They have the worst costumer service ever, and I had to cancel my services twice because they did not install any phone line in my apartment... been waiting for more than one month and every time I call them they put me back and forth between departments and no one helped me, by the end of the call ( 20 mins+ ) I got hanged up and forced to redial... Imagine explaining your situation for every person they put you through... really annoying and hated them
Virgin Media broadband Reviews
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I have 100mb download soon to be updated to 120mb and 10upload, speed is fine first thing but come the evening and Virgin switch on their traffic shaping, my downloads drop to less than 1mb so whats the point of having superfast net if you are at work during the day?
PS3 And Xbox360 Game play is disgusting the lag makes games like MW3 unplayable most of the time, imager it, you are trying to go up a alleyway and you find yourself facing a wall then when you turn your halfway somewhere else and you get killed.
My son`s friends will no longer play online with my son because they know he will be the host with having superfast speed and he wont be able to play properly and the speed fluctuates resulting in lag for them which means often a new host is picked which sometimes doesnt work so there hard work in the game is lost because the game sends everybody back to the lobby etc..
Waiting for my contract to wind down then i`m swapping yes to a slower speed but to a more reliable. -
I have Virgin media Broadband in my home and it has been useless from the very start,
First of all the tech who was supposed to install our hub, went AWOL and reported that he installed the hub, when he in fact didn't, Then when we organized for another one to be installed the tech was late... by two days.
From there things went down hill, the internet drops out on average about 7 times a day. the speed is appalling, for a company which claims to be the fastest Broadband provider in the UK. We are paying for 50mb, we get about 0.5mb. when i looked into this i found some information that talks about 'traffic management' which basically means even if your paying for unlimited Broadband, its not... This is to ensure everyone gets a fair usage of broadband, However if im paying for the higher package, doesn't that mean im entitled to use the internet a little bit more? i mean, that's what im paying for after all.
After dealing with a poor severance for weeks, we called the customer severance team, because there is no other way to contact them, which is a fantastic idea for any company, if you don't care about the happiness of your customers, which clearly Virgin Media do not. whilst calling we had to wait 20 minutes to talk to anyone. Nice cheeky way to make more money from people. when we finally got through, they had a look at our hub, changed a few settings and said it would be fine, no sooner was the phone put down did the internet drop out again. so after many more phone calls later, we were told it was a line fault and would be fixed in 6 days.
2 weeks later... the Broadband is still poor so we call again, this time getting through to a guy who says we were lied to and this problem could take months to fix. obviously not happy about this we complained, to which the kind man said he would set up an account where we would not be billed until the problem was fixed, we were pleased with this, after all why are we paying for something we cant use?
so we put up with the naff connection knowing that we are not being charged for it until its fixed. Then we got our bill, and we were charged, for something that does not work to an acceptable standard. so, when this annoying little contract is over i will be so happy to be rid of the worst provider i have ever had the misfortune of dealing with.
Fastest Broadband ever? sorry guys a hamster in a wheel powering a tiny little router could provide a better speed.
to anyone who wishes to join virgin media and reads this. for the love of god. choose someone else. -
ive had vigin media since they took over telewest and ive never had and bother whats so ever bar for one on their indian call centre who hadnt a clue what i was on about or cared but after being rudely cut off i phoned up and the next girl had my modem up and running again in minutes altho being unemployed now find it a bit expensive to keep going the i doubt i would change to other isp providers who are just crap
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Editor - Matt@John G
I really would strongly recommend you install some kind of anti-virus software, for several reasons.
a) Some viruses steal login information, giving access to email, bank accounts and so on. They operate quietly so you may have no idea this was happening.
b) Viruses can use your system for file storage, which could hold anything from pirated material to extremely unpleasant content, or may turn it into a botnet using your connection to attack other systems.
c) Copying files to external backup may also mean copying a virus-infected file.
You do not need to use Norton or McAfee. Search for Microsoft Security Essentials, it's a free AV application with no subscription, and being an official Microsoft tool it integrates smoothly with Windows and has a very negligible impact on performance. -
Hi all,
just want to add this to the mix!!
