4K : UHD on Virgin Media

[Rob King]

After complaining about the cost of the uhd movies I got this replie today

" We’ve looked into it – here’s our findings:
From your online query, we understand that you are concerned about the charges for sky channels.
This mail is to keep you informed that the charges are valid and the decisions are made by higher authorities. We being advisors will not be able to make any changes to the standard price that has been provided to all customers.
We would like to inform you that the charge is for UHD and it is a charge that has been paid by all the customers who opt for the UHD channels.
unfortunately, we will not be able to provide a waiver or a credit for the charges.
We would like to let you know you can manage your account online and keep an eye on any upgrade offers available to you by registering or signing in to your My Virgin Media account at virginmedia.com/myvirginmedia. When you get signed in just click on 'My upgrades & offers'. You can even manage your account on the move by downloading the My Virgin Media app onto any compatible iOS or Android device. "

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Rob King

After complaining about the cost of the uhd movies I got this replie today

" We’ve looked into it – here’s our findings:
From your online query, we understand that you are concerned about the charges for sky channels.
This mail is to keep you informed that the charges are valid and the decisions are made by higher authorities. We being advisors will not be able to make any changes to the standard price that has been provided to all customers.
We would like to inform you that the charge is for UHD and it is a charge that has been paid by all the customers who opt for the UHD channels.
unfortunately, we will not be able to provide a waiver or a credit for the charges.
We would like to let you know you can manage your account online and keep an eye on any upgrade offers available to you by registering or signing in to your My Virgin Media account at virginmedia.com/myvirginmedia. When you get signed in just click on 'My upgrades & offers'. You can even manage your account on the move by downloading the My Virgin Media app onto any compatible iOS or Android device. "

It's just corporate waffle and, personally, i'd take it to CISAS. Saying that all customers are paying for it is clearly not the case as has been demonstrated by this thread.

Apparently, it costs VM £150 if they make decision quickly and up to £600 if a full investigation is carried out.

If you say that you intend to go to CISAS, if they had any sense, they'd let you off the charge as this would only cost them £72 over a year. Alternatively, many people get mattets resolved by writing to the office of the VM CEO daniel.potts@virginmedia.co.uk

For Virgin Media complaints, the "ombusdman" service is provided through the Communication and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS), but in principle it works in a similar way to Ombudsman Services, in that the service is free for customers (regardless of outcome), and the outcome of a complaint review is binding on VM. The review is carried out by an independent and trained arbitrator, and I'd emphasis the "independent", in that they aren't there as a consumer advocate or representative, they are there to examine the facts of the case and come to a dispassionate and fair resolution

Have people taken VM to CISAS and won? Certainly, as only around 10% of complaints to CISAS about VM are not upheld (ie no action). The evidence for this assertion is here. What that also shows is a lot of VM complaints are "settled" rather than upheld. When a customer complains to CISAS they first of all check to make sure that the complaint is within their terms of reference, If the complaint is within ToR, Virgin Media are liable for the costs of the adjudication (called a case fee). If VM resolve the complaint immediately with an offer that meets the customer's demands, then the case is described as "settled", and VM are only charged a small case fee (I believe around £150). If VM don't do that, then CISAS investigate and come up with a settlement that is binding on VM, and VM get charged the full case fee that I believe is somewhere in the range £400-600. The data indicates that VM resist many complaints on their internal process, but then roll over as soon as the customer raises it with CISAS (of course, most give up before that, which is why VM resist in the first place).

I suggest you read the CISAS guidance and phone them to make sure that your complaint is fully compliant and that you've got the necessary information. If you don't have accurate records, you can make a subject data access request to Virgin Media and they'll have to provide (free of charge) a copy of all data they hold on you, including either transcripts or recordings of all voice calls

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5...n/td-p/4062117

[kgollop]

Half hearted response to my compliant here:

"Thank you for your patience in this matter! I apologize for the delay in response. I understand your concern about the package. Your feedback about including UHD with the package that you are in is considered and it will be sent to the respective managers to improve the service in the future."

Apparently they tried to ring me (they didn't) and the email states I've now been "educated". It doesn't even feel like they read my email, so maybe a copy and paste reply.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by kgollop

Half hearted response to my compliant here:

"Thank you for your patience in this matter! I apologize for the delay in response. I understand your concern about the package. Your feedback about including UHD with the package that you are in is considered and it will be sent to the respective managers to improve the service in the future."

Apparently they tried to ring me (they didn't) and the email states I've now been "educated". It doesn't even feel like they read my email, so maybe a copy and paste reply.

It will be copy pasted. It also appears to be the norm for them to say that they tried to ring people these days; the internet is full of people saying that this isn't true. Not a good idea to lie whilst people are at home during lockdown as that covers their landline & mobile. Someone ought to try to find a way to get them to disclose their phone records if possible.

