North London - Stone cold dead !

[Lee Wilson]

(This is via my telephone - as my internet connection is dead)

Anyone else here in North/East London - got a 50MB Virgin cable service, cuts out every night at around 10.30-11.00pm . . . now cuts out in the afternoons too, dead all day Friday, all day Saturday, popped back into life for an hour or so on Sunday morning then back to being bust all day.

Virgin help line takes 35 minutes to speak to someone, if they feel they have dealt with you they cut you off mid-sentance. Not good.

They tell me there is a fault, a signal to noise ratio issue (whatever that means) - and they are scheduled to fix it on Tuesday.

I ask if I will still have to pay this months bill . . . of course I will.

Their attitude is appalling, they basically treat you like ****, they staff their help lines with so few people that a wait for 30 minutes before anyone even picks the phone up is not unusual (I spent 76 minutes on the line today, 76 minutes on a premium rate line that Virgin make money from) - it is nearly impossible to make a complaint, no one is in the slightest bit interested in your issues and at every stage, and at every opportunity you are aware that Virgin are syphoning money from you.

Useless nonsense . . .

So, rant over . . . my question: as I am not being provided the service I am paying for can I end the contract with Virgin ?

[Hugh]

Actually, you should get credit for the days you have lost service.

Why are you paying for a premium rate number - why not dial 151 for faults?

[m419]

(This is via my telephone - as my internet connection is dead)

Anyone else here in North/East London - got a 50MB Virgin cable service, cuts out every night at around 10.30-11.00pm . . . now cuts out in the afternoons too, dead all day Friday, all day Saturday, popped back into life for an hour or so on Sunday morning then back to being bust all day.

Virgin help line takes 35 minutes to speak to someone, if they feel they have dealt with you they cut you off mid-sentance. Not good.

They tell me there is a fault, a signal to noise ratio issue (whatever that means) - and they are scheduled to fix it on Tuesday.

I ask if I will still have to pay this months bill . . . of course I will.

Their attitude is appalling, they basically treat you like ****, they staff their help lines with so few people that a wait for 30 minutes before anyone even picks the phone up is not unusual (I spent 76 minutes on the line today, 76 minutes on a premium rate line that Virgin make money from) - it is nearly impossible to make a complaint, no one is in the slightest bit interested in your issues and at every stage, and at every opportunity you are aware that Virgin are syphoning money from you.

Useless nonsense . . .

So, rant over . . . my question: as I am not being provided the service I am paying for can I end the contract with Virgin ?

I'm in North London, never really have any major problems apart from a phone fault which is being dealt with and i'm getting a credit on my bill for loss of service, been with Virgin/Telewest/Cable London since 1997.

Firstly, when calling the 0845 number from a mobile, they are meant to call you back on that number.

After the fault has been resolved, you should get a credit on your bill for the loss of service, however this will only start from the date you reported the problem, so if you waited a few days thinking it will come back on its own and then contacted them, you won't receive a credit for them 2 days.

[Lee Wilson]

Cheers for the reply Hugh.

Actually, you should get credit for the days you have lost service.

My question really is can I end the contract ?

I am not after credits per se, I don't want a service that might work or might not, I don't want to be wondering around Kings Cross in London at 11:45pm at night looking for an internet café to send work to my clients - even if Virgin are so kind as to give me credits, it's not a viable way for me to work.

Why are you paying for a premium rate number - why not dial 151 for faults?

When I took my contract on it included TV, internet and landline.

Engineer pops along, has the cable internet installed fairly quickly (there was a pre-existing one there from the previous tenant if I remember right), the TV he gets going pretty easily as well . . . but when he starts to do the phone line, he mentions some problem he needs to sort out (something about a BT line and/or junction box) . . he tells me he is just popping out and will be back in a while . . . leaves a big 'roll' of what looks like telephone wire and a few other bits . . . he never comes back.

I call Virgin . . . (**all the usual complaints you've probably heard a million times before apply here, in a queue for what feels like days, technical support are not too interested . . passed around a few times . . need to repeat the issue with each new helpline staff member . . . etc etc . . ) . . . they are going call me back.

They don't call me back.

I call again . . . more of the same (see above**) . . . they are going call me back.

They don't call me back.

Etc etc, ad nauseum.

Result = 11 months later I have no phone line (but a large roll of telephone wire), Virgin are, of course, only to happy to continue billing me for the non-existant phone line they didn't install.

So, no 151 for me.

---------- Post added at 20:53 ---------- Previous post was at 20:18 ----------

Hi m419

Cheers for your input . . . :)

I'm in North London, never really have any major problems apart from a phone fault which is being dealt with and i'm getting a credit on my bill for loss of service, been with Virgin/Telewest/Cable London since 1997.

Service has been ok, not great but ok, I have had this fault a few times before (by the way it's at some junction box - or whatever they are called - somewhere in London, not in my flat) I lose connection for a few hours, normally it's all working by the evening or the next morning, but recently it's every day - and now all day long.

Firstly, when calling the 0845 number from a mobile, they are meant to call you back on that number.

Well then that perhaps partly my own fault as after being on the line for 41 minutes (18 minute wait for technical support . . . then after establishing the fault technical support kindly said they would pass me "straight through" to 'billing' . . . . which resulted in another 23 minute wait . . ) I basically panicked when the guy offered to phone me back, I literally begged him not to do so as when anyone from Virgin has said they will call back in the past they never do, I know it's a bit cynical of me, but I'd already ratcheted up 41 minutes on a premium rate line, I thought I might as well stick it out for a few more minutes instead of risking being cut off yet again.


After the fault has been resolved, you should get a credit on your bill for the loss of service, however this will only start from the date you reported the problem, so if you waited a few days thinking it will come back on its own and then contacted them, you won't receive a credit for them 2 days.

