main thing for me, the broadband, the superfast 50meg broadband, well eventually that got installed, late by over a month, they could not tell me what had happened but I know that Broadband is new around this estate however they have inherited a lot from Telewest.

The original engineer that came around did a quick site survey, I live in a small block of flats, 3 flats on 3 levels. He did arrive late during the day and told me once he realised I was savy about things like this that there was an issue with the junction box RIGHT opposite the house, I am sure one of the many terminations originate here, as it happens the existing termination point he choose was the electric cupboard on the ground floor, my flat is on the ground floor. That point is little more than 6 feet from my front door.

What possessed him to use my aerial wire(the SMATV is in that electrical cupboard as well, that 'cupboard' is pretty common to most buildings when I was installing phone and satellite from the 90's(many motorised systems and or shared LNB SMATV systems, anyway). The SMATV system at this stage just is terrestrial simple UHF aerial but in the next week it is all being changed to all flat get Free-view, Free-sat, Sky, etc. and I think they will want that cable(it is rightly theirs not Virgins) to muliplex their channels down, so I should imagine they would disconnect Virgins pirate connection on this line(theirs a thought, is their no product where in his situation or the coming situation the signals could be multiplexed?).

Now first of all, the installer was just being lazy by doing this. I did protest at first and said that he could come in any number of other ways and they really would not have taken too much time, ok I would have tried to find some friendly located scenario but worst scenario I would have to have drilled through two thick walls, well I know it is not fun drilling with the long long masonry drill, especially twice(but I reckon he'd get lucky on some conduit, fusebox terminates above front door!) once in the flat I was not fussy about it being concealed as my house is being decorated anyway... I only wanted the internet termination box right next to the front door, VERY easy install that him and his assist made even more easy.

According to him, I did'nt know what I was talking about(really? The Master Aerial Fitters Association and my customers seemed to think I was ok?) their was no other way he could get broadband in my front room other than using the aerial wire as the connection wire and if I did not want it he would have to go and he did not know what would happen when I said I wanted to talk to someone in technical or a fitter about this job, he could not get me his superviser. I am disabled now and have great pain moving, I have just got this house back after some people decided to live here while I was in hospital last year so it is in a mess though getting into shape fast. I think he took the if state of the house and my state and felt I was a dosser/whatever and the job he did was a joke, even the last part, I said I wanted it at the back of the 20 foot front room, so he cut off 20 feet of cable and said now I'd be able to reach the other end, I would have least of clipped it.... I would not be involved in a job like this anyway.

I am greatly missing my TV aerial now, never thought I watched so much of it! I am certainly getting far less than 50mb in any speed test, max 40mb, once. I know nowadays cable modems and TV connections can use suppose both use RG62 but God knows what the 15 year old stuff is they have used.

I feel that Virgin should send out an engineer and sort this out, then sort out the 'engineers' that have made me put up with this second rate service. I really have missed DTS TV and streaming does not quite cut it I am afraid.

I hope for Virgins response, I will try and get photos of the whole thing, the path of the able from the cabinet to my the different locations.

My phone that was supposed to have been installed last week was not installed. Nobody called, I have got a new mobile phone but I am sure Virgin have it. In any case, no one came, called or whatever. This service is a joke and to make things worse I was speaking to one person about the costs and I was supposed to have a 12 month contract 6months, £27.99 for first 3 months £37.99 after that with £40 towards fitting. Now what happens I have no phone? I called Virgin a few times and the last time they promised everything was ok and ready to go, I understand I still have a few days left to cancel which I may. I really feel Virgin should come and do the job properly and professionally.

I feel someone with some technical understanding and some power should look at my situation and call me. In case there are people on this forum who can do this, I am quite well right now so if you could give me their contact details, or I could PPM my contact details. I intend to post my problem and email it to people at Virgin. You have to understand sometimes I am bed bound for days so a/I need my TV aerial back b/I need to forward my cause as much as possible when I am well c/nobody else with Virgin has had this happen to them, they all got a separate cable. Sorry if I sound childish, I like the fast(most of the time) speeds but their are seperate issues, I knew of those and took them as part of doing business with Virgin.

This sort of install and treatment by installation staff, Virgin in general(you get cut off so many times calling them). Being later, so on - etc, is totally unacceptable, that they thought I would put up with this service the install team made a judgement, a rather ugly judgement.

My email is simon-bryant@hotmail.co.uk(probably best today/this week) or simonbryant@thetechnicalfrontier.com(this ones just been set up for my 'official role'.... got to set it up on my machine properly but I'm giving it out all the same for use in important business, it will be on my Android- I hope!).

Thanks for reading such a long thread!

We have contacts with VM. If you send me your real name, postal address, account number and a daytime contact phone number, I can refer this case to them. At the very least, the installer should not have damaged anything not installed by VM.

Not many responses, huh? I don't have time and patience to read such a long post. Who's interested in an engineer drilling through 2 walls, etc? You need to edit your post down to something that I can read in about 30 seconds. It's too much mental effort to study your long post. I have better things to do online.

Clearly not. You wouldn't have spent the extra time involved in replying if you did have. Another way of looking at it is that the guy clearly had a bad install. He came here looking for help (which we are willing to offer if we can). He was not looking to be told off because someone apparently found his post too long to read.