I Have To Vent My Virgin Media Anger

Thesnipergecko · 30 Jun 2009 at 20:34

Where do I start. Firstly I recently phoned up to upgrade to their 50meg broadband, (I previously had 20meg) when I tried to book the upgrade I was told I couldn't because I wasn't the account holder. (which I am).

They had got the name on the account wrong! and I would have to phone customer services to get this changed. So I phoned up customer services and expalined I wanted 50meg but couldn't because the account information was incorrect and I needed to change the name. 5 minutes later after some security questions they "changed" the name on the account.

I then proceeded to order 50meg and chose my installation date. I bartered with them for quite some time to get a free install and pay the same price for the broadband as I already was. So thats FREE installation and £35 a month for 50meg broadband. "Yes sir, we can do that".

Install day comes around, engineer turns up and installs 50meg for me, when I say install I mean he swapped the modem over and left me with an unsecured wireless network and a speedtest.net tested broadband connection.

Later that evening I though I would grab a few demo from off Usenet. Downloaded 2-3 gig and then the connection grinded to a slow crawl. No problem I thought, just teething problems. So I rebooted the modem and off it went again. 500-600meg later, slowed down again.

Phoned up customer services and booked a techie to come out and look at the problem. The techie that came out was a complete numpty. Ran speedtest.net a few times and said the problem must be with my computer because speeds from the CAB back to the data centre were fine. So he left it at that and left.

Now I tried the connection on a Laptop from work, a Laptop of my own, another system of my own and my PS3. You guessed it! The connection was still slow.

Slow to the point of my PS3 not even being able to sign in to Playstation Network.

Getting fed up with Technical Support from India, I seeked advice on these forums and ended up getting in touch with Techies via the Virgin Media newsgroups. After posting many modem stats to them they rebooked another Engineer to come out.

All of these problems are still on going and the network technicians still say there is no problem with the line. However, there is hope! The new techie that came around (Paul) his name is. What a godsend! He's been the most helpful person I have ever come across. He has been investigating and trying to get the network techies to check outthe line but they just won't because the speed from the cab back to the data centre is fine!

Paul is dropping in to see me again this Thursday, he popped in on Monday too, while I was at work to do a quick test of the connection and suprise suprise the connection was bottlenecking at around 10meg.

He is going to have a sit down with me on Thursday with his own laptop to try and figure out whats going wrong. He also gave me his mobile number in case I ever needed to contact a techie! What a guy, he deserves a medal!

Oh my! I hear you say.....

Today I received the bill through the post :eek:

The name on the account had been changed back to what it was previously!

Can you guess what charges are on the account? You probably guessed right!

£50 installation/activation.
£52! XXL Broadband! even though we have top TV package and a Phone Line!!
£10.33 Partial Months Service too! (half a month of 20meg BB)

So I phone up customer services to get the name on the account changed again, but this time things are different! Because the name has been wrong for longer than 2 years I have to write a letter to the Swansea department with Proof of ID to get it changed. (This wasn't the case when I wanted to order more services).

I also asked about the charges for the installation and broadband, because I don't have it in writing there is not a thing I can do about the fee's. I HAVE to pay them. I was blatently lied to on the phone when ordering the upgrade. The name on the account never got changed! and to top it all off because I upgraded my 28 day grace period does not entitle me to get a refund for the installation!

I then phoned up the Billing department, just to confirm that what I had been told was true, and yes I do have to send proof of ID in writing to get the name on the account changed.

I also asked about the on going problem with the broadband and wanted to know why I should pay for a service that they are not providing. I was told I would be discounted for the loss of service... GOOD!!!

However, they cannot refund me any service charges yet as the problem has not yet been rectified! So I am paying full price for a shoddy service and have to continue paying full price for a shoddy service untill the problems are fixed, which up untill now Virgin are not even admitting there is a problem!

HELP ME BEFORE I GO CLINICALLY INSANE!

yashiro · 30 Jun 2009 at 20:40

And to top it off it's your fault for trying to upgrade and feed your warez habit.

There's been quite a few people with similar issues to yourself. You'll either have to keep at them to sort it out or just go back to 20Mb.

stokecity_m · 30 Jun 2009 at 20:47

so the bills aren't in your name?

Don't pay them then.

Thesnipergecko · 30 Jun 2009 at 20:53

I had thought about "Return To Sender Not Known At This Address" but the direct debit is setup in the right name. it's the name on the bills that are wrong!

@vashiro

I'm a web developer and the upload helps a lot when uploading large files. Which is the main reason for upgrading.

Phobia_mp3 · 30 Jun 2009 at 21:42

Never liked virgin, always had issues with my internet and their customer service.

Caged · 30 Jun 2009 at 22:35

If VM told you one thing and charged another (and you pay via Direct Debit) then that's a massive no-no as far as your bank are concerned - it's one of the founding rules of the whole DD thing.

Phone your bank and explain, they will refund you the money and take it back from VM, then someone who knows what they are doing will be contacted by the bank and have to sort it all out for you

yashiro · 30 Jun 2009 at 22:41

I'm a web developer and the upload helps a lot when uploading large files. Which is the main reason for upgrading.

Surrrre.

Richiev4 · 30 Jun 2009 at 22:48

Edit you post slightly and put in in a letter to the complaints dept, something in writing is harder to ignore.

Rich

Caged · 30 Jun 2009 at 22:48

Thesnipergecko said:
I'm a web developer and the upload helps a lot when uploading large files. Which is the main reason for upgrading.

