# Virgin Media - Who's with them?



## EliteCarCare (Aug 25, 2006)

We've recently been informed that we now have high speed fibre-optic cable available in our street via Virgin Media (about time).

I've been looking at the deals and even if we go for the top-end badboy package with phone, broadband and HD hard Disk recorder with all the channels we'll still be paying about £20/month less than our current Sky/ISP/BT set up.

It's a no-brainer on that score but what's their service like?

Any feedback appreciated. :thumb:

Thanks

Alex


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## The Cueball (Feb 8, 2007)

Mine was 

I have just dumped them.... box kept freezing, broadband never hit the figures they claimed...

Customer service could not care less...

The 'fix' for EVERYTHING was to turn the box off, unplug and leave it for 10 seconds :wall: :wall:

:thumb:


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## who45 (Feb 8, 2008)

when u have a problem and u ring there service is excellent - internet is very fast, downside was the installation of the cable itself outside was a farce - the contractors and virgin are totally unable to talk to each other - it took 4 weeks for mine to be sorted - no one bothered to check the existing cable line before arriving despite this was supposed to happen, then they installed it, cables were dead, 4 weeks later a repull was done which took 20 mins to hook me up - so a 2 hr installation (20 mins of exterior of that took 4 weeks)

inside the installation was top notch tho.

ive had 2 box failures, ring them up, they come out and change it and re set it up. my broadband has slowed on occasions, pull the power lead out the router, put it back in and its sorted again - speed issues on 20mb have been exactly 19mb upwards for me since june


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

The Cueball said:


> Mine was
> 
> Customer service could not care less...
> 
> ...


I know exactly how you feel!


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## robj20 (Jan 20, 2009)

There is a reason its cheaper its not as good. Sky has more choice especially HD stuff and now 3D, you can get free internet with sky which is good but you can upgrade it if you want faster. That just leaves calls.


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## EliteCarCare (Aug 25, 2006)

robj20 said:


> There is a reason its cheaper its not as good. Sky has more choice especially HD stuff and now 3D, you can get free internet with sky which is good but you can upgrade it if you want faster. That just leaves calls.


True but I've heard that the free internet from Sky is pants, but that was a while back...


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## robj20 (Jan 20, 2009)

Two of the lads in work are on it and its fine for them. I prefer to stick with O2 for my internet.


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## SubtleAggressiv (Jul 17, 2010)

When I was using the 10Mb broadband solely to play games online I never had a problem but since they introduced their promotion offering free Virgin TV and phoneline for a year its been all downhill since. 
When Ive had problems, 9 times out of 10 I get transfered to an Indian call centre where I can only sometimes understand their bloody accent, their employees seem to be just as confused as me on occasion and their sales team and tactics used to get me signed up to a 1 year contract with them is very sneaky  Telling me I can get free Virgin TV XL and free phone for a year when actually I have to pay after two months for the TV and 6months for the phoneline - That does not equal FREE to me  Dodgy!

My HD box goes mental out of the blue, the remote provided is so random and doesnt work properly all the time, the wireless router is a load of crap I cant believe the amount of headache it gave me when I used it for the first few months.

In their defense, one time I called up and I actually got to talk to someone British and they were very helpful. They sorted out what I wanted them to and explained everything clearly so even I can understand 

I used 02 before but their connection was pathetic, they use the same lines as BT for internet. Dont trust the connection speed they give you on the website, this is sometimes wrong! 
Customer service was good and as a current 02 customer I get a discount off every bill. I cancelled in the end and went to Virgin which was brilliant until their sales team called


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## wanner69 (Mar 14, 2010)

Ive been with them for a few years now and i have had no problems whatsoever. They are cheaper than anyone else comparing my like for like package with phone, broadband and tv. The only downside is the lack of HD channels compared to sky but they are getting more and more all the time.


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## Pandy (Jan 19, 2008)

Touch wood we've not had a problem with them Alex.

Always get the 10mb BB and the TV is great.

Andy


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## jamest (Apr 8, 2008)

I have 20mb broadband always at 20mb. Also have xl tv package. Service has been great especially for the price. Cancelling sky was a great idea.

Tv doesn't go off with a bit of wind or rain like sky which is a huge benefit with our weather.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Fre internet from Sky offers a 2Gb Download limit! Virgin aint "cheap" as robj20 suggests.....

