skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
because I have a deal for £20/month for 100mb internet, Tivo, and landline. It's way cheaper than the nearest alternative.
Virgin Media - Crap/Not Crap
- Thread starter UnderOpenSky
- Start date
because I have a deal for £20/month for 100mb internet, Tivo, and landline. It's way cheaper than the nearest alternative.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
I could fuck them off for another service, but that would have to be an ADSL service, and I'd need BT or whoever to come in and put in the necessary socket I'd need for an ADSL fiber line - I already checked and I can't just hook up my last (BT) router and let them switch it on. An engineer is required, and I know that because they tried to sell it to me when I closed my account to move home. Even after they did that, I'd only be looking at a max 78Mbps down speed, and and no Tivo box or landline thrown in. And it would be for sure more than £20/month for all that, and possibly another 2 weeks waiting if my last BT line/connection was anything to go by.
No at this point I may as well just stick it out. I'm also due a £50 credit when they finally install the thing, which effectively brings the total cost down to £15.84 per month which is a bargain.
Not a new build. An established neighbourhood in a Virgin area. Clearly nobody is availing their services in my hood as I haven't seen any Virgin Wifi coming up in my scanning. A good thing? Perhaps?
cybershot
Well-Known Member
Engineer came on Saturday, swapped my hub for a 3.0, wasn't sure it was a good idea at the time, but it's all he had on him.
Started setting everything back up, and couldn't forward half the ports I needed due to some stupid error. After a bit of googling I eventually discovered you have to enter all the port forwards in numerical order, otherwise the hub throws a hissy!
Was close to going out and spending £200 on a stand alone router and turning into modem only. May well still do, at some point, if problems persist.
dervish
if you flibble when you wibble, don't wobble
Engineer came on Saturday, swapped my hub for a 3.0, wasn't sure it was a good idea at the time, but it's all he had on him.
Started setting everything back up, and couldn't forward half the ports I needed due to some stupid error. After a bit of googling I eventually discovered you have to enter all the port forwards in numerical order, otherwise the hub throws a hissy!
Was close to going out and spending £200 on a stand alone router and turning into modem only. May well still do, at some point, if problems persist.
I would, I think we only have the SH2 but it's a pile of shite, you definitely don't need to spend £200 on a router though, I bought a Xiaomi router for about £35 or so and it's brilliant, does everything I want it to and is flashable to an opensource firmware which I will do as soon as I have some time without other people using the internet.
But ditch the SH as a router, it's a pile of crap.
cybershot
Well-Known Member
I used to have Linksys back when they just supplied modems, and had it flashed with DD-WRT. Knowing what I'm like with tech, I regret not getting the model with the best features, so was looking at one that did all the VPN stuff and what not all built in as well as DDNS etc etc, so I probably would up spending a fair bit and on the best wifi signals/throughput I could get for my budget!
The SH2ac was a major improvement, I never had any problems with it, have heard horror stories about the 3, but looks like the firmware has matured, thankfully! I'll see how it goes before spunking £200
dervish
if you flibble when you wibble, don't wobble
Well I got one of these, Xiaomi Router for £27 and it is actually very good, excellent signal.
I do have a slight suspicion that I may be sending all my info to china but you can flash it with padavan if you are paranoid.
I do have a slight suspicion that I may be sending all my info to china but you can flash it with padavan if you are paranoid.
dylanredefined
Not a house elf a tiger
Swapped for sky haven't had to reboot the wi fi once was a thrice daily occurrence. Virgin said it was because they had too many customers trying to use the internet guess they have one less now.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
UPDATE
**more delays**
The latest application to the local authority by the construction people working for Virgin was sent back again because they now want more information about how much the engineers are due to be cutting into the pathway before issuing the permit.
Can I get a facepalm please?
**more delays**
The latest application to the local authority by the construction people working for Virgin was sent back again because they now want more information about how much the engineers are due to be cutting into the pathway before issuing the permit.
Can I get a facepalm please?
cybershot
Well-Known Member
Still got the same problems, so will probably spunk the money on a different router, will have to wait until the end of August, I'll treat myself if the car gets through it's MOT!
teuchter
je suis teuchter
I'm a bitUPDATE
**more delays**
The latest application to the local authority by the construction people working for Virgin was sent back again because they now want more information about how much the engineers are due to be cutting into the pathway before issuing the permit.