Have been having same problem with streaming Sky tv through xbox (hard wired to new virgin black hub router) I am with virgin and had 10mb package, Xbox was constantly Buffering up and when did speed test (speedtest.net) was getting less than 2mb!!! After constant calls to tech guys in INDIA!! (151) and handing over remote access to them they did every ping/pong and dong test (very technical i know ;0)) you could think off they told me that it was because I was running my computer without any anti virus? he then asked me to connect a laptop to the hub and went through the same process yet again and came back with the same conclusion?
1. both computers were working fine the day before.
2. I do not install anti virus as I save all important information on external hard drive and find installing norton or mcfee on slows the computer down so it some what defeats the objective
3. when I get a virus I just F10 in restore to factory settings and its like putting in a new engine and only takes 30mins or so.
4. the Xbox is connected directly to the hub and is solely dependant on the internet speed provided by the ISP
5. low and behold after being on phone to Tech guys (Budda or what ever his name was) within 1 Hour of getting off the phone my totally infected computers (not) where running at 10 mb?
So next day rang 150 Customer services and went through automated sequence to tell them that I wanted to leave virgin and got through to a very nice lady and after explaining the above she said that I was getting Traffic Managed (which I knew nothing about and Tech guys never even considered this or maybe don't even know about it!!!)
Below is a link to Virgin Traffic management Policy but may I also add that pretty much all ISP's have a Traffic Management Policy which could well explain your slow speed internet connection.
http://www.virginmedia.com/images/tm-table-su-large.jpg
After a long winded conversation they have upgraded me to 20mb and are saving me £3 a month with a free upgrade to 50mb coming soon.
I live in Grimsby for my sins and no I do not play COD on Xbox ;0) and as it happens our virgin internet speeds are 1 of the highest in the country.
hope this helps some people out there ;0) -
I'm amazed by all the negative comments on here - I've been with Virgin for about 10 years and never had any problems...
HOWEVER... tonight (my birthday too !!) we had planned to order in a takeaway and sit back and watch some films over our new Netflix subscription on the XBox... within minutes of using it, the XBox disconnected. Tests showed that the device was connecting to the wireless router, but not to the internet. We retried on the PS3 with similar problems, however our internet on the PC and iPods was still working,
Having checked online (through the internet which was still working), I came across many other people who have had similar problems with DNS dropping out. I've still to call Virgin, but after reading some of these comments I am concerned with the chances of a positive outcome !! I'll let you know how I get on... -
I cant get through to virgin media on 150 or 0844 anyone else having problems
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Virgin down again. Live in Watford area. No local internet, google bbc etc.. all return cannot display page. Strangely my VPN to work connects OK and I can then browse the internet.
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I have a simple query - how do I unblock my restricted telephone number. I am trying to ring a number which doesn't accept restricted numbers so it won't connect me as mine is a restricted number - how do I fix this? I keep ringing virgin media and I told her 'do not put me on hold' and she did - I spoke to a lovely lady from BT today, they do a great service with free wifi for the same price as my package . . .
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I have been with Virgin Media for around 8 to 9 years. Over the last 2 years the Internet is terrible. I have wireless connection which keeps going down. For the past 3 weeks Iv`e been phoning & after waiting for 20 odd minutes listening to pop music that keeps going Low then high they come on the phone only to take complete control over my desktop that I'm glad of but they reset the router and tell me everything is fine then as soon as I've come off the phone it goes again.
I phoned them Thursday 12th Jan again because my Internet had No DNS server Media was disconnected & for 3 weeks I was not assigned an IP address although I could get on some of the internet I was restricted in most things such as posting a comment or getting from one page to the next as it would turn really slow and time out.
A man answered my call who I really found hard to understand ,I tried to tell him the problem I was having then when I waited for a reply he just Hung Up on me "Charming".
I phoned them back Tonight Saturday 14th January and spoke to a lady I told her what had happened she asked for remote Assistance of my desktop which I allowed ,we spoke as she tested I told her I had No DNS ,disconnected Media No assigned IP for weeks She went into my account and changed the settings I noticed she was clicking WEP network and making my connection Public, she left the other connection for the kids but changed mine to the WEP So now I don`t have a Home Network which I find quiet strange I have 2 one for me one for the Kids. Anyway she sets it up & the icon came back in the right hand corner of my computer at least it was connected at last.
She said the WEP would be OK and Noone could get into my computer eventhough it was made Public.
