Excited at the promise of ultra high speed broadband at my office at home, I checked on the Virgin Media website that their service was available at my address.
I then visited the Virgin Media shop in Bedford where the assistant answered my technical queries.
I asked if there really was cable in my road as there was no tell-tale scar in the pavement where cable had been laid.
She assured me that there was and indeed according to her computer, several residents had already taken up the service.
Good enough for me.
Upon returning home, I telephoned Virgin Media and ordered a high-end package costing almost £100 per month and forked out £150 for the hardware.
The sales girl assured me that there was cable in our road and according to her computer several residents had already taken up the service
I was given an installation date of 16th June.
I then spent 3 hours trying to cancel my telephone and broadband service with BT.
Not easy when you keep getting shunted from one department to another.
On the 13th June I had a tatty note pushed through my front door from Virgin stating that my order was cancelled, as there was no cable in my road.
Disappointed, but not totally surprised, I called the number on the letter and was asked if I wanted a refund. In my finest sarcastic voice I said no - you go and have a few beers on my account!
An email to the person that took my order and payment remains unanswered and the telephone number that she gave me is never answered.
The shop manager in Bedford was less than helpful. I put it to him that the very least he should do is to have the Virgin database amended so that our postcode is removed to save other residents in Wellingborough falling in to the same trap.
The manager said that it was not his job to do that and in any case, it would take at least six months to filter through.
I then had to go cap in hand back to BT and explain, and to try and get reconnected
Not easy when you keep getting shunted from one department to another.
The sympathetic BT girl said that it happens all the time and promised that I would be reconnected with no loss of service.
On the 1st of July I was incensed to learn that my home telephone number and broadband service was disconnected.
I then spend 3 hours talking to BT to find out what had gone disastrously wrong.
Not easy when you keep getting shunted from one department to another.
Apparently, the residential team at BT do not talk to their Business team who looked after my broadband account.
I am now without any service whatsoever at home until at least the 13th July and I am losing the telephone number that I have had for 24 years.
Mushroom Components is now placing funds at my solicitors disposal so that they my claim appropriate damages from Virgin Media for my loss of earnings and vexation.
As of today’s date, the Virgin Media website still proclaims that their cable service is available at my address and proudly boasts “Virgin Media – a more exciting place to live!”
6th July Update
Virgin website at last updated to show that fibre-optic is not available at my address although it is available at all other houses in my street.
BT are going to charge me £99 to reconnect my telephone line
July 10th Update
My neighbours have had a mailshot from Virgin Media soliciting Hi-Speed Broadband & TV
Letter sent to Virgin Media giving them 14 days to pay our expenses plus £99 for BT reconnection or face County Court Summons
October 24th Update
Virgin Media summoned to appear at Bedford County Court on December 6th to defend my claim.
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
Premium Bonds - Auf wiedersehen pet or what?
The Great British sell-off is continuing unabated.
I telephoned the sales desk of the National Savings organization recently regarding the purchase of Premium Bonds.
In my view the agent was rude and unhelpful in the extreme.
When I told him that it was inappropriate for a government employee to talk as he was he explained that he was paid by Siemens - the German Electronics conglomerate.
A little know fact is that the government has sub-contracted part of the Premium Bond operation to the Germans.
Since Thatcher started flogging off to Joe Public that what they already owned - many of our Great British companies are now in Foreign mits.
Utility companies to the French, the high end Royal Mail to TNT, UK Mail, TNT and DHL, Manchester United and other great clubs are all in foreign hands.
Mushroom Components is at least remaining in British hands - that is until I retire - then I am out of here on the next available Lufthansa flight!
I telephoned the sales desk of the National Savings organization recently regarding the purchase of Premium Bonds.
In my view the agent was rude and unhelpful in the extreme.
When I told him that it was inappropriate for a government employee to talk as he was he explained that he was paid by Siemens - the German Electronics conglomerate.