Can I get a facepalm please?
at the fact you are still hoping virgin are going to come through. It sounds to me like it's going to be months before it's sorted. You say it's a "bargain" but you are getting zero from them. A £50 credit seems a miniscule gesture from them. I know it's a pain changing companies, and I put up with fairly crap service from virgin because I can't be bothered with the faff of switching and because I know that other providers might also become oversubscribed in a year. But if they simply weren't delivering anything to me and I was spending my days listening to their stories of council permit woes I think I'd just jump ship instead of languishing in some kind of Stockholm Syndrome scenario.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
I'm a bit
Though this is frustrating as heck, I am still prepared to still see this through. The inconvenience is just about worth holding out for a 100mb internet connection with TiVo and a landline when it will come to under £16pm for the next year.
Plus, I'm now on first name terms with Sue in the construction department and Gavin in complaints. I'm thinking of inviting them to my installation day party.
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skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Here's my latest letter of complaint to them. Enjoy...
XXXXX XXXXXX
Customer Service Director
Virgin Media
Matrix Court
SWANSEA
SA7 9ZJ
1st August 2017
RE: POSTPONEMENT OF INSTALLATION OF VIRGIN MEDIA SERVICES
COMPLAINT REFERENCE ID: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Account number: XXXXXXXXX
Dear XXXXX,
Following my letter to you on 3rd July, to which I’m yet to receive a written reply, I am writing again to stress the inconvenience of the ongoing postponement in the installation of Virgin Media services at my address above which I had signed upto on 23rd May 2017 in good faith and without any knowledge of the service issues in my area which only came to light 1 day before my installation date.
As it stands, we’re now in August. Over two months on since I agreed to take the service with Virgin Media, and I am still awaiting an installation date, while the contractors, McNicholas, await a reply to what I believe is now their third application to the local authority after a failure on their part to supply requisite information to the local authority to carry out the works required. This compounds the failure of Virgin to notify me that there were issues in my area before I agreed to take a service and has further added to the weeks of non-service which I’m still experiencing.
To reiterate the compendium of issues which I’ve been dealing with, I agreed to take a service from Virgin Media for a minimum of 12 months on May 23rd 2017. I was given an installation date of June 8th which I agreed to be present for. I was then contacted one day before the due installation date on June 7th and told that there were issues regarding the installation (by which point I had booked time off work to be present for the install). I was told at this point there would need to be service work in the area and I’d be contacted again within 5 days. On June 9th I was contacted again and told that because contractors would now need to be involved, it would be between 6 to 8 weeks before I will receive a new installation date.
I wrote to Virgin Media about this on June 12th to request more information as I felt it wasn’t sufficiently explained on the phone. I received a letter signed by you dated June 19th to confirm receipt of my letter and I will be contacted again within 2 weeks.
Two weeks passed and I had no further reply, so I wrote to you on July 3rd to request an update and to stress the huge inconvenience of the ongoing situation.
I received a call from another person in the complaints department some days after this who explained that the contractor, McNicholas, submitted an application to the local authority but they’d failed to include all the required information and so the application was sent back, further adding to the delays.
Upon chasing the construction department almost daily for an update after this, it then surfaced that a new second application was sent to the local authority, with the information they failed to include the first time, and a response was due from the local authority. The response, when finally received, requested yet further information which has (I’m told) now been sent over and I am currently awaiting a response. Each time this happens it adds days and weeks to the delay.
I appreciate that Virgin Media has no control over the response times of the local authority, but Virgin Media are accountable for the failure to notify me in advance of my taking out the service agreement on May 23rd 2017 of the problems delivering to my property, and Virgin Media are accountable for the contractors they employ and the failures on their part to supply the required information to the local authority, and the subsequent delays this has entailed.
As if this were not inconvenient enough, I have had to call Virgin Media’s construction department each time to get updates on the matter. I had hoped they may be able to save me the time and expense of doing this numerous times by passing on the updates they receive from McNicholas, or at least copying me on the correspondence, yet this is also something that I’m told just isn’t possible, and I’d have to be the one to call and get the information myself, each time holding on the phone in the queue – sometimes upto 15 minutes - to speak to an operative, every time, at my expense.
