Tractorlad

Further to a post yesterday is seems Virgin are still up their usual tricks in the Underhill Road area. As above, I have now left Virgin for BT. Whilst the TV package with BT is inferior, so far the Infinity fibre seems pretty good. I'm glad I left. Before I cancelled I did though seek to escalate my complaint to senior management and have a small amount of additional information about the problems they now acknowledge they're experiencing in the area. The issue relates to upgrade work that needs to be undertaken and completed on their dedicated Lewisham facility. The extra capacity required has implications for both power and cooling capabilities at the site. They tell might that not only do they need to upgrade the telecommunications infrastructure but also make changes to the fabric of the building. The person I spoke with wasn't sure that the work had commenced but it seems that the issue is complicated to resolve. This is no consolation to existing customers but I think this is more information that they've previously disclosed.

Hi James, I note your article in the free SE22 magazine that comes through the door regarding road the maintenance budget. I know its not your patch, but I cycle to work daily from ED to the City and have noticed a nasty pothole has developed on Commercial Way SE15 between Pentridge Street and Chandler Way. The hole is large enough to shred a car tyre or upend a cyclist. How do we go about getting that patched? Many thanks.

I have finally thrown in the towel with Virgin. I plugged the BT box in Sunday evening. I've received a steady 50 mbps every time I've run a speed test whilst Virgin was languishing in the 5/6 Mbps at best 10 minutes before switch over. See attached screen shot. I have also raised a formal complaint with Virgin which has taken me months to escalate. I've asked them simply, what the problem is, why its taken so long to fix and when they'll fix it. I've also told them that I'm disgusted that their attitude so far is to ignore the residents of SE22 and "solve" the problem problem by giving ?10 rebates or inform people their welcome to leave. I'm sure they feel that people will be placated and keep quiet. I'll report back if I get more transparency than what has been reported in this thread. I'm not hold out much hope of any progress though to be honest.

ed_pete Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I spoke to VM on 27/1 to complain about their poor > download speeds in the evening, (which BTW I am > currently monitoring on an automated basis and it > falls off a cliff between 6pm to 11pm) and they > promised to rebate me until it was fixed, which at > the time they reassured me would be "early Feb". > > Needless to say that (a) it has not been fixed and > (b) when I received my bill no rebate had been > applied. > > However when I spoke to them again today, they > were more efficient and forthcoming and have > provided a rebate of ?7.50 per month, backdated to > 27/1 and fixed in place until 19th May which is > when they expect the capacity issues to be > resolved. Dont believe them. About 10 fix dates came and went last year v

rabbitears Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Richard Wilson at the Lordship (should have been > the Actress, really). I don't believe it! Sorry I just had to.

Ribrob. Great piece of insight. So it confirms what I have suspected. There is no fix just a review. These guys are a shambles with customer service and misleading advertising

bzgeo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I find it that virgin's network needs an upgrade > in our area... we do need to create a formal > complaint gathering as many signatures from Virgin > customers. Bzgeo. Please see this link for their complaints process. Rather disapponigly I spoke with a gentleman from the CEO's office asking if I could escalate my grievance according to this process. He told me my best option was to leave with no notice. I other words, do one! A strange approach to customer service. http://store.virginmedia.com/content/dam/eSales/Downloads/Consumer%20Complaint%20Code%20of%20Practice.pdf

I've always found Kwik Fit to be pretty good. The branch in question though has very limited parking and is tight to maneuver in and out. The branch on Walworth Road near Elephant and Castle is a little easier to approach.

Willard Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Better still why don't you tweet a link to this > page on the forum, mention @virginmedia with > #crapservice (or something). > > I would do it but my service seems ok (for now). I > will keep checking my speeds though. It dips from > 40mbps in day to around 15mbps at night. > > I think it's awful people are paying for a service > they're not getting. I tweet daily and get nowhere. I think its disgusting what this company charges relative to the service they provide. I'm leaving in Feb but not before I get my money back!

