Virgin Media - lying scums - any further actions I can take???

pc-guy

pc-guy

pc-guy

Soldato
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29 May 2005
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Right story is, I switched over to VM (Virgin Media) from BT infinity cause I liked the Virgin's TV package and the ability to record some of the HD channel which BT doesn't let you record, namely the Data channels.

Long story short, switched over yesterday, and immediately I noticed the web pages were loading very slow. So I did a few speed tests, the initially results varied from 30mbs to 20mbs. Not too much of a fuss as I only signed up for 50mbs. but an hour into usage, the hub resetted itself then my net speed properly dropped. I have been getting no higher than 5mbs and is pretty solid at 3mbs.

So I called VM, and the first tech guy told me there is an outage in the area and it will be fixed in 4 hours and everything will be fine. So I checked the service status, there was nothing. So I waited 4 hours, I checked speed and it was the same lame speed. Then called, another tech guy said, yes there is a problem. But it is not an outage, the slow speed is due to high utilisation in the area. When i asked multiple times when it will be fixed, the guy said at earliest end of April 2015!!!

Naturally I couldn't believe what i was hearing. Now for everyone this is shocking, but to me this isn't the first time. 2 and half years ago, i had the very same problem with VM and that time the same excuses of outage was played to me over a period of 2 weeks, until I was told the truth that the "high utlisation" was the problem and it wasn't going to be fixed for at least 9 months.

My reasons for the title of this is that 1) I have been lied to in the face by a tech guy, trying to prolong my wait for a resolution 2) I have been lied to when I signed up to the services by their website as the problem of utilisation has been around for over two and half years

So my natural end effect is to swtich services as soon as I can. But if knew virgin wasn't going to live up then I probably would have stayed with BT as I was getting decent speeds (70mbs DL/40mbs UL). As the result of the switch I am out of pocket due to BT charging compensatory charges. and the switch service is going to be another pain in the back side as i have to make time for the engineer to come and install etc.

Other than the financial disadvantages and the inconvenience I have to suffer, surely what VM is doing here is defrauding new customers. Is there further actions I can take such as raise the issue with Ofcom or etc?

in case anyone is interested, my area is N16 post code, however I am on the border of N1, N4, N5 and E5.
 
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Just cancel the contract and move on, that will have more of an impact on the company than any complaints process you want to pursue.

I think it's unacceptable that they are happy to sign people up in areas they know full well are over capacity (and that they think anything longer than a month to resolve is reasonable) but that's how they roll unfortunately.

Unfortunately the procedure of knowing something is wrong and getting front line support to play a smoke-and-mirrors game to delay the customer is all too common.

For what it's worth a few areas of N16 have FTTP on Demand available, if regular FTTC wasn't cutting it for you.
 
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not exactly fluent with the technical lingo, whats FTTP on demand and whats FTTC.

out of all other services, they all seem to lease BT's openreach network. Sky has a decent TV package and recording system

There is also pulsnet, which I believe provides a good service
 
FerretBoy said:
Are you sure it isn't 5MB/s? Seems unlikely congestion should have such an effect. With VM I've always got a little more than advertised...
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nope, it is definitely 5mbs as my download speed was around 400KB/s and streaming from amazon instant (HD) was choppy and stuttering
 
I recently switched from BT infinity to VM fiber because I moved house and infinity wasn't available at the new house. Initially it was fine, but after about a week it drops so low that I can't even stream youtube or twitch at low res.

Still really busy with moving house stuff so I haven't had a chance to follow it up but I think after christmas, if it hasn't improved, I'm going to get in touch.
 
They are frustrating in the way they will let more people sign up to areas with utilisation issues. It won't be sorted in April, it will more likely be July! I would bail now, or possibly drop the internet and keep the TV with infinity for your broadband.

When I first moved in utilisation was poor in my area but it was generally usable, it didn't get better for 6 months and now its rock solid apart from odd outages. Infinity has just rolled down my road but at the moment VM is great for me.
 
Personally I'd wait as switching again, especially this time of year is going to result in more problems. It goes without saying that they are extremely busy this time of year.

If you complain what you'll get to start with is a discount for X months, if you keep at it you might get some compensation but honestly it isn't worth the time and energy. If however you want to go this route, I'd strongly suggest documenting everything, using some of the contact details that are posted online for the CEO and other higher ups. There are plenty of websites that document these contact details, you are much more likely to get a positive result rather than going through the usual CS monkeys.

