Virgin Media - One Big Disappointment

not_loaded

Maybe it's just me? I keep paying out for one service after another, and I never really seem to get value for money.

Virgin Media clearly told me in writing over two months ago that my 2 meg broadband would be upgraded to 10 meg for no charge whatsoever.

Now they tell me that the end of July is ‘selected’ for my area. They also tell me that the 10% monthly price increase in the interim has ‘nothing to do with’ the 2 meg to 10 meg increase.

Don't get me wrong; it’s not just Virgin Media that are the problem.

Almost everywhere I go, it seems that companies are just interested in my money, and not the service they're going to provide for that money. Money is tight for me at the moment, and I've really had enough of this sloppy attitude.

In the UK now, it seems that all service providers of all kinds are only interested in getting the money and not in actually providing the service.

In these credit crunch times, how long do they think this cloud cuckoo land of theirs is going to last?

Nilrem

VM (and NTL before them), have always rolled out speed upgrades in a gradual fashion, generally over 6-12 months.
Partly because as they own the modems they have to replace them where needed* (which can tie up a lot of additional installers), and partly because it lets them make sure each area is ready for the new speeds/loads, it also allows for the spate of tech support calls that generally come in for any problems shown up by the speed changes.

IIRC it's also quite possibly linked to when the 50mb service will be available in your area, as part of that involves large network upgrades to improve capacity (the 50mb service runs on a different set of frequencies, and the existing 20mb service gets moved over to them at the same time, freeing up a lot of capacity on the frequencies currently used for 2/10/20mbit which will then just be used for 2/10mb).

The price increase is the normal yearly one, it just comes in at the same sort of time as the upgrade, a lot of people would probably have had the speed increase well before the price increase.




*Or indeed install them in the first place, the 2mb package (or up to it at any rate) was at one point offered through the TV STB's (which all have cable modems built in), but the STB's generally cannot cope with higher speeds and VM's policy for the past year or so seems to be to get people away from the STB supplied connection.

not_loaded

It’s nothing to do with the STB. I have a brand new modem which they grudgingly had to supply when the ancient one self-destructed. There’s no technical reason why they can’t switch it on.

I would be quite happy with 2meg if they would actually supply 2meg or close to it. The ‘traffic management’ they now apply to us cheapo customers on the bottom level means dismal performance, and I hardly use it.

In early April I was told in writing of the amazing free upgrade to 10meg. At last! Goodbye to their choked dial-up speeds! (fat chance…)

In May, with no sign of the upgrade, they notified a general increase in prices across the board. In my case my monthly bill goes up 10%.

Their price increase may be ‘the normal yearly one’ but exactly when did anyone here last get a 10% pay rise?

Here we are in June, paying 10% more with a reduction in service. When you phone them to complain they patently deny any choking of the 2meg.

I really don’t like being treated so badly and being lied to.

el_gringo_3

I'll have a rant too.

Moved three months ago. Got a letter on friday telling me that I owe them £47 quid and they'd be charging me a tenner for late payment and disconnecing me if I didn't contact them soon. Woke up today, disconnected. Phoned them and they told me I owed them £150 (3 months service, £10 fee and 2 x £5 'non direct debit handling fee'). I asked why this hadn't been taken out of my account and it was rudely implied that they'd tried and failed. After some bartering they agreed to reconnect me if I paid £50, just whilst I sorted this out.

I rang a few numbers and got through to an English sounding lady who was very helpful and informed me they'd forgotton to migrate my direct debit details, refunded me the twenty pounds fees and looked into my account for me. Turns out they had been charging me wrong a while ago at my old address, and owed me £200 from that.

So at the end of the day I've got £100 credit in my account, but if i'd have listened to the first fella I spoke to and accepted what he was telling me I would have been £220 down. Grrr.

The_Zealot

This is clearly a sign that the Telecoms industry is getting together as a stronger and stronger cartel. Gone are the days of competitive prices I'm afraid.
Britain is still very far away from the rest of europe regarding value for money for the Broadband and phone line rentals, with a Meh for Television.

