VIRGIN v (SKY AND TALKTALK)

shalis

I currently have Sky tv and pay £24.50pm. I use TalkTalk for my phone calls/ line rental and Broadband. My monthly bill for T/T averages £40-£45. My particular phone package includes calls anytime to UK Mainland and ROI(up to 60 mins. duration each)

On examination the total Virgin package that interests me costs £38pm + line rental of £13.50 pm. This is on the face of it a more attractive deal. What I am interested in finding out is if any others on this Forum have had good or bad experience with Virgin. What is their Customer Service like? Anyone had problems with Virgin regarding phone calls or Broadband? Is their Fibre Optic B/B as good as they say etc?

Their current deals include a Virgin+HD box plus a 2nd box for another room, and unlike Sky they say they do not charge for repairs or maintenance to the V+ boxes. Sky charge a £60 or £65 call out charge once the 12 month warranty expires on their boxes.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

kellemar

I have been with Virgin for a number of years having previously been with Sky. Where I live the trees and the fact that we are in a valley makes reception via a dish a bit of a nightmare!

I can't say that I haven't had problems with Virgin - a couple of times a few years ago my box failed and worst case scenario was waiting 4 days for the Engineer to call and replace it. However, on the whole, they seem reasonable and I don't have an issue with them. I have never been asked for pay for any repairs or maintenance to the equipment.

I have a standard package with them (not HD) or their new Tivo service. I pay £45.99 per month for TV (XL), Broadband (M) and Telephone with Talk Unlimited. I have 2 additional boxes upstairs and they charge £9.99 per month for them.

Hope this helps.

shalis

Thankyou kellemar. My Father had terrible problems with his phone some years back while with Virgin, and I am fairly happy with T/T at present as far as the phone is concerned. Virgin's current TV and Broadband deals look good and do tempt me. I find Sky a terrible company to deal with, hence the reason I am interested in any feedback from Virgin customers, good or bad. As you are paying for your additional boxes, their current deal with one additional one looks good. Also Sky's reception is very much affected by weather conditions, as you say. One more reason to jump ship.

Old_Git

how much do virgin charge for calls to ROI ?
Is it international rate ?

Bigcammy

I've been with Virgin for 8 months, have to say their installaers were first class. Arrived on time, did an extremely tidy job and the kit all worked. I've had 2 issues which I reported and had fixed quickly. One was a failed box which was replaced next day and the other was fixed remotely. Broadband works really well, though their Netgear box needs a bit of config changed if you want to download multiple items, easy enough though. The main gripe I have is they don't carry Sky Atlantic so I'm missing some programmes I'd like. I may be moving house soon and it'll be to a non-Virgin area so that'll be the end of them for me anyway.

Calls to Roi are 30p a minute unless you have a call plan which takes it to 3p a minute, doesn't bother me as I don't make calls much!

spike7451

The majority of the installs over here are done by sub contractors,Service engineers however work for Virgin directly.The reason you don't pay for service calls is that,unlike Sky,you don't own the TV boxes or Modems,so VM can replace them or upgrade them free of charge.Downside is if you leave Virgin,you must return the equipment or they'll bill you up to £250.