Mr Terminator Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Someone near me had Virgin Media installed on Saturday,the engineers were there from afternoon till gone 7.15pm.At 7.10pm my cable TV and broadband went off suddenly.I went outside to one of the engineers who was sat in his van ready to take off,he wound his window down and I said,"all my cable TV and internent has just gone off",he says to me,"you'll have to book it in mate,nothing I can do." To say I wasn't impressed is an understatement,I changed my pleasant attitude and approach to a more,get out of the van and fix it,it was you who has caused it in the first place.He said give me 5 mins and i'll sort it. I came in and put the kettle,thought atleast I can make the guy a hot drink while its cold out,came back in the living room and looked out the window to see the van slowly going past my house with its lights off then he sped off around the corner and down the road. I rang VM and told them what had happened and they said,no one can come out till Tuesday,by this time i'd lost it completely so decided to hang up and ring back during the day time.When I rang up,I reported the engineer for his snyde tactics and got them to knock a month off my bill. They came to repair it today,the engineers who did the install for the neighbour had put me and them on a splitter and connected it up wrong,it would've took the engineer 5 mins that night to rectify his mistake.Anyway,a real Virgin Media engineer came today and he said,seeing as they were cowboy sub contractors,i'll give you a new V-box,its a Samsung,ours was an old Scientific Atlanta jobby that Noah had on the Ark.lol.. All is sorted now but just thought i'd share this as i've been offline till today.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilclive Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Well it turned out ok in the end fella....new box and a months payment off... you must have scared the guy pretty good, if he was sneaking off with the headlights switched off lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sphinx Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Me and the misses got fed up with VM due to there ***** customer services, and the way i was spoken to over the phone, so my misses rang Sky Tv and we had that installed, phone and boardband, and it is about 15 quid a month cheaper and the service is 10/10. i was well chuffed when i moved and get a better package and cost less. Gav Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe of loath Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 One thing that bugs me about VM (although we're not with them, I must admit) is they want to block all peer to peer filesharing. What about those that do it legally? For example, slackware linux is, as far as I know, ONLY distributed via bittorrent. And if VM users download it, will they get fined for downloading 'illegal' content? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesChatz Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 VM won't block filesharing because they know if they do they will lose a lot of their customers. The only way I can see it happening is if every company agrees to block Filesharing, which is even less likely to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrywatkin Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 Think VM is bad try BT lol. Everyday it would turn off for at least 6 hours then come back on then turn off. They would always send out an engineer to fix it. " Yep all done fixed" 1 hour later the problem started again. I had to put up with it for a whole year because it was on a contract. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banners Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 I'm with VM and regularly use bittorrent for legal purposes. Never had a problem. Shocking story there MrT, glad it got sorted and you got something out of it. I've never had a problem with VM (touch wood!) and have always found the service good to great. One exception, They spell Steven with a ph and after 3 prompts I've got used to it:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Terminator Posted December 1, 2009 Author Share Posted December 1, 2009 I have never had any issue with PTP file sharing.As for their customer service,i've never had a problem with them at all and i've been with the company since 2000 before Telewest took over,it was the back end of Cable Northwest.Since Virgin took over it has improved no end and I get a good deal as I have TV,phone,20meg broadband and Virgin mobile contract,I just ring em every 12 months and renegotiate the package,if they dont comply,I say,end my contract,i'll phone Sky TV,they soon start offering the earth so you'll stay. Thats the good thing about VM,they can't afford to have the people jump ship to Sky so they'll fight to keep your custom,especially when you spend what I have in the past with them,its been great for me personally with the company itself.Sky TV was a different story,always taking direct debits before time and some of the most ignorant Scottish people i've ever spoken to (not that all Scots are ignorant,just the few I dealt with at Sky),one went as far as to call me racist,I made reference to this guy by saying,"you people" meaning customer services and payment departments not corresponding with each other,the guy flipped so bad on me that he got repramanded as the conversation was taped and in no way did I imply and rascist comment or innuendo,he thought I meant Scots people..lol. I got a written apology from Sky Head Office and also a phonecall from the guy in question who also aplogised but I wasn't magnanomous,I told him to shove his apology where the sun dont shine and I promptly left,I was 3 months in credit and they weren't going to refund it until I mentioned the national tabloid newspapers then all of a sudden it was apology time again,once I got refunded I went with Telewest now VM and never looked back,sold my minidish and box for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hide Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 I'm with AOL, and they are quite possibly the worst Internet provider in the world. If anything goes wrong it's either our fault or BT's fault. Slow speeds? Talk to BT! Complete BS and BT aren't any better. They say I'm stuck with the slow speeds and there is nothing they will do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt B Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Yep, we kicked AOL as it was crap. My gran is with them and was paying for an 8MB connection, of which she got 512kb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papasmurf Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Yep, we kicked AOL as it was crap. My gran is with them and was paying for an 8MB connection, of which she got 512kb I'm with sky i pay for up to 20mb but I'm lucky if I get 1.7mb But its still better then BT I was happy to pay them to let me go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Terminator Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 My download and upload speeds are awesome,I will give Virgin their props there,to be honest I wouldn't go with anyone else for broadband,there's only so much a phone line can handle,its all exchange dependent whereas VM has its own dedicated line,same signal they use for TV pay per view,I see 114-18meg speeds depending on how busy it is but its never slow thats for sure... