[Closed] Garden Dug Up and Cable installed on my property without permission

Not your problem.........Spade/cable interface. Do you like your neighbours?

Well for starters, I'd get round to that spot of gardening I've been meaning to do for ages and 'accidentally' shove a spade right through it

EDIT: Doh!!!! Too late!

Actually I can see free lifetime Virgin cable in your future.

The better man would not put a spade through it.

That is truely unbelievable

Go here:

[url= http://www.gardenlaw.co.uk/phpBB2/index.php ]Garden law[/url]

What higgo says - no point in escalating.

And let your neighbours know what you're doing. You never know, they may well have said "Yeah, Hedgehog's fine with us taking the cable through the garden".

lifetime cable would be nice. lol.

no I don't like the neighbour, she was there when it was installed but did say anything. All I good was tears and the wife got me to back of.

Much as Id like to spade it (and almost did) I want it out, all that will happen is the will turn up trespass and fix it while im not in.

muppets ! they really are !

Interesting thread on the very subject here

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/65/33662671-garden-dug-up-cable-installed-my.html

Oh, and, another thing...

Find where virgin (and their chief executive) exist on social media...Twitter, Facebook etc and blast them (though with Virgin, you may find there are a lot of people doing this already...legendarily bad customer service).

My guess would be that it's cheaper/easier/quicker to just dig where they like and pay compensation if they're collared for it, rather than go through the 'trouble' of consulting property owners and applying for permission.

Yup, was reading the same thread on cable forum.

no idea if she 'approved' the route, but even if she did, shes legally wrong. Good job the wifes calm, cus im so so miffed...

.... she took the spade of me ! actually glad she did.

I agree Three Fish... prob save them time/money overall.

some good advice on the last post on that cable forum thread. First thing is to write to Virgin media and tell them you didn't give permission and you want them to remove the cable and make good.

Personally, I woudln't be giving a company permission, in perpituity, to come on my land and dig it up whenevr they want and I'd be reluctant to buy somewhere where such a permission existed.

That's crazy! Leave it intact for the moment - but write a letter, including detailed photographs (and perhaps a plan view diagram of your land vs. neighbours land to clarify for them). Don't shoot yourself in the foot by physically damaging their property (underneath your land).

Demand all services be removed from your property - within a time limit (10 working days or something?) - and the garden must be returned to the previous state.

Good luck...

No I dont have cable.

Then I'd go the opposite route - demand they hook you up with cable and a free sub. 🙂

yup wwaswas, have on the first phone call to report it.

The missus asked if the call is being recorded, and put on record that we instist on removal and this must be advised advance where permission to access the property will only be given while me/wife are present. Also any costs due to time away from work etc such may be billed to them later. just to make sure they turn up !

Any photos of the damage?

In my experience (past not present) working for one of the cable companies that turned into Virgin, it will be the lads fault who came out. The installers should make sure any route is acceptable to the customer (they don't always bother) and is actually allowable, ie sticks to the customers property, or they have a wayleave agreement with neighbours/council/whoever to cover it.
The lads don't sort out wayleave and the like, call a supervisor and blow the job off for the day for an early finish would usually be preferred, unless they were contractors and would therefore not get paid for the job.
Am assuming your property is privately owned? If it was a bought council house and the lads working the estate have got used to already having wayleave from the council it could have been an honest mistake, but I didn't come across too many of them in 12 years of working there.

Just before you get too upset, are you sure there is no right enshrined in your title deeds / restricted covenants for the property. I know that my deeds allow access to the utility companies to fix problems with stuff that is already under the ground (and it is quite clear this is not just to rectify problems affecting my own property). I'd need to read them in detail to see if there is any right for a "new" utility to install services beneath my property. They do have to make good any damage.

no right of access for utility other than the installed, eg leccy, water etc, stuff already there.

There can be a covenant which allows for [i]future[/i] access of utilities. Although in the case of cable tv that must be extremely unlikely, unless its a newish property and some strange covenant has been included.

It doesn't surprise me. When they came out to connect our cable they found there was a break between the road and the house so they just took a cable across from next doors box.

No harm done in my case, since next door was empty and they came and mended our cable a week later but they did it without knowing nobody lived next door

ebygomm-don't know if they did check, but they can tell if it has been disconnected in the cabinet they work from or by calling into the office, actually more reliable than asking the customer. If they came back to do it properly I would suspect they did it properly rather than just bodging it for an easy life.

