Total Loss of Service, Warning to New Customers
Just felt the need to share my experience thus far with Virgin Media after being left without internet and tv through no fault of our own. Hopefully this gives new potential customers an idea of what they can expect, even as an 8 year customer of Virgin Media. We had a water leak outside our property, requiring Severn Trent to attend and dig a hole to access the pipe that was leaking. In the process, they caused damage to a fibre optic cable. Their policy understandably is to stop working and call out the relevant engineers to check, and an engineer attended and confirmed to Severn Trent that the fibre optic cable was not one of theirs, and not serving my property. Upon receipt of that confirmation in writing, Severn Trent continued with the works, fixing the leak. In the process, further damage was caused to the cable which resulted in a total loss of service to our property on 6th October. The following day, I arranged an engineer to attend who verified that there was a total loss of service. His understanding was that as Virgin Media pay compensation after 48 hours of total loss of service without it being fixed, they would be out relatively quickly to arrange the repair. This understanding could not have been further from the truth. Do not be tricked into thinking that Virgin Media care about the length of time the repair takes or the amount of compensation they will need to pay you. After hearing nothing from Virgin, I called Wednesday 8th October to find out when the repair could be scheduled for. I was advised at that stage that there were no teams available to carry out the repair until 17th November. I didn't think it necessary to explain that leaving a customer without internet and tv for a 6 week period was unacceptable but apparently that was necessary. The customer service advisor managed to bring the date forward to 22 October, far better but still not ideal. I asked if they could bring it any further forward, and called nearly daily to establish if there was any update on this. I rang Saturday 11th October in the morning, to see if there was any update, and was told that there was still no update on their system. Within 30 minutes of that phonecall, an engineer knocked at the door to say they were there to repair the cable! I showed them the patch of tarmac under which the damaged cable was now situated, and they advised that they did not have the facilities available to dig the necessary hole to access the damaged cable and replace it. Incredibly frustrating given that Severn Trent had filled the hole back in on the Friday, after no communication was forthcoming from Virgin Media about when they would be able to attend to carry out the repair! After continued chasing, I received a text message to say that the works had been rescheduled for Thursday 16th October. The day came and went with no visit from Virgin, and upon calling to find out what was happening, was told the appointment had been cancelled at 8.50am (without so much as a word or an update to me). Another text that evening said that they had rescheduled to Friday 17th October. I worked from home that day, and rang first thing to confirm the appointment and was told an engineer would be out by 1pm. At 12.45pm, after no-one had attended, I rang again, to be told the same story, that there was no engineer available and they would need to reschedule. Over the weekend, two further text messages were received to confirm that the works had been rescheduled to Monday 20th October. An engineer, once again, attended my property, only to tell me that the necessary team to actually replace the fibre optic cable was not booked, and therefore there was nothing they could do. The entire course of this repair job has been on the basis that it is a completely damaged fibre optic cable, I cannot for the life of me understand why the correct teams were not booked. Yesterday morning, I received a text message before I'd even had opportunity to have my morning coffee and give Virgin yet another call, to say that the works had been rescheduled back to the 17th November again, the original date that was quoted to me. I rang, incensed, at the continued poor service and lack of communication. I advised that as a customer of 8 years with Virgin, and a customer of O2s of nearly 2 decades, they were about to lose a customer for life. Apparently, the result of that conversation was a further text message to say that the works have been rescheduled now for the 24th November. Instead of bringing the works forward, they've pushed them back to 7 weeks after we first had the total loss of service. To date, I have had one actual phone call from Virgin, which was last night and was a gentleman in their "Pre-Installation" team I believe. He listened to the situation and apologised, as a number of customer service assistants and managers have, and said someone would be in touch within the next 24 hours or so, by email or by phone. I am still waiting for some communication, and upon calling this evening was told there was still no update on the 24th November date. I asked, right at the outset, what Virgin would be able to do to help me get online. The proposal was to "go and buy a dongle and we'll reimburse you for it" - suggesting there was nothing they could do to help. As an O2 customer, I asked if they could arrange for me to have a bolt-on added to my phone contract to give me unlimited data, so that I could hotspot. I was told I'd need to speak to O2, who understandably said it