Forum Discussion

stefmles's avatar
stefmles
Joining in
3 months ago

Sky sports subscription, waiting!

Why does it take so long to get a subscription started?

It's now Saturday afternoon and I'd like to watch some football. I know nobody has to make an physical connections to make it work, it's just a matter of pressing keys and sending messages. It's 2025, why so long?

Last time I had a subscription VM trashed my account, I had 3 engineers visit and they all said it's not your box it's the back office! I lost my service for several weeks while they sorted it out.

Do I have to go back to Now TV and a get some decent service?

17 Replies

Sort By
    • newapollo's avatar
      newapollo
      Very Insightful Person
      3 months ago

      If you add Sky Sports over the phone it's usually activated immediately.  Any other method can take up to 10 working days as it's actioned by a back office team.

    • cje85's avatar
      cje85
      Wise owl
      3 months ago

      Virgin Media still seems to depend on systems that require manual input from the "back office" team that can take up to 10 days. It seems very dated compared to Sky itself where subscription changes (whether done on the phone or online) take effect within seconds. 

      • nodrogd's avatar
        nodrogd
        Very Insightful Person
        3 months ago

        Sky does not have the umpteen different billing systems Virgin inherited from the cable operators they took over & still use. XGS-PON customers are already on a new system, so as existing customers migrate it will eventually be a single process.

    • Vikki_M's avatar
      Vikki_M
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
      3 months ago

      Hi stefmles,

      Thanks for your post and welcome to our community.

      We're sorry for any inconvenience that may be caused by the time taken to get the order added to the account. 

      Was this a promotional offer via your online account?

      If so, as the community members have mentioned here, this will be added manually by the team so it can take up to 10 days depending of the volume of online orders coming in.

      If you do have any further questions, please pop back to us and we'd be happy to help. 

  • stefmles's avatar
    stefmles
    Joining in
    3 months ago

    Are there any plans for VM to update their systems to make things happen at a speed more befitting a multinational media enterprise?

    • Gareth_L's avatar
      Gareth_L
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
      3 months ago

      Hello stefmles, we're always looking to improve the way our services both behind the scenes and with the services our customers receive.

      Gareth_L

    • nodrogd's avatar
      nodrogd
      Very Insightful Person
      3 months ago

      Are there any plans for VM to update their systems to make things happen at a speed more befitting a multinational media enterprise?

      As per my reply further up this thread. VM operates it's network through 51 separate cable headends that were previously owned by multiple different operators. Their billing systems are identified by the two digit "area code" on your bill. Every time you make a change operatives have to go into the billing system relevant to your account to make the change. VM are already using a new billing system for full fibre customers in new areas, & as existing customers are migrated to full fibre they will also get new accounts on this system. 

      • stefmles's avatar
        stefmles
        Joining in
        3 months ago

        Why does it take 10 days for an operative to get into the billing system? Do they have to walk there or take a bus? Does someone need a special pass? I still don't see why it's 10 days.

        When will all this migration of accounts happen? 

  • Mr_K's avatar
    Mr_K
    Knows their stuff
    3 months ago

    The 'back office'  team is called Brian  who is only in every other Tuesday afternoon,  if he feels like it.  Your online request   has to be printed off, mailed to him (2nd Class) in Prestwich.  Brian the need to fill some forms and post them to Sue in Penzance, who then needs to fax it to Terry in Norwich (if  the toner in his fax machine hasn't run out ) Terry sends in by horseback to Aberystwyth.  Dafyd then rings it through to customer service in Delhi, who update.  He usually has to wait a few hours/ days for them to answer like the rest of us do.

     This why online requests take so long. Best to ring and cut out the middlemen... 

     

    • stefmles's avatar
      stefmles
      Joining in
      3 months ago

      I feel that if I ring it'll only hamper progress, maybe VM could buy a faster horse.🏇

  • stefmles's avatar
    stefmles
    Joining in
    3 months ago

    OK it's been 10 days, I'm still waiting. I had a chat with your Bot and I was told complaints taken 28 days to process. This isn't good enough.

  • stefmles's avatar
    stefmles
    Joining in
    3 months ago

    I gave my phone number to the chat bot but nobody has called me. What was the point of asking for my phone number.

    • Martin_N's avatar
      Martin_N
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
      2 months ago

      Hi stefmles,

      We're sorry to see you still haven't got that service active yet. 

      We can certainly take a look at the account for you. 

      I wil private message you now to confirm your details. 

      ^Martin