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VirginOnInsaniy · 30-11-2007, 03:26

I got sick waiting for Virgin to resolve My port blocking issue, so I gave the Remote Assistance a try. Guess what its not working, maybe they're blocking that port too.

I tried the email help, not expecting too much. How wrong I was! The reply said I was a heavy user who had been capped, strange as my account was fine when I rang up customer support on Saturday. I'm not heavy downloader, one podcast a day and a game demo once in a blue moon is about my limit, Oh and lots of online gaming.

Thats me totally cheesed off with Virgin ADSL. Everybody makes mistakes, thats when the good companys shine. But reducing my service, forcing me to ring premium rate numbers to fix it and then bulshiting me is just too much.

They're no longer fit to be an ISP. They have shown zero interest in serving their longstanding customers from my experience. I'm moving to an ISP with free phone support and leave Virgin too commit Commercial suicide.

Thinking about sticking with Virgin check out my request for help and answer

YOU are port throttling/blocking the online game "Fly for fun" between the hours of approximately 16.00 and midnight weekdays and all of last weekend. This started last Friday

You are also blocking the "ThinkBroadband" speed tester at the same time, fortunately this has an option to use port 80 when you are blocking port 8095.

I understand you are trying to improve the service but you have stopped my autistic son playing his MMRPG in the evenings and weekends. He lives for this and the friends he has made in the game.

I rang your customer support on Saturday, but was unable to help during the weekend. It is now Wednesday and the problem persists.

Let me be crystal clear on this, the game works perfectly fine during off peak hours.

Also if I get an automated reply I will be getting in touch with OFCOM and Watchdog in that order.

As a long term Virgin customer I am very disappointed with your service in resolving the matter so far.

Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.

Mr **********

Virgins automated reply

Dear Customer

The issues you are having is in regard to our fair usage policy, between the hours of 4pm and midnight you have had the speed of your connection reduced, as a result of the amount you are downloading.

Below i have enclosed a copy of the traffic management details, which you agreed to when taking out the service.

Here at Virgin Media, we want all our customers to get the best service possible from their broadband.

When someone is downloading a particularly large amount of information over a long period of time, it can slow down the Internet speed for other users who might just be checking their email or browsing online.

So to make sure our service is fair for everybody, we sometimes moderate the speeds during peak times (4pm till midnight) for customers who are downloading an unusually large amount at these times. It is a method for identifying our heaviest users and temporarily reducing their download speeds during our peak (busiest) periods. We'll start moderating the heaviest users' service from mid-July.

This ensures that the service doesn't get blocked up with people using more than their fair share - which means a lot fewer traffic jams on the information superhighway.

We have provided some answers below to the questions that we feel some of our customers may have.

Will there be any change to the cost of my service?

No, there will be no change in the cost of your broadband service what so ever.

How exactly does this improve my connection speeds and download speeds?

Traffic management is all about making better services available at great value to the average customer.

Around 5% of our customers use up to 70% of our bandwidth during busy periods. By managing this traffic we can limit the impact of heavy usage by limiting the speeds at peak times for this select minority that really hit the network hard when it's at its busiest.

This will have a positive affect, helping to improve download speeds for the average customer by reducing the congestion in the network and enable us to deliver better quality services at much better value to the vast majority of our customers.

Will my download speed be affected?

We run a weekly report to determine the top 5% of our heaviest peak time users. These users are then Traffic Managed for 7 days. Every 7 days we refresh the list of heavy users to ensure we are only addressing those people who are placing the heaviest demand on the network during busy periods.

Your speed won't be moderated unless you're in the top 5% of downloaders. Our boffins recently ran a trial to see how much our service was being affected. They discovered that, in certain areas, just 5% of customers were downloading such a large amount of content that it was affecting the service for other users in these areas.
And we're not talking about just a few video clips. In some cases the top 5% of users were downloading as much as 3GB, just during peak times. That's around 750 music tracks in the space of a few hours.

So, unless you're downloading an unusually large amount of information at peak times, we won't restrict your service and you can download to your heart's content.

You can view the updated terms & conditions by visitng the following address:

http://www.virgin.net/terms/bb_bundle_tc.html

If you would like further information on Traffic Management please visit our FAQ's page by visiting the following address:

http://www.virgin.net/allyours/faqs/traffic_faqs.html

If you need any further assistance please contact us again, or visit the following address:

http://www.virgin.net/helpme/

Many Thanks

Alex

Virgin Media Customer Support

My reply so far

When I rang customer support on Saturday 23rd I was informed by your
representative that NO RESTRICTIONS where on my account!

If you have restricted my account why was I not informed?
I am not a heavy user! I am massively under your fair use policy.
You have not reduced the speed of my connection, it runs fine on port 80 you
have TOTAL BLOCKED port 8095.

HAVE YOU ACTUALLY CHECKED MY ACCOUNT

I demand you remove any restriction on my account NOW!!!!

You are severely upsetting my autistic son by your actions. I am disgusted at
Virgins inability resolve what is probably a simple mistake for a long
standing customer.

