Virgin literally cuts home off.

[Stuart]

David Henshall got home the other day to find the `VMs cable installers had cut a trench right around the front of his him, then fenced it off and left. Thus, almost sealing his wife in the house and preventing anyone moving the car.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36923156

[DJSADERS]

when i read that i just see people who like to complain ¬__¬ she coulda asked them to move it before they left...

[djfunkdup]

quote: "found they had barricaded my wife and daughter inside"


Over reaction or what lolzz.. all they had to do was go between the barriers and their house and leave via the drivaway next door.there is about 6 feet of space from the end of the barrier and their house...

Without a doubt David Henshall is a bawbag

Originally Posted by DJSADERS

when i read that i just see people who like to complain ¬__¬ she coulda asked them to move it before they left...

What's wrong with the workers leaving access to the drive ? every other company manages to do it ,even British Gas,they put steel plate across the trench .When i see people defending this type of incompetence i lose all hope .

[Ken W]

Originally Posted by Stuart

David Henshall got home the other day to find the `VMs cable installers had cut a trench right around the front of his him, then fenced it off and left. Thus, almost sealing his wife in the house and preventing anyone moving the car.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-36923156

A similar thing happened to me when Southern Gas Network were renewing the gas mail and they left barriers across my entrance and a open trench in front of my house and no covers to allow me of getting my car out to go to work!

[Arthurgray50@blu]

I can go one better than this. About 18 months ago. VM engineers or crappy workforce. Had to put Cable across the A316, which runs past my house down to Whitton Roundabout.

And the A316 is a very busy road especially at rush hour. Instead of doing ONE PART per da. They did BOTH sides of the road at the same time. Without a thought for the drivers.

And it closed the road for several hours, until someone from the Council placed METAL PLATES over the holes to allow some form of opening of the road.

Virgin Media apologised and just stated 'we expect better service from our engineers' Does that ring a bell, with what the tell us the customers.

[Stephen]

Surely anyone with comon sense would just have moved some of the fencing so they could get out of their house??

Just me?!

[hedgie]

Originally Posted by DJSADERS

when i read that i just see people who like to complain ¬__¬ she coulda asked them to move it before they left...

No shouldn't need to ask to move anything, we pay enough to expect VM and their supply chain to have some common sense. They probably had no idea about who lived in their house, if they had kids, mobility impairment, wheel chairs or what ever.

Its gross incompetence nothing more nothing less.

When National Grid were upgrading our gas main last year we got two letters and a house call explaining what to expect, they provided plastic driveway covers as standard and would only provide steel plates to householders with a disability. They had a 24hr hot line all in all a good service apart from the guy who was working on a gas main behind a no smoking sign with a "fag on".

There might have been no risk but it was poor example to set, in an otherwise well managed process.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by DJSADERS

when i read that i just see people who like to complain ¬__¬ she coulda asked them to move it before they left...

She may not have been aware they did it until they left. Do you routinely watch people when they do roadworks outside your house?

Originally Posted by djfunkdup

quote: "found they had barricaded my wife and daughter inside"


Over reaction or what lolzz.. all they had to do was go between the barriers and their house and leave via the drivaway next door.there is about 6 feet of space from the end of the barrier and their house...

Without a doubt David Henshall is a bawbag

And how well would that have gone had (say) the house caught fire, and she needed to get people out and away from it quickly? What would have happened if one of the kids had injured themselves and she needed to get them to A&E quickly? OK, she could have called an ambulance, but even then they'd need to get an injured kid around the maze of barriers. You may laugh and say "well, that's not likely to happen" but the fact is, while it's not likely, it *may* happen and if it does, then the authorities may well go either the company who dug up the road, or the company who contracted them to do so. If the Health and Safety Executive get involved and go after either, then it is likely that either the installer, or Virgin will be fined heavily. I'd also like to point out that this would also be one of the few situations in which, from a legal point of view, the accused would be considered guilty until they can prove themselves innocent. I know this, as departmental Health and Safety is part of my remit at work, so I am well aware of the legal requirements.


You can call him whatever you want, but he has a point. Most decent installers do take into account access to buildings in the area, and they do have metal covers they can use to cover the trench safely, to allow access.

The whole site is an absolute mess ,an H&S nightmare.Here are a few more picks by the Mail and you will notice that there are 2 photos of the house one clearly showing no access at all to the driveway and another presumably taken later when workmen had returned to board over the trench

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...s-barriers.htm