BTW Alex: you have a PM


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## jgy6000 (May 15, 2007)

was with virgin media in my student house, the box kept freezing a lot but we simply unplugged it and it sorted itself out, internet was good mostly, never really had an issue with that, Back at home now and im just in the process of changing broadband over from sky to o2, the sky D/L limit is stupid and im always going over it


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

Been with them for 5 hassle free years and I always get 10mb speed.


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## Jeffers01 (Aug 12, 2010)

I've been with Virgin for many years. Fibre optic cable broadband is simply stunning and destroys std landline systems. I am on the 10 mg setup and it's always 10 meg... period (always recommend to use a free download manager such as DAP as this keeps the line maxed out). They have 'unlimited' downloads but if you go above about 1.5Gigs in a day before 9pm then the bandwidth is throttled to about 300kb/sec for the rest of the day. In my region the 20meg line often falls short but the 50meg line is different architecture and sits there at the full 50.... providing of course the site you are downloading from can cope.

Telephone is excellent both quality and reliability

I cant comment on the TV package as I don't take it. All in all having spoke to lots of friends I think the Sky package is just better... certainly I find it superbly reliable, not what I've heard from friends aboput virgin.. although virgin TV has a much better 'back catalogue' available.


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## alexandjen (Feb 24, 2008)

Have been with them for over 2 years, have 20mb broadband which speed tests at over 19mb no matter what time of day I run the test.
Tv is ok, has never frozen and picture is great.
Phone line has always performed, no loss of service, I'm on the XL package with free calls anytime :thumb:


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## tlzeebub (Feb 13, 2008)

I've been with them since June and they are pretty useless I've got 10meg bb and its painfully slow although according to an indian called Alan it's fine

the tv box freezes and you have to reboot it quite regularly but the phone line is actually good


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## Waxamomo (Jun 18, 2008)

I'm pretty sure i've got the top package (on mates rates) and touch wood not had a single problem. Internet is always quick and never had a problem with either TV box.


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## Adnoh (May 26, 2008)

I've been with them for over 1 year and I'm quite happy with the service. I have L TV and 10MB BB, the internet is always fast and around 9.6 MBs

Good points:
Direct debit took longer to sort out in month 1 and I was charged extra for not paying by DD. Indian call centre girl kindly added credit to my account so no harm done.

Bad points:
In the 1 year and 1 month I've been with them I have had 2 outages (affects TV and internet). Lasted a few hours in the evening maybe 2-4 hours then sorted out by itself.

WARNING! min contract term is 12 months and there is a £60 cancellation fee *PER SERVICE* so if you need to cancel TV,BB + phone early its £180!!

My advice, get the XL tv package and the V+ HD box. Theres no extra HD fee for the XL package but its £5 per month on any other package. Their standard box is s***e - i know because i have it!

HTH :thumb:


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Adnoh said:


> I've been with them for over 1 year and I'm quite happy with the service. I have L TV and 10MB BB, the internet is always fast and around 9.6 MBs
> 
> Good points:
> Direct debit took longer to sort out in month 1 and I was charged extra for not paying by DD. Indian call centre girl kindly added credit to my account so no harm done.
> ...


All companies will have a contract! BT hold you for 18 months, or 24months if you have their TV

As for the EDFs (Early Disconnection Fees), that is a bargin! You could in Theory be on the VIP Package at £92 (call it £90 for even number), have 6 months left and disconnect. You should (IMO) pay £540! However, OfCom bouht the ruling in that the MAXIMUM EDF can be £180! Works in favour of the consumer!!!!


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## Mike_182 (Mar 22, 2007)

I don't know why everyone's whinging about HD channels, half of Sky 1 HD isn't filmed in HD and I get Movies and Sports HD with Virgin. Their 'on demand' makes Sky Anytime look utterly ****e and on my 50Mb Internet I haven't seen less than 45Mb ever unless it's from a slow server. I was getting over 60Mb when I was hauling stuff from my desk PC (100Mb on 1Gb bearer).

As for customer service, everyone's had their bad experiences but when my Internet slowed down at my last address they had an engineer out pulling the box in the street to bits the next day after spotting an alarm, and Friday night I stuck the TV on in the bedroom and it was moaning about the card. Couple of minutes of the usual rebooting box, checking card he reset the box their side and all systems go again. Found that unless you're getting into the ******** job of a problem the phone peoples even in India are getting better!

