The worst start to a company I’ve ever experienced…….. Virgin Media

In this day and age we all receive emails, letters, phone calls, text messages or get hassled in shopping precincts from companies wishing to sell us more and more services. The phone and television market is no different, those can remember from having three television channels which ceased broadcasting at midnight with programs for children at set times only! Fortunately channel 4 arrived and then channel 5. Then finally Cable and Satellite channel’s brings us up to this modern and digital age.

What an insane market to choose from for our home entertainment Sky, Virgin, EE, BT, TalkTalk (have I missed anyone?) All claiming to be cheaper and faster than their rivals. Let’s be honest and just take a step back. They all supply a service charge us all for simple things which regardless who we choose we’re all probably spending £60 PLUS on this entertainment. I do know families spending over £100. Per month sounds a lot but to spend this in a 24 or 18 month contract! What a rip-off.

Needless to say for the last 15 plus years I’ve been with Sky TV why?, probably just too lazy to move to another supplier and I have got to know the channel numbers off the top of my head so there is no need to move right? Why would I want to learn different numbers all over again for the same channels? Well…. My family has grown which needs telly sharing, we all have different interests which now requires us watching our favourite programs at different times. I have found myself having to record programs and watch them late at night with peace and quiet or view them on the computer with SkyGo. The clue in the above sentence is “viewing on a computer”. Now considering I’m watch a program on the computer, children have tablets, wife is on her device, games console, printer uploading pictures to clients. Our internet is breaking and that broadband speed is an all time slow as it struggles to share its bandwidth to all these devices.  According in my supplier ”We have the fastest broadband” around, which I’m starting to doubt the truth behind this actual statement. Every device in our house is requiring a share of that speed. This frustration turned my head as I walked past the Virgin media store with the same sales persons over the last few months couldn’t believe his luck as I was actually stepping into this shop to hear what he had to say. Viewing the assistant’s computer screen along with our constant junk mail posted through our door our street has already installed the latest cables and we live in a virgin compatible area.

As the assistant explained, the answer to my problem here is Fibre. Fibre the latest technology to cope with our modern day demand.  I need this service to help with the work load I intend to burden its shoulders with. Believe me I will! The problem is that although a majority  In our area with streets full of copper wires, not one supplier can offer us the fibre service Sky, BT, EE, Vodafone, TalkTalk, PlusNet, absolutely no one except …. VIRGIN MEDIA using its “cable” service. So I all I need to do now is arrange a cancelation and a connection for my phone line and broadband supplier to transfer to Virgin’s stronger and faster infrastructure to solve all of my in house problems.

On 15th October 2016, I decided to place my order and looked at the list of available dates to start my new service. As this would require a day off from work I took a day off planning installation for a month later on 15th November. Well this date couldn’t come fast enough for me. Download speeds of up to 200MB/Sec Uploading pictures to client’s galleries at nearly 20MB/Sec will mean I won’t have to leave my computer on overnight as it uploads pictures to the correct albums I can now upload in a fraction of this time! What a result a real winner…. I was rubbing my hands with glee

Well low and behold 18:30!! On the 14th November Virgin rang to cancel my installation! CANCEL why??? What because down the road there was blockage. Wait for it!!.... This blockage was due to leaves and the leaves are preventing the cable being pushed through for connection. Can you believe this! LEAVES are stopping a modern day high speed digital phone line from being connected. I held this phone to my ear in utter disbelief and listened over and over at this excuse, expecting any minute now the assistant to crack out into fits of laughter with the punchline “GOTCHA!” …. I waited and waited until it dawned on me, he was actually serious. From being completely puzzled and confused my tone of voice changed into and no matter how much I argued, Virgin were just not coming out to install my service. They did however arrange “themselves” to come out again on 2nd December and credit my account with £50. Remember my account that hasn’t official opened yet?.

So restraining myself and trying to be patient I looked forward to the new date on 2nd December…. Well I could not believe whilst at work 13:30 on 1st December my phone rings again from Virgin with another problem that they couldn’t fix in the THREE weeks that they could have done from the last cancelation.

Let’s get this right… Each time a date has been arranged its’ been down to VIRGIN to tell me the date when they can perform this installation and when it has come down to it, they have not been able to complete what they promised? Two installations and now two! Failed bookings. Not to mention twice going into work, asking/begging for the day off work for this to be a completed has been a complete waste of time.  In total Virgin Media have had SEVEN weeks altogether to perform all the necessary checks and installations needed in the high street to perform the final installation within my property on the agreed date in question. The fact these are issues away from my property with blockages or applying to the council for access permission is not my or any customers fault. Its a procedure virgin have performed millions of times already so what could possibly be preventing m connection on this occasion? 

Is this a sign just to stay with my current supplier and stay with the company I have been connected too for many years? Eventually when I do get connected, is Virgin’s network going to break down every two minutes? To which I have to contact this customer service team who have already proved, even before my installation has been completed that they are just not up to the task, with their attitude on the phone to me and service? I have spent more than enough time on the phone to the customer service team, calling from another phone supplier is hardly going to be a free phone call is it? I have had to continue paying BT and SKY for the service they give me when it should have been cancelled and have been paying just the one …. VIRGIN who clearly are making so much money already that their profit margins are so high they can afford to mess me about and for me not to pay them for a service.

This is a true story not factual in anyway. If you thought this blog was long just, wait until you see my letter I’m sending to virgin media’s head office to finally conclude this matter.