Forum Topic

Virgin media

We are considering a switch to Virgin Media for TV (maybe broadband and telephone also) but have heard mixed reviews.  Anyone got any experience of them?

Philippe Bruyer ● 5127d39 Comments

Re  Anyone got any experience of them?  wouldn't touch them with a bargepole. Know of so many people who have immense trouble with both Tv, telephone and broadband, and Virgin ain't swift in rectifying the  problems. Plus the  damage they do to the brickwork of the building is wicked, which they  are reluctant to repair, if at all, and if you cancel they will not remove the wiring but leave it to you to do. The decision is yours, but I know what I would do.

Tony Price ● 5127d

I've had TV from them for years without problem. Added broadband and phone over a year ago; no problems with those either.

Susan Kelly ● 5127d

Re  no problems with those either.           xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx      good, let's hope it stays that way for you, but I have several friends who can't wait till their contracts end so they can ditch them. Hang on in there. Btw, do they issue  Telephone Directories like BT do?.

Tony Price ● 5127d

Ask the same question on the http://www.chiswickw4.com forum (or do a search on Virgin Media Broadband Problems)

Chris Bell ● 5127d

I have heard that HD TV supplied by Virgin Media is the correct picture definition but at only half the standard frame rate so as to halve the amount of data sent.

Chris Bell ● 5127d

I had an awful experience with them. Dreadful service (never turning up for appointments, awful online and on the phone), poor quality product, long periods of downtime when either the phone or Internet wouldn't work ... And once having 'fixed the problem' they re-directed all our phone calls to our neighbour -we had theirs- and took a week to sort it out.  When BT came around to reinstall their broadband and phone they said Virgin had simply run their wiring onto the BT box which was incompatible.

Jeremy Thorpe-Woods ● 5127d

Re  Virgin had simply run their wiring onto the BT box which was incompatible.            xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx      yet they trumpet re using fibre-optics!!. and the only ones to do so.

Tony Price ● 5127d

They have been using fibre to their cabinet and the cheapest possible co-ax to the premises, the old co-ax is rotting in the ground. Until recently BT were prohibited from using fibre to the cabinet or the premises by the government "in order to promote competition".

Chris Bell ● 5127d

I wish I'd seen this thread before. I've signed up for the whole package with Virgin - TV, phone and broadband and it's going to be installed on Tuesday. Fingers crossed. I'm a bit nervous now.

Manish Madan ● 5127d

Dont you have a cooling off period before its actually installed?

Sara Nathan ● 5127d

Re  and the cheapest possible co-ax to the premises,            xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx which presumably negates any advantage of the fibre optic used up to the point of their cabinets, the doors of which nearly always seem to be left open to the elements

Tony Price ● 5127d

I wouldn't worry, Manish. Tony, why on earth would I want a telephone directory? I can look anything or anybody I want to up on the Net.

Susan Kelly ● 5127d

Assuming you still have access to the internet. According to the Chiswickw4.com forum many subscribers lost their connections just before the start of the Olympics and then received many missed promises about when they would be re-connected.

Chris Bell ● 5127d

I've been with Virgin for an internet connection (dial up, then broadband) for about 15 years with only occasional minor problems. Have considered moving phone to them as well (for purely financial reasons) but nostalgically still cling to BT for that, which really doesn't make sense... TV (Freeview plus PVR) is perfectly reasonable without recourse to either.

Lorna Dodd ● 5126d

Re    it's going to be installed on Tuesday.          xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  may I suggest you keep an eye on the drilling in the walls, which they usually manage to damage on the outside as they drill  out from the inside, and the surface of the outer bricks often get damaged as a result.

Tony Price ● 5126d

Re  anybody I want to up on the Net.          xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx oh that's good news, what is the link etc to use ( does  presuppose  of course that when you need to find a number, you have access to the internet? ) Is there a Yellow Pages version?

Tony Price ● 5126d

"which they usually manage to damage on the outside as they drill  out from the inside"Usually?  Just how much experience of Virgin Media do you have, Tony? I've been with Virgin Media and their predecessors for about 15 years, and generally I'm a satisfied customer.  I would say that their customer service is not as good as it was in the old days, but still adequate in my experience, and a lot better than BT when I last had the misfortune to need them.Re telephone directories, we are a non-BT Virgin Media household but we still get the BT directory delivered, as well as Yellow Pages and Thomson, but hardly ever look at them.  Online I use ukphonebook.com for directory enquiries, or Google or occasionally yell.com for Yellow Pages-type searches.

Richard Jennings ● 5126d

I got fed up of problems with BT internet and decided to go with the Virgin fibre optic broadband. It was installed two weeks ago and i have had no problems - speed is fabulous and the did a good installation job - no damage (they drilled from the outside) and they put the box and cable exactly where i wanted it.

Annie Hibbert ● 5126d

Nothing wring with BT DQ online either - and you dont need to be a customer - though I think you are limited to 10 queries a day. Generally enough!

Sara Nathan ● 5126d

"Nothing wrong with BT DQ online either"Ha! Just tried and got "This section of the site is currently experiencing technical problems. Please wait 30 seconds and re-try your search."So I waited about a minute and tried again - and again - and again.  It suggested that I could try btexchanges.com, which I did, and got "There was a technical error we have yet to identify".

Richard Jennings ● 5126d

Funnily enough I had them round this afternoon for a new V+ box and a new modem as they had both begun to wane - being about 7 years old.Anyway - the chap who came today couldn't have been more efficient or helpful if he'd tried. Also arrived 17 minutes into his allotted 3 hour window. Which was nice.I have always found Virgin quite good.

