Virgin Media - disabled priority repair

[Martin Brown]

Help! I have a housebound relative whose Virgin media landline has been cut by cowboy builders working next door. Fastest repair the Virgin support dalek can offer is Thursday - which is no good for someone so reliant on the phone/internet to function. House is in a mobile phone blackspot so that only just works when clamped to the kitchen window which isn't ideal for someone with limited mobility.

I have tried and failed to see if Virgin implement any kind of priority repair for the disabled but have drawn a blank. BT do have such a scheme. Any ideas how to speed the repair time up on Virgin?

I am having to report the problem and I don't know my way round Virgin phone support so I couldn't figure out any way to talk to a human :(

Given that the neighbours are so awful I am inclined to insist on making a claim against them for the repair of this damage. Suggestions?

[jew pedophile Ron Jacobson (je]

Isn't it just a coaxial cable you can splice yourself???

[spuorgelgoog]

Claim directly from the builders.

Fixed Cellular Terminals might let you put a FCT somewhere with good signal and run a cable to relative's existing phone (or care alarm)

This one's very cheap. Others are about £100-150

Owain

[Martin Brown]

HTF is someone who is housebound supposed to splice a cable in a trench in the ground. I am fifty miles away from the house with the problem.

I think it may well be optical fibre to premises anyway. They have a superfast internet connection. I'm going up to see them tomorrow.

Anyone know how to talk to a human at Virgin? I am getting thoroughly sick of fighting their twenty dumb questions dalek "support" line.

[Tricky Dicky]

Martin try their sales line, with most companies there is a human there and although they might be pissed off with you wasting their time when they could be making money more often than not they will transfer you to a human at the appropriate department.

Richard

[michael adams]

According to their T&C the following applies

"Priority fault repair: We understand how important it is to be contactable and have the ability to contact others. So when it comes to faults with your phone, we give priority to special needs customers who have an urgent need of repair. To make use of this service, we ask customers with special needs to pre-register their requirements with us. Just give our Customer Care team a call.

[however}

Just to let you know, priority fault repair is not available for Broadband and TV faults

However if the landline is on the same connection as the broadband and tv - as it presumably will be in a number of cases then its difficult to know the reason for this last exclusion.

Which clearly does *not" apply in this case.

If they'd said "where there is no landline provision priority fault repair is not available...."

then fair enough.

But they didn't.

Branson may only have a peripheral connection with them nowadays but old habits built up over 50 years of serial deception, bullshit, outright lies and tax avoidance are still par for the course with Virgin.

michael adams

...

[Brian Gaff]

Normally find a land line subscriber and ask them to ring 151. There is a landline, probably costly, number on the web site as i recall. The usual thing is, are you calling from the number whos account is affected, which nearly always has me in fits of laughter as if I was then the land line would be working.#

it will be coax and twisted pair normally joined together one beside the other. They have not, as far as i know gone optica fibre to the house or indeed voip for their landlines yet. To be honest this Thursday sounds pretty good, even bt cannot get that quick from what I hear from disabled friends. As you say nobody thinks these things through. Is there a good neighbour who can help? They may have a walk about phone they can borrow for a day on their line. brian

[Martin Brown]

I guess the problem I am having is that I cannot find a way through the voicemail maze of twisty little passages all alike that allows me to speak to a human nor can I find the application form for priority repair anywhere on their site. Their sitemap and indexing is complete crap.

Most of the hits I get on Google searches are by people who have the facility complaining that it doesn't work - which doesn't bode well.

Anyway I will get to see the problem first hand tomorrow night.

[ARW]

Take some strip connector and a bit of BT cable and some coax with you a temp repair is 10 minutes.

[Martin Brown]

Thanks.

I have a feeling that I may need a razor blade, water clear epoxy and a fibre splicing jig. I have never mended an optical fibre before. If it is coax then I am sure I can do a temp fix that will last 'til Thursday.

I'm also taking a MiFi with external high gain antenna which should work to get net connectivity again even in this grotty no signal location. It was thoroughly alarming to get an incoming call from his emergency backup mobile only to lose connection immediately after "Hello" and then not to be able to re-establish any contact for some time.

Incidentally has anyone ever found a passive mobile phone signal coupler that actually works? I got one from a reputable supplier who I won't name but it didn't work and they stopped stocking it soon afterwards (I didn't really expect it to but I though it was worth a punt).

That is something like:

High gain yagi on roof - moderate length of coax - coupler | phone

[Ian Jackson]

In message , Martin Brown writes

If it is the sort of fibre that carries cable TV and internet signals, you'll need something a lot more sophisticated than that.

[ARW]

AFAIK Virgin do not do fibre to the house. It's only fibre to the nearest cabinet.

I would love to see a photo of a Virgin media cable in a trench (with ducting for the full money shot) instead of been hidden behind a blade of grass.

What I do know is that most Virgin media services can be restored with strip connector and a bit of cable.

[Martin Brown]

From what I have been told now it is "buried" about 6" deep and on the wrong side of the boundary line so the builders put a spade right through it. Perhaps they aren't such cowboys after all.

Odd really since I recall Virgin digging and filling in a trench in his garden when the service was installed... messed up his lawn too.

OK. Thanks for the tip. I will take a selection of bits along with me.

[DJC]

Good luck, when the trench for a new gas main cut through my Virgin cable it was still not repaired six months later. The only sure way to get a human is to say you ae cancelling the contract, that will get you through to 'retention' where I nice helpful person really will do all they can to fix it. Unfortunately the work order will then go into Virgin's job scheduling system so a month later you will be talking to that nice lady in 'retention' all over again.

[Pancho]

Virgin are terrible I don't think you can expect any level of service.

Is the house in a mobile black spot for all mobile companies? Maybe changing mobile sim could fix the problem.

Even if the black spot is for all mobile networks you may get reasonable reception using a signal booster with external antenna, in which case it may be a good idea to install one as a precaution against Virgin Media delays fixing the problem and/or future outages.

[F]

any use?

[Martin Brown]

I am not sure about all, but I intend to try some random other carrier SIMs and set my phone to scan for all signals. I know that there is absolutely no indoor coverage for EE or Three which is a bit bizarre because it isn't that far out of central Newcastle and up on a hillside.

But then mobile reception is a bit weird I know of another deadspot that seems to have perfectly good line of sight to a mast and no signal.

ISTR some mobile firms provide nanocell devices but don't they piggyback the internet connection and it is that failing I am trying to guard against. I do have a passive coupler but it proved to be useless even in combination with a very good antenna pointed at a mast. The phone showed no signal improvement with or without the coupler under it.

My best bet as an alternative if I can't patch the cable in the trench (and I have no idea how badly damaged it is) is to give him one of my MiFi devices with an external antenna and point it at the nearest mast. At least with it being so dry there shouldn't be any water in it.

[Chris Bartram]

^^^ Correct. As others have said it's coax and twisted pair to your house.

Correct again, a lot of the time.

[Andy Burns]

Wrong in some cases.

Virgin Media in this area have laid individual ducts to houses (using narrow slot cutting) with a "stopcock style" box in the street, if you subscribe they blow an individual fibre to your house.

[Jeff]

Read it again!

It actually says that it is not available for *Broadband and TV faults* NOT that is not available for Phone faults where there is also Broadband and TV supplied.

So if you have a phone service that is not working then it is eligible even if you have broadband or tv.

It is not available if it is just a broadband or tv fault and the phone still works.

Jeff