A little know fact is that the government has sub-contracted part of the Premium Bond operation to the Germans.
Since Thatcher started flogging off to Joe Public that what they already owned - many of our Great British companies are now in Foreign mits.
Utility companies to the French, the high end Royal Mail to TNT, UK Mail, TNT and DHL, Manchester United and other great clubs are all in foreign hands.
Mushroom Components is at least remaining in British hands - that is until I retire - then I am out of here on the next available Lufthansa flight!
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Companies House - ideal for those with low blood pressure
New web filing software is a disaster.
Each year, all companies in the UK have to file an Annual return confirming details of Directors, Registered Offices, shareholders and other relevant information.
In recent years we have done this via the internet and it has been relatively straightforward.
Until today! Apparently legislation has been changed (no doubt by the parasites in Brussels!) More info is needed.
After spending almost an hour of my valuable selling time wrestling with their new software, in desperation I phoned the help desk (premium rate number!).
I was talked through various stages of the procedure until various red error messages appeared.
I said to the girl on the phone - "that's as far as we got".
To which she replied "Ah - there's a glitch in our new software - you need to do this to continue"
I was incandescent - and reached for my blood pressure tablets.
Just another example of the public sector living in dreamworld - Companies like Mushroom Components have to be mega efficient otherwise we go down the plughole. We don't have large reserves of cash to fall back on and we wont get bailed out by the public like the Bankers.
Come on Companies House - get it fixed!
Each year, all companies in the UK have to file an Annual return confirming details of Directors, Registered Offices, shareholders and other relevant information.
In recent years we have done this via the internet and it has been relatively straightforward.
Until today! Apparently legislation has been changed (no doubt by the parasites in Brussels!) More info is needed.
After spending almost an hour of my valuable selling time wrestling with their new software, in desperation I phoned the help desk (premium rate number!).
I was talked through various stages of the procedure until various red error messages appeared.
I said to the girl on the phone - "that's as far as we got".
To which she replied "Ah - there's a glitch in our new software - you need to do this to continue"
I was incandescent - and reached for my blood pressure tablets.
Just another example of the public sector living in dreamworld - Companies like Mushroom Components have to be mega efficient otherwise we go down the plughole. We don't have large reserves of cash to fall back on and we wont get bailed out by the public like the Bankers.
Come on Companies House - get it fixed!
Friday, 5 February 2010
Want to be taken for a ride?
My first train ride for many years on our once great railway was more than I bargained for.
My wife had taken the car to Leicester in the afternoon and rather than ask her to come back to the office during the rush hour to collect me, I decided to catch the train from Bedford to our home in Wellingborough.
The timetable said that the 22 mile journey only took about 14 minutes so I arranged to be met at the station around 5.15pm
The smart new train arrived at Bedford on time and I was immediately impressed by its cleanliness and modern appearance. It gathered pace after leaving Bedford and shortly must have been travelling at 100mph.
Sadly - within a few minuites it ground to a halt.
After 10 minutes we were advised over the trains intercom that we were in a queue caused by signal failures.
Another 20 minutes went past and I thought that being marooned on the Orient Express or the Blue Train is one thing but being cut off from the world on the 5.07 from Bedford to Nottingham is quite different.
I decided to explore - and wonder of wonders - in the rear carriage - there was a bar.
Two pints of Guiness later I was past caring as to what time I would arrive home - my only fear was that John the bartender would run out of Guiness before we were rescued.
An hour after we stopped - the Tannoy crackled into life again and we were told that we were now moving onto the slow freight line.
The downside of doing this was that the platform at Wellingborough was only of sufficient length to accommodate the front of the train and therefore passengers - like moi - would be further imprisoned until the train reached Kettering - some 10 miles further north.
I learnt that the obvious maneuver at Wellingborough of disembarking the front passengers and then nudging the train forward a few yards thus allowing the rear passengers to get off was more than the train driver had authority for.
Such a risky operation need the written permission of the Fat Controller and the Fat Controller does not like to be disturbed after 5.00pm.