was nothing to do with them and if I wanted more data I'd have to pay for it (which I've now had to do, to be able to get online, work from home etc). I have said, multiple times, that Severn Trent caused the damage, you have a third party who has acknowledged that they're at fault (albeit Virgin Media confirmed that it was not one of their cables before they continued with the leak repair). There is the option to claim back the extra cost of putting on an additional team to come to my property to carry out the repair. Nothing has been done in this respect. Every single call I have made, I have asked to speak to someone more senior. I am told that I have spoken to the most senior complaint manager or customer support manager available. They have advised me that nobody within Virgin Media has a means of picking up the phone and speaking with their Field Manager, who is the person apparently in charge of organising this repair. To be frank and honest, I wouldn't trust this Field Manager to tie his own shoelaces, given how poor the communication and organisation has been. Twice, an engineer has been sent to my property, and twice, they have been unable, as a result of poor communication as to what works need to be done, to fix the damaged fibre optic cable. I raised a complaint about how poorly this was handled. That complaint, according to the Virgin Media Complaint Tracker, says that it was Acknowledged and Reviewed on 9th October. I do not know who they acknowledged it to because I have not had a single call back from anyone in their Complaints department. I have left it as a simple, give me an answer as to when it will be repaired, and if that repair is not by the end of this week or early next week latest, I have a call booked with Sky on Friday this week to firm up new contract terms with them. I've been given an indicative 2 week window for Sky to attend and install their own fibre optic connection. I'll update this page if I do receive any sort of call back, but god forbid any existing or new customers have any issues needing a fibre optic repair job, because you may not get a date for the repair until 2026 at this rate.Poor customer service, Scammers
When I opted for virgin media big bundle service, they had a promotional offer going on at that time. Offer 1 was a 50 inch toshiba TV and Offer 2 was a free service for 3 months amounting to 155GBP. I opted for offer 1 and its been 3 months since I received the television set. When I call the company and ask for it, no one is willing to help and they just forward it to their rewards team and tell me to wait for another 72hrs. I called 3 times in the past 2 or 3 weeks and I get the same response everytime. No one gives me a callback. Also, the customer service team are very rude and mannerless and one of the guys harrassed me by saying "dont tell me how to do my job". This is completely unacceptable and unfortunately I am stuck with them for 24 months as part of my contract. I received an email last month from virgin media as well saying that my free gift is on the way but its been on the way for the last 30 days. They just show promotional offers to attract people to opt for virgin media but they will never fulfill their promises. pathetic company and I really wish people dont fall into their trap when they attract potectial customers with various promotional offers because believe me, they will never fulfill their promises Please see below screenshot of the email I got from virgin media almost a month back saying that my free gift is on the way and there has been no update since thenSOS: Vulnerable Customer Emergency!
HELP????? My mum is 95 and lives on her own, so she relies on her mobile to stay in touch with family in case of falls or other emergencies. The sim in her phone was replaced by a virgin store but they can't connect it to her old no bcs they say the date of birth she gives them isn't correct!!!! Bcs of this she's been without her phone for over 10 days and she had a fall a week before she lost the phone. If it had happened a week later, she'd have been lying on the floor until she caught pneumonia bcs if she falls, she can't get up without help. And without a phone, nobody would know if she'd fallen. I've tried EVERYTHING to get in touch with Virgin but none of the advertised channels for getting through, actually work. CAN SOMEBODY AT VIRGIN IRELAND PLEASE HELP????Never-ending installation
We were supposed to have our broadband installed to our new home the 17th July. The technician came and didn't finish the job. No communication since and whenever I call customer support they lie to us saying "someone is coming today" Three times they've said this and nobody came. Yesterday (24th) another technician came (after I had to request it) and the same again. He left, said comex would come and do the job externally because we were high priority, and then he would return the same day to do the inside connection, but as per usual nothing. This is unbelievable for a major company to just abandon their customers with no communication and not complete a simple transfer of broadband when moving home. The only option I see now is to move provider. Any advice would be greatly appreciated because for over a week now without internet in 2025 is ridiculous and the service is shocking.Shady tactics and lies - avoid