They didn't ask permission to put it in, so why should you ask permission to remove it.

I would remove it and bill them for it.

They didn't ask permission to put it in, so why should you ask permission to remove it.

In law, as in the playground, two wrongs don't make a right.

I'm sure they can check from the cabinet whether the cable is in use, they can't check whether the neighbour is happy to have cabling for someone else nailed across the front of their property.

Wow we are slacking here a bit today , how many post and no one has yet asked if she is fit or not yet?

😉

I so would like to 'remove' it, but no idea what itll kick up.

still at the trying to speak to someone stage.. 2 calls now.. both just putting info on there system to be passed to the 'responsible person'.

.... and they say the are sending a from to fill out ! pmsl.. what form ! what to fill out to have it removed... show me the one I filled out giving you permission !

In law, as in the playground, two wrongs don't make a right.

That would stand if removing something that you have a right to remove was wrong.

Pull it up stick it through here letterbox and tell her to connect it where the sun don't shine.

I'd write to them and send recorded stating what I want from them (removal, reinstatement, reasonable costs, etc) with the time they have to do it. I'm pretty sure I'd tell them to roll their form up and insert it somewhere

and they say the are sending a from to fill out ! pmsl.. what form ! what to fill out to have it removed... show me the one I filled out giving you permission

I'd phone up and tell them you'll be planting a tree tomorrow so they need to remove now or you'll be cutting it out since they've done it illegally. I'd be pretty sure you'd be well within your rights on that and more to the point, you'll probably get put through to someone who has the authority to do something about it which will lead to a quicker resolution.

I'd blame Richard Branson personally, I never like the beardy little ****.

In law, as in the playground, two wrongs don't make a right.

I'm fairly sure that removing a cable from your property is not a wrong. The first time you may notice is when you spade through it, personally from that point on I'd just pull it up and find out where it went. When it left my property I'd coil it nicely and leave it there.

Wonder what would happen if you spliced a mains cable to it?

*Do not try this!!!!!!

I'm fairly sure that removing a cable from your property is not a wrong. The first time you may notice is when you spade through it, personally from that point on I'd just pull it up and find out where it went. When it left my property I'd coil it nicely and leave it there

But they know he knows about it so it could be construed as deliberate criminal damage I would have thought.

Fair point. Though he could claim he spaded it then called them, but it is all getting a bit complex 😀

But they know he knows about it so it could be construed as deliberate criminal damage I would have thought.

So if someone puts something on you land when your out without you permission you can't touch it? [Edit] If that's right I'm gonna build a shed on next doors lawn, mines a bit full.

So if someone puts something on you land when your out without you permission you can't touch it? No that's not right

Personally, I'd have left it a few days to let the neighbours get used to having it and then put a spade through it.

More fun that way.

MF: No I doubt it.

.... and they say the are sending a from to fill out ! pmsl.. what form ! what to fill out to have it removed... show me the one I filled out giving you permission !

Oh and

muppets ! they really are !

Poly same here. Can give you the grump when you go to turn into your drive and it's no longer there 😈

They made good, but sadly the making good didn't last and it's never been sorted.

Agree with the poster who said use social media - are you on twitter? Tweet it and get everyone here to re-tweet. These companies are currently very on to what's being said about them on social media and you'll find your complaint will get fast-tracked if you start making a noise.

Do not underestimate the power of twitter 🙂

Dobbo - Member
MF: No I doubt it.

I doubt you are right! You can't just go breaking something just because it is on your property.

Park your can on my drive and we'll see how it ends up. 😆

I wouldn't be surprised if the law does let you remove it.
And id agree my feelings are very much in agreement with Dobbo.

but im sure even though this is a level of response is applicable to such numpty work. im sure some stupid small print in the law stops me from damage to their property, yes which i totally disagree with !

anyways, even though they in my opinion have violated me (lol) im trying to keep cool and play by the law even though they haven't.

if ! by the time I actually speak to some one who can give an sh.. er, answer Ill will be happy to listen to there responce and plan of action.

Not, the one for the solicitor i guess.

O ! and a couple of funny points. When wify moved im she want to bring the cable contract with her, but was told then cant install it as were on private access, and then she was charged 200 quid from stopping mid contact.

and 2nd the neighbour in question is renting. Ive spoken to the owner, he's totally miffed to, doest know anything about it and is kicking up with the agent. And ive since been told had the cable forced on her cus the agents on a back hander.