Should have got Be/O2 Pro

Schizo · 30 Jun 2009 at 23:01

Richiev4 said:
Edit you post slightly and put in in a letter to the complaints dept, something in writing is harder to ignore.

Rich

i wrote a letter when i had v/m.

what happened was a sale's person told me i could have 10meg for £30 (a while ago now).

everything was good and i was getting 10 meg and the install was painless.

when i got my 1st bill i was charged £35 for my 10 meg,i refused to pay them on the understanding i was quoted £30 from a v/m sale's man.

this went on for 5 week's and they cut me off in the end and sent me a red letter with a bill for 2 month's.

i wrote a stinking letter to the complaints department venting my anger at this sale's lie and to cut a long story short i got my 2 month's bill paid and my b/d for £30 with a £50 sorry cheque.

mind you....i did swear a lot in the letter and was rather rude but it worked and got what i was promised.

so....write a stinking letter to them and see where that gets you.

real · 30 Jun 2009 at 23:12

As I just posted in another thread:

Upon seeking advice from Virgin Media customer services or technical support on any issue you should always expect and prepare for the total opposite to happen.

As others have said you should write a strong letter of complaint. I'd be tempted to refuse to pay any future bills/stop the DD and state your intention to move to another service provider unless the charges are refunded.

morkfromork · 30 Jun 2009 at 23:58

I must be one of the lucky ones. I had two blokes install mine and they where here for at least an hour and a half. Did a good job and i've not had any problems. That said if i was you i would right a really snotty letter to both customer services and the customer service director. If normally works when you go higher as they don't want to be bothered with the hassle of a customer conacting them. I would keep writing until you get a reply from said director.

Jabbs · 1 Jul 2009 at 07:54

I had a few issues with mine for a week but since its been great, its new so will have teething issues it was the same when 20m came out first and that turned out to be great since i had it.

I've been with vm for 18 months now and i can't say anything bad about them, customer services have been good to me on the few occasions i have called them and the service is great also, why do people always say you should have gone with Be/02 what happens if you live so far from the exchange the best you can hope for is 10 meg or something does my head in.

Phobia_mp3 · 1 Jul 2009 at 08:01

Jabbs said:
I had a few issues with mine for a week but since its been great, its new so will have teething issues it was the same when 20m came out first and that turned out to be great since i had it.

I've been with vm for 18 months now and i can't say anything bad about them, customer services have been good to me on the few occasions i have called them and the service is great also, why do people always say you should have gone with Be/02 what happens if you live so far from the exchange the best you can hope for is 10 meg or something does my head in.

Been with virgin for many months now and with not having cable they just don't seem to care about you.

biron_w · 1 Jul 2009 at 09:28

Just ring,or write to them,telling them that you are going to leave because they aren't providing you a service which you are paying for.Also inform them you will be contacting trading standards(or whoever) about the service they aren't providing.
Then go with somebody decent.Like be* or o2.

strumpusplunket · 1 Jul 2009 at 09:43

Ahhh, so familiar. So much of my life was lost waiting to speak to the muppets on the VM helplines. My blood pressure and general disposition towards the world has improved immeasurably since I switched to Be*

And it's BS about not being able to refund you until the problem is rectified. I had an offer to have free b/b until they solved my connection issues, but since they couldn't give a date for the fix beyond "maybe June" (this was in February!) I left (fortunately was out of the tie-in period, but it shows they can do it).

Admiral Huddy · 1 Jul 2009 at 09:54

Breaking the trend here but i wouldn't go anywhere else other than Virgin. Never had any problems since their takeover of blueyonder.

I've called them three times in the past five years, once for my BB and the other two for my V+ box and one of them was just the other day. On both occasions I've had no problems and they sent out an engineer within days.

Conversely, when I deal with ADSL problems for clients, trying to establish the root and ownership of a problem can be a nightmare. The provider blame BT and BT blame the provider. BT engineer are very reluctant to send out an engineer unless you've passed through at least 3 levels of support, and even then you pay. One chap I was dealing with had no internet for 3 months. It turned out the BT hadn't updated their records of a recent change made by the customer and cut him off, but it took hours worth of telephone calls and visits to establish this. I talked him into going virgin.

Speaking of which, i have only one recorded customer with a cable internet problem in the past 2 years.

Jabbs · 1 Jul 2009 at 10:06

^ says it all for me exactly the quality service i have got from VM, 2 calls for problems with a V+ box and a standard one and both occasions engineers came out the same day and sorted them.

Few niggles with 50mb upgrade in the first week, 2 calls to the uk based 50mb number and they solved them, and hitting 6300 kb/s download happy chap for now, my personal experience they get 10/10 guess i live in a good area.

Kriist · 1 Jul 2009 at 10:22

It's all circumstantial. i'v had friends move into an area that has had stable VM cable for years and not have a problem, and known of people moving to fairly new areas i.e. cable recently installed in the area, and have major problems and vice versa. VM look like they do good deals, so they are always a viable option.

cync · 1 Jul 2009 at 11:47

Heh state of this country. You are complaining though? you don't understand the stress I have!

I pay 29.99 a month (12 month contract) and 14.99 for the phone line. The phone line is the "minimum" package. I have 4 meg ADSL2 with 75gb pcm transfer. It only does about 50 kb/s at peak if i'm lucky. I have no alternative despite living in a highly populated, modern and non-deprived area.

If I were to move closer to the exchange I could have 24 meg. But it would still do under 1 meg at peak. This is on their "top" package.

As I pay for Sky also my costs are around £90 a month. I would sell organs to have VM. Even if they abused me like they have you and it was only 5 meg. I grew up with NTL 600k. It was faster than my internet now. Suicidewatchface