If like me you feel that Virgin Media is taking the residents of SE22 & 21 for a ride you can follow their complaints process here. It's time to take action against these cowboys! http://store.virginmedia.com/content/dam/eSales/Downloads/Consumer%20Complaint%20Code%20of%20Practice.pdf

jonnywalker Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I live in Nunhead - Ivydale Road area and we've > been experiencing the same issue. Have called them > today to complain again and told they're aware the > issue has been on going since APRIL 2015 with a > date for fixing it of 30th MARCH 2016. So a whole > year of paying for 50mg download but only getting > around 10mg with it sometimes dropping down to > 2mg. The fella I spoke to was up front about the > problem they have with 'High Utilisation' saying > its worse between 6 > 12pm, essentially anytime > you want to use it when you return from work. They > would only offer me ?7.50 as a refund and not back > date. As they are in breach of contract and unable > to provide a service that's been paid for I > explained I'll be terminating my contract with > them and notifying Jonnywalker. I feel your pain. We're all being ripped off by these cowboys. I too can't bring myself to call customer "service". It's bad for the blood pressure. Sadly the utilisation issue has been with us since at least Jan 2015.

tiddles Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > sorry to be dim, but how does one test speed? Tiddles. Do you have smartphone? I use Speedtest by Ookla for the iphone. I find myself testing the speed at hourly intervals with increasing levels of paranoia. The nice thing about Speedtest though is it logs a history of the speeds and allowsyou to email the data in a CSV file. It shows a nice pattern of high speeds during the day which are throttled to pre 2000 levels in the evenings after 8am. It is useful data to send to Virgin if you're looking to leave before your contract concludes.

Useless. Amazon Prime video still buffering. Great speeds earlier in the day but now not worth having. Hello BT

colbol2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Update - they have apparently opened up 16 new > downstreams and 6 new upstreams today (not sure > exactly what this means). This may make a > difference. I'll try again tonight and report > back. Tractorlad, let me know if you notice any > difference. I'm not holding my breath! Colbol2010 - I'm in the office right now so just got my wife to check the speed at home. 69.75. The highest its ever been. We have BT installing beginning of Feb. Decisions decisions!

colbol2010 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Update - they have apparently opened up 16 new > downstreams and 6 new upstreams today (not sure > exactly what this means). This may make a > difference. I'll try again tonight and report > back. Tractorlad, let me know if you notice any > difference. I'm not holding my breath! Thanks I'll take a look tonight. Sounds like you've been given the run around too!

We tried watching a film on Amazon prime last night. Hopeless. Whilst the connection was 45 Mbps at 9am it had slipped to 2.14 by 9pm. Constant buffering and utterly useless. A fairly typical experience with Virgin Media of late.

Jeremy, out of interest where do you live? We had faultless service from 2012-1214 but has been dreadful since the beginning of last year with Virgin customer service giving me the run around every time there's a severe dip in speed (which is regularly).

Further to the Virgin Media post I contributed to yesterday, I would be delighted with such luxury as a 4 mbps connection.

Its some comfort to know that who I'm moving to has nothing to do with Virgin Media.

I have finally lost patience with Virgin Media and I'm getting BT Infinity installed beginning of February, we live on Barry Road. The fix for this capacity issue was promised a various time last year and each time the date approached it was pushed back another 3 months. I first started seeing problems in January 2015. I have zero confidence that what ever it is they need to do in April (I was told May) will actually happen. I am leaving Virgin with no notice required as they have accepted they're in breach of contract. My 100 mbps service regularly drops below 1mpbs. If you're looking to leave, my advise would be to install a broadband speed App on your phone like Speedtest and keep a log of how poor they are which you can use a evidence when you cancel. I've had BT in the past when I lived in Peckham and on balance they were pretty good. My possibly overly simplified view is go to the company that runs the infrastructure. If there's a problem it can be identified and fixed with no buck passing.

Without use of a driveway or garage in South East London you'd be crazy spending too money on cars. For what its worth, my wife's family have had CRVs for years and currently have 2 or the MK3 models and love them. Second hand they are plentiful and good value for money. Since this and the Q5 are SUVs you might miss the ride height with the Octavia. They do a more rugged 4x4 version called the Scout which rides slightly higher. I believe there are two engine options, one of which is shared with the Golf GTI.

I suppose so on reflection. And close to the station too.

Some might says there's a property bubble. This is crazy. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34718659

I heard a rumour that Cash Converters are interested in the site, a service that is desperately needed in ED!

I can not agree more. Speeding on Barry Road is a real problem. I'd even go so far as to say that things are worse since the 20mph limit was introduced from the Peckham Rye end. The occasional vehicle that observes the limit is overtaken at speed by someone blind the the fact that its built-up area. All they see in a nice straight piece of road with no speed bumps and gun it. I'd certainly advocate monitoring of traffic on this stretch of road and a few fines being handed out. TractorLad.