Jesus these people are crooks, reporting the problem costs an arm and a leg, not reporting the problem means you have no service and no recourse to refund.

My question is: do you think I have grounds to simply end my contract as it is not providing what I need, what I signed up for ?

[Sirius]

Result = 11 months later I have no phone line (but a large roll of telephone wire), Virgin are, of course, only to happy to continue billing me for the non-existant phone line they didn't install.

?

If you have been with VM for 11 months then you are at the end of your contract anyway

[Lee Wilson]

If you have been with VM for 11 months then you are at the end of your contract anyway

Yes, my internet contract runs out on the 28th of November and my telephone line contract (which unsurprisingly I have never got to use, not one call, ever!) runs out on December the 9th, I am not entirely sure why they have separate expiration dates as I got the two as part of the same TV/internet/phone 'package' (?)

. . . . but rather than pay for another 4 or 5 weeks of non-existent services I would prefer just to end this contract and sign up with someone else as quickly as is reasonably possible as I work from home and really need an internet connection at home - It's not practical to have to jump in a cab in the dead of night to go up to a King's Cross internet café every time I need to send something to a client - even if it's only for a few more weeks.

[Milambar]

Its my understanding that you can terminate the contract whenever you wish, but if you have any time left to run on the contract, they will probably ask you to pay an early termination fee.

That said, if you can prove you reported the faults to them, and gave them a reasonable time in which to rectify them and they failed to do so, then they are probably in breach of contract themselves.

[Lee Wilson]

Cheers for the reply Milambar

Its my understanding that you can terminate the contract whenever you wish, but if you have any time left to run on the contract, they will probably ask you to pay an early termination fee.

So that's effectively a 'no' then ? I say this as I guess the termination fee is what remains on the contract (or most of what remains on the contract) ? :confused:


That said, if you can prove you reported the faults to them, and gave them a reasonable time in which to rectify them and they failed to do so, then they are probably in breach of contract themselves.

I've told them months ago I have no phone line (not a faulty phone line or an intermittent phone line or a poor quality phone line, but no actual phone line - ie: nothing was installed) - nothing happened, I gave up banging my head against that particular brick-wall and have made do with my mobile, but now I am really struggling with no internet connection, makes my working day really problematic.

Not quite sure what counts as proof of my reporting the issues, sorry to sound so cynical, but I am old enough to know that Virgin likely have a very specific definition of what and how a complaint is made and me simply telling several uninterested call centre workers probably doesn't count as 'proof' I'd guess, I am sure they would require me to produce some reference number or something.

Sorry to sound like an annoyed and cynical old :mad::rolleyes::confused::mad: - but right now that's exactly what I am.

It's reasonably likely I will never use Virgin again and will enthusiastically advise friends and family to avoid Virgin, not so much for their actual services (which I expect are on a par with most other providers) but for being treated like absolute :mad::rolleyes::confused::mad: when it comes to basic support (and being charged for the pleasure).

Truly awful and in no way a viable option if you in any way rely on an internet connection for your work.

[horseman]

….Truly awful and in no way a viable option if you in any way rely on an internet connection for your work.

Perhaps that's why you have Business line contracts separate to Residential?:rolleyes:

[Lee Wilson]

Perhaps that's why you have Business line contracts separate to Residential?:rolleyes:



Hi horseman

Thanks, that's interesting to know, I wasn't aware that Virgin offered 'Business line contracts' - do they use different technology to home cable services as far as you are aware ?

[Milambar]

Not an expert here, and working from memory so I might be totally wrong...

If past posts on this forum are anything to go by, if you work from home, you should be on a business line not a residential one. The business line has a UK call center, and a SLA (service level agreement), the residential ones don't. Residential lines are just a "best effort".

The technology is the same, but with a different QoS. Some say a different contention ratio too, but others say otherwise.

Perhaps one of the staff with a more in-depth knowlege of the business packages can tell you more.

[watzizname]

I guess with a business connection, they'll actually install the phone then :rolleyes:

Seriously mate, if they've been charging you for a phone service they haven't even provided, you should be looking at a little more than just ending the contract.

I would have thought that they should be reimbursing you, for the entirety of the period you've been billed?

[Lee Wilson]

Connection went on today . . . had a few hours of uninterrupted internet service !!

Then . . . . the service cut out as usual, waited for an hour or so . . . rang Virgin (only had to wait a few minutes for someone to answer which helped me keep my calm / remain polite) . . . few checks . . take a few details . . . have you restarted your modem (etc) . . . then told there is a (presumably new) fault on the line and it will be dealt with in 4 or 5 days !

Another fault, another 4 or 5 day wait.

Damn :(

Anyone recommend a ISP, not too fussed about the speed, the Virgin 50MB is great when it works, but I would be happy with 10MB to be honest if it came with a customer service department that made the effort to sound vaguely interested in resolving issues when / if they arise ?

---------- Post added at 02:11 ---------- Previous post was at 02:09 ----------

The technology is the same, but with a different QoS.

So, basically if I was on a 'business' contract I would still be without an internet service (but the news would be delivered by a more sympathetic member of staff) ? ;)

---------- Post added at 02:13 ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 ----------

Seriously mate, if they've been charging you for a phone service they haven't even provided, you should be looking at a little more than just ending the contract.

I would have thought that they should be reimbursing you, for the entirety of the period you've been billed?

I did raise the issue with Virgin, but like I say above no one I spoke to gave it much attention - in the end I gave up and just relied on my mobile.

Don't want to sound like a push-over, but experience has taught me that long-winded battles and endless phone calls to premium rate phone lines usually tend to cost a lot of money and go nowhere when you are attempting to get redress from most of the larger corporations - it only leaves me annoyed, frustrated and out of pocket, probably best just to cut my loses and try someone else.