Virgin broadband

[DulwichFox]

I have been getting dozens of letters and emails from BT to upgrade to infinity.

I think my slow broadband is part of their campaign (Ploy)to get me to swap over.

They are not offering me the same T&C's that they are for new customers. I.E. ?16.00 p/m

I'm paying something like ?27.00 p/m

Foxy

[Lila's dad]

Just an update. Virgin told me it's a "Utilisation" problem which apparently just means too many people using it. They told me they're upgrading their network and it will be fixed not in July but end of August. My VPN to work is unusable. I got BT "Infinity" installed as a backup and it was crap and after 2 weeks I cancelled it. Trust me on this. The first engineer routed twin copper wires through the whole house with about 20 metres of plastic cable (making a mess of wood floors and skirting boards). It never worked. I figured it out myself by removing the whole damn thing myself. The "engineer" had put a staple through the wires so it shorted. I can send a photo of the staple through the wires if you like. The second engineer was a good bloke and installed a new link through a preexisting hole in the back wall. It worked, but the download speed was 60% of what they said was to be expected. But of course they lie to get your cash. At least Virgin have been honest with me all the way along. Watch this space. But don't expect me to recommend BT.

[fizzmoll]

For what it's worth, Which magazine recently did a study on broadband speed - Virgin is pretty much the only ISP that deliver the speeds that they say they do:

http://arstechnica.co.uk/information-technology/2015/06/only-1-percent-of-up-to-76mbps-customers-actually-get-76mbps-from-uk-isps/

I have BT Infinity which is a fiber connection that goes all the way to the livingroom. I have a fiber transceiver in the livingroom that then in turn connects to my apple time capsule hub via PPPoE (ditched the BT hub - it was useless!). This setup is rock solid, never had any issues at all. Contrary to those which magazine stats, my connection is fulfilling its promise - but probably more important - it's stable.

I think a lot of BT connections are *not* using this fiber setup though - and then it's probably a totally different story.

[Tractorlad]

I've some bad news for anyone in ED experiencing problems with Virgin Media slowness problems associated with this "capacity" issue. A couple of weeks ago I managed to find someone in their call centre with half a customer service brain to contact me at the end of the month with an update on their improvement work which was scheduled for completion this week. He called me back last night and sadly the latest in now, MID NOVEMBER!! He didn't have further details but I'm going to track down their customer service director to find out exactly what's going on. Like most people we had a pretty flawless service until Jan this year and then all of a sudden, drop outs, and massive speed degradation basically down to them signing-up too many people for the capability of their local network. I want to know definitively when the service will be reinstated, why do they keep registering new customers exacerbating the problem and how can they justify a further price rise next month! If anyone has any other information or names of decision makers there, please post.

[Penguin68]

I am not a Virgin customer, but, based on what has just been reported this seems like something Ofcom would want to hear about. A long term degraded service might not be meeting Ofcoms licensing conditions if due to intentional under investment and over sale.

[Tractorlad]

Penguin68 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I am not a Virgin customer, but, based on what has

> just been reported this seems like something Ofcom

> would want to hear about. A long term degraded

> service might not be meeting Ofcoms licensing

> conditions if due to intentional under investment

> and over sale.

Thanks for the advise. I should have thought of that. You're right though. It's time to get the regulator involed.

[Penguin68]

I have found that writing letters of complaint, setting out the full history, in a very calm way, and clearly showing on the letter that you are copying it to the Regulator, can frequently be a way of getting an active response.

[kmoon249]

We've been having issues with Virgin since May and have been told about their ongoing work to upgrade their network this summer. Disappointing to read that its not expected to be completed until November now. But FYI to all Virgin customers, we've negotiated ?10 off a month. Has anyone managed more of a reduction? I'd rather have consistent service, but it helps.

[ribrob]

Was getting 3.1mb of my alleged 100mb on Sunday. After much coaxing - and reminding them they'd promised a faultless service post the work in July - they admitted the problem wasn't solved, and wouldn't be before September 11th.

Despite initially giving me a refund / discount in the months running up to the original "fix" in July, they obviously reverted to billing me full price again since. I made it abundantly clear that that was simply taking the mick at best, seriously dodgy at worst.

I'm back on discount again for one month, until September's new "fix".

[UsernameUnknown]

I've been having ongoing issue with my Virgin Broadband too. Intermittent service almost every week. Has been off & on the last few days including now when it is currently off. I've complained before via the call centre & been told not much can be done but I've had enough. I pay ?30 for an awful service. I've just complained on their Facebook page as I've found before that this gets a quick response.

