Why do I bother with virgin media

[PennG0VQY]

An engineer visited me last week and installed the cabling and router.  However, he left me to plug the Internet in, plus my computers.  I tried to connect everything on Monday but we couldn't get it to work.  So I contacted VM and they arranged for an engineer to come out today.  They were supposed to come out this afternoon but arrived at 10:15 AM.  I am disabled and I was not ready to meet them.  So I had to instruct my carer to tell them what the issue was.  The engineer said I shouldn't have turned the router off.  No idea what he was talking about.  Then he said that if I did it again and had to call them back it would incur a £100 callout fee.  The engineer left my house telling me that everything was working.  I checked my computers and they are still on the BT Smart Hub using my BT account which is still active.  I asked him to swap everything over to the new virgin media hub.  He's done absolutely nothing this morning.  A complete waste of time. And I certainly don't appreciate the way I was spoken to.

I'm not wasting any more time with VM.  I'm staying with BT.  They've given me years of uninterrupted BT broadband and I don't even know why I even contemplated leaving.

[lotharmat]

So why *did* you contemplate leaving BT?

(Serious question)

[PennG0VQY]

I am asking myself the same question.  I think I was taken in by the thought of having superhigh fibre-optic broadband line.  However, I'm still getting 50 MB with BT, which is more than I need anyway. Anyway, I've just cancelled the direct debit.  They can take me to court if they want me to pay any kind of cancellation fee.

[jpeg1]

You must formally cancel the contract before 14 days. Don't just cancel the direct debit because it will cause you more trouble than them, starting with a black mark on your credit file.

[goslow]

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@PennG0VQY wrote:

I am asking myself the same question.  I think I was taken in by the thought of having superhigh fibre-optic broadband line.  However, I'm still getting 50 MB with BT, which is more than I need anyway. Anyway, I've just cancelled the direct debit.  They can take me to court if they want me to pay any kind of cancellation fee.

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I can appreciate the irritation at receiving such a low level of service from VM but cancelling your DD is a bad idea. It will just start an automated process of VM logging payment defaults against you which can have long term consequences for your credit history.

If your connection only went live in the last week, then you would still be within your 14 day cooling off period (which starts when your service is activated) so you appear to have a legitimate route to end the service if you want to.

https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/the-legal-stuff/terms-and-conditions-for-fibre-optic-services#cooli...

[Z92]

An engineer will install the hub and make sure everything is working, they will not reconfigure any of your computers or other equipment that is not provided by them.

If you are happy with BT then ring up VM and cancel now before you are locked into a long contract.

[newapollo]

Hi PennG0VQY,

Are you by any chance using an extender/booster which was connected to your BT broadband?

If so that may be why your computers are still on the BT Smart Hub using your BT account which is still active. The extenders/boosters may need to be reset to work on the new VM installation.  Also you would need to change the SSID and password on your equipment to match those on the base of the VM hub.

Regarding cancelling VM. There should be a leaflet with your equipment with instructions from "my contract on how to cancel:"

"To cancel you have FOURTEEN days from the later of: (i) the day after the delivery of the equipment; (ii) the service start date; or
(iii) the day you received this contract (that provides a link to the Terms and Conditions). Alternatively, please print this contract form and write CANCEL
across the front and send it to: Virgin Media, Winnall Down, Alresford Road, Winchester, Hampshire SO21 1FP"

[PennG0VQY]

I have just cancelled the contract.

Maybe Virgin should take into account that people like myself need help in connecting everything together.  Just connecting the Smart Hub and walking out the door, leaving everything up to me is no good at all.

Will somebody come back and remove the wiring from the  front of my house and take back the Smart Hub?

[jpeg1]

The installation staff are not trained or qualified to work on customers' own equipment, and it would be wrong for them to interfere with it.  But they should certainly have explained this politely.

[-tony-]

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@PennG0VQY wrote:

I have just cancelled the contract.

Maybe Virgin should take into account that people like myself need help in connecting everything together.  Just connecting the Smart Hub and walking out the door, leaving everything up to me is no good at all.

Will somebody come back and remove the wiring from the  front of my house and take back the Smart Hub?

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short answer - no - or not without a lot of fuss - some argue once its installed its classed as utility - thats does not stand up and is a convenient excuse/reason for removing nothing

they will want the hub back and should send you packaging or they may arrange to collect it - that should have been arranged when you cancelled afaik but its an inexact process and they may do nothing - they are very efficient however at charging you £40 or there abouts if they do not get the hub back even if they dont arrange things as they should