Further, I’ve been offered no interim help to provide connectivity while I’ve been waiting over 2 months to get online. I had requested in my original letter in June, a Virgin Media Mobile Broadband Device (IMO Go) with an appropriate level of data allowance (10GB per month) which I feel is the least Virgin can do to get me online. Yet, I’m told this is no longer Virgin Media policy, and there was nothing Virgin Media could help me with in this regard. As such, I’ve had no internet connectivity at home now for over 2 months, let alone the TV and landline phone service I had agreed to as part of my package and I’ve been offered no compensation or upgrade when I finally do get the service I agreed to in May.
At this point, with still no firm date for either the contractors to begin work, or a date to finally get an installation of the service, I am minded to refer the matter to the Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS).
By August 7th, it will have been 8 weeks since I first wrote to Virgin Media about these issues on June 12th, and I have been offered no help with my requests for an interim solution, no offer of compensation, or no offer of an upgraded service to the one I had agreed to in May.
I would appreciate if you could look into this issue as a matter of utmost urgency. I would rather not have to take the issue to CISAS but I feel I have been more than polite and patient in my dealings with Virgin Media to date, and I have spent a lot of time and expense calling and writing to have this complaint resolved. If I were in Virgin Media’s position, I would be offering something by way of goodwill to address this unfortunate situation.
I appreciate your time in looking into this and hope to hear from you soon.
Yours Sincerely,
Skyscraper101
XXXXX XXXXXX
Customer Service Director
Virgin Media
Matrix Court
SWANSEA
SA7 9ZJ
1st August 2017
RE: POSTPONEMENT OF INSTALLATION OF VIRGIN MEDIA SERVICES
COMPLAINT REFERENCE ID: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Account number: XXXXXXXXX
Dear XXXXX,
Following my letter to you on 3rd July, to which I’m yet to receive a written reply, I am writing again to stress the inconvenience of the ongoing postponement in the installation of Virgin Media services at my address above which I had signed upto on 23rd May 2017 in good faith and without any knowledge of the service issues in my area which only came to light 1 day before my installation date.
As it stands, we’re now in August. Over two months on since I agreed to take the service with Virgin Media, and I am still awaiting an installation date, while the contractors, McNicholas, await a reply to what I believe is now their third application to the local authority after a failure on their part to supply requisite information to the local authority to carry out the works required. This compounds the failure of Virgin to notify me that there were issues in my area before I agreed to take a service and has further added to the weeks of non-service which I’m still experiencing.
To reiterate the compendium of issues which I’ve been dealing with, I agreed to take a service from Virgin Media for a minimum of 12 months on May 23rd 2017. I was given an installation date of June 8th which I agreed to be present for. I was then contacted one day before the due installation date on June 7th and told that there were issues regarding the installation (by which point I had booked time off work to be present for the install). I was told at this point there would need to be service work in the area and I’d be contacted again within 5 days. On June 9th I was contacted again and told that because contractors would now need to be involved, it would be between 6 to 8 weeks before I will receive a new installation date.
I wrote to Virgin Media about this on June 12th to request more information as I felt it wasn’t sufficiently explained on the phone. I received a letter signed by you dated June 19th to confirm receipt of my letter and I will be contacted again within 2 weeks.
Two weeks passed and I had no further reply, so I wrote to you on July 3rd to request an update and to stress the huge inconvenience of the ongoing situation.
I received a call from another person in the complaints department some days after this who explained that the contractor, McNicholas, submitted an application to the local authority but they’d failed to include all the required information and so the application was sent back, further adding to the delays.
Upon chasing the construction department almost daily for an update after this, it then surfaced that a new second application was sent to the local authority, with the information they failed to include the first time, and a response was due from the local authority. The response, when finally received, requested yet further information which has (I’m told) now been sent over and I am currently awaiting a response. Each time this happens it adds days and weeks to the delay.
I appreciate that Virgin Media has no control over the response times of the local authority, but Virgin Media are accountable for the failure to notify me in advance of my taking out the service agreement on May 23rd 2017 of the problems delivering to my property, and Virgin Media are accountable for the contractors they employ and the failures on their part to supply the required information to the local authority, and the subsequent delays this has entailed.