[Heart108]

Virgin broadband has

been non- existent since late last night. I rung their freephone number

and an automated message said there was a problem in the SE22 area and that it would

be fixed by 5.00pm but it's still off.

While I think they overcharge personally the service has been

very fast for months but it seems that different households in the same

Area quite close to each other can have completely different services

[Andybol]

we had an engineer over yesterday and he said he could see a fault that had been there since January that had not been identified (we're just of Dunstans Road)

He said there's a fix expected in November and that basically the infrastructure can't cope with the traffic i.e. virgin are not able to keep their promise on speeds.

I have asked virgin if I can leave on the basis that they are not fulfilling their contract.

Andy

[rodneybewes]

Andybol Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> we had an engineer over yesterday and he said he

> could see a fault that had been there since

> January that had not been identified (we're just

> of Dunstans Road)

>

> He said there's a fix expected in November and

> that basically the infrastructure can't cope with

> the traffic i.e. virgin are not able to keep their

> promise on speeds.

>

> I have asked virgin if I can leave on the basis

> that they are not fulfilling their contract.

>

> Andy

If you have their TV service along with the broadband they recently did a price increase for BT sport in HD. If you don't want to pay this you should be able to end the contract there and then. They sent me a letter about it a month ago that looked exactly like junk mail but I spotted it anyway. I phone them on Friday to cancel the service and they gave me some money back so I'll stay until the contract ends in May. You might be able to use it to just get out of the contract though.

[bridgetm]

We've had some terrible service from Virgin and only recently have ended the contract because we have no broadband, phone or tv to the house for over a month and they could tell us a fix date. Virgin have signed up to a broadband code of conduct which covers this. You may be able to get out of it for low broadband speeds. Good luck!

[Heart108]

Update to my post of 20 August ( see above) which might be of help:

1 - After some 36 hours of no broadband I called Virgin INFO 0800 561 0061 - this tells you if there is a problem in your area when you quote post code. There was no longer a problem in my area according to the phone message ( i.e. if your post code is not mentioned on the prerecorded tape there is no problem)

2 - I called the main Virgin technical support: 0800 052 0431

A technician asked me to reboot the main modem - the broadband worked perfectly immediately.

NB when there is an outage in your area remember to reboot the modem ( unplug and plug in the power) and this will reset the system.. I did not know this or had forgotten it, so long had since I had had a problem.

3 - I always feel that Virgin Charge too much.. our charge per month was currently ?62.43 for 120MB Medium + TV package + phone includes Sky Arts & Discovery Channel & Eurosport. I think this is an outrageous charge.. I asked to speak to customer relations and they talked me through options.

NB - it is always worth bargaining down your package as many personnel at the end of the phone have a 'budget' of discounts that they eek out at their own discretion to customers who might leave or make a complaint about the service.

4 - I learnt that there are various packages 50MB 100MB 120MB and top sack is 150MB .. we had been on 120MB.. I said what can you do to reduce our cost ( we were out of contract and just paying a fortune each month of ?62 odd pounds.

I went through the options and settled for this package:

?40.99 for Phone + TV MEDIUM + 100MG broadband

I am absolutely dependent on good broadband for work ( I work mainly from home) .. and my experience of Virgin over many years ( since they were NTL) is that in this street/are they are probably the most reliable.. I couldn't be bothered to risk changing or research the other options.. judging from the EDF most people have problems at one or other time

CODA: I think that if one knew technically exactly WHERE what the 'big problem' is that is only going to be fixed by November I bet that it will apply to a very specific area of SE22 and not all of it

* * *

Would be curious to hear other's experience..

[pipsky2008]

With regard to the potential horror Talk-Talk customers are having to go through, I have asked Virgin Media by email what security they offer their customer's bank details.

Have any of you who are a customer of Virgin Media and pay by direct debit been in contact to ask about bank account details security ?

[dennis]

-- moved topic --

[Calum]

This pops up every now and then but I have to say I've never had a problem with Virgin (besides a dodgy router which left me out of internet for nearly a week).

In terms of service, it's pretty much always what is advertised so perhaps it's where you're situated? I'm on East Dulwich Road, across from Goose Green and like I said, never had a problem with the service.

[pipsky2008]

My question is to do with Virgin Media's customer bank detail security not day to day internet/phone/T.V provision.

I asked, 'Have any of you who are a customer of Virgin Media and pay by direct debit been in contact to ask about bank account details security ?'

I am still awaiting their written reply.

Have any customers asked a similar question of Virgin and had a reply?

[ribrob]

Hi all

See my new post about the quality / speed of Virgin Media broadband in East Dulwich here...

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?30,1630548

...may be good to keep track of this and support each other.

Rob