I Thanked her said goodbye & went to get myself a drink come back and the Icon was flat lining again I did ipconfig/all and again it said
DHCP Disabled
Media Disconnected
Net Bios Disabled
No Ping
I give Up after 8 years I`m seriously thinking of leaving Virgin Media I have My Phone ,TV & 30 Internet with them My Internet which I upped to 30Mbps from 20Mbps is worse now than when I had 20Mbps yet I'm paying £31.00 for this rubbish connection.
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I agree with the negative comments about Virgin Media. I live in the DN36 postcode area and for around 6/8 weeks the broadband connection has been off more than it is on. I have rang customer support every week and have been given a variety of explanations for the woefully inadequate service - something different every time. Nothing is consistant with them. I am sick of being told that this is the definitive repair to the server - clearly it isn't, otherwise the connection would be working 100%. Like others have reported, their customer service is poor, especially when speaking to someone from the sub continent, with poor understanding of our language and culture. So often I find myself apologising for not being able to understand poor English or pronounce the name I am given. They have far too many automated responses on their helpline and lengthy waits. They arrange for engineers to visit and then cancel them using an automated messaging system - not giving me a chance to converse with a human being. I don't want to stay with Virgin - they really are crap! I am seeking a viable and reliable alternative with good customer service and without it costing the earth - does this exist?
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Stay away from Virgin, the internet is fast when it works which is only about 80% of the time, the customer service is hopeless, they ignore you unless it involves more money for Virgin. Next month I'm getting Freesat with on-demand TV, a land line from anyone except BT and broadband from BE Internet and will never again deal with a Virgin affiliated company.
That will work out half the price of Virgins monthly bill and save me nearly £200 a year for a better product. You would have to be mad to stay with Virgin and madder still to move to them! -
I havent had many issues with Virgin, re: full installation I cant comment as I was with Telewest before Virgin took over so the install with with TW. However when I upgraded to 50mb new gear was with me quickly, the technician was here when he said he would be and it was working swiftly.
Over the course of several years I've been without internet on only a couple of occasions, one of which was the whole area I live in. Speed is constanly high ie: with 50mb service its always on or near that, though I do download from dedicated servers for most of what I need (pay servers, about £5.80 per month at current dollar rates). On the occasions I download from other sources it is of course limited by their servers and not Virgins speed I believe.
As for customer service its been average on the occasions I've needed to use it, which is rare. -
I took out a Sky broadband package in September 2011 - At the time they estimated a speed of around 7MB/S - I actually get 6.7 - This is constant, never interupted and extremely reliable and only costs £17 approx including free evening/weekend calls and line rental
Sky is like a 500% improvement on the Virgin cable line that is installed elsewhere in the property - I could type hundreds of lines of text here complaining about Virgins Customer service (A service that was once reliable for me when it was NTL), but I have already seen repeated so many times here from other people
Conclusion: SKY = Excellant - Virgin = Sh*te -
virgin have twice now failed to offer me basic internet, each time going on over 6months. faults faults and more faults, non of the hubs with built in wifi work ie no wifi, i actually have to turn the wifi off and plug a router into it then all my connections etc, bloody rediculous, then i look to cancel early i get this, oh we dont see that we broke our contract to you even though we failed to give you an acceptable level of service, total dk heads!, i have sky being installed on 16th and have to wait till 1st may to give notice. my problems started this time after i accepted a deal of lower prices in order for them to keep me, a week later totally rubbish service 3 modems later same modem was monitored for one hour had 166 modem faults T3 timeouts they said, more a network problem id say. also bit of nfo for you all in october last year they virgin were ordered not to use the best internet ever in there adds and admited they were not the most reliable providers when it came to gameing etc. il not touchthem again and i go back to eurobel days of being a customer then telewest and virgin blabla, just pointing it out so we understand even long term customers are packing there bags as so to put it, all i can say is very good luck to those who stay google how many customers they lost last year!! you be suprised, well im not lol :)
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Do not get Virgin Media at any price, it's internet is erratic, their customer service is appalling (unfriendly, useless, unhelpful)
I've been in two different flats and it's always been completely rubbish (they already had it in my second flatshare, I definitely didn't choose Virgin Media twice) -
Virgin Internet absolutly the worst Rubbish on every level cant even get there billing right wrong email address, wrong Bank details for D/D Call center a joke, 150 service another Joke 30 minute wait and then they say you have pressed an invalid key so cut you off. Speeds up and down all the time, uploads no coment as cant send item at times Anybody thinking about VIRGIN THINK AGAIN YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
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@cal 14 dec
me too - very slow downloads .. so far -
Here is the transcription from online chat when my installation was cancelled. I was trying to contact the helpdesk. I was just getting music so I thought I would try the online chat on the virgin website:
Emma: Hi, welcome to Virgin Media. Is there anything I can do to help you with your order? Just type your question below ...
