Virgin Media & Broadband

Virgin are the worst company I have ever had to deal with. They made it almost impossible to cancel. They cut me off on the phone as I was going through the cancellation process about 5 times and they kept crashing the online chat to prevent me from cancelling.

Absolute cowboys. I wouldn't go back to them if they were half the price of sky, which they are definitely not.
 
sherlock said:
Afraid to say you almost inevitably will 🙁
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I disagree. I've been able to negotiate a new contract at about the same price every time with no trouble at all. It took me all of 10 minutes the day before yesterday. Not that I have any other choice for fibre anyway.
 
I've been with VirginMedia for over 20 years, we started with comcast, then NTLworld and now Virgin, I must be one of the lucky ones, I've never had much outage and the odd time I have, it's been fixed very rapidly. Yes you have to fight every 18 months or so to get a deal, but I have the max everything including sports and 3 TV boxes for £80 which I think is ok.
 
GrangetownGrowler said:
Try putting your postcode into cityfibres website to see if you can get other fibre companies apart from the mainstream ones.

I've just signed up to Octaplus with 4k streaming TV channels and 900mb internet for £36.

Virgin said they can't come anywhere close to matching it when I left, even the retention department said the same.

Worth a look.
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Just looking up old threads because my Virgin deal is up and not sure what to do next. I'd quite like TV includes so the wife and kids can record stuff. I'd never heard of Octoplus and they weren't coming up on any of the comparison sites I tried. How's it working out? Can you record with their TV box? Thanks!
 
Can't believe how much more complex this has got since last time I looked! Went on the Cityfibre website and there are 21 different providers I can go with, none of which I've heard of (except Octoplus from @GrangetownGrowler's post above). Don't know where to start now!
 
Virgin Media are awful to deal with. The broadband speeds are excellent and there's VFM in their broadband speed range BUT take one of their TV and broadband deals and tie yourself into an 18 month contract at your peril. As a number have said - they are the worst company to deal with. I would also note - it is no coincidence that every time I've had an issue with them, and there's been a number, I then receive SPAM calls from dodgy call centres - I am convinced their staff pass on customer numbers to corrupt call centres.

I binned Sky (for TV) 18 months ago after about 30 years. I switched to Now TV with an Apple TV box. I won't be going back to Sky and would not swap Now TV and Apple TV box for Virgin Media.

I have just agreed my fourth six month contract with Now TV which I can cancel at any time. I pay the following -
Sky Sports - £17.99
Entertainment - £2.99 (equivalent of Sky Signature)
Sky Cinema - £3.99
Boost - £4 - gives three devices/TVs in UHD and no adverts

I pay £29.97 for all Sky channels just via Now TV.

I paid more in the first six months and this was reduced. What I am paying now - is the same I paid in the last six months (apart from the Boost).

Plus - no contract and price hikes
You control and choose
Cancel anytime
If you stream - don't need a TV box that records

Cons -
Sky or Virgin TV box is more interactive and can record
Pause and rewind on live TV isn't great

The Apple TV box with TV Launcher app gives atv planner that works well.
Apple TV is compatible with all TV channel apps and it's a big improvement on just using apps on a smart TV .

Haven't missed Sky Q at all.

Saving around £40 to £50 per month and no stress with shxt customer service either..... Win/win!
 
What does the Apple TV box do? I'm not sure if family will let me get away with not being able to record. Octoplus could be the answer but might be better just buying a box that records.
 
johnsmithsno2 said:
What does the Apple TV box do? I'm not sure if family will let me get away with not being able to record. Octoplus could be the answer but might be better just buying a box that records.
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I did a load of research - check out YouTube and the UK reviews of the Apple TV box. You can download all TV apps including Disney and Netflix etc.... So all box sets and series are there.... The Apple TV box is slick and interactive between apps.
Can use Apple music and apple arcade - I don't but you can sync games controllers and use as games console.
There other interactive stuff but I don't use - just use for TV .
Can download main news apps and access live sky news direct from their app - if that's your thing.
TV Launcher app - can list your favourite channels in your own order for live TV.
Apple TV - can list your favourite channels on the home page - so don't scroll through 200 channels.... It stops needless channel hopping tbh.

