New Broadband Customer experience (it's not good)
Hello Virgin Media people 👋
I thought I'd try joining you all, and switch my Broadband to Virgin Media. My journey started 5 weeks ago... this is what it's been like so far:
Convincing Virgin Media I really live where I live
I couldn't sign up online. Apparently Virgin's database thinks my address is a business address not a residential.
It's been well over 20 years since our house was converted from a shop to a house, several owners ago - so not sure what kind of historical database Virgin uses.
It took a week and a few phone calls to get past hurdle 1.
My favourite moment in this was being asked "Are you sure?" after I said on one of the calls that my address is a residential house and not a business.
Virgin Media don't like talking to Vodafone
I tried to do a switch over from my current broadband provider (Vodafone) to Virgin.
Turns out Virgin Media systems couldn't talk to Vodafone's, so they asked me to talk to Vodafone myself to cancel, and arrange installation from Virgin Media on the same day.
It meant I had to run the gauntlet of Vodafone's customer retention team trying to change my mind. Maybe I should've listened to them after all...
Virgin Media apparently think I want super-fast fibre broadband in my garden shed
Installation was scheduled for last Saturday. Yay!
The engineer turned up, but... couldn't proceed with the install. He said that the fibre cables installed by Virgin's earlier engineer who came a few weeks ago didn't go far enough. The cable didn't reach the wall of my house, it only got as far as the shed in my front garden.
Other than installing fibre broadband in my shed, there was nothing he could do, so he left.
I tried asking Vodafone to extend my broadband service a little longer. They (somewhat dramatically) told me that my cancellation was Beyond The Point Of No Return.
Virgin Media don't like answering the phone
I tried calling them to arrange a new installation. Multiple times. I've listened to over an hour of their hold music today (it's really not great).
(I did try the web chat, which said "the current wait time to speak to an advisor today is 231 minutes". I never made it to the end of that.)
But I did finally get to speak to someone on the phone. That felt like an achievement.
What happens now?
They gave me a new installation date of 13th March. Hopefully this time they'll get it right, but I'm not super optimistic.
Because I had to do the switch-over myself, it means we'll have no Internet for the 17 days in the meantime.
Obviously this poses no problems at all, because no family needs Internet for school or work nowadays, it's completely fine and not a complete nightmare, and I'm convinced that my decision to switch from my (working and in hindsight completely fine) broadband to Virgin Media was one of my finest moves(!)
🤦♂️
