Virgin Broadband randomness

harpistic · September 2012

Bah, lucky you! Am stuck in bed - tail end of a migraine - but trying to drag myself out of bed to find a dongle. Grmph. To think I'd only been hanging in there with VM because we were all about to have our speeds multiplied... Bah bah bah.

boxrunner · September 2012

I just checked <a href="http://www.virginmedia.com/doublespeed">virginmedia.com/doublespeed</a> and entered my postcode (Evershot Road). Apparently this is now scheduled for March 2013 - August 2013.

Ali · September 2012

I think the network in our area was put in about 20 years ago so it is getting old. A lot of it is very ropey so I am not surprised that there are problems

J_V_MacGyver · September 2012

It seems I also gave temptations to fate last night, our service has been down for hours now. And yes indeed, upgrade is delayed until March 13 - Aug 13...As an IT engineer I am deeply disappointed by VM's service.

Roy · September 2012

The real problem dates back to the early days of cable - long before NTL, Telewest and Cable and Wireless bought out the small players. I know one of the London cablecos in those days was Videotron - I don't know who the others were (I was in Cambridge at the time and had Cambridge Cable). But a lot of the problems date back to the quality (or lack thereof) of what those companies originally put it, which, of course, varies widely. Remember, too, that the early installations were designed for TV - they were not designed for broadband at all. Cable broadband takes a network not designed for broadband and cleverly shoves broadband down it - very much analogous to the way ADSL does with the phone network. roy

boxrunner · September 2012

Had problems with it this evening. I bit the bullet (drew breath and) phoned Virgin Media support. I explained how it consistently seemes to go down 7-9pm on a Friday, and despite outlining the pointlessness of an engineer visit, there is one coming to waste their time here next week. I will post a follow-up if there's anything worth sharing. The only thing I can think to add is that it's worth us all raising our voices everytime service goes down (if you can bear it) because it's only when we start threatening to leave (or actually moving) that they will pay attention. Service resumed about 30 min after I hung-up.

Roy · September 2012

No broadband for me this morning

ShaunG · September 2012

Ditto

harpistic · September 2012

I was working till late last night - my broadband went down around 2am, no signs of life till this afternoon. If anyone fancies splashing out on a dongle, T-Mobile does one which only costs £2/day (plus dongle). My saviour...

Roy · September 2012

Mine is back now.

scottish_strouder · September 2012

Ours also seems to go down on a Friday night which is very inconvenient! Starting to really bother me, as their prices have been going up year-on-year......

harpistic · September 2012

Ah, the joys of Virgin's Special Broadbandfree Fridays! - not. I had that for a few months. Very very very unimpressed.

hopgreen · September 2012

Ours was down from late Thursday until mid Friday, and doesn't appear to be working again this morning. Unable to contact VM as the account is in my landlord's name and he's out of the country. <div> </div><div>Wish I was back on Plusnet

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gardener-joe · September 2012

Intermittent Virgin internet here this morning (Sunday 9 Sept.).

Roy · September 2012

Wasn't working for me when I got up this morning. (Haven't checked whether it's come back - am on 3G atm.)

[Deleted User] · September 2012

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harpistic · September 2012

I just phoned Virgin - they've estimated a week to fix the current problem. If we speak to customer services, they can probably (it was a terrible line) provide us with dongles, but frankly, I'm happier using another network instead. We'll all be reimbursed for service not provided. And what lousy timing - I've just gone freelance. Working wifi would be really really good.....

Fin · September 2012

I also get outages every Friday evening from about 7pm, usually comes back after an hour or two but very annoying nonetheless. I sometimes call customer services, register a complaint and am promised a call back by a supervisor. The call never comes.

J_V_MacGyver · September 2012

No service on Victoria rd since last night. Called them this morning emphasizing that this is not a one-off but regular problem. I was promised a call back around 1pm, I don't expect much. However, 5 minutes after the call the connection came back and is ok (touch wood).

boxrunner · September 2012

I do think it's worth us all making proper complaints since then we can legitimately each tell Virgin about the problem (especially the Friday evening thing). Weight in numbers and all that. Here's a <a href="https://help.virginmedia.com/system/selfservice.controller?CONFIGURATION=1002&PARTITION_ID=1&TIMEZONE_OFFSET=&USERTYPE=1&VM_CUSTOMER_TYPE=Cable&CMD=ESCALATION_REQUEST">link to the contact page</a>. Once there (and they don't make this easy), 1. Hover your mouse over General Enquiries and select ' I have cable services'2. From the list of possible answers select 'Make a customer service complaint'3. Some possible answer will appear on the right - below these see 'Haven't found what you're looking for? Contact Us'4. Click on 'Contact Us' to access a webmail form that will be e-mailed to VM.

unattachedinfant · September 2012

Bit the bullet and rang Virgin yesterday after 3 hours without internet (still not back this morning either). They said it was due to a server fault in the area and they can't confirm it will be fixed before the 13th! But, they've promised a refund for the six days with crap service (which I will definitely be holding them to), so calling up wasn't necessarily a waste of time...

miss annie · September 2012

Dearie me, sg'ers have been moaning about Virgin for years. Why are you all putting up with it? Just switch to someone else!

boxrunner · September 2012

Or get them to sort it?

harpistic · September 2012

For anyone on Twitter, here's a link to their "complain via social media" form: https://help.virginmedia.com/system/web/custom/socialMediaEnquiryForm_ssl.jsp At the bottom of Virgin Media's home page, there's a link to their Complaints Code of Practice; it says to phone them if possible for a speedier response, otherwise email or write to them. It's a PDF, contact details and procedures supplied.

J_V_MacGyver · September 2012

Miss Annie: I unfortunately didn't know about sg.org when I moved here a year ago and foolishly signed a 12-months contract with Virgin (runs out in October). I will definitely look into switching even though there's a risk of signing up with an even more crappy provider.BTW I got a call back around 1pm as promised, they say the fault is to be fixed in the next 7 days therefore we should expect outages... Will call them for a refund.

gardener-joe · September 2012

...

miss annie · September 2012

That's what we have - it's fine. I have nothing but praise for BT!

Roy · September 2012

The problem with switching to something else is I'd have to switch my phone line from Virgin to BT to get ADSL, and then the way they bundle things means that Virgin cable TV is not cost effective unless you also have your phone line with them. So I'd end up either paying over the odds or having to switch my TV from cable to satellite. Which would mean seeking permission from the landlord to install a dish (if I really wanted to go down that route, which I don't). roy

Ali · September 2012

Roy, Use BT Vision or Your View when it comes along soon on BT and TalkTalk

quince · September 2012

After cancelling my Virgin service (phone, tv and internet) last week, expecting to pay one month's fees as notice, I received my final bill: comprising £83.80 in 'disconnection charges'. Nice. I'm sure it's all very clearly outlined in the very small print, though. Think I'll go for BT next time...

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