Virgin Media Discussion Thread

Avathar77 said:
I cancelled my VM 1Gb BB only contract after it expired and went with community fibre 1Gb fttp a month or so ago and happy with it.
VM sent me the packaging and a mailing label for Yodel to return the hub 5 - which I did 2 weeks ago(within the 30 days they wanted me to return). The return package has not moved since 6th December and Yodel refusing to give me any details as it is not mine. But VM keeps sending me texts saying they have applied a £65 charge on my account(which doesn't exist) as the equipment is "not received by them". I called and asked what could I have done differently - to which they cant explain without reading from a script saying the charge will be taken off and any monies will be returned once the equipment is returned to them. I am struggling to understand how I am at fault here.
There is also no place to complain now that the account is expired!
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If they took it by direct debit get onto your bank, DD has protections and the bank should get your money back..
 
Mr Oxide said:
2nd time of late I got off the phone to VM as my contract expires mid January.

So I asked them if they could do me a better deal than the £42 offering on the website that I already pay for the measly M125. Yes, I've been lazy and reluctant up to now to move.

The Idiot comes back with a deal that is £4 more @ £46... Eye rolling moment so I said I know your game. High ball so I pay the £42 and I just ended the call.

I've had a couple of calls today with a chap from BRSK as my Landlord wanted some information how the install works and what would happen , which is fair. Run their cabling through the existing BT ducting and run it up the wall and hole in wall and install their gear.

My landlord has given me the go ahead but I'll have to wait a bit longer to pull the trigger as end of December isn't the best time for the current install date. I'll leave it a few days and try for the 3rd of Jan. I'll likely do it first thing on Monday.

VM retention's are beyond comprehension. All they had to do was offer me £5 lower a month and I'd likely have been lazy and be staying.
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This is what they did with me, it's bizarre. I told them up front:
  • I only want the broadband connection, don't bother offering me TV packages, I don't watch TV and I don't use the phone line
  • Vodafone are offering £28pm for 500mb FTTP with no installation fee. Get close to that and I'll stay.
They just kept coming back offering £40-odd pm with a big TV package or revert to an eye-watering £70pm for 350mb broadband!

I've been on the Vodafone package for 4 days now - installation was a breeze, I'm using my own router (so didn't need to bugger about setting up smart speakers / lighting etc. again) and it's veeeeeery fast and stable.
 
Virgin ideally don't want any single-service customers, it's why buying broadband gets you a phone service that you won't use, or you have to get an O2 SIM that you throw in a drawer to get an acceptable broadband speed for the price. If you already have TV it's almost impossible to get a good retention deal without keeping it.
 
Hi all, my VM M250 contract is coming to an end in Feb, which means the usual 'negotiations' call. I am interested in upgrading to 1gig this time round. What kind of price should I be aiming/hoping for?

Also, I understand that if I go to 1gig, I will get a hub 5 to replace my hub 3. Is the Wi-Fi strength any better with this version? At the moment I have my hub 3 in bridge mode connected to a Netgear Orbi mesh system to improve signal upstairs.

Thanks.
 
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So that's likely CityFibre (check your house on the CityFibre website). Assuming it comes back offering Vodafone that is the price that I'd try and get out of Virgin.
 
Caged said:
So that's likely CityFibre (check your house on the CityFibre website). Assuming it comes back offering Vodafone that is the price that I'd try and get out of Virgin.
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I just did a search on the CityFibre website and my postcode does come up with a whole list of providers, inc. Vodafone. Then when I link to the Vodafone website it says that I am in a full fibre area. I thought the only options for non-ADSL broadband at my address were either Virgin Media or the new Lit Fibre. What is CityFibre? Is it a FFTP network that any of these providers can use?

EDIT: I just did some reading and it looks like CityFibre acquired Lit Fibre: https://cityfibre.com/news/cityfibre-completes-its-acquisition-of-lit-fibre

I've been so out of the loop! So, I guess I could consider Vodafone too?
 
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Capitano said:
Ah thanks for letting me know, so if a connection comes in via coax is there a way I can change to fibre or is that just now feasible currently?

I have a dumb switch thats 10gb but I guess its a bit pointless at the minute
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If you have local 10Gb devices that need to move data between themselves, then it’s certainly not pointless - I have two servers set-up doing exactly that (generally it’s more like 8GB/s with multiple transfers). What it won’t do is magically improve your download/upload beyond the profile speed you pay VM for.

