use VIRGIN & VIRGIN MEDIA and lose your sanity!

[smotheroffive]

A Virgin mobile, landline and media customer for countless years, these last few have been hell. Am i alone in this?

The broadband drops out frequently, no answers
The customer service is unintelligible, i don't understand them, they don't understand me.
If you are lucky enough to reach an english speaking customer service the relief is palpable. The rest is circles.
I don't think its fair on either customers or those put in positions of trying to resolve these queries, it seems, without the resources to resolve.
Virgin Mobile are the worst of all.
I don't know about the rest of Virgin, but if this is anything to go by i won't go anywhere near any other Virgin branding. I have lost count of the lies I've been told, and regularly just sitting in extremely lengthy queues.
If anyone out there reading this is considering using them and hasn't before, just don't!

Before I jump out of all the services, are they all the same? Its a massive upheaval to move everything. I hate having to ring them, its becoming a real 'thing' now!! I know others that hate ringing Virgin.

If I'm going, is anyone else coming with me !!!??? Help me save my sanity!

[gamerchick]

Yeah what's going on with the Internet? its VERY irritating when you're playing a game online.

I agree with the customer service. If you get an English person you physically feel the relief.

Aside from that I'm happy with them. Of we get a fault, I like the way you can check of its in the area at their end with the recorded message.

[sebsmummy1]

I'm a virgin mobile customer and I am on the whole pretty pleased with them.

[stupidgreatgrinonmyface]

Agree. Our experience was that we were dealing with a bunch of criminally incompetent employees. They took us for £600 for a phone bill that was caused by faulty equipment and tried to charge us a fee to release us from our TV contract. We had been with cable TV and phone for 15 years with no problems until they took over and within a year we ended up leaving them and going to other suppliers. Like you, I would never consider using any of their products and I make sure I share my experience as much as possible. If I can save anyone else from the awful experience we had, I will.

[bruffin]

I have been a customer since they took over from ntl. Never had a problem. I have spoken to them at 10pm and had a new box next morning at 9am, although not sure if customer service is open that late now. Everthing is sorted out quickly and usually get a phone call a few days later to make sure everything is still ok.

[SetPhasersTaeMalkie]

I've been a customer for years. I've never had a problem either.

[smotheroffive]

high Gamer the internet suddenly drops out. I've had their notsosuper 'superhub' for some time now, and i am on the third one (the advisers have all given different advice about it), so i am still flummoxed. the latest one has said that it never worked very well see! I'm not mad and the thingy button on the front of it didn't ever switch between like it was supposed to (fast, secured, wired/slower, less secure unwired).

its in the middle of complex work or orders on-line that have taken time to compile then it drops and the message you get doesn't actually say anything much, I've also had that messsage many times when the adviser has then told me there is no problem in the area, or the standard line for everything is 'its an outtage'

hi Sebs thats good to hear! With virgin mobile is not uncommon to be overcharged untraceable amounts. They used to commonly charge double my usage and although they paid some back, they regularly took a lot more. It wasn't until i literally investigated each and every text/call/data connection that the faults guy agreed with me he had no idea where all the extra charges were coming from, and this went back years, it was only because one of my DC were struggling with usage that i had to look into it that i realised it was happening on all the mobiles! a lot of money for a long time!

..and i hope your service remains good and that you don't ever have the misfortune to have to call them - i think the coverage on the whole has been really good, and the rates between virgin phones, and being able to call virgin mobiles free from virgin landlines, until they screw up the virgin mobiles that is and they become unreachable.

I had meant to say aswell in the OP - what others are happy with and would recommend me to jump to as my head is going to fall off if i have to deal with them any more!!

[smotheroffive]

just to say on the back of what you said grin that in the early part of last year a complaint (that had dragged on years, that they refused to deal with) ended in the ofcom deciding that they would have to pay me back a large amount, due to 'package' overcharges. Even then Virgin pleaded with OFCOM to set any due amounts off against currently monthly charges, but OFCOM made it clear i was to receive a cheque.

