Cable Forum - View Single Post

nrt · 06-05-2011, 22:33

Hi,

I am new here, so I will try to keep this brief, especially as it looks very likely that I will not be able to benefit from cable based services, despite the fact that I have signed a contract for these and have sat at home on three occasions waiting for said services to be installed!

Exactly one month ago I signed an agreement to get broadband, TV and phone services installed at the home I was moving to. All the houses around have Virgin cable, there is a Virgin big green box about 20 feet from my front door, but there was clearly an issue - the website said I couldn't have the service, the salesman said I could...

I signed the deal and got an installation date, between 1pm and 5pm two weeks later.

At 4:30 I phoned - "Errr; where are you?"

The reply, "Oh sorry we pushed your installation back a few weeks..."

My response, "But I'm phoning you, who was going to tell me that I was wasting my time sitting here waiting?"

The response, "Oh, someone just manually updated the installation date - we only found out when you phoned..."

Expletives deleted....

When I calmed down - "OK, so when are you going to do the installations?"

"In about another 2-3 weeks..."

My relpy, "But I have no phone, no TV and no internet access, are you really saying that you think it's OK to leave me like this for another few weeks!!!"

"Well we might get a cancellation...."

So then I accept that I can't get a better service quicker and have to wait. I went into the local Virgin shop and the good people there fixed me up with a 3G dongle, which they agreed to cover the cost of...

But now, guess what? Despite coming out and doing a survey, despite pushing the installation date back again, today came the final blow.

A man in a white van pulled up, sat around outside for a few minutes, then dropped a note through my door to say that Virgin cannot offer a single service to me at this address. I had a conversation with him and his manager. I spoke to customer service, sales, installation, I was promised a call back from the area manager...

Basically - I have nothing to show for the month but a free 3g dongle that I didn't want. I have been mislead, lied to and generally jerked around because - it seems to me - Virgin would rather screw every penny they can from the existing infrastructure, than spend any money on exending that infrastructure, even a few feet. They are obviously incentivising their sales force in ways that encourages them to lie about what can be done and are not able to deliver the control and managemnt necessary to ensure that customers are dealt with properly, when this policy blows up in situations like this.

Did I miss anything?

Oh yes - I recall the words of a song - "Like a Virgin F@$ked for the very last time"

So when is a customer not an asset - right now - I know that I will calm down but this really stinks - you can fly round the edge of space in a balloon or dive down to the deep sea in a super-sub all you like Mr B - but unless or until you get a grip on things like this you don't get a penny more spending money from me!

06-05-2011, 22:33	#1
nrt Inactive Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 7	When is a customer not an asset? Hi, I am new here, so I will try to keep this brief, especially as it looks very likely that I will not be able to benefit from cable based services, despite the fact that I have signed a contract for these and have sat at home on three occasions waiting for said services to be installed! Exactly one month ago I signed an agreement to get broadband, TV and phone services installed at the home I was moving to. All the houses around have Virgin cable, there is a Virgin big green box about 20 feet from my front door, but there was clearly an issue - the website said I couldn't have the service, the salesman said I could... I signed the deal and got an installation date, between 1pm and 5pm two weeks later. At 4:30 I phoned - "Errr; where are you?" The reply, "Oh sorry we pushed your installation back a few weeks..." My response, "But I'm phoning you, who was going to tell me that I was wasting my time sitting here waiting?" The response, "Oh, someone just manually updated the installation date - we only found out when you phoned..." Expletives deleted.... When I calmed down - "OK, so when are you going to do the installations?" "In about another 2-3 weeks..." My relpy, "But I have no phone, no TV and no internet access, are you really saying that you think it's OK to leave me like this for another few weeks!!!" "Well we might get a cancellation...." So then I accept that I can't get a better service quicker and have to wait. I went into the local Virgin shop and the good people there fixed me up with a 3G dongle, which they agreed to cover the cost of... But now, guess what? Despite coming out and doing a survey, despite pushing the installation date back again, today came the final blow. A man in a white van pulled up, sat around outside for a few minutes, then dropped a note through my door to say that Virgin cannot offer a single service to me at this address. I had a conversation with him and his manager. I spoke to customer service, sales, installation, I was promised a call back from the area manager... Basically - I have nothing to show for the month but a free 3g dongle that I didn't want. I have been mislead, lied to and generally jerked around because - it seems to me - Virgin would rather screw every penny they can from the existing infrastructure, than spend any money on exending that infrastructure, even a few feet. They are obviously incentivising their sales force in ways that encourages them to lie about what can be done and are not able to deliver the control and managemnt necessary to ensure that customers are dealt with properly, when this policy blows up in situations like this. Did I miss anything? Oh yes - I recall the words of a song - "Like a Virgin F@$ked for the very last time" So when is a customer not an asset - right now - I know that I will calm down but this really stinks - you can fly round the edge of space in a balloon or dive down to the deep sea in a super-sub all you like Mr B - but unless or until you get a grip on things like this you don't get a penny more spending money from me!