As if this were not inconvenient enough, I have had to call Virgin Media’s construction department each time to get updates on the matter. I had hoped they may be able to save me the time and expense of doing this numerous times by passing on the updates they receive from McNicholas, or at least copying me on the correspondence, yet this is also something that I’m told just isn’t possible, and I’d have to be the one to call and get the information myself, each time holding on the phone in the queue – sometimes upto 15 minutes - to speak to an operative, every time, at my expense.
Further, I’ve been offered no interim help to provide connectivity while I’ve been waiting over 2 months to get online. I had requested in my original letter in June, a Virgin Media Mobile Broadband Device (IMO Go) with an appropriate level of data allowance (10GB per month) which I feel is the least Virgin can do to get me online. Yet, I’m told this is no longer Virgin Media policy, and there was nothing Virgin Media could help me with in this regard. As such, I’ve had no internet connectivity at home now for over 2 months, let alone the TV and landline phone service I had agreed to as part of my package and I’ve been offered no compensation or upgrade when I finally do get the service I agreed to in May.
At this point, with still no firm date for either the contractors to begin work, or a date to finally get an installation of the service, I am minded to refer the matter to the Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS).
By August 7th, it will have been 8 weeks since I first wrote to Virgin Media about these issues on June 12th, and I have been offered no help with my requests for an interim solution, no offer of compensation, or no offer of an upgraded service to the one I had agreed to in May.
I would appreciate if you could look into this issue as a matter of utmost urgency. I would rather not have to take the issue to CISAS but I feel I have been more than polite and patient in my dealings with Virgin Media to date, and I have spent a lot of time and expense calling and writing to have this complaint resolved. If I were in Virgin Media’s position, I would be offering something by way of goodwill to address this unfortunate situation.
I appreciate your time in looking into this and hope to hear from you soon.
Yours Sincerely,
Skyscraper101
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Sounds epic skyscraper.
Was a bit disappointed my connection dropped to only 20mbs last night. I know this is meant to be common in the evenings, but hadn't happened to me before. Hoping it's not a sign of things to come.
Was a bit disappointed my connection dropped to only 20mbs last night. I know this is meant to be common in the evenings, but hadn't happened to me before. Hoping it's not a sign of things to come.
cybershot
Well-Known Member
Superb.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Seems my latest letter was received as Gavin called me back from complaints today.
(you have to imagine him as Craig from Big Brother because that's exactly who he sounds like)
He didn't really offer any good news as such but noted that I was after some kind of compensation. So he very kindly took me through the process which is that they won't offer anything until the service has been installed, and then they'll make a goodwill offer, which I can refuse, and they can come up with another offer, which I can also refuse and it will be reviewed again upon which they will make a final offer.
If I refuse that it goes to deadlock and I will get a letter of deadlock, which is then referred to an independent authority to access the case and they will make an overriding ruling on what is an acceptable offer of goodwill (this may or may not be lower than a previous offer). That offer is final and non-negotiable on Virgin's side.
So looks like more fun and games to come even when I do finally get switched on. Not sure what I should be demanding mind. Sky Sports for a year? 200Mb Internet?
(you have to imagine him as Craig from Big Brother because that's exactly who he sounds like)
He didn't really offer any good news as such but noted that I was after some kind of compensation. So he very kindly took me through the process which is that they won't offer anything until the service has been installed, and then they'll make a goodwill offer, which I can refuse, and they can come up with another offer, which I can also refuse and it will be reviewed again upon which they will make a final offer.
If I refuse that it goes to deadlock and I will get a letter of deadlock, which is then referred to an independent authority to access the case and they will make an overriding ruling on what is an acceptable offer of goodwill (this may or may not be lower than a previous offer). That offer is final and non-negotiable on Virgin's side.
So looks like more fun and games to come even when I do finally get switched on. Not sure what I should be demanding mind. Sky Sports for a year? 200Mb Internet?
cybershot
Well-Known Member
Seems my latest letter was received as Gavin called me back from complaints today.
(you have to imagine him as Craig from Big Brother because that's exactly who he sounds like)
He didn't really offer any good news as such but noted that I was after some kind of compensation. So he very kindly took me through the process which is that they won't offer anything until the service has been installed, and then they'll make a goodwill offer, which I can refuse, and they can come up with another offer, which I can also refuse and it will be reviewed again upon which they will make a final offer.