Emma: Please let me know how I can be of assistance.
You: yes, I have been waiting on the phone with you about my installation for 20 min. Can somebody call me.
Emma: Welcome to Virgin Media.
Emma: Do you currently have any active Virgin Media services?
You: It is about my installation scheduled for monday. I am a new customer.
Emma: Do you currently have any active Virgin Media services?
You: no
Emma: Thank you for the confirmation.
Emma: I am sorry that we do not have call back facility here. However, it is a online sales team.
You: If you don't call me back I will cancel my order.
Emma: I understand about your concern. But you have initiated the chat in the online sales department. If you call to call our customer care you can be provided with the solution.
You: I have been waiting for 25 min and I am just getting music.
Emma: However, we ask that you give us at least 7 to 14 days from the time you order to actually have an engineer come and install your services. So, whenever is best for you after that is when we can get you set up.
Emma: I suggest you call our sales team by phone on 0845 840 7777 or 150 from your Virgin Phone. They have your account information on hand and can talk you through offers for existing customers that aren't available here online.
You: I am on this number at the moment and have been waiting for 26 min.
You: I have my order number. Can you check on the status?
You: Are you still there?
Emma: Yes I am here to help you.
You: My order number is nnnnnnn. It was scheduled for Monday 19th for installation. I have had a message to say that it has been cancelled. Can you clarify why and when it will be installed?
Emma: I request you to call the customer care no. on 0845 840 7777. They will transfer your call to appropriate department.
You: I have already told you that I am currently holding on this number and have been for 30 min, but nobody is answering.
Emma: I understand that can please disconnect the call and redial.
You: Why, will that be any faster?
Emma: However, it seem like false call.
You: how long should I wait for?
Emma: I sorry, but it could be some technical issue with the operator side.
Emma: You do not have to wait any longer.
Emma: Can you please which number you have dialed?
You: 0845 840 7777
Emma: Okay that's the correct number.
You: The number just hung up on me this time
You: said it was too busy
You: and would take longer then 30 min
Emma: Just let me check some more details for you, if possible.
Emma: I am sorry that it's taking too long.
You: Can you pass a message for a callback to the installation department.
Emma: I understand that but we don't have call or call transferring facility available with us.
You: you must be able to send an email
Emma: However, this is an online sale team and we just have to entertain new customer. Those who are willing to buy Virgin Media Services.
Emma: I completely understand about your call back concern and I would love to offer you a call back. However, I will not able to offer you a call back at your convenience.
Emma: As I am bound with Virgin Media Policy.
Emma: I think you can understand.
You: ok, This is a really poor service. I am going to copy this conversation and post it to one of the forums that discusses service quality from different TV services in the UK.
You: Do you want to add anything else before I do this?
Emma: However, if you visit our website. At the extreme right had side you will able to see and TAB "EMAIL".
Emma: Just click on that you will get some email on which you can send your queries.
Emma: Or you can also click on "Contact Us" at the bottom central.
You: This is no good as I don't have a vrigin media email address yet as I am a new customer.
You: I have tried the contact us and that is how I got the phone number.
You: I currently have no way of contacting virgin media other than this chat service that I am using.
You: and you cannot help me.
You: Can you accept my request to cancel my service?
Emma: I understand please contact our customer care.
Emma: Thank you for visiting us today.
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I have Virgin 50mb i pay £80ish a month for internet and tv and phone.
at first fantastic but virgin have changed the rules and terms and now have traffic shaping in place which basically means unless you surf and download the middle of the night your 50mb will actually download slower than 500kbps because of the traffic shaping, there internet is horrible for network gaming ie ps3/xbox too much lag makes good game play near impossible.
All of my Virgin user friends are having the same issues.
