instalation horror story

[christine]

telewest came out to install their tv setup ( we already have their broadband and phone service), after about 3 hours the man said he could not set the thing up and would return the next day with his manager to have another attempt.
before he left I noticed a 2" wide vertitcal line running the full height of my plasma display when i asked him about it he said he knew it had accured during his attemped setup but was unable to rectify the problem.
several phone calls later and a few engineers round messing with the remote control. they now say that its nothing to do with them and they are unwilling to do anything to resolve the problem. i still have their tv box here and that isnt working either, had no formal letter or heard anymore from them.

my question is I know I must give them formal notice to fix it within a given time ( but who do I write to)
secondly should or when I take them to the small claims court to recover cost (who should I address that to) I realise that should I not address my correspondence to the right person my claim will be to no avail

[MovedGoalPosts]

to Cable Forum

I'd suggest that you give written notice, recorded delivery so you have proof they got it, to the correspondence address that should be quoted on your bill, for sending payments.

The Code of Practice on the Telewest website gives this as an alternative address:
Customer Loyalty Manager
Customer Concern
PO box 3786
Sheffield S9 3SE

[christine]

given them 14 to rectify the problem or will take court action.
they rang said they are not prepared to do anything as far as they are concerned they are not to blame, said I would have a report done on it to establish possible blame, they say if you can prove it then send them the proof and they will review the situation. but they were not willing to pay for the report them selfs.
in other words if they will only do something if there is no way they can get out of it.
BEEN WITH CABLE FOR ABOUT 5 YEARS NOW I THINK WE WILL BE OFF TO SKY THEIR PACKAGE WAS £15 A MONTH CHEAPER

[TheNorm]

Originally Posted by christine

...I noticed a 2" wide vertitcal line running the full height of my plasma display when i asked him about it he said he knew it had accured during his attemped setup but was unable to rectify the problem...

Is it really possible to spoil a plasma TV by fiddling about with the inputs?

[christine]

Things like moving a plasma whist turned on, plugging in a scart lead ect are all things that are not recommended and the rest is up to a trained techie to investigate. put the fact that this happened in the hands of there installation engineer would lead you to expect telewest to investigate it further would you not think?

[TheNorm]

Good grief - sounds like he made some fundamental mistakes.

Yes, I think your analysis of the situation is spot on. You'll probably have to keep on at them, though.

Get onto your local council, they will have a consumer protection department that can advise on these issues.
Given that presumably the fault was not present before the telewest tech attended I would certainly take it to the small claims court.
It will cost around £40 or so to get the ball rolling, they will help you with the paper work, if you want to get an independent report done to find out who is at fault you can add the cost of this to the claim I think, check it out first through your local court.
If the tv cannot be repaired, you're looking at replacement costs, put this on the claim too, plus claim for inconvenience, distress etc;
My guess is that once you get the court date through the post you will receive a nice cheque from telewest.
I can understand how you feel, the tech allegedly acknowledged the fault occured while he was there but telewest have now tried to brush it under the carpet, find out your rights and let us know how you get on.
Ooops. forgot to add, if you take the small claims route and the court find in your favour then telewest have to stump up the money you paid to start the proceedings too.