View Full Version : Virgin Media - Any Good?
Have Sky+, BT line and a separate Internet Provider.
Virgin have put the fibre to the outside of my property and the current offer seems good.
250+ channels, Phone line (well not really as over the fibre) and 200Mb Internet for £57 first year and £89 for the rest which is a reasonable saving on my current costs.
Does anyone use Virgin for any or all of the above and if so regret doing so or is everyone happy?
Cheers
brian2957
09-11-2018, 20:31
I've been using Virginmedia for years and find it excellent . Plenty of choice on the TV front and the picture is excellent . The internet is 2nd to none . I only have 50MB , as the advisor told me that's all I need , and it's very fast indeed . Maybe around 2 dropouts a year for essential maintenance but that's about it . We all use mobile phones now so I cancelled my phone subscription as I found that very expensive , although we can take incoming calls but now pay for outgoing calls . Never had a thought about leaving them although I occasionally threaten to leave when I want a better deal .
Oh..forgot to say that all repairs , including replacement of faulty equipment , is repaired or replaced free of charge .
Hope this helps :)
Approaching 2 years with Virgin now and regularly achieve in excess of 150Mbps, never had a problem yet apart from the crap Yodel delivery of the router.
However, I only have broadband with them, I don't have a land-line or a TV so can't comment on their other services, but their fibre broadband has been solid, fast and reliable.
Been with Virgin for years - since before they rebranded from NTL in fact.
Landline+broadband+TV hover around £70 p.m. (we never use the landphone)
Service is generally solid but when it does go it can take a day or two for them to come and sort out the street cabinet.
Be aware that their service can vary depending where you are - my daughter lives in York and her Virgin service is a bit crap and the last outage took over 3 days to get sorted. We were face timing this evening and her connection failed (again)
Check out what local opinion is if you can just to be sure.
Thanks everyone for your feedback.
I agree about asking around my area - I know my friends daughter went with them and it took a month to get the broadband to work but once done they have had no issues.
Hi Andy,
Have Sky+, BT line and a separate Internet Provider.
Virgin have put the fibre to the outside of my property and the current offer seems good.
250+ channels, Phone line (well not really as over the fibre) and 200Mb Internet for £57 first year and £89 for the rest which is a reasonable saving on my current costs.
Does anyone use Virgin for any or all of the above and if so regret doing so or is everyone happy?
We went for something similar when Virgin 'came calling', as it were, to our area. We moved from a full Sky Q package, with phone line/Internet and movies and sports package, to the full VIP Bundle with Virgin, including VIVID 350 Optical Fibre to the property Internet, and saved nearly £100 a month.
We had a few teething problems getting it all set up in the first place, but the service we're enjoying now in all areas is faultless. The only thing that holds Virgin back is their *truly appalling* customer service department, based in India. If you have to contact them, nothing ever gets done, as they don't have a clue!:doh:
Fortunately, the sales rep who called to sign us up left his card, and told us to call him instead if we needed any assistance and he'd attend to it for us, which is what we do now, and there have been no problems. All in all, though I'd definitely them:cool:
Marco.
Pete The Cat
10-11-2018, 06:49
Have Sky+, BT line and a separate Internet Provider.
Virgin have put the fibre to the outside of my property and the current offer seems good.
250+ channels, Phone line (well not really as over the fibre) and 200Mb Internet for £57 first year and £89 for the rest which is a reasonable saving on my current costs.
Does anyone use Virgin for any or all of the above and if so regret doing so or is everyone happy?
Cheers
You might find that if you presented the scenario to Sky they'd match Virgin's price. We held a three way shoot-out with Sky, BT and EE recently and got new customer rates for the bundle. With a lot of these things if you have a bit of time to spare (queuing to get through to talk to the right person is the main challenge) and haggle you get the best rate. The economics rely on the inertia of the majority.
Regulators of various sectors are currently wrestling with whether that's simply how man has traded since the year dot or it must be changed to protect the vulnerable.
Pete
You might find that if you presented the scenario to Sky they'd match Virgin's price.
I can confirm that's the case, as they did that with me when I phoned them to cancel and move to Virgin, but what they can't do is match the Internet speed Virgin offer, and direct to the property too, in my case. That was the deal breaker for me with Sky, and mainly why I wanted to switch to Virgin in the first place.
Therefore it just depends what's more important to you, Sky matching Virgin's price, but having a slower broadband, or getting the fastest Internet speed and the same price with Virgin:)
Marco.
For me its Internet Speed and getting BT sport (for the bike racing). For the wife its the TV programmes so she would rather stick with Sky!
For both its value for money.
We have already fallen out with the Virgin Rep :rolleyes:
I visited the Virgin site least week to check it out then on Thursday at lunch the Virgin rep turned up - my wife had nipped home for lunch so was in a hurry when he arrived, saying that i had expressed interest in moving to Virgin - my wife assumed he meant I had contacted them which she knew I hadn't so they had a bit of a ding-dong.
He came round later on that evening so I came out all guns blazing and had a bit of an argument on the pavement !!
In the end I asked him to leave his card and when we had all calmed down I would contact him - he did mention that we could use him as go-between for anything instead of using the call centres so seems like a good solution.
I've been on Virgin for TV since 1996 (when it was Nynex. Then it became Cable & Wireless, then NTL) and for broadband since 2004. The service is good, the TV interface is superior to the Sky equivalent and I've found the Indian call centre to be of an acceptable standard on the rare occasions I've had to use it. And they always get an engineer out within a couple of days if needed. I do still miss the monthly TV guide they used to send out but I think that stopped in about 1999.