Have you thought about just cancelling just the internet connection from Virgin and getting it from BT? That way you have the best of both worlds, might cost a bit more per month but if you want the better TV package it would seem like a good option.
 
I am thinking of going back to BT as my 2 and half years of service with BT was flawless other than the fact that BT promised me that my infinity was going to be in 6 month after my contract but it arrived 12 month after...

I think all of you are right, just bail out. I need to find out from BT when they can reconnect me again. I think last time it was a 2 week wait. this time of the year I may not be connected till new year. I may have to cope with Virgin's crap service...so frustrating.

Also got off the phone with Virgin customer relations earlier. while the guy saying he is sumpathetic, he offered nothing in return other than a £10/month discount. then I promptly replied that 1) my internet is complete BS and I cannot use it 2) the TV recording probably not gonna work due to the high utilisation 3) VM has cost me money in switching. So a 10/month discount till April is simply pathetic.
 
virgin media

hi mate, i have had more issues with vm than anything, i have put up with their high utilisation for 5 years. i am now on 152meg and most nights only get anywhere between 1meg and 90meg, i have had no end of conversations with vm tech support and engineers and they tell me that virgin are selling a product that they cannot suply and is false advertising.
i would love to move but there is nobody else that suplys fiber where i live. i think if i added up all the refunds they have given me over these years i would say i have been given money. i really would not reccomend virgin media to anybody
 
You left VM due to them having high utilisation issues and now you have gone back and are surprised they have high utilisation issues?

No ISP will ever over provision bandwidth, it's always a constant balancing act of ensuring there isn't enough by a reasonable margin.

I'd read your contract to be fair, I think Virgin is sold as BT lines are so its an "up to" product so they aren't actually doing anything wrong by themselves.

It's a bad situation to be in but if you have a "cool off" period then tell VM to go away and go back to a DSL provider.
 
Steveocee said:
I'd read your contract to be fair, I think Virgin is sold as BT lines are so its an "up to" product so they aren't actually doing anything wrong by themselves.
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I'd say the "up to" get-out clause is void as soon as they admit there's a congestion problem and aren't planning to fix it for 5 months. But I am not a lawyer.
 
Yes, I do have a cooling off period.

Yes, it does say upto, but I think i was also promised minimum speed at sign up.

Also VM admitted that they have a technical problem and so far not used the "upto" as get out clause.

The issue is I am trying to switch as I now know VM isn't going to fix the line at all. if you would have they could have done it in the 2.5 years I have been using BT. But switching so soon back to BT is a pain. and being so close to xmas, I may have to live with no internet for 2-3 weeks.
 
These big ISP's build their contracts to suit themselves. You will probably find that there is no guaranteed "fix" time for faults and as you are not completely hard down you may end up finding your fault deprioritised.

The fact they they can see over utilisation is a good start but ISP's buying more bandwidth is a painful process and believe me they really don't want to do it.

I feel quite bad for OP
 
Personally I'd get on the horn. It sounds more like a fault specific to your connection/modem than over-utilisation. By that I mean, if over-utilisation was such a problem in your area that people are getting 10% of the package speed, then I'm pretty sure it would be in Virgins interest to fix it ASAP.

I'm not an expert though so I don't know whether over-utilisation causes speeds to drop for everyone (I assume this is the case) or just certain people.

Have you spoken to retentions to try and get an engineer visit?

Just for reference, I'm on the 50Mb package in an over-utilised area full of students and I still get 55Mb most of the time.
 
Is the slow speed all the time? If so it won't be a congestion problem.
 
MichaelAwkward said:
Personally I'd get on the horn. It sounds more like a fault specific to your connection/modem than over-utilisation. By that I mean, if over-utilisation was such a problem in your area that people are getting 10% of the package speed, then I'm pretty sure it would be in Virgins interest to fix it ASAP.
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Unlikely. It often takes many months for VM to fix over utilisation issues. 6-12 months isn't uncommon.

MichaelAwkward said:
Just for reference, I'm on the 50Mb package in an over-utilised area full of students and I still get 55Mb most of the time.
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55Mb most of the time doesn't sound like you're suffering from poor performance. Where's your BQM? ;)

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/ping
 
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