As for the fella who had speed problems and nobody wanted to know, Vodafone didn't want to know when we called because our two sites couldn't talk with fragmented packets. These sorts of problems are notoriously bad, I sympathise but at the same the people investigating have a barstool of a job trying to track it down!


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## robj20 (Jan 20, 2009)

Mike_182 said:


> I don't know why everyone's whinging about HD channels, half of Sky 1 HD isn't filmed in HD and I get Movies and Sports HD with Virgin. Their 'on demand' makes Sky Anytime look utterly ****e and on my 50Mb Internet I haven't seen less than 45Mb ever unless it's from a slow server. I was getting over 60Mb when I was hauling stuff from my desk PC (100Mb on 1Gb bearer).
> 
> As for customer service, everyone's had their bad experiences but when my Internet slowed down at my last address they had an engineer out pulling the box in the street to bits the next day after spotting an alarm, and Friday night I stuck the TV on in the bedroom and it was moaning about the card. Couple of minutes of the usual rebooting box, checking card he reset the box their side and all systems go again. Found that unless you're getting into the ******** job of a problem the phone peoples even in India are getting better!
> 
> As for the fella who had speed problems and nobody wanted to know, Vodafone didn't want to know when we called because our two sites couldn't talk with fragmented packets. These sorts of problems are notoriously bad, I sympathise but at the same the people investigating have a barstool of a job trying to track it down!


Dont know why your comparing Vigin On Demand to Sky Anytime there totally different things, Skys On Demand is coming soon though and should rival Virgins.


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## Mike_182 (Mar 22, 2007)

robj20 said:


> Dont know why your comparing Vigin On Demand to Sky Anytime there totally different things, Skys On Demand is coming soon though and should rival Virgins.


Because Sky Anytime IS an on demand service, you're just limited to what they can get on your hard disk currently.


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## jamest (Apr 8, 2008)

Mike_182 said:


> Because Sky Anytime IS an on demand service, you're just limited to what they can get on your hard disk currently.


I think what Robj20 is saying is that Sky are upgrading Anytime to a proper on-demand service as opposed to a select few shows based on Skys recommendations.


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## Rob_Quads (Jul 17, 2006)

While Anytime is an On-Demand system its only really a interim solution until thier proper On-Demand solution gets delivered which is due out soon.

The big problem with Skys new On-Demand system is that it relies on you have Sky Broadband which I know only a fraction of Sky users have.

I've never really got on with Virgin TV, the interface I find so slow its painful to use. I use the Sky red button sports quite a bit which Virgin don't have, and also Sky Mobile TV is awesome......but Sky broadband is rubbish so I have Virgin Broadband (oh and TV although the box is in the loft lol.)


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## Mike_182 (Mar 22, 2007)

But again, their On Demand service just isn't going to cut it, because whilst my old man can get Sky TV, the best they can do for Internet is chuck a wet string over his fence. On the flipside, in my cabled area regardless of my Internet provider if I have Virgin TV I get EVERY bit of On Demand.

Whilst this isn't Sky's fault as they're tied by BT's archaic network for the mostpart, you can't ignore the fact that it's pretty poor and restrictive with the On Demand functionality.

And yes, I am aware that I'm about to get mauled to death by Sky fanboys who are going to tell me that I can't get Virgin everywhere in the UK, but then you can't get Broadband everywhere in the UK, either...


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## robj20 (Jan 20, 2009)

I wouldn't call anytime an on demand service it simply pre-records what's about to be shown for on normal channels.


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## Mike_182 (Mar 22, 2007)

It's still On Demand... No matter how small and pathetic it is! (Oh, and it's what was shown last week/month)


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## robj20 (Jan 20, 2009)

Its not, when 24 was on it was available straight after the live showing on anytime, i always used to watch it this way as it had no ads.


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## Mike_182 (Mar 22, 2007)

Maybe different for Sky channels then or recently, but 2 years ago it was equivalent to 'picks from last week'.


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## jamest (Apr 8, 2008)

It always used to be previous stuff but they did start showing more recent stuff before I moved to Virgin.


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## Rob_Quads (Jul 17, 2006)

yeah they do show stuff earlier now. You can even manage to see some things before they have been on normal TV.