I write this in hope someone will read in the future and spare themselves the experience of opening an account with Virgin. I had the terrible idea of signing up woth them. I spoke with a salesman who assured the contract was full fibre. When the contract came, the wording on it were for hybrid broadband. I called back immediately to cancel and a very rude employee called John Paul told me that I couldn't cancel my account because it wasn't in the system yet. I managed to speak with the salesman again, who revealed he wasn't really sure about hybrid vs full fibre and offered to send an engineer the day after. I agreed. The engineer never showed up. When I called them back, I learned the engineer appointment was mysteriously cancelled without notification (they couldn't tell me by whom or why of course), so I had spent the whole Saturday morning waiting for the engineer for nothing. I finally was able to cancel (which is very hard to do, they keep making excuses) but of course my O2 account, part of the package, that was opened by the Virgin Media saleaman, needed to be cancelled separately, so another 1/2 hour of phone call, verification, explanation etc. On the phone service, it's almost impossible to speak to a human operator: the only way is saying that you're thinking of cancelling, they'll put you through the retention team who can't do anything, but they'll eventually transfer you to the other teams. Even getting there is hard: the voice password system doesn't work, and you have to dial in your password after 3 attempts. Imagine an old person trying to cancel or fix something, they'll never be able. Obviously there is no option for "the engineer never showed up", and if you select the wrong option you will descend into robocall help until they tell you to go to the website and hang up. All operators are from Asian countries, thick accents, hard to understand. A scam, hopefully the regulator looks into those shady practices.Virgin Media Customer Service Points Game: Score Your Frustration
Dealing with Virgin Media’s customer service can be an exasperating experience. To add a touch of humor to the ordeal, we’ve devised a points-based game that lets you score each infuriating encounter. Keep track of your points during your next interaction and see just how “valued” you truly are. How to Play Keep a tally of each occurrence during your interaction with Virgin Media. Add up your points based on the values assigned below. Share your score with fellow sufferers to see who has endured the most. Points Breakdown 5 Points: Being transferred to another department. Hearing the phrase, “We appreciate your patience.” Experiencing hold music for over 5 minutes. Receiving an email or text with incorrect information. 10 Points: Repeating your account details to multiple representatives. Being told, “There’s an issue in your area.” Receiving a bill higher than the agreed-upon amount. Waiting more than 48 hours for a promised callback that never comes. Delays blamed on Virgin Media's own third party contractor (e.g. Avonline) Delays incorrectly blamed on local authority (e.g. not permitted to dig up the road, even though you've seen teams digging). 20 Points: An engineer failing to show up during the scheduled appointment window. Being charged for services you never agreed to or requested. Experiencing a service outage without prior notification. Receiving a disconnection notice despite being up-to-date on payments. 30 Points: Having your complaint closed without resolution. Having your complaint ignored until you go to the OFCOM ombudsman. Being promised a refund or credit that never materializes. Spending over an hour on a single customer service call. Being told contradictory information by different representatives. Being denied compensation which is legally yours. Bonus Points 5000 Points: Successfully navigating the labyrinth and achieving a satisfactory resolution. Receiving an apology that feels genuine and not scripted. Receiving the correct amount of compensation. Share Your Score Tally up your points and share your score with others who’ve braved the Virgin Media customer service maze. Remember, while this game adds a layer of humor, your frustrations are valid. Don’t hesitate to escalate your concerns through the appropriate channels. Disclaimer: This game is for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to actual customer service experiences is purely coincidental… or is it?Installation issues
Virgin Media, the company that can’t figure out how to install their own broadband, yet still insists on pretending they can. It started simply: I asked for fiber. Virgin said yes. They gave me an install date. Then the circus began. The Never-Ending Clown Show For months, Virgin’s engineers have arrived, yanked on the conduit like confused cavemen, watched it fall apart, and then run away—only to reschedule and do it all over again. December 23rd: Failure. January 9th: Failure. January 21st: Failure. February 5th: Failure. February 21st: Failure. At this point, it’s not even incompetence. It’s performance art. Blame Everyone but Themselves. Rather than just admitting they’re useless, Virgin Media has mastered the fine art of pointing fingers: “It’s Avonline’s fault!” You hired Avonline, you absolute muppets. That’s like hiring a dodgy builder and then acting shocked when your house collapses. “The council won’t let us access the road!” Funny, since Avonline’s engineers have been out there working on the road. In fact, one of them even said: “Virgin Media on this road? Not a chance. The conduit’s knackered. Not gonna happen.” Then they tried anyway, snapped the fiber, and left the conduit even more broken. Genius. Truly. I hope the person responsible gets a bonus. I