The whole network is being upgraded to fibre, but as with any national build, it’s going to take years and a lot of money, and likely more of both than was anticipated at the time. We still have to put up with RFoG for years after that till they can transition the TV side to IP, which is even more complicated due to licensing changes being required with each channel provider, and some preferring to sell services direct to end users now, rather than take pennys per subscriber from resellers like Sky/VM. This is the reason both Sky and VM can’t offer the full range of channels via streaming services that they do via conventional sat/cable.
 
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Avalon said:
If you have local 10Gb devices that need to move data between themselves, then it’s certainly not pointless - I have two servers set-up doing exactly that (generally it’s more like 8GB/s with multiple transfers). What it won’t do is magically improve your download/upload beyond the profile speed you pay VM for.

The whole network is being upgraded to fibre, but as with any national build, it’s going to take years and a lot of money, and likely more of both than was anticipated at the time. We still have to put up with RFoG for years after that till they can transition the TV side to IP, which is even more complicated due to licensing changes being required with each channel provider, and some preferring to sell services direct to end users now, rather than take pennys per subscriber from resellers like Sky/VM. This is the reason both Sky and VM can’t offer the full range of channels via streaming services that they do via conventional sat/cable.
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well explained, I understand this better now!

I guess the real question is, how fast can a connection get through coax? I mean ive seen up to 2.5GB which is great, but is it possible to get 5gb? I guess anything beyond that is pointless but im thinking more from a futureproof perspective
 
There may be future development with with DOCSIS but it's irrelevant for you - Virgin Media are not going to bother pushing their copper network any further, and their focus is now with fibre.
 
Caged said:
There may be future development with with DOCSIS but it's irrelevant for you - Virgin Media are not going to bother pushing their copper network any further, and their focus is now with fibre.
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There was talk of doing the upstream upgrade, but like the Gig1 roll out, it needed a physical hardware change on each cab. As they have now satisfied the government criteria for ‘gigabit broadband’ with the previous upstream boost, I can’t see the point in doing anything else on the HFC side, last I read they were at 4m properties on fibre, the rest are supposed to be done by 2028 and most people ‘buy’ broadband based on headline speed. Of course, I could be wrong and they may decide it’s worth it, but I doubt it.
 
Caged said:
Virgin ideally don't want any single-service customers, it's why buying broadband gets you a phone service that you won't use, or you have to get an O2 SIM that you throw in a drawer to get an acceptable broadband speed for the price. If you already have TV it's almost impossible to get a good retention deal without keeping it.
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Honestly, yes. The logic (and I argued against this point unsuccessfully for years) was that more services looks better on the end of year reports, and the commission structure was all based around moving everyone from solus to triple/quad play. The more services a customer had, the more potential revenue that could be generated and people got paid for that. The reality was things like TV and landline services have a cost to install, maintain and service, the hardware wasn’t cheap and the install cost us money, but in a world where people are financially remunerated based on results, and that was how they measured them, nobody was willing to listen. I mean these were the same people who just stopped booking disconnections for a few weeks to fudge the churn figures year after year, so you can see how welcome logic was in the discussion.
 
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Someone with credibility has mentioned a big reason project Mustang has no live areas yet is VM's billing system, they havent figured a way to get it to work with FTTP in DOCSIS areas. As Mustang work is under way currently. (Mustang is the project to build XGS-PON infrastructure in DOCSIS areas).

Ironically my localised GPON congestion is pushing my deviation higher than it ever was under Gig1. Albeit only for small periods of the day.
 
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Avalon said:
Honestly, yes. The logic (and I argued against this point unsuccessfully for years) was that more services looks better on the end of year reports, and the commission structure was all based around moving everyone from solid to triple/quad play. The more services a customer had, the more potential revenue that could be generated and people got paid for that. The reality was things like TV and landline services have a cost to install, maintain and service, the hardware wasn’t cheap and the install cost us money, but in a world where people are financially remunerated based on results, and that was how they measured them, nobody was willing to listen. I mean these were the same people who just stopped booking disconnections for a few weeks to fudge the churn figures year after year, so you can see how welcome logic was in the discussion.
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I could see that logic in full flow during my retentions call.

I was offered £80-90 price range (cant remember exact now) to stay as I was which was 500mbit boosted to 1 gig with O2. This would have had no cost to VM, as equipment was here up and running. I was already provisioned, just an adjustment on my bill.

I was also offered for £40-50 price range, gig1 boosted to 1 gig with O2, and a TV package, this had additional costs, which would involve TV equipment, provisioning of new service as well. Yet despite this, they would sell it to me for less.

