Parental controls are switched on, but websites that should be blocked are still accessible

[ShamsUddin]

I wanted to share my recent experience with Virgin Media in case anyone else is facing similar issues. It’s been incredibly frustrating, and I’m seriously considering switching providers unless things improve pronto.

First, a bit of background: My parental controls are switched on, but websites that should be blocked are still accessible. Given that I have young people in my household, this is extremely concerning. I need reliable controls to ensure they aren’t accessing inappropriate content.

So, naturally, I reached out to Virgin Media’s phone support. Instead of getting help, I was routed to a call center in India where the service was less than helpful. They couldn’t fix the problem, and I left the call more frustrated than before after wasting over an hour of my time. 

I thought I’d have better luck with their WhatsApp chat support. Big mistake. The responses I received were just as unhelpful, and the issue remained unresolved. They were also based in India, had no idea what they were doing, and could not send me to someone UK-based. It felt like I was going in circles with no end in sight.

In desperation, I booked an appointment with an engineer which they offered. I waited for four hours—yes, four whole hours—only for the engineer to be a no-show. What’s more infuriating is they stressed that I would be charged if no one was home to meet the engineer. The irony, right? They don’t show up, and it feels like a colossal waste of my time.

At this point, I’m at my wit’s end. I’ve spent so many hours trying to get this resolved, and I’m still nowhere closer to a solution. I’m genuinely considering leaving Virgin Media unless something changes fast. If anyone from Virgin Media is reading this, please sort this out ASAP and provide compensation for the time I’ve wasted dealing with this.

If anyone here has faced similar issues or has any advice on how to get this resolved, I’d appreciate your input. It’s really frustrating when you pay a premium for a service that doesn’t deliver, especially when it comes to something as important as keeping kids safe online.

[goslow]

VM's parental controls/filtering has been broken and unreliable for some unlucky customers for a long time.

You may get some VM help on here to restore it on your connection and it may well break again in the future.

Most regulars on here would recommend putting the hub into modem mode and getting your own router/networking kit where you can apply reliable and robust filtering yourself.

A VM forum person should respond here in due course, usually within a few days.

[Adduxi]

To get you over the hurdle whilst VM fix the issue, you can manually set the DNS on the device(s) to use Cloudflare Adult and Malware filters.  Set the DNS to 1.1.1.3 and 1.0.0.3 manually.  This will bypass the VM DNS servers until the issue is fixed. 

You can also take the responsibility away from VM and as suggested above get your own Router and manage it yourself.   However be aware, with newer phones and things like iOS Private Relay, it's very easy to circumvent DNS filters.  Moving to a different provider may not solve the problem.

[jbrennand]

VM's compensation policy says....

So you should get reimbursed at least.

What VM Hub do you have?  Are yo "sure" that websafe  is activated in your account?  What type of websites are not getting blocked?

[Client62]

For first post this is AI like in length.

[John_GS]

Hi @ShamsUddin 

Thanks for posting and welcome to the community. Sorry to hear of the issues with the parental control.

I'll pop you a PM now to assist further.