I can confirm that's the case, as they did that with me when I phoned them to cancel and move to Virgin, but what they can't do is match the Internet speed Virgin offer, and direct to the property too, in my case That was the deal breaker for me with Sky, and mainly why I wanted to switch to Virgin in the first place.
Therefore it just depends what's more important to you, Sky matching Virgin's price, but having a slower broadband, or getting the fastest Internet speed and the same price with Virgin:)
Marco.
Worth pointing out Marco that you were able to get a 'fibre to the property' (FTTP) installation from Virgin which makes a considerable difference to available broadband speeds.
Unfortunately the availability of FTTP is geographically very limited and most of us will have to whistle dixie for some time before we can enjoy it's benefits - by which time the rollout of 5G may have relegated cable broadband to the dustbin ;)
Where I live we are still tied to copper cable from a fibre fed street cabinet (FTTC) that is more vulnerable to outages .. and the situation doesn't look set the change any time now.
Absolutely, Mike, and good point, but I'm mainly talking about the 350mbps broadband, which you can still get without FTTP:)
Sky simply don't do that.
Marco.
For me its Internet Speed and getting BT sport (for the bike racing). For the wife its the TV programmes so she would rather stick with Sky!
For both its value for money.
In that case, I'd bite the bullet and go with Virgin. Make sure though, that you keep the reps card and use him as a go between, when necessary. In my experience, there are always some initial teething problems, which the rep can sort out on your behalf, rather than you having the hassle of contacting their call centre.
Plus, a tip I was given by my Virgin rep, if you want to guarantee getting put through to their UK call centre, rather than India, is to choose the Cancellation option on the phone, when dialing up, and that will immediately transfer you there, rather than India. Then you can discuss with someone who understands English properly what your problem is.
One thing I'd also do, since you're at the setting up stage and interested in BT Sports, is to ask the rep if he can chuck in BT Sport 4K Ultra HD, which is normally extra, on the Full House Bundle. He'll probably allow it to seal the deal, and then all your bike racing will be in lovely UHD:)
Marco.
Pigmy Pony
10-11-2018, 13:55
Maybe I'm a bit shallow, but the deal breaker for me as far as Virgin is concerned, is losing Sky Atlantic. Most of my favourite stuff in recent years (Treme, Game of Thrones, Get Shorty and many others) only show on this channel. Sky keep this one to themselves (the bastards) and until this changes I'll be staying put.
Yeah, we found that out. Dunno the big deal about that particular channel though, what's so special about it from Sky's point of view?:hmm:
Anyway, it didn't bother us, as the only thing we watched on Sky Atlantic were reruns of The Sopranos, which I've seen so often now I can almost recite the script!:)
Marco,
Pigmy Pony
10-11-2018, 14:22
The biggest deal with Sky Atlantic is 'Game of Thrones'. Regardless of how indifferent you are to it, and I can take it or leave it, the series is massively popular, and there will be countless numbers who will not leave Sky because of this.
Yeah I get that, now you've explained it. That show does nothing for me, though. The most important part of the Virgin TV package for me is the sports and movie channels. The rest, aside from Fox (as we follow The Walking Dead) I can take or leave.
Marco.
Like Marco, Sky Atlantic is not a breaker for me or the wife (she just loves the House Wife's of ....... so will probably pay a fiver a month for HayU)
Thanks for for the tip Marco about when ringing them about issues and also the attempt to get 4K HD BT Sport :)
Think I will ring the rep (wife already told me that she has to be out when he comes round) and look to sign-up.
I do like Sky (been with them since the early '90's) but just think the cost is crazy feel it's time for a change - can always move back to them after the end of the first year with Virgin ;)
Like Marco, Sky Atlantic is not a breaker for me or the wife (she just loves the House Wife's of ....... so will probably pay a fiver a month for HayU)
Thanks for for the tip Marco about when ringing them about issues and also the attempt to get 4K HD BT Sport :)
Think I will ring the rep (wife already told me that she has to be out when he comes round) and look to sign-up.
I do like Sky (been with them since the early '90's) but just think the cost is crazy feel it's time for a change - can always move back to them after the end of the first year with Virgin ;)
No worries, Andy. I'm 99.9% certain that when you phone Sky to cancel, and tell them you're moving to Virgin, they'll match their price, as they did that with me.
However, the most important thing for me was the 350mbps broadband, so it wouldn't have mattered what price Sky were willing to drop down to, as they simply couldn't offer such fast broadband. The guy I spoke to from Sky though, was totally cool about it.
In my experience with Virgin, they're super keen to give new customers want they want (within reason) to get them on board, so if you push for the UHD thing, I think you'll get it:)
Marco.
I switched to Virgin from BT. Only got 17mb with BT, I get 212mb with Virgin. Couldn't get fibre with anyone else. New Virgin Tivo box has worked perfectly, and you get 4k BT Sports. Also a 4k general channel. Only downside is no Sky Atlantic.
Landline switch a bit protracted but once sorted has worked perfectly.
I have kept Sky but reduced my package.
Virgin not the cheapest but if you want fast internet ....
Thanks Dave.
Speed is the clincher for me and also the cost saving from using separate companies for ISP, TV and phone.
Will see when I can make an appointment with them and discuss in more details.
Cheers
Speed is the clincher for me and also the cost saving from using separate companies for ISP, TV and phone.
Exactly so for me:)
Massively faster broadband *and* a significant financial saving! What's not to like?:D
Marco.
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