Virgin Media Discussion Thread

Funky-Melon said:
To update....

Took out a new package in my wife's name to get the discount then they miraculously call me the next day offering me a better package.
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johnny6 said:
Had the same this time round unwilling to get anywhere close to the ‘new customer deal’. Spoke to multiple people. ‘Best they could offer’ was £48.99 a month for the 1gig fibre (no other services)...
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I hate this song and dance. I know why they do it, but wish they wouldn't. I used to have this back in the day with Vodefone when trying to negotiate new mobile phone deals. Hated it then and certainly don't miss that about being on a SIM-only deal now.

We've been with VM since late 2017 when it rolled out to our area. Generally the service and reliability over the years has been good. Certainly better than BT were at this property with ADSL and then FTTC (Infinity). We did renew not that long ago on an 18-month deal and because of a minor mess-up with the order they did settle on £99 for 1Gig + Mega TV (all channels - TNT UHD ) + phone which felt a great deal. There is an increase in April for the final 6-months though. That said there was an offer online through the portal (not as good) which I could have accepted, but wanted to do the deal over the phone (which they then messed up the first time before correcting which saw retentions got involved).

When this deal expires I'm hoping the offer is available online to simplify this routine. Even if it's not as price competive as we get a lot of value from the service and reducing any 'faffing around would be nice. Ideally don't want to be cancelling the service if possible.

We can get FTTP in this area so we do have the option of moving, however we've since had a new paved driveway and I assume that any running cable under might be troublesome. Certainly when Virgin ran the cable to the house they cut through the old concrete path to do this. Not an issue then, but wouldn't be an option now.
 
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Timber said:
I hate this song and dance. I know why they do it, but wish they wouldn't. I used to have this back in the day with Vodefone when trying to negotiate new mobile phone deals. Hated it then and certainly don't miss that about being on a SIM-only deal now.

We've been with VM since late 2017 when it rolled out to our area. Generally the service and reliability over the years has been good. Certainly better than BT were at this property with ADSL and then FTTC (Infinity). We did renew not that long ago on an 18-month deal and because of a minor mess-up with the order they did settle on £99 for 1Gig + Mega TV (all channels - TNT UHD ) + phone which felt a great deal. There is an increase in April for the final 6-months though. That said there was an offer online through the portal (not as good) which I could have accepted, but wanted to do the deal over the phone (which they then messed up the first time before correcting which saw retentions got involved).

When this deal expires I'm hoping the offer is available online to simplify this routine. Even if it's not as price competive as we get a lot of value from the service and reducing any 'faffing around would be nice. Ideally don't want to be cancelling the service if possible.

We can get FTTP in this area so we do have the option of moving, however we've since had a new paved driveway and I assume that any running cable under might be troublesome. Certainly when Virgin ran the cable to the house they cut through the old concrete path to do this. Not an issue then, but wouldn't be an option now.
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To put VM ‘pricing’ into perspective. For 1gig fibre only. I’m really not interested in their other services so I get the whole ‘well if you add XYZ to your package we can give you bigger discounts’ argument at every renewal.

If I did nothing and allowed my contract to expire and just carry on paying them monthly the price was quoted as going up to £79.99 a month once my contact ended.

If I signed up to a new contract online through my account the quoted price was £44.99 a month

When I initially called them to push them on price the ‘best they could offer’ was £48.99 a month. So more than the online offer. (New customer dealer was £36.99 at the time)

Finally after I cancelled and completed their survey they said actually we can offer you 1gig fibre only for £34.99 a month.
 
ChrisD. said:
I get that, but you are rewarding a company who uses shady tactics regarding price increases and out of contract nonsense by deciding to renew with them.
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I also have over 10 years of solid reliable service from them. So notwithstanding them doing something stupid to the network in my area, I know the quality of the product I’m purchasing.

Are they perfect. Absolutely not, but what for profit company is?

Yes I could move to a city fibre provider and pay about the same price for about the same service and if the VM service deteriorates or they get silly with their pricing. I would move away from VM without a second thought. Or if I simply fancy getting 2.5gig speeds just for the poops and giggles, all whilst paying £65-70 a month city fibre would be the only option.

Do I wish there wasn’t the inevitable pricing song and dance. Absolutely. However in reality it’s 2 calls and maybe a survey, plus a threat to cancel. Which in all honesty is less time than moving to city fibre and being available for the installation of the new provider.
 
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johnny6 said:
I also have over 10 years of solid reliable service from them. So notwithstanding them doing something stupid to the network in my area, I know the quality of the product I’m purchasing.

