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I want to be a VM customer, but my area isn't cabled - who can I contact?
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Posts: 5 Forum Member
Currently I'm a Sky TV & Phone customer (paying just over £80/month) and I get my broadband through O2 (£7.50/month - unlimited legacy deal 
)
I've lived in my area for 5 years... at the time of moving there, I called VM after recieving a leaflet about their TV/BB/Phone bundle. I tried to accept the bundle but was told I wasn't in a fibre cabled area, but they *may* install within a year so keep calling to find out. I took Sky's package and have been calling VM each year, trying to give them my custom... still no definitive answer about installing in my area.
The last time I called, they said they were concentrating on trying to get more customers in the existing cable areas before investing in new areas.
The annoying part is that the street behind my property is cabled, but I'm on a relatively new estate (10 years old now)... and it's not covered.
Surely, if they were to cover our area (street of about 50 homes), it would generate enough money over the next 5 years to pay for it? They've lost out on approx £5000 of my money in the last 5 years, without accounting for the amount of films we rent each month - not from Sky, as I find their content a bit lacking.
Now that the Tivo box has been announced, I would like to contact someone at VM to see if we can push to have our street cabled. I would go door to door on my street to encourage people to join if I had to. I'm at a point now where I would like to order a multiroom subscription (another £20/month if I stay with Sky) and if I go ahead, that will be atleast another 12 months that VM are without my custom.
Anyone got a strong contact within Virgin Media that I could talk to? I've tried their customer support and sales teams etc.. but don't get anywhere.
Many thanks,
Stuart
)I've lived in my area for 5 years... at the time of moving there, I called VM after recieving a leaflet about their TV/BB/Phone bundle. I tried to accept the bundle but was told I wasn't in a fibre cabled area, but they *may* install within a year so keep calling to find out. I took Sky's package and have been calling VM each year, trying to give them my custom... still no definitive answer about installing in my area.
The last time I called, they said they were concentrating on trying to get more customers in the existing cable areas before investing in new areas.
The annoying part is that the street behind my property is cabled, but I'm on a relatively new estate (10 years old now)... and it's not covered.
Surely, if they were to cover our area (street of about 50 homes), it would generate enough money over the next 5 years to pay for it? They've lost out on approx £5000 of my money in the last 5 years, without accounting for the amount of films we rent each month - not from Sky, as I find their content a bit lacking.
Now that the Tivo box has been announced, I would like to contact someone at VM to see if we can push to have our street cabled. I would go door to door on my street to encourage people to join if I had to. I'm at a point now where I would like to order a multiroom subscription (another £20/month if I stay with Sky) and if I go ahead, that will be atleast another 12 months that VM are without my custom.
Anyone got a strong contact within Virgin Media that I could talk to? I've tried their customer support and sales teams etc.. but don't get anywhere.
Many thanks,
Stuart
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Comments
Surely, if they thought there was sufficient business in your street, they'd think about it. I think it likely that you underestimate the cost of wiring up and connecting a street, but I don't have any figures.
At any rate, they are free to provide cable or not. They don't want to serve your street for all the right reasons or for all the wrong ones. Doesn't matter. It is their decision, and your desire to become their customer is pretty irrelevant. I don't think you have anything to complain about. All you can do is a childish display of I want I want I want. I'd save my breath if I was you.
Was there any need for a reply like that? The OP asked a question. They weren't complaining. Why did you feel the need to come along and be so rude?
OP: Do what Shawshank said.
Thanks for your reply, that's pretty much what I was looking for. I'll give it a try.
Oh dear, perhaps I have given you the wrong impression about myself. I suppose that's the beauty of written communication over face-to-face contact.
At no point did I say I wanted to complain. I said I was annoyed about the adjacent street being cabled, but that's more down to other factors aswell, such as "blanket drop" leaflets from VM, customer services trying to push their alternative services in absence of their full service when I call, and being told "perhaps in the next 12 months" for the last 5 years, when they don't actually have that as fact.
I'm not an idiot; of course they are free to decide to provide or not... I'd just like a definate answer of someone so I can either put my current plans on hold, or put the VM idea out of my head forever. Perhaps my desire to become a customer is irrelevant, but would it be irrelevant if there were 10 people, or 20 people...? Have they surveyed the area at all? In the 5x years I've been here, nobody has been round to gather interest. I suppose they could go off the number of people that call them, but that's not always the true picture... I know of 5 households on my street who have never called VM, but want to switch from Sky as I do.
Yes I do understand there would be a cost to cabling, which I would imagine is very high. In the last 5 years though, the street has had major works done by gas / water suppliers. Surely if they were to work together with other utility suppliers, they could somehow work out a way to share the costs? I have no intention of calling VM with a childish display, or complaining about them not supplying me.. I just want to know if & when they ever will offer a service.
Thanks, I'm on to it
A typical cost for a telco duct and fibre is £90 per metre ...
and then you have the cost of the equipment as well and getting it all working ....
Think its nearer £100 now.
More if slab pavement rather than tarmac.
Plus depends if access to the other fiber is available to your street without crossing private land. If it does then extra costs involved and no right of way guarenteed like for BT , water, gas and electric.
Good luck getting it though as Virgin say they are spending money filling in areas to as many as 500,000 properties.
a) You're welcome
b) It was very clear to me what you were asking!
One thing I should have pointed out is that while emailing the address worked for me, the infrastructure was already at my house. My house was built in 2001 (way before I moved there) and at the time it was NTL and the plan was to bring cable to the house before NTL ran into issues. When Virgin took over, no new work took place and so it didn't happen until now. I had an empty street cabinet outside my house and the ducts and everything else were all in place at my house. I was especially annoyed that BT chose to ignore my street cabinet recently when rolling out Infinity which meant that I was stuck with slow Broadband. Eventually Virgin installed and I went live with TV, BB and phone at the end of October. Great service and very happy so I really hope it works out for you. I only wanted to point out that it was easier for them to bring it to me than it may be for you.
I fully understand if they reply to me saying it would be too costly, and that there is not enough interest in the area... that would be a solid response and I can live with that. I just don't want any more empty promises from sales staff who are trying to persuade me to take VM's fallback options.
I just don't get why they can't worth with other providers when they next lift the road to run something... surely it might lower costs a little? There's no issues of private land or slap pavement between my street and the adjacent street which does have fibre cables installed. It's so frustrating because I can even see the box from my back bedroom window... I feel like running a cable myself
I've already had a reply back from a Cablemystreet Co-ordinator:
That'll do
My development (sounds posher than estate) of over 300 homes does not have cable even though they only had to 'drop it the ground' as the site was only undeveloped fields at the time. The install cost must have been tiny compared to now having to dig up and reinstate roads and tarmac footpaths
Virgin are not really spending much money at all on extending the cable network.
For new builds they will basically expect the developer to pick up the cost if they want to do it.
The extra 500,000 or whatever homes they are hoping to service will not be in completely new areas, it will be a case of infilling where it can be done cheaply and easily, such as the example above of the street with ducting but no wiring.
Santa
but have you been good boy this year
What happened next?
http://www.cable.co.uk/news/virgin-media-business-says-firms-favour-tech-over-cost-cutting-800336919/
and
http://www.cable.co.uk/news/virgin-media-business-warns-of-gadget-risk-to-firms-800323325/
Maybe they should do one based on likelihood to purchase a property with VM services available and show it to developers and get them to pay for the ducting.
Whilst it's not top of the list, I'd always pick a property with cable than one without if things were close. Nothing beats the speed of the BB and the On demand for me.
Wow. That's one hostile bitter post.
It's ok we're not planning on moving in the near future but if we do it would be top of my list of requirements