My very irate wife was then obliged to fight her way through the traffic to Kettering - by which time I had imbibed two more of Johns pints of Guiness.
I arrived home at 8.00pm - having taken 4 hours to travel 24 miles from my office.
I look forward very much to my next train journey - possibly in fifteen years time.!
My wife had taken the car to Leicester in the afternoon and rather than ask her to come back to the office during the rush hour to collect me, I decided to catch the train from Bedford to our home in Wellingborough.
The timetable said that the 22 mile journey only took about 14 minutes so I arranged to be met at the station around 5.15pm
The smart new train arrived at Bedford on time and I was immediately impressed by its cleanliness and modern appearance. It gathered pace after leaving Bedford and shortly must have been travelling at 100mph.
Sadly - within a few minuites it ground to a halt.
After 10 minutes we were advised over the trains intercom that we were in a queue caused by signal failures.
Another 20 minutes went past and I thought that being marooned on the Orient Express or the Blue Train is one thing but being cut off from the world on the 5.07 from Bedford to Nottingham is quite different.
I decided to explore - and wonder of wonders - in the rear carriage - there was a bar.
Two pints of Guiness later I was past caring as to what time I would arrive home - my only fear was that John the bartender would run out of Guiness before we were rescued.
An hour after we stopped - the Tannoy crackled into life again and we were told that we were now moving onto the slow freight line.
The downside of doing this was that the platform at Wellingborough was only of sufficient length to accommodate the front of the train and therefore passengers - like moi - would be further imprisoned until the train reached Kettering - some 10 miles further north.
I learnt that the obvious maneuver at Wellingborough of disembarking the front passengers and then nudging the train forward a few yards thus allowing the rear passengers to get off was more than the train driver had authority for.
Such a risky operation need the written permission of the Fat Controller and the Fat Controller does not like to be disturbed after 5.00pm.
My very irate wife was then obliged to fight her way through the traffic to Kettering - by which time I had imbibed two more of Johns pints of Guiness.
I arrived home at 8.00pm - having taken 4 hours to travel 24 miles from my office.
I look forward very much to my next train journey - possibly in fifteen years time.!
Thursday, 28 January 2010
BNP Wives - an insight
I watched an interesting documentary on the telly recently.
It followed the lives of a number of women whose partners were activists for the British National Party.
It was extraordinary that one of the ladies - very patriotic and British to the core, did not know the correct way to fly our Union flag.
I found it very sad that another lady - clearly well educated and middle class, was persuaded by her husband not to use an Afro-Caribbean midwife for the birth of her children.
I wonder what his reaction would be if he was involved in a serious road accident and the paramedics came from Jamaica?
I guess thats what make Britain Great - that folks of all different colours, religion and political persuassions can all muddle along together.
It followed the lives of a number of women whose partners were activists for the British National Party.
It was extraordinary that one of the ladies - very patriotic and British to the core, did not know the correct way to fly our Union flag.
I found it very sad that another lady - clearly well educated and middle class, was persuaded by her husband not to use an Afro-Caribbean midwife for the birth of her children.
I wonder what his reaction would be if he was involved in a serious road accident and the paramedics came from Jamaica?
I guess thats what make Britain Great - that folks of all different colours, religion and political persuassions can all muddle along together.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
No Parking! - No Problem!
Car drivers in Bedford are in for a treat. No more need to pay to use the public car parks.
Dumping your car where you please is no longer just a perk for the legit invalid blue sticker badge holder (or one you buy on eBay!)
The upholders of the Queens law and other local officials are turning a blind eye to parking offenders.
On most streets - especially those with double yellow lines, cars are parked covering most of the pavement.
Who needs pavements? - nobody walks these days anyway.
Gone are the days when a traffic warden was permanently camped outside my old shop waiting to pounce with a parking ticket as soon as I drove up.
Well done Chief Constable for modern thinking - I trust we are also now just giving our local crooks a clip round the ear?