Daniel McCoy ● 5126d

Re  experience of Virgin Media do you have, Tony?         xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  quite a lot, and thanks for the links re internet directories.

Tony Price ● 5126d

Yes, there is a yellow pages (yell.com) and you can use BT.com to find residential or business numbers without being a subscriber. If you want a tradesman, you're better off asking for recommendations on here anyway.In any case, I was a BT user until a year ago and can't remember the last time they gave me directories, except for the Ealing one, which I don't use at all. They're a waste of paper and of space in my house.

Susan Kelly ● 5126d

How odd! I have never, ever had a problem with that site. With everything else to do with BT - yes of course. But not with directory enquiries.

Sara Nathan ● 5126d

We have been with Virgin Media for quite a number of years now, we have Broadband, TV, and Telephone. My husband liked the fact that we can ring 150 from the house phone and talk to someone if there are any problems. We have no complaints about their service. Years ago there were a few problems with the service but it seems OK now.Also was Virgin Media customers we now also get the 'Simply 8p' calls, texts etc on our mobile phones. We can ring one another for free, even from the land line. Previously calls with Orange were much more expensive on PAYG.Some years ago we were tempted to go back to Sky but the people who were doing the promotion in Ealing Broadway were  making all sorts of promises as to what we would get for the money.I had a fight to cancel and get a refund after installation problems and after discovering that the monthly charge would be much higher than originally quoted.I guess it all depends on the individual and what one expects from the provider.

Jean F Fernandez ● 5126d

Unfortunately most BT customers have to deal with BT Retail, not the BT Wholesale division who do the actual work. BT Wholesale are required to complete the job they were told to work on, but they are generally not authorized to do anything else, even if they were obviously given completely wrong instructions, such as the wrong pair of wires.

Chris Bell ● 5126d

Iv'e had the full package from Virgin for a number of years now and I can say that Iv'e had no problems with them at all.If asked, I would recommend going Virgin.

Dave Hughes ● 5125d

Have a look athttp://www.samknows.comhttp://www.comparebroadband.co.ukhttp://www.thinkbroadband.com

Chris Bell ● 5125d

So the Virgin media engineers have just been and gone. They turned up at 3 for a 1-6 pm slot. Not bad. In all, it took them about 1hr 45mins. The installation was fairly quick and painless. They installed things where I wanted them to. There were 2 of them, the younger guy was rather keen to just leave. When I said I'd like an extra access point for the phone, he was quick to point out that this hadn't been requested and I'll need a new appointment. When I said that's fine, just give me one access point, he again suggested 1) they couldn't do 2 points (I know! I just said it's fine) 2) It will cost extra and 3) I'll get a new appointment, perhaps a couple of weeks later and will have to stay in etc. Wasn't very impressed with his attitude. But the other guy, who seemed to be the senior one, was very helpful and well-spoken.The broadband speed using wi-fi averages 45 Mbps, which is a bit disappointing as I have signed up for XL which I was told would be close to 100 in my postcode. The engineer did say it'll take about 24 hrs to 'settle down'. I'm hoping that's true and not just some comfort talk.Haven't explored TV properly yet but will let you guys know how it goes.

Manish Madan ● 5125d

Not sure about the 'settling down', Manish. I don't see how that would work. But 45Mbps is really fast. What sort of box have you -- V+ or Tivo?

Susan Kelly ● 5125d

I have a TiVo and a V HD box. I just ran the speed test again and it's 13 Mbps. Forlorn and disappointed.

Manish Madan ● 5125d

Re  What sort of box have you -- V+ or Tivo?            xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx        I must say you girls are very au fait with these matters, I wouldn't even know how to do a speed test let alone the intricacies of the " box " itself. Very impressed.

Tony Price ● 5125d

Tony, only one of us is a girl ;-)

Manish Madan ● 5125d

Looks like Toni/Tony is having a melt down.  Must surely be a TiVo moment.

Nicola Howard ● 5124d

Here's your speed test:http://www.broadbandspeedchecker.co.uk/

Susan Kelly ● 5124d

Re  Here's your speed test:       xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx    thanks, will try it later.

Tony Price ● 5124d

You need to do speed tests at different times of day for extended times. My ADSL connection has just been re-routed and the maximum attainable rate reported by the modem is now 14407Kbps, (depends on the line attenuation), but limited by my contract agreement to up to 12Mbps and showing 11582Kbps down, 1274Kbps up. This does not mean that I will get those speeds in real data exchanges because that can be affected by congestion, while some ISPs are notorious for giving short bursts of very high data rates, which look good on a quick speed test, but very low for the rest of the time, and giving preference to some types of traffic at the expense of others. My firewall gives me the actual current rate information, plus daily, weekly, monthly, and annual traffic graphs showing the real data rates over time.http://www.ipcop.org

Chris Bell ● 5124d

Re  do speed tests at different times of day     xxxxxxxxxxxxxx  thanks Chris.

Tony Price ● 5124d

Was with NTL their predecessor after the dreadful Tiscali, and Virgin are much better. Any systems problems been addressed pretty quickly in my experience though W4 as mentioned did in parts seems to suffer badly around start of Olympics. The few times we needed to call out an engineer they were prompt per the booking and helpful, including replacing handset controls and set boxes in upgrading while there. I do the TV, Home phone and Super broadband package (which they are apparently upgrading in West London area free of charge currently) and seems good value still when ever I compare with other suppliers after the initial discount period has elapsed.

Joe Conneely ● 5121d