Its actually get so bad its funny ! NOT !

Park your can on my drive and we'll see how it ends up.

Then her husband came downstairs and said 'happy anniversary darling - your present is parked outside'.

If someone parked their car on your drive would you be convicted of criminal damage if you smashed its lights in?

Not quite the same is it. More like "if someone built a garage for their car on your drive" - and yes you'd be perfectly in your rights to remove it by any means you saw fit.

I doubt you are right! You can't just go breaking something just because it is on your property.

I have colleague who was in a similar position a couple of years ago. He returned home to find an extra satellite dish on his house with the cables running all the way across. He lives in an area that's notoriously bad for both satellite and analogue signals in an end of terrace house - apparently his house is one of the few in the street that can receive satellite. The Sky engineer realised this when fitting a dish for a house a few doors down, and instead of telling them that they didn't have a viable signal, he stuck it on my colleague's house.

Everyone on the team was giggling when he called Sky, as they kept transferring him from pillar to post and he struggled to remain civil. Sky claimed it wasn't their fault, because they send out contracters to fit the dishes so it was the contracter's fault.

My colleague said that it was fitted by a man riding around in a van emblazoned with the Sky logo, to provide Sky television, and they pay the contractors to fit the dishes so they can pay them to remove them when they've been placed on other people's property. There was more to-ing and fro-ing, and they said they couldn't remove it without the permission of the account holder. When my colleague started talking about legal action for trespass and property damage (as they'd drilled his house) and saying that he would remove it himself they eventually stopped fobbing him off - the dish was removed within a couple of days.

Devils advocate here, but has this actually caused you any harm (and/or will it into the future?) 😕

Proper lolling at the STW pretend lawyers spouting off drivel.

Good work, lads, keep it up.

😀

harm ? my property ?
er... diging a trence, cuting into the fountation of the house. routing cable up my house all damage to my property.

same as someone parking their car there. not causing any harm ??

Devils advocate here, but has this actually caused you any harm (and/or will it into the future?)

ourmaninthenorth. all good though ! 😀

but at the very least, its make me feel a bit better.
keep it up !

Thanks lads and lasses !

.. surpised no one brought up owning and bombers yet ? lol/

sharkbait. exactly, the law to from what i understand pritty much states it. If i leave it its constituted as agreement.

it's trespass to your property and you are entitled to self help to end it .
If you found a trespasser on your lad and he refused to leave you could eject him with reasonable force.

Write to Virgin give them 2 weeks notice ( made up period based on what seems reasonable) stating that they remove and make good plus compensate for inconvenience otherwise you will do it yourself and seek to recover your expenses from them.

Do not accidentally chop it, as every one knows you know it is there, that just makes it look like you know you are doing something wrong. That would go part way to establishing a crime.

Give them two weeks then deliberately chop it dig it up and remove it then you are just enforcing your rights on fair notice. Plus they have two weeks to try and resolve matters with you.

If you do nothing for twelve years that would grant a legal easement to run a cable over your land. If you want to avoid that but let the cable stay then give permission "revocable at any time by you your heirs and ensigns" That way you can have it removed when ever you want.

If you found a tresspasser on your lad

for the sake of clarity Lad = land..... too funny to edit

Serious answer:

1. Harass Virgin to process the claim.
2. Quantify (or have quantified) the value of the damage to your property. Be realistic.
3. Harass Virgin to process the claim.
4. Submit value of damage and request (1) you are compensated for this and (2) your property is made good (in reality, you'll get one or the other)
5. See 1 and 3.

DO NOT go putting a spade through the cable - you'll have committed criminal damage to Virgin's property and completely undermine your claim against them.

Whilst I would maybe not cut a cable, if you were to give it a good old tug at where it comes on and off your land , I imagine there must be a connector somewhere between you and the street cabinet that would quite likely pull out, giving a next to no damage way of being able to remove the bit of cable across your land .

I imagine there must be a connector somewhere between you and the street cabinet

usually an un-broken run from the cab

what the maninthenorth says. If foundations have been damaged a civil engineers report and repait valuation would be worthwhile rather than a guesstimate.
Give the 2wks notice and warn them you will be going to local press/tv stations/Angela Rippons Rip of Britain programme. This used to work very well with the old British Leyland when the engines of Triumph Stags were on short supply due to their lack of reliability 🙄
Complaint to trading standards?
Solicitors letter may have more clout 💡

Point out the bad press Toyota have been getting and advise them you will escalate this problem to that level 😈

Heard about this happening before with Virgin. I would be reasonably fine with my neighbours doing this as I get on with them but only if there was no other alternative and I would want some agreement with Virgin to move in future if there was a requirement ie boundary wall going in or a drive etc as well as some compensation from Virgin.

