Virgin Media Scam

[rog]

Had a letter today from Virgin saying that "As I am on their 20Mb setup I was entitled to having it upgraded to 30Mb at no extra cost". Guess what, I'm not. Surprise, surprise.

A while back I had problems with my connection and decided to go with another ISP. When I tried to inform Virgin they offered me a reduction of £30 p/m on my deal so I stayed with them. Because of this deal I am now not entitled to this free upgrade to 30Mb so why did they send me the letter?

Can anyone suggest another good ISP as I am now getting fed up with Virgins tactics as they seem full of Double Standards.

Rog

[Lynnrose]

Haven't used them, but PlusNet has a good deal at the moment (I think Pete is with them)

Plusnet, part of the BT group, has been a best buy for some time. Cheapest for standalone broadband, Plusnet Value* offers up to 20Mbps, and is £6.49/mth plus a £25 activation fee if in its 'low cost area', yet you can get it for less ...

*4 mths free via Broadband Choices until 3 March

Get 4 months free broadband when you sign up for a 12 month contract online or by phone via Broadband Choices* using the code choice4. The offer's on until Thurs 3 March, making Plusnet Value an average £6.41/mth all-in.

[ken]

If you leave Virgin Roger, you are leaving cable behind and degrading to the UpTo services. You might get lucky, it all depends on how far you live from the exchange. They can promise you up to a million Mbs, but if your 25 miles from the nearest exchange your not going to get it. Virgin are far from perfect, but they are much better than all the other scam merchants and there is no other way to discribe them. The only honest ones are the mobile networks, they will promise you 3,5 Mbs with a possiblity of 5 Mbs in places and I've never had less than 3.5 Mbs country wide. For high speed you have to have cable and the UpTo companies dont have it. BT's chairman and his mum have got cable, so that gives them the right to promise it to everyone.

[elvisuk]

I have no complaints and i use VM for Phone, TV, and Broadband i think it's very good Rog

[jorg]

I am with PlusNet but we don't have cable out here in our village, I have no problems but if I was able to get VM that would be my choice, I would stick with what you have Roger, jorg

[mikkh]

I saw this mentioned somewhere else and I don't understand where they get 30 Mb from. The three tiers are 10, 20 and 50 as I understand it.

It's not really a scam, but you can't have your cake and eat it either. You were offered a reduction and accepted it. People who didn't threaten to, or want to leave are still paying what you used to and therefore get the 'free' upgrade instead

If anyone's being scammed, it's them

The difference between 20 and 30 won't be much anyway - in noticeable terms, so you've still got a good deal IMO and the alternatives to cable are poor as Ken says

[rog]

Thanks all for your reples.

I had a phone call from VM today in respnse to an online e-mail I sent them. They have said that I am entitled to this upgrade (free of charge) and they will be sending me a replacement Adaptor over the next few days.

Ken

I didn't actually want to change my ISP I just got a bit miffed and "Spat my Dummy Out". It shows tho' if you shout loud enough they listen.

Rog

[Angelstardust]

You have to complain to Virgin to get offers.

[millwall]

I think when Virgin upgrade people from 20mb to 30mb you might need a new modem, when I went from 10mb to 50mb I had a new modem sent to me, I believe the old modems can not handle anything over 20mb, for example: when I went wireless my speeds were halved but when I got the new modem - my speeds were as advertised (around 98% of the advertised speed).

To be honest it would take something very bad for me to move away from Virgin, they have there moments but in all they're very good.

[Angelstardust]

I recently had the techie out to what I thought was a fault on thier box; it wasn't, it was the tv, but he fixed the fault anyway.

[mikkh]

I can't fault the service or the speeds either. It is a little galling that as an existing customer you have to complain abut price structures and disparity with new customers before they do anything about it though.

The service (cable broadband) should sell itself really, it's far superior to ADSL 'up to ' nonsense and I'm amazed a lot of people in this area actually choose to be restricted by an inferior ADSL connection. They don't realise how lucky they are to live in a cabled area and accept a mediocre BT leased connection as normal - poor misguided people

[copey]

As you know i`m abit of a dummy on all this stuff..but after having virgin for a few years for BB..tele..fone I wouldn`t change to anything else, used my sons set up the other day..Sky I think, it was sooo slooow, it would have been quicker to deliver my message on a bike...and if you remember the "old" BT dial up internet...hell that was diabolical, dare not try to download anything to big or it switched off..well it did every 10 mins anyway..

[ken]

I think I got my upgrade at the right time and Virgin scammed themselves. They wouldn't upgrade me unless I signed a new contract, as my original contract was with NTL. Suddenly I became a new customer entitled to the new customer perks and finished up paying them less for 50 Mbs than I was paying for 20 Mbs. When I was looking at something the other week, I think they don't make you sign a new contract anymore and so they must have learned from their mistake. I think they have had to shape up a bit, their pricing couldn't have been strictly legal and they were skating in thin ice with the Trades Description Act.

[Angelstardust]

Have you all received your booklet about the new prices?

[elvisuk]

I got mine yesterday Angelstardust i will be paying £1 more

[ken]

Anyone applied for a Tivo box free for a year???

[movieman36]

Last year I tried approaching VM to downgrade my service (I'm on the XL package with sky movies in the mix as part of their VIP promotion, that was when the V+ box came out). Once I told them what I wanted they immediately found a list of charges they wanted to levy to move to a lower price band. They wanted me to pay a £50 installation charge for the V+ box that I had now had for about three years and other add ones that they claimed where only offered to me as part of the VIP upgrade and now wanted to charge me for. Cut a long story short, I kept the package I was on and am going to use a different tack to get a better deal next month. I know a few people who have got better deals or extra boxes for no extra charge by complaining....so it's worth a go.

[elvisuk]

I got a letter about a Tivo box but i don't now what it is yet

[jojo]

I was offered TIVO but didn't do anything. What I have ain't broke.

[johnnybee]

Hiya folks, putting in a guest appearance on this one as I've been with the same company since 1984 when cable was in its infancy.
"And it came to pass that many cubits of woven glass wire were laid along the streets of Birminghamabad, and verily those who supported this modern miracle were repaid tenfold, amazed by the speed with which their images appeared to them.
A generation later, Birmingham Cable was overcome by sloth and avarice, whereupon the Pharisee Telewest took control of the league of elders and began to alter many things; so it came to pass that Telewest begat Blueyonder,who took NTL as her husband and became Virgin Media".
I can't fault their service, frankly, but I do get a bit miffed when I see their cutprice offers to newbies at £25 a month when I'm paying double that, having been a loyal customer for over 25 years.
I've had a good look round but can't see any real alternatives ATM - talktalk and Tiscali are cheap but crap, and AOL is that full of gremlins I wouldn't trust them with a kid's party.
Keep on moaning eh? Sounds good to me!!
JB.

[Lynnrose]

Hi JB.....I am with Virgin Media and I was peeved too at the cost, but threatened to leave and they lowered my monthly price:)
Might be worth a go x