Virgin Media Complete joke High utilisation Need help!

Dom29

Ive just taken out a new deal with plusnet , Free for the first 6 months (not including line rental that is ) going to unplug my virgin router and cancel my contract when its up , sadly another waste of money

LondonSE9

Like Dom I have also been experiencing the slow peak time speeds for some time (2Mbits/s instead of 50Mbits/s). When I complain to VM I get the usual 'there are capacity restrictions affecting my area' - I am told it might be sorted in three months time - a 25% bill credit is applied - the process then repeats every three months.

I have complained to Ofcom, specifically that VM is mis-selling 'superfast' cable broadband (an online form 'the way a service was sold' is available on Ofcom's website). Ofcom have responded that they do want to hear of consumer's opinions. They monitor these complaints and use this data to take enforcement action against specific providers that are breaking the rules.

Ofcom do not deal with individual complaints (that is CISAS's role). But could I suggest anyone who is experiencing similar problems with VM to notify Ofcom so that they are aware that the problems are widespread? Ofcom might be persuaded by weight of complaints to force VM to stop offering broadband without a clear warning it will be useless in the peak period.

DonnySaver

Indeed, the high utilization issues appear country wide. You only have to go onto the VirginMedia Customer forums to see the extent of the problems around the country. Most nights our broadband is next to useless or doesn't work at all.

I joined VM in January and they have not been able to provide a reliable service from day 1. It turns out that the utilization fault I'm suffering from has been ongoing since 2015. Therefore they sold me this product knowing that they could never provide me with the service they advertised. It appears that many thousands of VM customers may well have been "mis-sold" their packages also.

Why the likes of CISAS, OFCOM and the Advertising Standard bods are not doing more about this is beyond me. Virgin keep taking on more customers and yet their infrastructure seems unable to cope with the demand.

Oh, by the way, VM sent me an email today telling me that they are going to charge me an extra £3.49/month for this rubbish!

[Deleted User]

I'm with VM. Just did a speed test. Can't grumble at this result!



However, if I go over wifi...



Have you asked your neighbours if they're having similar issues? The problem could be physically between the road and your home.

W1zz

ringo_24601 wrote: »

I'm with VM. Just did a speed test. Can't grumble at this result!



However, if I go over wifi...



Have you asked your neighbours if they're having similar issues? The problem could be physically between the road and your home.

Repeat the test during peak hours 8pm - 11pm.

My speeds are fine during off-peak (100mb+) but in the evening it's unusable, often as low as 1mb. Too many people on the network in my area at the same time.

Although in 2 weeks time I have BT Broadband being installed. Cancelled with Virgin after 14 years. Their fix date of July passed and was extended to September. This also passed and then changed to December :eek:

DonnySaver

W1zz wrote: »

Repeat the test during peak hours 8pm - 11pm.

My speeds are fine during off-peak (100mb+) but in the evening it's unusable, often as low as 1mb. Too many people on the network in my area at the same time.

Although in 2 weeks time I have BT Broadband being installed. Cancelled with Virgin after 14 years. Their fix date of July passed and was extended to September. This also passed and then changed to December :eek:

Sounds familiar

W1zz

Well I've now moved to BT and had my final VM bill. Only I haven't been refunded 6 months worth of advanced line rental (paid until next March).
Upon enquiringly why this is, I'm told it was non-refundable even though I was told I could leave without penalties due to their inability to fix my ongoing fault. At no time was the loss of ALR mentioned.
I've explained that it was VM who since entering into a new 12 month contract in March 2016 have been unable to provide a full service and it was they that suggested I leave due to time being taken to fix.
I'm now awaiting a call from the disconnections manager.

JB162

W1zz wrote: »

Well I've now moved to BT and had my final VM bill. Only I haven't been refunded 6 months worth of advanced line rental (paid until next March).
Upon enquiringly why this is, I'm told it was non-refundable even though I was told I could leave without penalties due to their inability to fix my ongoing fault. At no time was the loss of ALR mentioned.
I've explained that it was VM who since entering into a new 12 month contract in March 2016 have been unable to provide a full service and it was they that suggested I leave due to time being taken to fix.
I'm now awaiting a call from the disconnections manager.

I'm afraid you won't get your Line Rental Saver back.

They have released you penalty free as they did not charge you a early disconnection fee but once you pay your Line Rental Saver you have you standard 14 days cooling off and that's it.

They don't refund people who pass away there Line Rental Saver, so you I'm afraid have no chance.

W1zz

JB162 wrote: »

I'm afraid you won't get your Line Rental Saver back.

They have released you penalty free as they did not charge you a early disconnection fee but once you pay your Line Rental Saver you have you standard 14 days cooling off and that's it.

They don't refund people who pass away there Line Rental Saver, so you I'm afraid have no chance.

Although VM dragged it out, I did get my refund cheque, 40 days after disconnection.

As I never got that call back from the manager, I called them a day later. After completing all the security cheques, the CS person said that the Refund had already been authorised and was showing on my account.



Along with refunds on the internet service they were unable to reliably supply, I was refunded £121.xx

My argument as to why I should have the line rental refunded was that since entering my latest contract, they have been unable to supply an unbroken service for a single month. It was VM that suggested I leave (their problem customer gone I suppose), as they couldn't guarantee that the next fix date would be a final fix. At no time did they inform me taking this route would forfeit the advance line rental payment.