Best of luck with it.

Give the 2wks notice and warn them you will be going to local press/tv stations/Angela Rippons Rip of Britain programme...

Edit: much like this:
[img] [/img]

from here: http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/ing-chinese-ing-lanterns#post-2443131

http://twitter.com/richardbranson

Not followed through to a conclusion but a more useful one relating to Virgin here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=33177335

Even before reading that I'd have said do not 'deliberately' damage the cable, it could lead to them pursuing you for a claim of criminal damage and will certainly harm your claim against them.

As already said, take lots of pictures and make a detailed note of what you did when (who you spoke to, what they said etc).

with regards criminal damage of Virgins property many years ago I had a dispute with NTL (now Virgin) which ended with me cancelling contract and OFCOM getting involved. In the end I won compensation, but whilst this was all going on I got a little angry about the situation, the red letters threatening bailiffs (I owed nothing as the service was never connected due to various issues), and the damage to brickwork on my property casued during a botched install.
I sold their digital box on ebay (to cover repair costs to my property), when their agent (big thuggish looking man who just grunted 'NTL box' at my wife) called we told him the situation he shugged said 'not another one' and left. They never chased me for returning the box again
I also dug the cable up from the garden (this was needed anyway as we where laying a new driveway and it was not buried deep enough with no slack on it to bury deeper), cut it at the boundary with the road and posted it back to them with a note explaining why and that I had no option as if it stayed on my propeerty I would have to charge them 'rent'
They never pursued me for criminal damage or theft, in fact I actually got a nice apologising letter when OFCOM decided in my favour

So I say give them 2 weeks maximum, then rip it up and get solicitors involved to recover costs of repairs etc
Involve OFCOMM (or whatever they are called now) it takes time but in my experience they resolve things

why dont you just cut it where it enters your property and where it leaves and throw the cable you have left in the neighbours garden (otherwise its theft iirc) job done

I think you have take the moral high ground here.

I'd try and be as reasonable as possible as mistakes happen.
Keep a track of who you speak to and times/content of calls.

Then when they don't resolve it write a polite letter giving them 2 weeks to remove and make good, to your satisfaction and ask what they are prepared to do to compensate you for the inconvenience.

If they do then all is well and you should get a few quid out of it.

If not then I'd take then to small claims court - it's cheap and easy to do and the threat of it will make them sort it out.

I think the key is to keep calm and don't do anything that could be seen as obstructive or malicious - it can only work against you no matter aggrieved you feel.

Clearly they are in the wrong so it will get sorted - don't stress about it - life's too short.

... and keep us updated

Here's another tip from someone who works for a Virgin competitor...

...you're dealing with customer services. In all these organisations, it isn't designed to cope with problems like this, just taking customer orders to buy the Virgin products.

It will take a while, if at all, to land on a lawyer's desk. While it's naturally very important to you, the lawyer will (naturally) have more important things to do.

So, rather than get stroppy and throw tantrums, just act reasonably, take all the sensible advice up there^^^ and keep politely - but firmly - pressing them.

Hope you get it all sorted. 🙂

as expected no-ones called back as promised.

so photos taken, nice direct letter being drafted, eg. out within 14 days or else.. etc, with reference to handing over to my solicitor if not resolved etc. im not waiting a week for someone to never call me back.
or filling in forms !

lets see what happens.

Do you have buildings insurance? I would consider giving them a call to inform them a third party had deliberately damaged your property.

Despite what people are suggesting damaging the cable will make the problem worst because Virgin might have a case against you, plus you've stopped your neighbour from using Virgin's product. At this point, rather than just having you vs vrigin you could have:

You vs Virgin
Virgin vs you
Neighbour vs Virgin (vs you)
Neighbour vs you

Next time you ring them up mention OFCOM to them. The mention of a regulator can do wonders.

I can't believe I'm the first to suggest:

<static> bomber command, come in bomber command <static>

What ever you decide keep us up to date please 😆

Somebodies burried a virgin in your garden.

lol.