If I refuse that it goes to deadlock and I will get a letter of deadlock, which is then referred to an independent authority to access the case and they will make an overriding ruling on what is an acceptable offer of goodwill (this may or may not be lower than a previous offer). That offer is final and non-negotiable on Virgin's side.
So looks like more fun and games to come even when I do finally get switched on. Not sure what I should be demanding mind. Sky Sports for a year? 200Mb Internet?
For every month you wait, you don't expect to pay for would be fair enough imo, you can try and opt for a bigger package, extra stuff, which they will quite honestly prefer anyway, because they hope you'll keep it, and then pay more once the offer is done. Personally I'd try and go for something that doesn't see you getting sucked into paying a bigger price x amount of months later down the line.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
To be clear, I'm not paying anything right now. What I'm requesting is to be compensated for the perpetual failure to fix the problem and for providing no interim help.
It's a fair point anyway about getting a bigger package. I'm not too bothered about getting more TV channels. I'd prefer an upgraded internet speed for the same price for 12 months which I don't think is too much to ask.
cybershot
Well-Known Member
Sorry, what I meant was, if they get you online 3 months after your initial install date, then request 3 months free. I know however you've got a good deal, so you may want to go for doubling that. Odds are if you get a higher package internet, you'll miss that speed once it comes to them taking it away (or maybe you won't, depends what you do, but there is a significant increase in the upload speed from 150Mbps to 200Mbps, which if you get used too, you'll miss as soon as you go down a grade) so just think about that when it comes to it, because once the contract is up, it's back to haggling with them for the best deal you can get and having to do all the BS of pretending to leave for Sky and what not.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
All good points. I'll see what they offer anyway. What I signed up for (100mb) is faster than my previous BT Infinity connection so I think I could live with that.
I actually hate having to go through the charade of rejecting offers or going to 'retentions' and pretend to leave at the end of the package just to get a good deal.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
Gavin (complaints) rang me again on Saturday. He spent about 15 minutes running me through the various nonsense that's been happening between the local authority (TFL) and McNicolas the contractors in being able to actually get a start date confirmed.
In a nutshell, there have now been FIVE separate applications for a permit to begin work, which have been rejected. The second was actually approved but TFL didn't send the permit through. When it was applied for again, they have been repeatedly sending it back asking each time for some new detail they did not request the previous time
The latest ones were: they wanted the works completed within 1 day, rather than 4. When the contractors confirmed the work would be done within 1 day, they sent it back again saying they need confirmation that any equipment left on the site would be removed when personnel were offsite. It has now gone back again, confirming this. I'd lay money on it being rejected again requesting something else. Utter bullshit.
In a nutshell, there have now been FIVE separate applications for a permit to begin work, which have been rejected. The second was actually approved but TFL didn't send the permit through. When it was applied for again, they have been repeatedly sending it back asking each time for some new detail they did not request the previous time
The latest ones were: they wanted the works completed within 1 day, rather than 4. When the contractors confirmed the work would be done within 1 day, they sent it back again saying they need confirmation that any equipment left on the site would be removed when personnel were offsite. It has now gone back again, confirming this. I'd lay money on it being rejected again requesting something else. Utter bullshit.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
If they'd share the contact details of whichever department are responsible within TFL I'd already have done so. They won't copy me on any correspondence though, because "data protection".
cybershot
Well-Known Member
They can give you a reference number without violating any DPA.
skyscraper101
0891 50 50 50
True, but without access to the full correspondence in black and white to quote from, all I've got is what I can recall from a phone call and I've got no names or addresses to go on.
To be honest, it's also more time than I have to be chasing Virgin, let alone some other massive organisation.
The one thing I did confirm, is that all of this correspondence they have on their end (including my own complaints) have been logged and will form part of the file which I will eventually refer to when I'm pushing for some kind of goodwill compensation.
NoXion
Craicy the Squirrel
If this thread is any indication, then Virgin are not worth the fucking hassle. I've had precisely zero complaints since getting set up with PlusNet. The connection speed might not be as great as for those with Virgin who manage to get lucky, but frankly I think an internet connection is far too important to leave to the roll of the fucking dice.
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