Virgin Media: A Masterclass in Incompetence
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.Legal action against Virgin Media
Has anyone had experience in taking VM to court? After being over charged for months and a huge price rise when my contract ended I’ve been trying to cancel but unbelievably they are simply refusing. I sent an official complaint via the complaints procedure and asking to cancel the account but I had a reply which stated that a cancellation request has not been actioned! Even though I asked for cancellation. I’ve never come across a company like this. Surely they should get in trouble with ofcom and the financial ombudsman for this? I’m considering legal action and an official complaint to the ombudsman and ofcom but I want to also sue for the bills they’ve charged since I asked for it to be disconnected, I work out the at they owe me about £150 now. Has anyone done this and won in court?Automatic compensation - Refund vs compensation
Like many others, I’ve experienced Virgin Media’s appalling customer service…long story short, my installation was delayed, I was entitled to automatic compensation, Virgin refused to pay. I’ve been to the Ombudsman who ruled in my favour, but I have questions over the type of payments that qualify under the automatic compensation scheme. Virgin began charging my account for my subscription before installation was complete or any services were activated. Two months of charges were applied to my account, which Virgin then refunded. These refunds were deducted from the total compensation I was ultimately awarded - I was entitled to £400, I had £150 of credits to my account, so was awarded £250. I’ve discussed this with the Ombudsman and was told any payments made to me by Virgin qualify as payments under the automatic compensation scheme. The fact I was being charged for a service I wasn’t receiving doesn’t matter, and there appears to be no distinction made between payments made as refunds, rather than to compensate me for the inconvenience and additional costs I incurred. Is this really how the scheme works in practice? If so it’s clearly open to abuse and not fit for purpose. Sorry if anything isn’t clear and thanks in advance for any help!Is Virgin media the worst service company in the world?
So where do I start, 7 days ago I rung up a very rude lady at Virgin Media customer service, I explained that my V6 box was faulty and making very strange noises and couldn't get past the welcome screen the very blunt lady offered me a technician visit which I explained that due to my wide being unwell they would be unable to enter the property, I asked my options such as upgrading to the 360 box and was met with a no, but after being transferred another lady upgraded my account and confirmed the box and remote would be with my Wednesday, fast forward to Wednesday and Yodel did deliver, but only the remote.. funny enough I cant watch any TV with a remote only, so another call and no record of the box, back to booking a technician visit and the same conversation that they are unable to enter and I had already paid for the upgrade, promised that the box would be here no later than Saturday, Thursday comes and no appointment on the app so another call, guess what no record.. so here we go again another false promise, Friday comes and I get through to technical support and the lad with approval from his supervisor credits me £25 and a box would be here Saturday, guess what.... nothing! I have lost the will to live, I have escalated without any success and the next step is 8 weeks time I can lodge a formal complaint with an outside body about Virgin Media. Shame on you Virgin you have the worst client experience I have ever had, and a sick wife with no entertainment in her life, but she can look at that the remote and dream of watching TV while I line your pockets.
