Virgin Media Community

[richrich123]

So Sky have provided an automated number Sky customers can call and within 30 seconds to suspend their Sky Sports (given there is now virtually no sport available) until things resume. Well done Sky.

Virgin Media - Zero.Unable to manage anything from your account. Been on hold for over an hour on the phone. Online chat, no response. They are saying due to Corona a call centre has closed which is understandable they are busy in which case, provide some ability in your online account to do these things and I wouldn't now be holding up chat and phone lines for a query (sure they are getting thousands) that Sky have dealt with using common sense via an automated number.

Having looked on Twitter and newspaper reports, the suggestion is Virgin are refusing to pause or cancels users Sky Sports if they are still in contract. If that's the case, that's disgusting profiteering behaviour given Sky themselves have agreed to pause. How can Virgin charge the best part of £40 for a channel that now has virtually no content on it and to people who are now facing unprecedented financial challenges?

Having been a Virgin customer for TV, Broadband, Phone etc for years (and paid them thousands over the years), I will be going to Sky at the end of my contract and never returning. The total disregard shown to long standing customers is disgusting.

[apcyberax]

Sky has only agreed top pause for there direct Sky TV customers. So its Sky you need to moan to

[richrich123]

Complain to Sky, hows that? The service is provided to me from Virgin. Sky will not speak to me, they direct you to your provider, Virgin. I love the email just received today from Virgin CEO saying don't call unless its urgent - What a way to treat customers. If you have a £100 per month commitment to Virgin and now no income, is that urgent?

Its when there is a problem you find out what your provider is really like and based on the CEO's email to not bother calling, says it all.

[nodrogd]

Sky would have to vary their agreement with Virgin to allow you to do this. Of course they won’t as they want you to jump ship, & take advantage of the current emergency situation to poach customers, but this is typical of Sky.

The main call centre for VM is in Manila, which is in lockdown, so a huge drop in capacity. Sky has automated their process as they have one billing system. Virgin has several (which is why we all have billing area codes). Making changes like that would be very complicated. And before you say “I can upgrade online”. Yes, you can, but then there is a 24 to 48 hour delay as you have to wait for a CS agent to put it through manually.

Rightly the energy at the present time is maintaining the network & assisting the most vulnerable customers with their telco & Broadband services, & also keeping all those people now working from home doing their jobs & helping the economy. It’s a pain about the Sports channels, but the providers have other priorities right now other than trying to re-negotiate TV agreements.

[richrich123]

if Virgin aren't trying to dodge it and there are hundreds (probably thousands) of customers wanting to know what they can do about Sky Sports payments, Why haven't Virgin addressed it and put something on the website to provide information or at east answers or some kind of update? Clearly becuase they don't want to highlight it.

I have just seen on some forum posts from the last 24 hrs that people who have been able to get in contact in the last 24 hrs on the phone have indeed been offered a 3 month pause - just proves they are trying to limit/hide from this to save the financial loss.

Fuuny that Sky are offering something so have a page on their site to help. Virgin have nothing as they are trying to dodge it.

[ozsat]

Sky are not charging Sky customers who request a subscription pause to Sky Sports.

Sky are still currently charging VM for the VM customers taking Sky Sports.

VM are not going to pause your subscription to them but continue to pay it to Sky on your behalf.

Sky need to pause the subscription charges to VM (and BT) - in order for VM (and BT) to pass it on.

Common sense really.

[richrich123]

Wrong - There are multiple forum posts today from customers who have been able to get through on the phone saying they have had a pause granted. It now seems if you are lucky enough to get through they will pause you but they are not making that public knowledge in order to reduce their losses. Every other business and person is getting hit with losses, why should Virgin not have to suffer some.

Re: Pause Sky sports Subscription

2 hours ago

A friend of mine rang VM friday as was told he could Freeze his sports until everything was back to normal.

[richrich123]

A friend of mine rang VM friday as was told he could Freeze his sports until everything was back to normal.

[apcyberax]

whatever happens, we (the customers/taxpayers) will pay for all of this at some point.

You can't just make money from nothing. Remember when you are paying 40% taxes and 100% price rises that you wanted it

[jbrennand]

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@richrich123 wrote:

Wrong - There are multiple forum posts today from customers who have been able to get through on the phone saying they have had a pause granted. It now seems if you are lucky enough to get through they will pause you but they are not making that public knowledge in order to reduce their losses. Every other business and person is getting hit with losses, why should Virgin not have to suffer some.

Re: Pause Sky sports Subscription

2 hours ago

A friend of mine rang VM friday as was told he could Freeze his sports until everything was back to normal.

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Ahhh .... but have any of these "pauses" actually happened?    Sounds like the harassed locked down offshore CS reps have found yet another cunning wheeze to get people off the phone and move on to the next one.

[jbrennand]

A friend of mine rang VM friday as was told he could Freeze his sports until everything was back to normal.

[nodrogd]

This more likely than not will be a one-off credit. VM would either have to create a parallel package on each billing system to have the channels at no charge or create the channels on a new set of channel numbers for the people not paying for them. Neither of these can be done overnight.