200M : Will VM charge for damaged cable?

[RichardCoulter]

I suspect that my gardener may have damaged the incoming cable as my services became affected whilst he was digging to put in a fence.

Will they make a charge if this turns out to be the case?

[General Maximus]

I do believe it is £100

[pip08456]

Why would you think they wouldn't charge?

[BenMcr]

Here's the charging info:
https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/the...iceguides.html

Technician Appointments

If maintenance or the correction of a fault requires a technician visit to your address, and is the result of the intended treatment and use of our equipment, there will be no charge for this visit. Someone over the age of 18 must be present at the time of the visit that we have agreed with you in advance.

If the need for a technician visit is the result of one or more of the following you will normally be charged a fee for the technician visit and may be responsible for other associated costs:

- A request by you to change the home set up of your services (for example if you would like your equipment moved to a different location)

- Misuse, neglect of, accidental or wilful damage to our equipment;

- Failure to follow responsible instructions regarding our equipment;

- Tampering or disassembling the equipment without our consent or instruction; or

- Fault in, or any other problem (including set up and specification) associated with, your equipment or any system that is not provided by us as part of our services.

Equipment includes, amongst other things, any cable modem, set top box, cables and ducts.

Technician Appointments (where chargeable)

£99 charge per appointment plus other associated costs on a case by case basis (see above for when these costs may be applicable)

[SnoopZ]

When i accidentally cut through my phone line cable in 2017 VM fixed that for free when the technician came out to fix my low signal TV problem, i was expecting a charge but maybe the fact they had to come out anyway was the reason they didn't.

I would expect them to charge you though for what you described.

[raging bull]

Could you argue that the cable was placed at a shallow depth/unprotected by the normal green tube?

Originally Posted by raging bull

Could you argue that the cable was placed at a shallow depth/unprotected by the normal green tube?

It depends how far down the workman dug down for the fence - a six foot fence post should go down at least two feet, and if that was the case, it’s unlikely...

[jb66]

They won't charge, it's very very rare they do

[007stuart]

Normally tradespeople will carry Professional Indemnity Insurance specifically for these situations. So if VM do raise an invoice for the work, which in my opinion they should, all the account holder has to do is pass it on to the tradesperson to resolve.

[RichardCoulter]

Thanks for the advice everyone. All sorted, he had damaged the cable so they repulled another one for me (no charge).

I shall be writing to let them know that the CS skills of the engineers was excellent, they couldn't have been more helpful and were totally understanding of the situation and my circumstances.

They couldn't bury the cable as there's a load of tree branches in the way, will this lead to the green protective cover rotting or should I have it buried when this is possible?

[jb66]

The green tubes dont rot, they are plastic and designed to be burried

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by jb66

The green tubes dont rot, they are plastic and designed to be burried

Thanks, i'll have it buried when I can as it will look better. I wonder if they're green to blend in with the greenery of a garden? Unless all the utilities have their own colour for ease of identification when the roads are being dug up.

Out of interest, does anyone know how they repull cables? It must be difficult to pull the end of the new cable from the other end of the duct!

[vm_tech]

They use a rod, stick it down the tee push through to where it needs to go. Attach the cable to the rod and pull it through. On short runs if the duct is clear you can get away with just feeding the cable down the tee

[Mr K]

I do like a happy ending

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by vm_tech

They use a rod, stick it down the tee push through to where it needs to go. Attach the cable to the rod and pull it through. On short runs if the duct is clear you can get away with just feeding the cable down the tee

Thanks.

Are all the wires copper from the cabinet to the premises? I'm wondering if my gardener cut through one completely (phone), damaged the one for internet as it kept going on and off and only slightly damaged the one for TV as this was only slightly affected with occasional bouts of pixelation.

They offered me a next day appointment, is this the norm? Maybe this was because I am a priority due to being disabled.