Are they perfect. Absolutely not, but what for profit company is?

Yes I could move to a city fibre provider and pay about the same price for about the same service and if the VM service deteriorates or they get silly with their pricing. I would move away from VM without a second thought. Or if I simply fancy getting 2.5gig speeds just for the poops and giggles, all whilst paying £65-70 a month city fibre would be the only option.

Do I wish there wasn’t the inevitable pricing song and dance. Absolutely. However in reality it’s 2 calls and maybe a survey, plus a threat to cancel. Which in all honesty is less time than moving to city fibre and being available for the installation of the new provider.
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That's what people fail to realise in many cases, VM is made up of individual franchises and within them are multiple nodes, just being a street over can make all the difference. It's not perfect, upload can be a problem for some people based on usage, and fiber should always be better, but DOCSIS isn't awful (unless you are unlucky). Oh, and while CF's prices have increased, but it's more like £50/m for 2.5 symmetrical and £35 for 1Gb.
 
Recently helped my dad send back our Virgin Media equipment and the shop we dropped it off at has had a lot of Virgin Media returns since BRSK has gone live in our area. I found it quite amusing to be honest. The service we had with Virgin Media has been atrocious to say the least (increasing in severity since 2017), lag spikes, random disconnections, random reboots, etc. Sometimes there would be no issues whatsoever for months and then all of a sudden loads of issues again. Many people in my area complain about similar issues. Virgin Media has gone massively downhill since the early 2010s (the news article from early 2024 showing that they're the most complained about UK home internet company).
 
I have the Virgin 360 TV box and I'm finding it chews up batteries like no tomorrow. For example, Duracells might only last a week or two before giving up the ghost.

How long do batteries usually last for people and what brand / specific type of battery is being used?
 
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darael said:
I have the Virgin 360 TV box and I'm finding it chews up batteries like no tomorrow. For example, Duracells might only last a week or two before giving up the ghost.

How long do batteries usually last for people and what brand / specific type of battery is being used?
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They should last over a year or even a couple of years

Can’t remember last time I needed to change mine
 
I assume you mean the batteries in the remote?

I run a test lab where we use the same remote for an hour or more a day (continuous, not just selecting a channel and putting it down). Batteries last months or a year +

See if any buttons are stuck down.
 
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Ice Tea said:
I see that there is a new sign in process for all users that is causing a load of problems.
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Is this to the VM website? It’s been saying that my email address isn't a valid address for a few weeks now when trying to log in.

Still to call about it
 
For the first time in who knows how long, I signed in to my Virgin Media account after reading what @Ice Tea posted. Sure enough, it wanted a secondary email address, a mobile number, then to link to my O2 account with Virgin Media. I can still sign in with my new password, so maybe I'm one of the lucky ones. :D
 
Interesting, I got stuck in this loop earlier. Ended up creating a Virgin/02 account despite having a VM account. :rolleyes:

Had an offer to move up to their 1gig from current 500mb, yet the link 404'ed. would have probably taken it too, their loss. :(
 
Well I phoned my mum and her email is ok for now, but she said she got a spam email saying her bill was going up to £170. Except it wasn't spam! 18 month renewal.

She called them and got it down to about £80 apparently. That is internet, TV and phone TBF and she uses all 3 a lot.
 
After many many years with Virgin Media i finally made the move away from them. Joining YouFibre next week. Had a local YouFibre representetive knock on my door confirming that it has gone live in my area.
Checked online and had email sent out from them confirming broadband is now available to order.

Installation date confirmed for 29th.

Youfibre are buying out my remaining virgin media contract which is £136.45. My younger brother and someone else i know went through the buyout contract route and have been succesfull. Hopefully no hiccups.

28.99 for 18 months for You1000
 
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So my parents had the door-to-door Virgin guy over yesterday and have upgraded their Sky deal to Virgin.

All good from the internet side of things, it's much better, however... they currently have Sky Q, which records and stuff as normal.

This deal is the high speed internet including 'Virgin Stream' and the Sky Channels with Sky Sports HD.

I currently have Virgin and like it, but I've got a TV 360 box that records and all of that stuff. Am I right in thinking the Stream deal is just a small thing that streams channels and lets you access apps like ITVX where you have to either pay or watch adverts? Seems a pretty big backwards step...

The guy said originally that he'd ask for a TV 360 box but apparently their street doesn't have the 'old' type of cable so it's actually not possible any more.

Is the Stream box any good?
 
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