What to expect from a Virgin installer?

rG-tom

rG-tom

rG-tom

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Hey guys,

on the back of the thread about sky engineers, could someone share their experience with virgins?

It's being installed on Friday, and I know they are going to have to drill through at least one external and one internal wall to get it where my TV is, will I have any issues getting them to do this?

Cheers

Tom.
 
Well, they sub out mostly now, so you could get a complete eejit come round. My friend had a VM installer drill through his wall to get the cable through.....drilled straight through his radiator pipe. It was pvc and thus his copper pipe detector didn't pick it up. The whole living room was flooded and VM had to foot the bill for complete refurb of the room; laminate flooring new wallpaper as it soaked up and peeled off, new suite too.
 
They normally just get on with it, they will ask you where & what you would like & if it's ok for them to do it in a certain way & then pretty much just get on & do it.

Had 2 installations done in my current house & both times they have been spot on.
 
ho-hum said:
Well, they sub out mostly now, so you could get a complete eejit come round. My friend had a VM installer drill through his wall to get the cable through.....drilled straight through his radiator pipe. It was pvc and thus his copper pipe detector didn't pick it up. The whole living room was flooded and VM had to foot the bill for complete refurb of the room; laminate flooring new wallpaper as it soaked up and peeled off, new suite too.
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ouch, at least they footed the bill......in my old place a contractor my landlord had sent to replace a wardrobe managed to destroy a pipe and it drenched my 2 week old £500 mattress, they and the landlord refused to replace it...so I moved.
 
Just had one around this week to swap out a SA box with a Samsung, dunno if it's just me but every installer i get from Virgin is a complete ****.......London i guess.

On the plus side the Samsungs are so much better i can't believe it ....now just have to bang a 1tb into her.
 
When I had an extra V+ box installed they turned up at 1830 (half an hour after the latest time), one installed while two others stood and watched.

Then when the V+ box turned out to be broken they took it away and left me with a POS standard box.

The next day the manager was meant to be round before 11:00.

Had to spend half an hour on the phone chasing after him and he eventually decided to turn up at 12:30.

Left me a crappy SA box too.
 
marscay said:
Just had one around this week to swap out a SA box with a Samsung, dunno if it's just me but every installer i get from Virgin is a complete ****.......London i guess.

On the plus side the Samsungs are so much better i can't believe it ....now just have to bang a 1tb into her.
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Are the Samsung boxes being given out as standard now? :)
 
Meatball said:
Are the Samsung boxes being given out as standard now? :)
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No just pot luck whether the installer has any left, go for a morning appointment ....better chance ;)

I was prepared to turn him away if he only had SA's left tbh, they're absolute junk next to the Sammys and our subs are at the top end. I've got expensive equipment and the audio popping on the DD feeds is grounds enough to reject an SA ....i think they are bugged and all of them do it - the ones we had did anyway.
 
Had an install not so long ago and they were quick and tidy, only problem is that I had asked for 2 phone extensions + main on the order and their job sheet only had main down. They stated they didn't have the cable available to do the extensions, but they did call through to get another appointment booked for 3 weeks later. Make sure to contact install team to ensure that all requirements are known to them before they arrive.
 
my install was a joke.

they are subbed out and get paid per job so they get it done as fast as possible.

i booked an internet only install and the guy turned up early in the morning so good start.

he asked where i wanted it installing and i said upstairs but he told me they cannot do that so told him to put it in my front room.

then he tells me he's very busy and couldnt be bothered running the cable from the pavement to the house so he connected the cable to next door's cable box :confused:

i had a bit of foresight and put a rug down before he came and it was a good job because he stomped mud through my living room.

next he asks me if i'm painting the walls any time soon :confused::confused: when i asked him why i walked into the living room to see he'd actually managed to put a muddy footprint on the wall :eek:

then while unpacking a TV BOX i told him i only wanted the internet and he said no its a TV install, i then told him to check his paperwork and said oh yeah that's for my next job.

off he pops to his van, grabs a cable modem, rings up the office to tell them the MAC address, connects it to the cable, walks out of the house and tells me that if my pc is upstairs then i should buy a wireless router. gets in his van and drives off.
 
so far so good, phoned them up today thinking it strange ive not heard anything....low and behold it'd been entered wrong on their system, despite me triple checking the daft bint had put it for the 25th, not the 20th i'd agreed to, and i'd never have booked a wednesday as i know i couldnt have someone home :s

ARGHH.
 
P_A_N_I_C said:
my install was a joke.

they are subbed out and get paid per job so they get it done as fast as possible.

i booked an internet only install and the guy turned up early in the morning so good start.

he asked where i wanted it installing and i said upstairs but he told me they cannot do that so told him to put it in my front room.

then he tells me he's very busy and couldnt be bothered running the cable from the pavement to the house so he connected the cable to next door's cable box :confused:

i had a bit of foresight and put a rug down before he came and it was a good job because he stomped mud through my living room.

next he asks me if i'm painting the walls any time soon :confused::confused: when i asked him why i walked into the living room to see he'd actually managed to put a muddy footprint on the wall :eek:

then while unpacking a TV BOX i told him i only wanted the internet and he said no its a TV install, i then told him to check his paperwork and said oh yeah that's for my next job.

off he pops to his van, grabs a cable modem, rings up the office to tell them the MAC address, connects it to the cable, walks out of the house and tells me that if my pc is upstairs then i should buy a wireless router. gets in his van and drives off.
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If you let them get away with it then they will continue to do that kind of thing. I'd have stopped him the second he said he couldn't put it upstairs and said either you do it properly or don't bother.

I had a Sky installer try it once too. He tried to say that because there was no phone line socket there he couldn't install it and wanted £50 to do it. I said get stuffed! Quick phone call to his boss later and it was installed the next day with no issues, a phone extension and with £50 credited to my account :)
 
Sadly all the regions got rid of the tech's and farmed the work out to agency contractors who hired the same techs back again. The pull from the street not being done is quite standard in some area's as one feed can supply more than one property, some area's were specifically set up like this eg flats or semi's. As for install damage complain and it will get sorted. A full new install to a non cabled property is normally booked as a two man job where as a pre cabled property is a one man job. Both the pre launch silver SA i've had and the later black version have been fine though in general i'm not an SA fan, certainly had no issues with dodgy audio over optical etc.

Also when an install is booked you normally get a letter through within a few days to confirm the time/date etc, if not call back and check.
 
marscay said:
Just had one around this week to swap out a SA box with a Samsung, dunno if it's just me but every installer i get from Virgin is a complete ****.......London i guess.

On the plus side the Samsungs are so much better i can't believe it ....now just have to bang a 1tb into her.
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Unlucky mate.

We had virgin installed under a month ago. Technician was extremely professional, knew exactly what he was doing. Also had great manners, took his shoes off etc..

Had all three things (phone, tv, net) ready within 2 hours. He was moving so fast it was like he was in fast-forward.

He even vacuumed up the dirt from when he drilled the holes!
 
When i had Virgin installed (before Sky), the installers were very accommodating. As well as into the lounge, in between their spliff breaks, they ran cable very tidily through the garage, along the walls and through the garage ceiling into a first floor room. For £15 cash, they also installed a second phone socket, with the cable around the back of the house into another first floor room. Took them the best part of 5 hours though!! They became more entertaining as the day went on and they went through 2 packets of biscuits. They also left behind some of their tools and connectors and didn't bother coming back for them. They probably have no memory of the installation.
 
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