AVOID don`t let the ads sucker you in. -
been with Virgin since aug .... they cancelled my installation without notice
complaint after complaint since then as they just randomly cut my line off Broad band is dire
constatnly calling 150 and told i different amounts of bill yet never tallies
send payment then they cut me off again
staff at call centre sooooooo rude
all i want is a phone line -
Virgin media have had an issue in my area for the past 7 months, to date they have done precisely nothing about and intend to do nothing in the future. they are not willing to tell me why even though know exactly.
the last laugh is on them however, i have just cancelled a 3 year business deal worth over £10500 a year because they are useless. the salesman (who is on a commission) basis is obviously very unhappy ... TOUGH!! -
Virgin show nothing but repeats on the TV there daytime phone calls are expensive and the broadband nearly grinds to a halt at peak times.
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on the phone now been 62mins when i was advised15mins waiting time aaahhhhh
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Changed from Sky about 6 months ago...wish I had not. Signal gets "dropped" at least a couple of times a day. Sometimes a whole day I have no wireless and each time I waste 30 mins to 45 mins on the helpline (which is very good by the way, they try their best). I would recommend you never sign onto broadband from Virgin - it is unreliable, and if you were running a business from home you are asking for trouble.
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Virgin internet is terrible in our area, we are on a 20mb deal and it frequently drops to speeds of 0.15mb/s - 1mb/s.
Would not recommend. -
I have had problems with Virgin Media regarding broadband and Tivo Box installations. They have now missed two appointments and have given all excuses. I have been on the phone to them throughout the year trying to rectify problems and issues. They lie all the time about installations, turning up and their service is absolutely appalling. I have been with Virgin Media ever since they took over the previous company I think it was called Blueyonder. I have been with this and previous companies since about 1998 and am now absolutely fed up of them. If you want a stress free life, don't take up their services you will be on the phone to them endlessly. The more services you take the more problems you will have. If you have lots of time on your hands and want to spend a lot of time listening to music and being fobbed off and want to waste some money on their services join them. The service used to be good in the past but no longer
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Hi,
I switched my broadband to virgin from talktalk a month ago "THE BIGGEST MISTAKE I HAVE EVER DONE IN MY LIFE"....they say high speed 20MB broadband but infact it takes 4-5 mins to open google home page..But most of the time there is no Internet signal at all...can't wait to get my life back..i dont think anyone wanna use mobile to surf net like me when they have so called high speed broadband....my area is london...
Avoid Virgin -
I think Branson should really think about how his global brand is serioulsy impacted when clients have an average call hold time of 20 minutes to report a simple home telephone fault. It will not be long before people stop respecting everything Virgin do as a Robin Hood act and consider him and Virgin as ruthless and wosre than the existing companies that he proports to shake up.
that means, we stop flying Virgin, we stop buying whatever he gets into next. And we the UK consumer certainkly do NOT open a bank account just becuase Robin Hod Virgin has set up a niche. If he sails under teh personal flag for his brand and claims to be a posiotyive client focused global brand, then he will probably die by that sword when he fails to invest in simple things like client support. I knwo lots of Virgin home boroda[=n=band users and we all now hate Virgin and incidentally i fly globaly with BA over 100,000 business miles a year now. BA at least they stick to their core product and fly to serve.
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Virgin information
Virgin links
- Need help choosing? 0800 466 1045
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Home Broadband Awards 2011
Virgin Media
- Reliability
- 78%
- Technical support
- 61%
- Customer service
- 66%
- Speed satisfaction
- 72%
- Would recommend
- 75%
- Overall rating
4 stars
Jan 2011
Data sourced for Broadband Genie by OnePoll
Virgin news stories
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Virgin Media 100MB rollout is ahead of schedule
06 February 2012 More customers of Virgin Media are now able to get faster broadband thanks to a 100MB high-speed connectivity masterplan that’s currently running ahead of its planned rollout schedule. Read more >
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Virgin Media leads the way as average UK home broadband speed rises above 7Mb
02 February 2012 In its sixth annual UK broadband speed report, Ofcom has claimed the average consumer is enjoying speeds 22 per cent faster than a year ago. According to Ofcom, the average UK broadband speed is now Read more >
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120Mb broadband on it's way to Virgin Media customers
11 January 2012 Virgin Media has today announced it will be upgrading it’s fibre optic broadband network with the roll out starting as soon as next month. Virgin Media aims to make the changes over the next 18 months Read more >
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