I have such a hectic life with everything thats going on that i've found myself in a terrible pickle because everything is with them, and there's many days/weeks work involved in untangling it all till i have researched new/better suppliers for all the products that are still a reasonable price and will all work happily together.

[smotheroffive]

bruffin the service you speak of sounds like something i recalled from a dim distant past? I remember this being the way, and i think it still may be from certain call centres, but definitely not from others.

Setphasers are you recommending then? you would recommend them to your friends and family?

thanks for your comments, would any recommend anyone else? I'm sure they've all got their problems, but it would be really great to hear some glowing praises that many experienced for any of the various services in comm's that virgin offer.

[Georgethesecond]

I think they are great. It took me four phone calls and placing an order with Sky, but now I have telephone line rental plus weekend calls plus unlimited broadband plus TiVo with freeview channels - all for £9.50 a month!

[smotheroffive]

you have what!

£9.5 for broadband/tivo and free w/end calls, but how recently?

[smotheroffive]

is anyone else paying this kind of money?

[Georgethesecond]

Last week - that's why it is fresh in my mind!

It took a lot of phone calls and a cancellation request. And I am tied in for 12 months. And I suspect the option of dropping down from paid tv to freeview channels only may only be available to existing customers - though I don't know for sure.

[Georgethesecond]

And to answer your original question - I find the broadband pretty good.

[PaulaJane37]

I thought it was just me! The broadband (wireless) only works at one side of my house and trying to get netflix on in my bedroom is a total nightmare! I think I have the superhub but to be honest have no idea what the girl (who was noore called Mary than flea in the air!) said to me.... I think I'll call them!

[Methe]

Never had a problem with Virgin TV, broadband or mobile phone.

I fucking hate hate hate Tivo though.

[Becles]

If you really want to know what telecoms hell is, I refer you to the joy and general arse water shiteness that is Talk Talk.

I really don't have any thing else to add except avoid, avoid, avoid - even if it means that you have to revert to dial up. Don't ever be tempted by them.

Talk Talk combine crap service with incompetence, poor customer service and inability to understand their own contracts.

[bloodyteenagers]

Seems they haven't changed then. Was thinking about giving them another go after getting a pay nothing deal.
But the last time I was with them they were that shoddy that they realised this, admitted this and let me leave very early without charge.

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

We switched from sky broadband to virgin because sky was worse for us

[SoupDragon]

I've got a Virgin Superhub and have had no problems at all with it.

Which is probably the kiss of death!

[SoupDragon]

If you pick the "I'm thinking of leaving" option I think you get straight through to a UK call centre. Certainly the woman I spoke to when I wanted to amend my package (I wasn't planning on leaving) was clear, had a UK accent and there was no delay on the line.

[WhyDoesEveryoneHateMe]

We use virgin and the Internet is rubbish.

But as an aside, I found the title amusing as virgin used to have a music store called sanity that closed down! [ggrin]

[smotheroffive]

i had heard that the broadband had big problems needing upgrades that would span from last year until March this year, but have not been prepared to admit it, and that very rarely do you actually get the speed quoted, that would be its maximum, in a fair wind and all things being equal when pigs fly IOW

yes, i got through to the 'thinking of leaving' option by mistake recently, and yes, indeed, if you are those customers then no way do you leave the country, or if you are new. ALL SALES DONE IN THE UK, its the rest thats the problem. What does that say. If they thought that UK were the pants service they definitely wouldn't put them front line for sales/customer retention.

So Virgin lost its Sanity TOO THEN !!! [GRIN]

Hate Tivo??? Methe

I will avoid Talk Talk on that recommendation, thanks

[smotheroffive]

grin fail!

[smotheroffive]

anyone else hate the 'Tivo' box/have problems with it?

[Pipbin]

We've been with them for years too. Always been happy.
When we moved into our house about 2 years ago our internet kept dropping off on a Sunday. They came out and jiggled around with the green box in the street but there was still a problem. We ended up with the mobile number of the head engineer for our area so we could contact him as soon as it dropped off.
The trick to getting the uk call centre is to call during office hours, any day.