I looking forward to you reply

Mr *******

30-11-2007, 03:26	#12
VirginOnInsaniy Inactive Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 8	Re: Warning Speedtester and RPGs blocked!! I got sick waiting for Virgin to resolve My port blocking issue, so I gave the Remote Assistance a try. Guess what its not working, maybe they're blocking that port too. I tried the email help, not expecting too much. How wrong I was! The reply said I was a heavy user who had been capped, strange as my account was fine when I rang up customer support on Saturday. I'm not heavy downloader, one podcast a day and a game demo once in a blue moon is about my limit, Oh and lots of online gaming. Thats me totally cheesed off with Virgin ADSL. Everybody makes mistakes, thats when the good companys shine. But reducing my service, forcing me to ring premium rate numbers to fix it and then bulshiting me is just too much. They're no longer fit to be an ISP. They have shown zero interest in serving their longstanding customers from my experience. I'm moving to an ISP with free phone support and leave Virgin too commit Commercial suicide. Thinking about sticking with Virgin check out my request for help and answer YOU are port throttling/blocking the online game "Fly for fun" between the hours of approximately 16.00 and midnight weekdays and all of last weekend. This started last Friday You are also blocking the "ThinkBroadband" speed tester at the same time, fortunately this has an option to use port 80 when you are blocking port 8095. I understand you are trying to improve the service but you have stopped my autistic son playing his MMRPG in the evenings and weekends. He lives for this and the friends he has made in the game. I rang your customer support on Saturday, but was unable to help during the weekend. It is now Wednesday and the problem persists. Let me be crystal clear on this, the game works perfectly fine during off peak hours. Also if I get an automated reply I will be getting in touch with OFCOM and Watchdog in that order. As a long term Virgin customer I am very disappointed with your service in resolving the matter so far. Thank you in advance for any help you can offer. Mr ******** Virgins automated reply Dear Customer The issues you are having is in regard to our fair usage policy, between the hours of 4pm and midnight you have had the speed of your connection reduced, as a result of the amount you are downloading. Below i have enclosed a copy of the traffic management details, which you agreed to when taking out the service. Here at Virgin Media, we want all our customers to get the best service possible from their broadband. When someone is downloading a particularly large amount of information over a long period of time, it can slow down the Internet speed for other users who might just be checking their email or browsing online. So to make sure our service is fair for everybody, we sometimes moderate the speeds during peak times (4pm till midnight) for customers who are downloading an unusually large amount at these times. It is a method for identifying our heaviest users and temporarily reducing their download speeds during our peak (busiest) periods. We'll start moderating the heaviest users' service from mid-July. This ensures that the service doesn't get blocked up with people using more than their fair share - which means a lot fewer traffic jams on the information superhighway. We have provided some answers below to the questions that we feel some of our customers may have. Will there be any change to the cost of my service? No, there will be no change in the cost of your broadband service what so ever. How exactly does this improve my connection speeds and download speeds? Traffic management is all about making better services available at great value to the average customer. Around 5% of our customers use up to 70% of our bandwidth during busy periods. By managing this traffic we can limit the impact of heavy usage by limiting the speeds at peak times for this select minority that really hit the network hard when it's at its busiest. This will have a positive affect, helping to improve download speeds for the average customer by reducing the congestion in the network and enable us to deliver better quality services at much better value to the vast majority of our customers. Will my download speed be affected? We run a weekly report to determine the top 5% of our heaviest peak time users. These users are then Traffic Managed for 7 days. Every 7 days we refresh the list of heavy users to ensure we are only addressing those people who are placing the heaviest demand on the network during busy periods. Your speed won't be moderated unless you're in the top 5% of downloaders. Our boffins recently ran a trial to see how much our service was being affected. They discovered that, in certain areas, just 5% of customers were downloading such a large amount of content that it was affecting the service for other users in these areas. And we're not talking about just a few video clips. In some cases the top 5% of users were downloading as much as 3GB, just during peak times. That's around 750 music tracks in the space of a few hours. So, unless you're downloading an unusually large amount of information at peak times, we won't restrict your service and you can download to your heart's content. You can view the updated terms & conditions by visitng the following address: http://www.virgin.net/terms/bb_bundle_tc.html If you would like further information on Traffic Management please visit our FAQ's page by visiting the following address: http://www.virgin.net/allyours/faqs/traffic_faqs.html If you need any further assistance please contact us again, or visit the following address: http://www.virgin.net/helpme/ Many Thanks Alex Virgin Media Customer Support My reply so far When I rang customer support on Saturday 23rd I was informed by your representative that NO RESTRICTIONS where on my account! If you have restricted my account why was I not informed? I am not a heavy user! I am massively under your fair use policy. You have not reduced the speed of my connection, it runs fine on port 80 you have TOTAL BLOCKED port 8095. HAVE YOU ACTUALLY CHECKED MY ACCOUNT I demand you remove any restriction on my account NOW!!!! You are severely upsetting my autistic son by your actions. I am disgusted at Virgins inability resolve what is probably a simple mistake for a long standing customer. I looking forward to you reply Mr *****