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyLad Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 I have VM for broadband only - most of the time the service is stable, but when the odd blip occurs I've learned to just leave it and wait for it to come back gain. Their customer service and fault reporting are absolutely atrocious. Calling VM just results in a big phone bill and high blood pressure - not your problem solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milliscent Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 tbh ive got VM for tv phone and broadband for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deejayy2k Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 we get ours from the post office not had many probs only one we really had was getting it moved over when we moved house but we expected that as it was a brand new house when we moved in so we expected teething probs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain_Caveman Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 When we got Sky HD and sky + (in the multiroom) fitted not long back, the guy that game to make the nessecary changes actually worked for virgin media, just subbed himself out to Sky when work was quiet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revorocks Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 (edited) I'm with sky i pay for up to 20mb but I'm lucky if I get 1.7mb But its still better then BT I was happy to pay them to let me go That's not too bad. You don't understand connection speeds. The speeds they give are in M/Bits. Not bytes. So 1Mb (megabit) = 128Kbps (kilobyte per second) download. 2 is 256kbps 4 is 512kbps 10 is just over 1mbps 20 is like 20.2mbps. You are not getting too far off your speed... Our experience with Virgin medea customer support is terrible. Not that I'm a racist, but it would be nice to actually talk to someone you can understand... The box is always playing up aswell. Even with the new one, we still get black channels, program info unavailable etc. Carl, I'm suprised you only just got upgraded. We got our small silver box years ago, were you still on the old black one with the NTL remote? Edited December 2, 2009 by revorocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerrorTrooper Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Glad it was sorted in the end mate!!! Some subbies who feel their contracts are secure think they can get away with murder!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Terminator Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 That's not too bad. You don't understand connection speeds. The speeds they give are in M/Bits. Not bytes. So 1Mb (megabit) = 128Kbps (kilobyte per second) download. 2 is 256kbps 4 is 512kbps 10 is just over 1mbps 20 is like 20.2mbps. You are not getting too far off your speed... Our experience with Virgin medea customer support is terrible. Not that I'm a racist, but it would be nice to actually talk to someone you can understand... The box is always playing up aswell. Even with the new one, we still get black channels, program info unavailable etc. Carl, I'm suprised you only just got upgraded. We got our small silver box years ago, were you still on the old black one with the NTL remote? It was Telewest here mate and yeah,had the same box since 2002,it worked fine and only since the repair did it play up,never have any issues with it at all,on a whole VM is a good provider,the internet is still basically Blueyonder,staff are same as its a different dept from VM's other services up here where we are,I think its all down to which cable company you were under before the buyout,NTL and Telewest were two seperate companies but they were going to sink unless Virgin bought it and gave them a cash injection,it can only get better from now on in my opinion,Sir Richard dont tolerate shoddyness and most stuff he touches turns to gold.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hide Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 Yep, we kicked AOL as it was crap. My gran is with them and was paying for an 8MB connection, of which she got 512kb I get that too, I ought to change really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samari Posted December 2, 2009 Share Posted December 2, 2009 (edited) Our landlord installed VM cable and it's the worst connection I've ever had (including 56k). If you watch 2 programmes on iPlayer they limit your connection for the rest of the day. I've had to quit playing for my ut3 clan because every evening the local network gets clogged and I get 400 ping to U.K servers and 30% packet loss... VM won't block filesharing because they know if they do they will lose a lot of their customers. The only way I can see it happening is if every company agrees to block Filesharing, which is even less likely to happen. They've already said that they're going to. VM don't care at all about providing a good internet service, they just want to push their media package so have sold out to the media companies so that they can play their crap on their T.V and radio channels. Edited December 3, 2009 by Samari Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Terminator Posted December 2, 2009 Author Share Posted December 2, 2009 If your exchange is upto date then Sky are worth a look,real unlimited access and no fair usage policy,like I said I wouldn't go with anyone else other than VM simply because of the dedicated feed they have.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milliscent Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 my mums just got the family well mum dad brother that live at home sky+ HD phone and broadband for less than bt total broadband only bugger is they got it after I MOVED OUT after me begging for it ever since i was eight and discovered cartoon network at my friends house Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesChatz Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Our landlord installed VM cable and it's the worst connection I've ever had (including 56k). If you watch 2 programmes on iPlayer they limityour connection for the rest of the day. I've had to quit playing for my ut3 clan because every evening the local network gets clogged and I get 400 ping to U.K servers and 30% packet loss... They've already said that they're going to. VM don't care at all about providing a good internet service, they just want to push their media package so have sold out to the media companies so that they can play their crap on their T.V and radio channels. Look at the date on the article though, over a year and a half ago. I don't see it happening myself. I agree with the cap thing though, it's a PITA. If you go for the top package, it's less restrictive, guess that's one of the incentives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Since I only have access to ADSL (upto 6mb...) in this area, there is very little choice in ISPs up here. I went with Zen, it's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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