Am I a Happy Virgin Customer? Feel I need to have a bit of a moan.

[WASPUK]

I have been a Virgin Media customer since they took over Blueyonder a life time ago.

In every home for over 20 years, as an avid gaming family, we have taken their fastest Internet and land line every time.

Have I had great service? The answer, well not really ! Not the best, just adequate.

Good service to me means, maintaining a high level of service for a decent price for prolonged periods, fixing problems fast, listening to the customers grievance and rectifying it as best as possible, keeping regular and loyal customers up to date with the best offers , up to date with the latest equipment and rewards for being long term customers.

When ever a newer faster service, new improved piece of tech or better priced offer has been offered by Virgin to the market it tends to go to new customers first. However forgotten customers who eventually discover, either from adverts or friends with new services, that they are getting a rum deal in comparison, can quickly end up as very disgruntled and unhappy people.

This is where I find my self most of the time. I have never been told or offered an upgrade / service improvement for free / cheaper than a new customer offer! It always seems that a friend or a whisper is how I find out there is a better service from my own supplier and nearly always either unavailable or unaffordable, unless I constantly bombard their customer services department until I get some sort of result.

I just can't help feeling, surely a company would gain more respect and business if they kept regular customers up to date with the best the company has to offer all of the time. I am a strong believer in the fact that happy customers and a good reputation generates more business than any offer or short term deal. I have had minor and major issues with my 1Gig service for ages, ranging from awful, contract breaking and going to arbitration type troubles to little glitches and Wi-Fi issues but my problems have never been completely solved to 100 percent satisfaction or without great effort by myself in constant battles with tech departments.

Why do you stay with Virgin I hear you say?

Well, the thing is, Virgin offers the fastest Internet speeds in the UK and as a gamer this is what you want. Even if it means the exhausting constant issues that seem to plague their service. They can't be beaten on speed and as a rule they supply it at a level that you just get use to and accept. Yes you can get better service else where, yes you can get the latest equipment updated every year and yes you can get faster faulty service repairs but not with the speeds that Virgin offers if you can afford their top offer. Like a famous racing driver once said "It's not the safest car but it is the fastest, I like to win so I will take my chances." and that's what I feel I get with Virgin. I win most races, not all but until there is a better choice, there is no choice !

If there is a Virgin staff member out there that cares and can help. I need the new Hub 5 and a Wi-Fi booster. I have done extensive testing and investigation myself for several months with and without Virgins own testing software and assistance as well as a private engineer and the results show the hub is old and tired and I need a Wi-Fi booster due to week signals. Internet service and speed can be erratic ranging from 500 to 890Mbps out of 1130Mbps and Wi-Fi signal does not reach back rooms in my Bungalow. Acceptable by most but I want perfection, especially considering how much I pay and how long I have been a customer. All of my PC equipment is working perfectly and configured by experts, as well as being top end and less than a year old in design and production.

[IPFreely]

'Well, the thing is, Virgin offers the fastest Internet speeds in the UK and as a gamer this is what you want.'

Fastest download speeds sure, though only according to one definition.

Aren't gamers most interested in ping and jitter, both metrics VM perform poorly on? 

Answer to most of your other points is simply as an existing customer you're giving them money in return for the service you have using the equipment you have. Why would they automatically upgrade everyone to the latest model Hub if they're working fine on the older one? New customers get the kit because it's what's in the van for their install, there's no need to visit existing customers unless things are broken. 

If you're hoping for better range from the Hub 5 you might well be disappointed. I understand its wireless capabilities to be far from spectacular.

You should be using the VM device in modem mode and your own router attached. The VM devices are never going to be premium quality kit regardless.

Lastly and answering many other points VM genuinely couldn't care less how long you've been a customer, you're a potential churn statistic to be avoided. No room for loyalty in either direction. A better alternative arrives leave them immediately, it's a business transaction not a marriage. You are customer number whatever to them, and a small part of their quarterly figures. They aren't sending telegrams from the CEO or awarding long service medals. Cancelling the service frequently seems the route to better prices and technical support. 

Some people have had success with getting a Hub 5 for other reasons though. Mostly its 2.5GbE port. Without that you're never getting above 940 Mbit wired, and no chance of much faster than you're seeing now wirelessly even standing next to the Hub.

If you've no equipment with Ethernet ports faster than gigabit the Hub 5 is going to be of minimal if any benefit.

Wireless extenders they're much more willing to provide. 