I'm pretty sure that it will only be supported on Sky LLU service not the old broadband where they are limited by BT. With LLU they should be able to do better (but I still think they will struggle)


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## [email protected] (Jan 28, 2009)

Been with BlueYonder and now Virgin for a good many years now and apart from the TV boxes which you are forced to restart every other week I can say hand on heart been excellent. I have the XL package with 2 V+ boxes and 1 V box, 20meg BB and Unlimtied telephone.

I can echo the frustration of their customer service being basic at best, my experience is pre out source to India as well. The only thing I put up with is my boxes (yes all) crapping out 2 times and month and like said above the solution is to restart the box. On the V Box, all the TV listings just go blank and you cannot use the listings to change channel as it thinks the program hasn't started yet but offers to remind you when it starts. the V+ boxes for some reason when changing channel forces mute on and you cannot take it off without restarting the box. Also I use to get what I can only describe as audio farts. Which just spoils watching films and the like where you need to pay attention to what is being. Again I have had really no problems so I guess all is ok but I would put money if things hadn't been good I would had given up waiting for customers services to pull their fingers out, from what I read on other sites it is really frustrating dealing with Virgin Media's customer service.

Internet has only gone out twice maybe three times in all the time I have been with them.

Telephone, don't really use it so couldn't comment as I use my mobile (unlimited texts and lots of minutes).


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## Pandy (Jan 19, 2008)

I had a good experience with them earlier.

After a good chat with a friendly operative in the tech department, turns out my current Router was causing a problem with the info connecting between the router and itself, walked through a few steps and then tried my old Router and it is working ok now.

He is getting a technician out to us this weekend because the service is slower than it should be and he wants the connections testing as he recons the modem should be dropping out due to some power thing.

First time we have had to call and am impressed so far :thumb:


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

I had a call this afternoon from a very friendly helpful guy called -Mat- who has upgraded me to a V+ HD box. It's getting installed on Monday morning and I can't wait, plus it makes a change talking to someone who isn't based in India! Thanks again mate :thumb:


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## Adnoh (May 26, 2008)

Pezza4u said:


> I had a call this afternoon from a very friendly helpful guy called -Mat- who has upgraded me to a V+ HD box. It's getting installed on Monday morning and I can't wait, plus it makes a change talking to someone who isn't based in India! Thanks again mate :thumb:


did he do this for free?


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## Pezza4u (Jun 7, 2007)

Adnoh said:


> did he do this for free?


No I have to pay for it mate!! I get HD free as I'm on XL TV and it's a £49 connection fee with free installation. Plus a fiver a month to keep my existing box.


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## Pandy (Jan 19, 2008)

The engineer came over today, replaced the model with a swish looking new one and i asked him if he could shorten the cable that goes to the TV (they quoted us £50 to do this on the phone ages ago).

Not only did he shorten it, he fitted a connector to the end he cut so that we can use it as an extension if we need to :thumb:

Slipped him a tenner for his kindness, and obviously very impressed with the service.


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## Keir (Aug 31, 2010)

We'll be getting everything from them once they lay the cable..


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

I wish i could get Virgin. I went into the new Virgin shop near me, then said i should email about asking if there going to cable the area soon. Im still yet to do it, but if any one wants the email, its [email protected]/.co.uk The guy couldnt remeber which one, so just send an email to both :thumb:


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## EliteCarCare (Aug 25, 2006)

Went with Virgin Media in the end, thanks Mat for sorting us out a good deal, the only problem now is waiting for the instal.. :wall:

Alex


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

No probs dude! Couldn't believe the timescale for installation though! At least we managed to drag it forward a week or so........ Remember, any problems just shout (really hope there aren't any) :thumb:


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## Keir (Aug 31, 2010)

mattastra said:


> I wish i could get Virgin. I went into the new Virgin shop near me, then said i should email about asking if there going to cable the area soon. Im still yet to do it, but if any one wants the email, its [email protected]/.co.uk The guy couldnt remeber which one, so just send an email to both :thumb:





virgin media said:


> No one in your street or block can get Virgin, but they can on the next road down.
> 
> If the answer is yes, drop us an email to [email protected] with your name, full address & contact number (optional). This may take us a few weeks as we need to complete an in-depth survey & may need to wait for the local authority to respond to an enquiry. We will let you know as soon as we can.


SOURCE - http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Fibre-optic-broadband-cable/Want-Cable-been-told-it-s-not-available-We-might-be-able-to-help/m-p/20585


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