Dumping your car where you please is no longer just a perk for the legit invalid blue sticker badge holder (or one you buy on eBay!)
The upholders of the Queens law and other local officials are turning a blind eye to parking offenders.
On most streets - especially those with double yellow lines, cars are parked covering most of the pavement.
Who needs pavements? - nobody walks these days anyway.
Gone are the days when a traffic warden was permanently camped outside my old shop waiting to pounce with a parking ticket as soon as I drove up.
Well done Chief Constable for modern thinking - I trust we are also now just giving our local crooks a clip round the ear?
Football - its a wind-up!
With the English football team targetting to emulate the great Bobby Moores 1966 team in South Africa this summer - the domestic scene looks bleak.
As we learn today that Crystal Palace is yet another club in the hands of Administrators, the High Court in London have shortly to deal with winding up orders served on Portsmouth, Cardiff, Accrington Stanley (who are they?) Redditch, Chester and Darlington to name but a few.
Who's to blame for the financial collapse in our national game?
The buck must stop with the Club's board - in most cases living in a dream world way beyond their means - paying ludicrous wages to young kids hoping success on the field will follow.
Listening to the demands of the fans who believe that the club can spend their way of of trouble or buy success.
Until recently, money from the top of the football pyramid would flow down through the leagues in transfer fees as the big clubs bought players from within the UK. That rarely happens now. The top clubs with money to burn invariably spend on imported or proven players. Thus we have a few fabulously wealthy clubs and the majority up to their necks in debt to the banks.
What's to be done?
1] FIFA and the other world bodies must consider wage caps and restrictions on imported players.
2] Clubs finances have to be transparent and the Football authorities have to control the sale of our league clubs to overseas speculators. Manchester United - arguably the most famous club on the planet is now hundreds of millions of pounds in debt since the Glazer family got their paws on it.
3] Directors of clubs entering admistration must not be allowed to own or control further clubs.
4] Break the SKY TV monopoly
Football league clubs could do well to follow the example of long service manager Dario Gradi's and Chairman John Bowler's club - Crewe Alexandra - the club that I have supported for over 50 years . The club has survived by developing home grown talent and selling on - Dean Ashton, Nicky Maynard and Luke Varney in recent seasons to name a few of the many.
Action is need now if we are to save our National Game.
As we learn today that Crystal Palace is yet another club in the hands of Administrators, the High Court in London have shortly to deal with winding up orders served on Portsmouth, Cardiff, Accrington Stanley (who are they?) Redditch, Chester and Darlington to name but a few.
Who's to blame for the financial collapse in our national game?
The buck must stop with the Club's board - in most cases living in a dream world way beyond their means - paying ludicrous wages to young kids hoping success on the field will follow.
Listening to the demands of the fans who believe that the club can spend their way of of trouble or buy success.
Until recently, money from the top of the football pyramid would flow down through the leagues in transfer fees as the big clubs bought players from within the UK. That rarely happens now. The top clubs with money to burn invariably spend on imported or proven players. Thus we have a few fabulously wealthy clubs and the majority up to their necks in debt to the banks.
What's to be done?
1] FIFA and the other world bodies must consider wage caps and restrictions on imported players.
2] Clubs finances have to be transparent and the Football authorities have to control the sale of our league clubs to overseas speculators. Manchester United - arguably the most famous club on the planet is now hundreds of millions of pounds in debt since the Glazer family got their paws on it.
3] Directors of clubs entering admistration must not be allowed to own or control further clubs.
4] Break the SKY TV monopoly
Football league clubs could do well to follow the example of long service manager Dario Gradi's and Chairman John Bowler's club - Crewe Alexandra - the club that I have supported for over 50 years . The club has survived by developing home grown talent and selling on - Dean Ashton, Nicky Maynard and Luke Varney in recent seasons to name a few of the many.
Action is need now if we are to save our National Game.
Dario and me
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