Moving the ONT box

[Nas100]

Currently renovating my house and have been told by my builders that I need the vodafone ONT box and wire to be moved otherwise it will be disconnected if not moved.  I originally made a request to Vodafone at the beginning of May but the request seems to be stuck in some kafkaesque minefield with no one taking responsibility.

Contacted vodafone customer service who said it is not their responsibility but cityfibre.  Was given the email address convergedtech2@vodafone.com  to request the ONT box relocation but received the message 'The recipient's mailbox is full and can't accept messages now. Please try resending your message later, or contact the recipient directly'.

Not sure who is responsible for relocating the ONT box and as to why it is such a difficult request as I would expect Vodafone to arrange this but instead ask the customer to speak to Cityfibre who seem to be unreachable.

Surely this not a difficult request as this issue must have come up many times and surprised there is no process in place to deal with such requests.

If Vodafone are not able to relocated the ONT box and my broadband coverage is cutoff then I must be within my rights to cancel my contract as Vodafone are unable to act on this request.  Such a difficult company to deal with overall.

[Nas100]

Just an update, I emailed Cityfibre who are responsible for shifting the ONT box.  Received the below email which confirms that Vodafone are responsible for contacting Cityfibre to shift the ONT box.   Will give an update on what Vodafone response is.

Contractually, we are not able to assist with your query, this will need to be raised with Vodafone as they are the providers of the service, and you are their customer.

Our policy kindly asks that customers contact Vodafone's Gigafast Team directly to request an ONT shift. They will then raise this with our service desk. You may need to pay for this ONT shift, which will also be done through Vodaphone.

We are not allowed to bypass this process.

Vodafone can be contacted on 03333 040 191.

[Gemma]

@Nas100 - thanks for updating the thread this afternoon and I'm sorry to hear how long you've been trying to get this resolved. 

I'd like my team to talk to the Tech teams for you. We'll just need to take some details from you securely. Please reach out to us through Social Media and include a link to this page. 

[Nas100]

Further update on the ONT box relocation saga.  It seems Vodafone did not notify me that Cityfibre had rejected the request for moving the ONT box due to it not being faulty.  Only found out about the engineer not showing up because got fed up waiting and called the 'so called wifi experts' for an update and there suggestion was for me to arrange for a local engineer to move the box. 

On the above not sure why it is my responsibility to move the ONT box as clearly it is Vodafone or Cityfibre equipment and therefore assume they are responsible for moving the box. I pushed back on this and was told once the builders have removed the ONT box, Vodafone will then arrange for a new ONT box to be installed.  Not sure I want to pursue this route as Cityfibre could reject the request.

Overall I think a complaint to the regulator needs to be sent as Vodafone or Cityfibre don't want to take responsibility of moving the ONT box.  So I shall now take my complaint to the regulator as don't understand why a simple request can cause such issues.

The issue seems to be that the agreement between Vodafone and Cityfibre does not seem to include the scenario where someone may want to move the broadband wiring and box due to house renovations.  Surprised such a simple request causes so many problems for Vodafone.

Even though Virgin media had a more terrible customer service but at least they were more willing to move broadband equipment if needed. 

[Jayach]

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@Nas100 wrote:

Even though Virgin media had a more terrible customer service but at least they were more willing to move broadband equipment if needed. 

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That is a benefit of having the same company do everything.

[Nas100]

Agree - Vodafone are beholden to Cityfibre and therefore if this was known before I signed up I would never have moved to Vodafone.  

A good reason to not contract with Vodafone for broadband.

[Jayach]

Unfortunately, most large ISP's have to work through Openreach or CityFibe

[Nas100]

Just an update - I have moved the ONT box myself with the help of my builders temporarily whilst the work is being carried out.  I will move the ONT box back to its final location once all the work has been completed. I gave up in the end waiting for vodafone or Cityfibre to get back on if they were able to move it.   But overall if you do sign onto Vodafone just remember moving the ONT box is a nightmare because there seems to be a black hole between Vodafone and Cityfibre taking ownership of any problems with the ONT box.   Out of the two companies at least Vodafone tried to help but Cityfibre were not willing to help.  Cityfibre are a terrible company who seem to just wash their hands once they have installed fibre cable and the ONT box and do not want to deal with any future issues.

[wkzdex]

Hello there . i would like to ask if there is any update you reached with because my situation is same as yours and still trying to shift its location .

[Nas100]

It seems from the various discussions I had with Vodafone that Cityfibre are only willing to help if your ONT box no longer works.  In my case I just wanted to move the wiring and ONT box due to the room being refurbished and in the end I gave up and just moved the wiring and ONT box myself.  Sorry that I couldn.t provide a better solution.  Let me know how you get on.