landline trouble (second opinion welcome)

[peteh]

Its generally good to widen horizons a bit and take other feedback on board (since I'm the perverbial "oily rag" as opposed to the engineer)

The AH (account holder) I'm enquring on behalf of has had landline trouble for a few weeks now, they depend on it quite heavily (disabled / mostly housebound)

Initially it was crackling on the line, frequent disconnection (mid call) and general loss of dialing tone (dead line) for varying periods of time

They were informed by the engineer on visit #1 to replace the handsets as they were a bit dated (which is fair enough if I'm honest, they've seen better days) so I went and did that for them and got some nice new ones (a set of 3) and set them up/installed them

The problem remained, someone was again called out and on visit #2 stated that the lines entering the front of the property were damaged (wear and tear as they were over a decade old) and needed replacing which they had done then and there- makes sense, the room in question is about to have repairs done to it in the upcoming weeks (damproofing and so on) so you would figure damage to anything feeding into the affected walls

On both occasions they had tested the landlines before leaving and deemed them to be in working order before departing

2 days since that last visit and the person now has no landline at all, they have a lifeline device (a single button system used to summon emergancy services if something happens) which has had to be shut down temperarily as it keeps going off (because it cannot get a clear line) and the person is having to use a mobile which they carry for emergancies (taking a fall or accidents) for their calls which is getting expensive

They obviously can't dial 150 as the VM landlines itself aren't working, I should add the person is vulnerable and just lost her husband very recently so the timing of this could not be any worse (things to plan)

I've used the VM website to test the line (don't know wether this is any use) and even that has stated there are problems with the line (before both visits and again tonight)

Anything else on the account holders end that could be done?
(they are calling in again first thing Monday, though they are very worried about finances right now and the possibility of being billed to fix a problem they should not be having to begin with though I don't believe they would be)

They have been with VM for many years (BY customer) and aside from the occasional outages/severe weather related issues or maintanance they have never had so much hassle with the line till the last month (although their package costs an arm and a leg, so they should not expect it.. I will be helping them amend/reduce it at a later date)

Thanks and have a good one

p.s. please do not take this at a dig at any employees or anything problems happen and stuff breaks, and the front line guys are just doing their jobs as far as I am concerned, i'm just genuinely worried for AH as I am sure anybody else would be if it was somebody they cared about

[jb66]

If I test my line it always says there is a fault, im not sure how it tests it,

You wont get charged for a fault call so keep booking

[Paddy63]

All service calls are free regardless of what the call centre may say. Your friend can apply for special help, Virgin have a system whereby if you are elderly or disabled you can register with them and they will prioritise your service call and try and get out the same day.

[heero_yuy]

BT also operate a priority system. My AP is registered and they turned out the next day after a lightning strike put most of her village out. Got her fixed up that day.

[qasdfdsaq]

Small piece of expectations management here: paying more for a service isn't going to make it more reliable.

Second piece of expectations management, no single piece of technology or service can ever be relied to never fail. If it's safety critical, you should get a backup, preferably from a different company.

In the end telephone is a 'secondary' service for VM. It's not particularly unique or competitive, if you are having trouble with it the easiest solution is to switch to a different provider.

[tweetiepooh]

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/...t/false#M67475

Hi

I've tried to flag this and have posted a link to this posting as above.

OP, maybe if you can contact the people on that thread they may be able to assist.

Sorry I can't really help more but I am not in any customer facing role.

[peteh]

Just to update the problem has been resolved by last visit (Monday)

Line had to be replaced as a couple sections missed on previous visit were coming apart completely, gentleman had an easy enough time as I had the room half empty for them (nowt in terms of obstructions) and he spent a while testing it to be 100% sure. Was quite friendly/pleasant to deal with

Thanks for the replies... pretty good timing actually as the weathers turned nasty so account holder will be relieved to have the LL back

p.s. Tweetlepooh its appreciated though we did keep on the "official" support in terms of contacting VM directly, I just figured it would be useful to post here between engi visits as theres alot of experienced folks here that know their stuff in this community

Thanks again