would just leave and give up, but they insist they will only send me all of the money they owe me (for multiple missed appointments, and an agreement to cover the difference between my Virgin bill price and the extortiantate out of contract BT price in the meantime) if I stay and wait to be connected - is that even legal? Lies, Lies and more Lies Meanwhile, their customer service team—trained, I assume, by a group of concussed pigeons—kept assuring me that everything was fine. Me: “Can you install fiber at my house?” Virgin: “Absolutely!” Me: “Then why are you literally paying my neighbours to leave because you can’t install fiber?” Virgin: “Uhh… unforeseen circumstances?” And speaking of my neighbours, I find out they were actually PAID TO LEAVE VIRGIN MEDIA because the company knew it couldn’t provide service - due to a broken conduit! Let me repeat that: They gave people money to go away rather than just fixing the damn conduit. Then they continue to sell this knowingy broken service to others on the same road. Even going so far as to send sales reps door-to-door! We have been waiting for installation since November 2024. Other neighbours have been waiting since October 2024. It is now nearly March 2025. Gaslighting 101 And just when you think Virgin can’t sink lower, they send me an email implying I haven’t been in touch. I’ve spent more time chasing these clowns than they’ve spent actually doing their job. At this rate, I could hand-dig a new conduit myself before Virgin Media figures out what’s happening. Final Thoughts Virgin Media, just be honest: Either fix the conduit and install the fiber, or Admit you can’t do it and stop wasting everyone’s time. Stop selling products you cannot provide. Instead, you’re stuck in an infinite loop of lying, blaming, failing, and rescheduling—like some kind of broadband time-wasting machine. Virgin Media: The only thing they connect is excuses.Scam by VirginMedia, Lied on call and applied an unwanted package in the name of moving
I have been using Virgin Media for over 18 months. I took an 18 months contract which was supposed to complete in April 2024. On March 1, I requested them to move my services from my old rented house to my new house. The customer service agent said that moving requires here to take some actions internally which will generate a dummy contract for the sake of move and I should ignore it. It sounded suspicious to me so I double checked that I don't want a new contract but just the move. The agent actually generated the new contract and move was successful. After that I got a new bill with double the amount as monthly charge and I called them back. I am not sure if their customer service agents actually does not understand the things or they act like they didn't understood, they first denied and when I asked to speak with their manager who had more details, they agreed it was a mistake and the new contract will be cancelled. Guess what, I again trusted them and to my surprise, next month I got the same bill. I called them again and they said it takes 20 working days for the contract to get cancelled completely. I waited for a month but the problem continues. Fast forward, couple more months, still the same issue, nobody is ready to look into it. It seems they just scam people of their hard earned money and force them into contracts. I guess VirginMedia can do better.
Need new account password changed
Hi, In a period of total lunacy, I signed up for a new Virginmedia broadband service, after doing so, I thought I'd get ahead of the game by registering for 'My Virginmedia'. Unfortunately during the process, I wrote down my password incorrectly and am unable to access. I tried to reset my password online, but I get a message telling me that 'You can't reset your password online right now, as you don't have additional details set up on your account. To reset your password, please contact us and one of our team will help you.' I clicked the provided link and chose the 'live chat' option and eventually got put through to some clueless idiot who told me just to reset the password online. I told him that I couldn't and explained the situation to which he replied it's because I haven't registered for My Virginmedia. I told him I had, then posted a screenshot proving this, to which he told me to use those details to reset the password online. I posted a screenshot of the error message to which he said I need to set an account up first. I asked to be connected to somebody competent, but he refused so I ended the chat. I called and eventually got through to somebody, who on the face of it appeared credible, he asked me what my new password should be, to which I told him, I spelled it out phonetically, he repeated it and told me the password was changed. I asked him to remain on the phone while I checked and he responded that he would, but password changes could take up to an hour to propagate. I did check the password and as I was beginning to suspect would be the case, it didn't work. He assured me that when I tried in an hour it would be fine. Here we are a day later and I still can't log in. I've tried calling 3 times, went through the process of being on hold for an eternity each time and just when it connects to a person, I get cut off. Can any of the forum staff advise how to go about the simple task of getting a password changed? For the record, the screen below is what I get when I try to do this online The screenshot below shows the screen I sent to the idiot on live chat who told me I didn't have an account
