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View Full Version : Am I about to shoot myself in the foot?


p2daz
28-10-2007, 10:33
Hi All,

As you can see this is my first post - mainly to rant about the shocking service from intitially NTL then kept up by Virgin media.

I have been a cable broadband customer for as long as i can remember since the diamond cable days and never had problems like i have had in the last 2 years.

It started off just under two years ago when i did a speed check ,I can't remember the connection I was on but it was testing significantly lower than it should have been for a few weeks.
After countless calls - it was sorted (never got compensated though).Another year followed with numerous issues ( abeit minor) but i was so annoyed at NTL's CS that i phoned to cancel my telephone and broadband.

Funny how they do everything to help then isn't it? I went ahead and cancelled the phone ( cheaper deal with BT) but they offered me a 12 months deal of ₤12 for their 20mbit connection - so I jumped at the chance..BIG mistake!

For the last 12 bills I have spent literally hours on the phone correcting a wrong bill - each time to be told "it won't happen again - we're so sorry".
I'm sure they got their money back from me spending so long on their local rate CS line.

SO, a few weeks ago I got my latest bill ₤103!! which was 2 months full price , 2 lots of direct debit penalties (don't get me on that one)and a fine for late payment!!!
I phoned an offshore callcentre (that was polite) to get them to drop the package to the lowest -I spoke to a chap and he put me on hold for 20 minutes then I got cut off.
I called straight back to spend a total of 1 hour on the phone before I'd had enough and had to go out.
The next night I phoned up to sort it out and spent an hour on hold! Now instead of dropping the package I was intent on cancelling everything.
When i eventually got through to someone I informed them that i wanted to cancel the account - no messing about - just cancel it, when they asked why i ran off all the above reasons - she just said OK but you'll have to settle the account first - no problem - i'll do it now, I was put on hold for 30 mins until another CS Numpty answered, i told her i wanted to settle my account to be told that the last bill was wrong ! Unbelievable!

So in 30 days time I will no longer be a Virgin Media customer - I can't fault the actual product in fact I know that I will have more trouble with adsl in the future but NTL/Virgins Customer Service is appalling.

Straight after cancelling my Virgin account I got straight onto Sky, got sorted out with an (up to) 8Mbit connection for ₤5 as opposed to Virgins (up to ) 2Mbit for ₤4.50. with a free wireless modem/router - all sorted within 20 mins.

As the Title suggests I may regret leaving Virgin solely for the product cable/ADSL - but I sure as hell will never go back to Virgin unless someone can guarantee a better Customer Service -Service being the operative word here!

Sorry to rant on especially as it's my first post but it does feel better to get it off my chest - Thank You..

Graham M
28-10-2007, 10:52
Umm have you had to deal with Sky's customer services (not SALES!!!) yet? They're just as useless

p2daz
28-10-2007, 11:05
Yeah, i know where you're coming from and don't doubt it but i have been a Sky customer for the last 12 years and can't remember phoning their customer services before about anything - no doubt that'll change when i'm connected to their roadband service - saying that though since signing up with them I have had a few courtesy calls asking whether i'd received the modem, telling me when connection should be etc.. a bit more 'service 'than Virgin.

Incidently since writing the above ( and getting my back up again ) I feel that I should be writing to Virgin themselves to air my grievences - does anyone know the best person / place to address such letter?

I doubt it will count for anything but I feel I need to tell them.

Paul K
28-10-2007, 11:08
Good luck, I can guarantee you will be very likely to have isues as the email system is a mess at the moment, a lot of people are getting low speeds for no reason, the router is not as stable as it should be and to be honest you don't always get told the truth by the people selling the service.
Edit: So overall you may find Sky are no better than VM in the long run, I suppose you can hope that once the BB side of things bed in properly that the support and service improves though.

UncleBooBoo
28-10-2007, 12:02
Good luck, I can guarantee you will be very likely to have isues as the email system is a mess at the moment, a lot of people are getting low speeds for no reason, the router is not as stable as it should be and to be honest you don't always get told the truth by the people selling the service.
Edit: So overall you may find Sky are no better than VM in the long run, I suppose you can hope that once the BB side of things bed in properly that the support and service improves though.

I agree, Sky is great but when it comes to sky broadband OMG!!!!

It's the worst service I have ever received, NTL came second but even they are not as bad as sky broadband!!!

Stay well clear if you know what's good for you, pay the extra and go with a good provider if their is such a thing these days!!!!