As for 'educated', i'm aftaid i'd take exception to that. Again, this is part of the copy/paste crap that they spew out- it's also got connotations that the problem was the fault of the customer and that they lack intelligence.

I'd use the same tactics that I outlined to Rob. You have a 90% chance of success and, even if you lose and have to pay them £72, you can obtain some comfort that they had to pay out at least £150, so didn't benefit by what they did.

They also fail to realise that customers can play dirty too.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by Huxie

Any chance you could take a leaf out of his book?

Average 1 post per month. I didn't think it was possible to get grief from a less emphatic poster but I was proven wrong.

[Rob King]

Originally Posted by kgollop

Half hearted response to my compliant here:

"Thank you for your patience in this matter! I apologize for the delay in response. I understand your concern about the package. Your feedback about including UHD with the package that you are in is considered and it will be sent to the respective managers to improve the service in the future."

Apparently they tried to ring me (they didn't) and the email states I've now been "educated". It doesn't even feel like they read my email, so maybe a copy and paste reply.

Yes they said they tried to ring me

[Tricky Trevor]

I decided to give the Sky Entertainment/Sky Cinema UHD channels a try out after reading complaints about the quality not being up to scratch, If I don't like it I will give the 30 days notice to cancel.

So yesterday morning, I ordered it through here https://www.virginmedia.com/offers/skyUHDregistration
But so far, I have not recieved an email from them and they havn't activated the service to me. Has anybody else had such a long wait and how long does it take them to switch me on?

[heavyside]

Originally Posted by Tricky Trevor

I decided to give the Sky Entertainment/Sky Cinema UHD channels a try out after reading complaints about the quality not being up to scratch, If I don't like it I will give the 30 days notice to cancel.

So yesterday morning, I ordered it through here https://www.virginmedia.com/offers/skyUHDregistration
But so far, I have not recieved an email from them and they havn't activated the service to me. Has anybody else had such a long wait and how long does it take them to switch me on?

I did the same as you and ordered online. It took about 48 hours before UHD was available. I was notified by email when it was up and running on my 360 box.

[Tricky Trevor]

Thank you heavyside for your reply.
Looks like it's not going to be here for much of the weekend then.

[ScottishSteve]

Originally Posted by Tricky Trevor

I decided to give the Sky Entertainment/Sky Cinema UHD channels a try out after reading complaints about the quality not being up to scratch, If I don't like it I will give the 30 days notice to cancel.

So yesterday morning, I ordered it through here https://www.virginmedia.com/offers/skyUHDregistration
But so far, I have not recieved an email from them and they havn't activated the service to me. Has anybody else had such a long wait and how long does it take them to switch me on?

If you go on to live chat it can be done with 10 mins

[denphone]

Originally Posted by ScottishSteve

If you go on to live chat it can be done with 10 mins

The trouble with live chat is it never seems to work.

[ScottishSteve]

Originally Posted by denphone

The trouble with live chat is it never seems to work.

I used to find that but the last couple of months it seems to be more readily available

[denphone]

Originally Posted by ScottishSteve

I used to find that but the last couple of months it seems to be more readily available

l have tried several times lately and it does nothing.

[Tricky Trevor]

I tried live chat but it didn't pop up at all and then I noticed it was 'greyed out'. I rang 150 and much to my suprise, I got through straight away to an Indian chap. I mentioned that I ordered Sky Entertainment/Cinema online but he tried to sell me a Sky Cinema package for a lot of money but he went quiet when I pointed that I have Sports and Movies on my Ultimate Omph package.

He said somtimes it can take 48 hours for the UHD to go through but asked if I would like him to do it for me so of course I said yes. He said he would send the email straight away but I've not recieved it yet. Before he went he suggested that I reboot the box which I did and I have it now at last. I'll have a look at a few programmes and films later.

[fatal_exception]

Having managed to get it enabled via customer services (with some perseverance) and paying the £6.00. I have to say I am totally underwhelmed, the picture quality is very poor via my V6 box. I watched a couple of films which I have seen before and I don’t think it’s worth the £6.00.

After some tinkering things improved but a couple of points: bit rate is poor and I’m not sure if it’s even proper 2160p. There doesn’t appear to be any HDR on offer, I didn’t check the amp but certainly didn’t sound like broadcast atmos.

Any app through my Philips OLED is vastly superior. Netflix with Dolby vision is massively better, BBC I played is better, even Amazon prime with HDR10+ is better and UHD Blu-rays make the gap in picture quality laughable.

Will give it month mainly for the justice league Snyder cut next week but will likely cancel.