[-tony-]

a long and detailed argument but flawed imo - you do not need the fast speeds for gaming - its perfectly possible on much slower speeds with a better quality connection - low latency is the key not speed and you will not get that with VM

hubs dont get old and tired - they are first and foremost a modem with a pound shop router added - whatever hub you have thats not going to improve much i all VM hubs run their own custom firmware which is as basic as they can get away with - any more complicated and CS would have to take even more courses in BS - the hub 5 is no different other than it has one fast port but thats only of any use if you have a matching 3rd part router and if you have that your existing hub would be in modem mode to make use of said router

so where do pods come into it

BUT if you want a pod then on one gig you should be able to get 3 free - you just need to go through the process - but what is a pod going to do for an avid gamer - it suggests you are gaming via wifi - thats a non starter - wired is what you want

so what i read it comes down to is you have convinced yourself that as you have been a customer since adam was a lad you should get all the latest stuff - nothing wrong with that but its not as VM work - you are a cash cow to take money from - new customers seem to get the new hubs to bring them on board - thats how it works 

[legacy1]

---

@WASPUK wrote:

Why do you stay with Virgin I hear you say?

Well, the thing is, Virgin offers the fastest Internet speeds in the UK and as a gamer this is what you want.

---

I just stop you right there (unless someone else has) you can game on 1Mb! its all about the latency and jitter that you want not speed.

[WASPUK]

Ok, maybe I didn't explain myself properly, I'm not a great writer. You both make very good arguments and criticisms but they are a little flawed due to the lack of detail offered by me. All my gaming machines are hard wired. Yes latency and ping as well as upload and download speeds are all important for gaming or any activity on a PC pretty much. I didn't want to end up discussing or talking about the technical side of things. My main point is when upgraded services or products that appertain to a continuing contracted premium service are made available, existing customers should be made aware of what they are and offered them asap. Either free or at a reduced price to ensure customer satisfaction and retention as well as continual quality and competitive  service. Every issue raised seems to take forever to resolve if at all. I also requested two Wi-Fi pods to help with reception on mobile devices and the many Amazon devices that repeatedly drop connection due to a week signal from the VM Hub 4 but they only sent one. Contacting and communicating issues to Virgin is a laborious and arduous task to the point that I more often than not just give up. Lastly hubs and modems do deteriorate with age and constant use, dust , heat, moisture all causing them to lose performance or fail as well as numerous software updates that corrupt or bloat the operating data. Even though their automated system check and my tests indicates the hub is at fault I still have not been offered or received a replacement.

Taking into account that the service I am paying for is supposed to be their top service, specifically advertised to be exceptional in all aspects along with the promise of quality back up and service, am I honestly expecting too much that my service delivers the advertised specifications, quality and promises made and as long as I comply to my end of the contract that I receive the same service and availability of equipment that a new member would. Especially as every year the price has increased which should surely cover any extra equipment or service costs that may apply to maintain that promised service?

Is expecting something advertised to be exactly as advertised too optimistic? Are my or any customers expectations considered important anymore or in reality have we come to expect too much these days? Do companies that have an advantage or dominance of a product or service have less obligation to offer good service due to the lack of competition? Why is there no other service provider able to offer better overall quality internet and speeds than Virgin in the UK and why is the UK internet so poor compared to the rest of the world?

10 COUNTRIES WITH THE FASTEST INTERNET IN EUROPE

• Iceland
• Liechtenstein
• Andorra
• Luxembourg
• France
• Spain
• Netherlands
• Romania
• Malta
• Monaco
• The UK is in 27th place with an average speed of 72.06Mbps. In Europe

[IPFreely]

UK Internet isn't so great because the incumbent telephone company, BT, were late to the game with a full fibre build, the UK's regulatory framework wasn't very friendly and UK advertising rules and customer expectations are hostile to offering very high speeds.

In most countries they offer 'up to' speeds and people don't complain if they don't get the speed they think they pay for 24x7. In the UK they have to advertise average peak time speeds.

Loads of cheap, low speed but consistent products in the UK where elsewhere they're cheap, high speed but inconsistent.

Not sure comparing the UK to city states and nations with populations lower than Birmingham is really valid. 

[vmrunreliable]

How did you manage to find out that every manufacturer for every piece of your PC equipment designed the product in its entirety in the last year? 

When you say 'configured by experts' how do you quantify this statement?

[jpeg1]

WASPUK "Contacting and communicating issues to Virgin is a laborious and arduous task to the point that I more often than not just give up."

That's exactly how the VM system is designed.

Their perfect customer is one who pays as much as they demand year after year, and accepts as little customer service as they are willing to provide.