Their logic never considered the cost of losing me as a customer, it would mean zero revenue. The worst out of the 3 scenarios. A 4th scenario would have kept the revenue stream going with the only thing would need to do is a billing adjustment. That was to leave me going on the same deal they were offering to some other customers. I would have accepted circa £35 a month for 500m boosted to gigabit with O2 sim. They were capable of offering it as some were getting it. For reference they lost the O2 revenue as I cancelled the sim not long after service was terminated.

To me logic is if you are prepared to offer someone a price to keep them as a customer, then you should offer it to everyone who is in the same circumstances. As otherwise you run the risk of people talking to each other about their deals, and people leaving because they dont get access to the same pricing, and I expect VM have had a fair bit of churn for these reasons, and I also wonder how much money they have lost forcing services down peoples throats that they have no interest in because as you said the obsession with multi play.

If no one gets these retention deals, aka everyone is treated the same, then people like me would be less likely to leave, as indeed I pay AAISP much more than I paid for my new customer price on VM, but because I know its the same for every AAISP customer, it is ok.
 
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chrcoluk said:
I could see that logic in full flow during my retentions call.

I was offered £80-90 price range (cant remember exact now) to stay as I was which was 500mbit boosted to 1 gig with O2. This would have had no cost to VM, as equipment was here up and running. I was already provisioned, just an adjustment on my bill.

I was also offered for £40-50 price range, gig1 boosted to 1 gig with O2, and a TV package, this had additional costs, which would involve TV equipment, provisioning of new service as well. Yet despite this, they would sell it to me for less.

Their logic never considered the cost of losing me as a customer, it would mean zero revenue. The worst out of the 3 scenarios. A 4th scenario would have kept the revenue stream going with the only thing would need to do is a billing adjustment. That was to leave me going on the same deal they were offering to some other customers. I would have accepted circa £35 a month for 500m boosted to gigabit with O2 sim. They were capable of offering it as some were getting it. For reference they lost the O2 revenue as I cancelled the sim not long after service was terminated.

To me logic is if you are prepared to offer someone a price to keep them as a customer, then you should offer it to everyone who is in the same circumstances. As otherwise you run the risk of people talking to each other about their deals, and people leaving because they dont get access to the same pricing, and I expect VM have had a fair bit of churn for these reasons, and I also wonder how much money they have lost forcing services down peoples throats that they have no interest in because as you said the obsession with multi play.

If no one gets these retention deals, aka everyone is treated the same, then people like me would be less likely to leave, as indeed I pay AAISP much more than I paid for my new customer price on VM, but because I know its the same for every AAISP customer, it is ok.
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They would do better from a purely business perspective to ditch retentions offers altogether, flat rate prices to in contract and out of contract at +20%, and throw a loyalty % in for additional years each customer sticks with them. You not only drastically cut the number of calls in for retention offers (notice how people often ring multiple times?) but don't have the retentions spend, which per advisor is horrific year on year, you can then prune the head count and honestly, it would be a better system. The downside is whoever suggests that will not be popular.
 
[HB]Rugrat said:
This is what they did with me, it's bizarre. I told them up front:
  • I only want the broadband connection, don't bother offering me TV packages, I don't watch TV and I don't use the phone line
  • Vodafone are offering £28pm for 500mb FTTP with no installation fee. Get close to that and I'll stay.
They just kept coming back offering £40-odd pm with a big TV package or revert to an eye-watering £70pm for 350mb broadband!

I've been on the Vodafone package for 4 days now - installation was a breeze, I'm using my own router (so didn't need to bugger about setting up smart speakers / lighting etc. again) and it's veeeeeery fast and stable.
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I'm still shaking my head at Virgin. They said on phone about being £4 more than prior to my call and updated it as £2 more on the website. They really are amusing.

BRSK haven't got back to me yet so no news is good news, but my flat is 2nd floor and quite high up so expecting issues to arise.

and begs the question from anyone that can answer. Can they(BRSK) run the fiber cable from my flat to where it is being connected rather than where it is connected to my flat? This looks like what Nynex would have done back in the day with regards to this flat, I'm assuming with how their cable isn't secured really high up.
 
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Would there be any reason not to have a Hub 5 mounted horizontally? It’s in modem mode. Maybe ventilation but it doesn’t seem like it gets that warm. Was thinking of getting a tray or cable organiser that’s big enough and mounting it under the desk.
 
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