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back to article It's true – it really is grim up north, thanks to Virgin Media. ISP fined for Carlisle cable chaos

Virgin Media is facing a £385,000 fine after its cable expansion plans in the northwest of England wrought havoc on the streets of Carlisle. The penalty was imposed after the broadband provider pleaded guilty to seven breaches of street-works safety rules at Carlisle Magistrates' Court. Contractors failed to provide proper …

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  1. Emjay111

    Same situation here in North East Wales

    Virgin were using Actavo for ductwork around Wrexham, but the roll out was put on hold until areas previously covered were reinstated correctly. A lot of the defects have been incorrect depth of ducting, and insufficient distance between other utilities.

    The re-work and future expansion in the area now seems to be underway again, but with Litespeed as the main ductwork contractor.

    From what I can see, the latest contractor is doing a better job than the previous, despite being a smaller operation.

    Was thinking of switching ISP to Virgin FTTH when it passes me. They can't be that bad, can they?

    2 0 Reply
    1. lunacybooth
      Reply Icon

      Re: Same situation here in North East Wales

      "Was thinking of switching ISP to Virgin FTTH when it passes me. They can't be that bad, can they?"

      When it works it works. When something goes wrong, well all I can say is good luck. Their "Super"hub is shite, especially the 3.0 version which is PUMA 6 based. My hub is currently up and down like a hookers knickers.

      3 0 Reply
  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Same Here - Derbyshire

    VM contractors flew through my area last year.

    Pedestrian safety violations - Check

    Some substandard trench reinstatement - Check

    Damage to existing curbstones and surfacing - Check

    Chewed up grass verges - Check

    Accidental damage to other utilities for the odd unlucky home - Check

    Minor littering of duct materials - Check

    Indiscriminately covering cars and driveways with dust - Check

    Trespassing gardens and driveways with heavy equipment - Check

    Can't think of a better way to create a positive corporate image amongst a whole community of potential new customers...

    11 0 Reply
    1. Peter2 Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: Same Here - Derbyshire

      We had somebody take out our phone line in similar circumstances. I promptly got some photos of the digger in question (knowing full well BT will get the money for reinstatement work back from the people who cause the damage when they can identify them) before getting a bit of CAT5 and splicing it in to put my line back in use (obviously without soldering it!)

      When the BT engineer turned up within an hour I was to put it mildly a bit surprised at the response time, and he was just as surprised to find the severed cable neatly spliced and working...

      5 0 Reply
      1. Alex Masters
        Reply Icon

        Re: Same Here - Derbyshire

        My last line fault was also attended by an Openreach engineer in about 45 minutes. I was gobsmacked!

        2 0 Reply
      2. MonkeyCee
        Reply Icon

        Re: Same Here - Derbyshire

        "When the BT engineer turned up within an hour I was to put it mildly a bit surprised at the response time, and he was just as surprised to find the severed cable neatly spliced and working..."

        Isn't that one of those "ask a busy person" tricks?

        Something needs fixing.

        Johnny on the spot bodges it and calls it in.

        Call is put in busy engineers queue.

        Engineer checks status for each call.

        One call is apparently working.

        Schedule to do that one first, since it'll either be a false alarm, or if you've been tricked by Johnny, it's probably a quick upgrade of the bodge.

        0 0 Reply
  3. pɹɐʍoɔ snoɯʎuouɐ
    WTF?

    time warp?

    Has this story been lost in a time warp for 25 years?

    I remember telewest or cable and wireless or whatever they were called at the time, having the same issues in Liverpool. They got hit for a massive amount of money and were banned from doing any further pavement digging in Liverpool.

    IIRC, they got told time and time again to go and fix the mess and failed to do so. Then Liverpool City Council sent out teams to fix the mess then billed them for it..... at massively inflated prices.

    5 0 Reply
  4. Andymoss@sky.com

    Its a shame they don't inspect the work after it has finished then they can see the shit state they leave the roads in afterwards costing the tax payer millions to repair a second time...

    1 0 Reply
  5. hairydog

    Those cowboys dug up a private road without permission, cutting through the tree roots so the trees will die (or fall over) in a year or two.

    When challenged, they initially said they had the council's permission (a lie- the council doesn't own that road and had told them so). Then they claimed the work hadn't started on that road yet. (It had started and finished by then).

    The careless incompetent of the contractors is nothing to the unbelievable ineptitude of their admin and planning.

    If they run their network as well, you should buy some carrier pigeons before signing up with Virgin.

    5 1 Reply
  6. meadowlark

    Many years ago now, I went over the mother of all holes in the road and wrecked the suspension on my 1 year old Mini. I contacted the council and they said it was the responsibility of the local Gas Board who had just finished work there. On to the Gas Board and they said it was the contractor I needed. On to them and lo and behold, they had sub-contracted the job out to another lot.

    After going through about 7 different companies/contractors etc, I ended up with a one man band - some Irish bloke living in a caravan who said he couldn't afford anything as he was skint.

    As with Virgin Media, I concluded that the council should be held responsible because their clerk-of-works should have ensured that the road was filled in, and then tarmacked with a barrier around it until it hardened off. None of that had happened.

    I took my case to the small claims court and the council agreed to pay for the repairs to my Mini.

    2 0 Reply
  7. Jake Maverick

    Until criminal charges are applied and individuals prosecuted and gaoled there is no rule of law :-(

    1 0 Reply

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