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-   -   Cable line cut by construction next door (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=33677323)

PaulTompson 03-05-2011 22:06

Cable line cut by construction next door
 
I have had working TV, Broadband and Phone for 6 months up until the end of February.

All services stopped working completely one day early of March at around 9:00 to 10:00.

I phoned up to inform Virgin Media about the situation. Apparently a technician was sent down and found out the building was not connected to a “T”. I told them that I am an existing customer so I had to be connected in some way. I was told another technician would be sent to access a situation.

3 days later I phone up again and I am told that the “T” does not exist and is not connected to an access point. Again i state that it is impossible as I used to have a working service.

Another technician was then sent down to access the situation and I was told a repull was scheduled in 2 weeks.

After waiting 2 weeks, right before the day the repull was scheduled I got a phone call stating a repull was impossible as there was no cable connected to the building.

I phoned up again and got through to construction and talked to a “team leader”. He told me that he was waiting for building plans to be sent so they can determine how much road had to be dug out.

I phoned up 3 days later and construction told me more than 10 meters of pavement had to be dug up so they had to get permission from the council.

I phoned up again 3 days later to enquire if permission has been granted by the council. I am told that construction has to give a minimum of 14 days for the council to reply.

I phoned up again 14 days later right after the Easter holidays. I was told I would get a call back to inform me what is being done at the moment. I waited 8 hours but there was no call back.

I phoned up again 8 hours later and I was told by someone in construction that the manager had not decided whether to go through with the construction so nothing was sent to the council for permission at all.

I phoned up again 1 hour later and I was told that construction did not know what was going on and why I had no service and a repull should have been possible since I am an existing customer. The “area field manager” was sent an email about the situation.

2 days later I phone back and I am told that the “area field manager” has granted permission for the project. Someone will be sent to the property to access the situation and they have 3 days to reply.

5 days later on the 3rd of May I am told they around 20 meters of the footpath have to be dug up and permission has to be requested from the council. Apparently the building site next door has removed the cable connecting to my house to the “T”.

NO ONE KNOWS how long the construction will take. I am now told I will not have service for another 2 months. Basically NOTHING has happened since I lost service and it took 2 whole months for construction to find out what was going on. It took construction 2 weeks to notice I was an existing customer that had service despite me emphasizing that every time I phone up. This is the second time I am told that construction is waiting for council permission. Even if road had to be dug up, 2 months is plenty of time to complete the task, let alone get started.

I have had no TV, INTERNET and PHONE service for 2 months now. All the other houses around me have access to cable service from Virgin Media. The newly built houses which destroyed my line also have access to cable service. 10 meters away my neighbour is watching cable TV.

I WOULD LIKE A TEMPORARY SOLUTION, at least the internet. This should be possible as the houses next door and down the street have access to cable service. I DO NOT CARE if a cable is just laid on the ground as long as I get internet service. I am completely cut off from the world.

Any help or advice to get this sorted within 2 weeks would be great. I might as well switch providers but only virgin offers 50mb service.

jb66 03-05-2011 23:28

Re: Cable line cut by construction next door
 
A temp cable could be used across the ground from your neighbours omni box

PaulTompson 03-05-2011 23:59

Re: Cable line cut by construction next door
 
So why is this solution not suggested at all by construction? If a temp cable can be used that would be great and the wait would not matter as much.

MovedGoalPosts 04-05-2011 00:08

Re: Cable line cut by construction next door
 
A temporary cable from your neghbour's connection (omni box) could only be provided with their permission as it uses their land.

The fault here lies with whowever damaged the original cable and ducting, something that is appears was a third party that Virgin Media could not control. Permissions to dig up pavements do take time, unless there is an emergency (such as a water main burst and a lack of a cable service to a property isn't an emergency to that extent).

The real problem here is that once the fault occured you seem to have then fallen into the proverbial black hole created by call centre responses where an issue might be logged but nobody is allocated to be responsible for ensuring a resolution. This is a recurring problem which, unless Virgin Media wish to restructure their service departments will unfortunately always leave the customer at the bottom rather than the top of the priority list.

PaulTompson 04-05-2011 03:01

Re: Cable line cut by construction next door
 
Thanks for the replies.
How would i get a temporary cable set up?

Who is the right person to talk to? I am guessing that phoning up customer service is pointless as nothing would get done.

Who would be responsible for getting permission from the neighbours? I would rather do this myself as I am willing to pay good money (i doubt virgin is) if a temporary solution can be set up quickly.

And about my current situation, does it look like anything is being done effectively? I do not want to wait another 2 months for service. Is there anything i can do to speed up the process?

Would I be able to contact the council regarding permissions to dig up the road? I would like to know whether permissions are being requested.

pip08456 04-05-2011 16:36

Re: Cable line cut by construction next door
 
First I would send an email to neil.berkett@virginmedia.co.uk the CEO of VM so that someone could take ownership of your issue and you would only have one person to deal with until it was resolved. Saves all the runaround you are getting.

Be polite, request help with the issue and copy and paste your OP into the email.

Then

I would get onto a solicitor to persue a claim against the building site construction company for loss of services caused by them.

PaulTompson 04-05-2011 18:00

Re: Cable line cut by construction next door
 
I have just phoned construction again today and it seems that I am back where I started before Easter. The person on the phone straight away said it was not possible to install a temporary cable and refused to pass on any enquiries of a temporary fix to the local contractors. As i said 10 meters away my neighbours can get cable service so there has to be ducting somewhere. When I ask him whether he has enough information about the local area to back up his stance the line cut off.

It seems that nothing constructive is going on and I am left in the dark. If i know i will have to wait another month i would have cancelled.

If someone on the forums has contacts i would be extremely grateful if this case can be passed on to them. I will also be sending an email to the CEO team as suggested above.

However I am not sure how i would be able to get a claim from the builders as the cable and ducting destroyed are Virgin Media's property.

Are there any alternatives to mobile broadband for a temporary solution. I see ISPs with monthly contracts but i have not found any monthly line rentals.

MovedGoalPosts 04-05-2011 20:05

Re: Cable line cut by construction next door
 
As this forum's contact resides in the CEO office, your direct email on the address given above will acheive a similar result to any intervention Cable Forum can offer.

The temporary connection may seem an easy option, but regrettably it is fraught with legal risks. As a minimum the landowner of the adjoining property has to give a licence, for the service to run to the neighbouring property, and if the arrangement were to be more permanent this would need formalising to an easement. Even if a licence could be sorted, there needs to be sufficient capacity in the neightbouriong connection to serve you without the neighbour's service suiffering.

Unfortunately you are the one inconvenienced for a matter that is not of your own, or VM's making. Since it is VM's infrastructure that is damaged they would need to claim from the person doing the damage, not you. I very much douibt that you would have a direct claim on anyone for the loss of your services, and certainly VM could argue that it was a matter totally outside their control.

The big problem here, as emphasised by your last post is that nobody has yet taken ownership of the issue, so you still get passed pillar to post. Your contact with the CEO office is your best option.

PaulTompson 05-05-2011 02:07

Re: Cable line cut by construction next door
 
I have gotten a phone call from the CEO team. Hopefully this will speed things up a bit. I must thank everyone that has given me advice.

I cannot wait until this nightmare is over. :)

nrt 07-05-2011 00:20

Re: Cable line cut by construction next door
 
Hi,

Reading this it is obvious that my story is not unigue - the builder destroyed the cable duct - was one of the lines I was fed, I don't see what that has to do with me. Fix the problem Virgin and sort out the cause later or be clear that you don't want our custom unless you get it at no incremental cost to you.

I only had a month of this. It's more than enough.


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