Ofcom, where are you?

not_loaded

What gets me with their excuses for poor service is that they’re never the same. About six months ago our TV picture deteriorated to snowy with an intermittent good picture. After many support calls and FOUR engineer visits they concluded it was the ‘bypass’ which they ‘no longer support’.

We’re longstanding customers and all the equipment connected is what ntl/Virgin Media supplied, and yet they at some time stopped supporting it. They haven’t stopped taking my money however. After writing to their service director, in compensation for the poor reception they offered me better levels on TV and broadband, which I didn’t particularly want.

They went ahead and upgraded however, and in the post I got a Welcome Pack stating how great it was that I’d signed up for a new contract. They were supposedly compensating me for lousy service, but actually setting up a new twelve month run of payments that I’d be obliged to pay. As I’m moving house soon, I phoned (several times of course!) to get written agreement that a twelve month commitment had NOT been made by me.

They then promptly removed the ‘compensatory’ upgrades, saying that unless I paid over £100 for Vplus, then I was stuck with the old defective equipment I’d got!

not_loaded

So here I sit with their brand new modem grudgingly supplied.

I also have next to me a nice letter dated first week of April boasting of the super ‘free’ upgrade all customers will get. It’s got coffee mug stains on it now as it’s sat there so long.

What I actually have is bigger bills than I did at the date of that letter

They don’t actually supply 2meg or close to it the majority of the time now.

When I phone them to complain they patently deny any choking of the 2meg. A couple of calls ago they even denied their previous commitment to the upgrade this year!

Oh Virgin Media, I really don’t like being treated so badly and being lied to.

I also have a poor TV picture via an ancient box that heats the room in the winter, and installed TV items paid for every month which they ‘no longer support’.

Unless I pay over £100 for Vplus and sign up for twelve months I’m stuck with the old defective equipment.

Abysmal lousy rotten miserable shabby service, Virgin Media.

samwsmith1

not_loaded wrote: »

So here I sit with their brand new modem grudgingly supplied.

I also have next to me a nice letter dated first week of April boasting of the super ‘free’ upgrade all customers will get. It’s got coffee mug stains on it now as it’s sat there so long.

What I actually have is bigger bills than I did at the date of that letter

They don’t actually supply 2meg or close to it the majority of the time now.

When I phone them to complain they patently deny any choking of the 2meg. A couple of calls ago they even denied their previous commitment to the upgrade this year!

Oh Virgin Media, I really don’t like being treated so badly and being lied to.

I also have a poor TV picture via an ancient box that heats the room in the winter, and installed TV items paid for every month which they ‘no longer support’.

Unless I pay over £100 for Vplus and sign up for twelve months I’m stuck with the old defective equipment.

Abysmal lousy rotten miserable shabby service, Virgin Media.

My upgrade seems to have happened and that was set for july/august, and they do seem to be supplying around 10mb, speedtest below:

DatabaseError

not_loaded wrote: »

Unless I pay over £100 for Vplus and sign up for twelve months I’m stuck with the old defective equipment.

No you're not. just cancel the contract. Nobody is forcing you to take VMs services.

Inactive

The_Zealot wrote: »

T
Britain is still very far away from the rest of europe regarding value for money for the Broadband and phone line rentals, with a Meh for Television.

Ofcom, where are you?

You are joking I hope, you should try to buy good value Broadband in Spain, Telefonica have an effective total monopoly.

Their lowest price for useable BB is 39.99 Euro's a month + IVA ( VAT ):eek:

Inactive

not_loaded wrote: »

In the UK now, it seems that all service providers of all kinds are only interested in getting the money and not in actually providing the service.

Absolutely not true, do a bit of research on the net, there are still some excellent smaller ISP's, I have been with mine for almost 3 years, I have never had any problems whatsoever.

No stitch in long contracts either.