When I changed - I actually bought a TV recordable Freesat (connected to sky dish )box cos I thought the missus and kids would want to record TV - waste of money..... It never gets used. Everyone streams. My youngest loves strictly and streams from the iPlayer.

It might not be for everyone but it works for my lot.

The Apple TV box is pricey - around £150.
 
I can only speak as I find, transferred across to Virgin around 5 weeks or so ago. Initially a small issue with broadband as the fibre they'd installed wasn't cleaned properly but they came back within a few days and sorted it and everything running perfectly now.

Also credited my account for the few days I had slow broadband.

Early days but I'm pretty impressed so far.
 
I moved from Virgin after 20 years when the new house I moved into wasn’t covered by them. Went with BT rather than Sky and have been happy. The BT broadband much better than Virgin, which I was not expecting.
 
johnsmithsno2 said:
Can't believe how much more complex this has got since last time I looked! Went on the Cityfibre website and there are 21 different providers I can go with, none of which I've heard of (except Octoplus from @GrangetownGrowler's post above). Don't know where to start now!
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I have had no issues at all. Download speeds and upload speeds are as advertised. Drops very slightly during school kicking out time but on an evening it's back up to advertised speed. Regarding the TV box, I haven't actually got round to plugging it in because you need an aerial to put in along with the ethernet lead so il get round to getting up and running one down.

The actual TV box is small enough, like a hockey puck. From what I've read online, it looks decent enough but can't comment further. I do think you can record if you put a usb stick into the back of it, 32gb minimum I think..

You can get a gift card for Amazon if you sign up now from them. You can also choose how long you want your contract, 12,18 or 24 months with no rises guaranteed.

I'd recommend them mate.
 
GrangetownGrowler said:
I have had no issues at all. Download speeds and upload speeds are as advertised. Drops very slightly during school kicking out time but on an evening it's back up to advertised speed. Regarding the TV box, I haven't actually got round to plugging it in because you need an aerial to put in along with the ethernet lead so il get round to getting up and running one down.

The actual TV box is small enough, like a hockey puck. From what I've read online, it looks decent enough but can't comment further. I do think you can record if you put a usb stick into the back of it, 32gb minimum I think..

You can get a gift card for Amazon if you sign up now from them. You can also choose how long you want your contract, 12,18 or 24 months with no rises guaranteed.

I'd recommend them mate.
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The TV box is a Netgem 4k box. Google it and read up. Plenty on YouTube about them.
 
Colgates_shaving_foam said:
Virgin are the worst company I have ever had to deal with. They made it almost impossible to cancel. They cut me off on the phone as I was going through the cancellation process about 5 times and they kept crashing the online chat to prevent me from cancelling.

Absolute cowboys. I wouldn't go back to them if they were half the price of sky, which they are definitely not.
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Similar experience, I quoted their terms and conditions via switch service and the were refusing to refund the amount they over charge me because the hadn’t cancelled it.

Sure they have plenty of underhand tactics to squeeze the most out of you
 
WeeGord said:
I can only speak as I find, transferred across to Virgin around 5 weeks or so ago. Initially a small issue with broadband as the fibre they'd installed wasn't cleaned properly but they came back within a few days and sorted it and everything running perfectly now.

Also credited my account for the few days I had slow broadband.

Early days but I'm pretty impressed.
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Come back to this thread when the yearly price rise kicks in halfway through your contract
 
VM offered me their Bigger Combo of 220 channels plus TNT and 1Gig broadband for £54, so probably worth me staying after all.
 
I tend to move between VM and Sky each time my contract ends to get best value.

FYI Something to be wary of now though is a One Touch Switch process.
You can find yourself falling between stools if either party messes up. And end up paying double.

I just had a huge battle with VM after they failed to cancel my TV and bb contract when Sky ported the telephone service. Both service providers blamed each other.

In the end I got VM to honour the rental liability date from the date of my first call to cancel (when they advised me of the new automated process). I also gave Sky a kicking to give me a credit for some of the additional charges I incurred.

I cancelled my direct debit to VM and invited them to take me to court. I also submitted a SAR for transcripts of my calls to them. When they realised this they crapped out and gave me what I was demanding.

I plan to split my contracts for BB and TV in the future to simplify the negotiations.
 
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