poor customer service

4 Topics

Intermittent broadband and WIFI since 24th October 2024
Our (and our neighbours) broadband and wifi has been intermittent and far below the speed (7mbps) we are paying for when it does work since 24th October. Virgin keep sending SMS saying they have fixed the issue when they clearly haven't. When I check the issue status on myvirginmedia, the fix date continually slides and there is no detail about what the actual issue is or why it is taking so long to rectify. I rely on my internet connection as I work from home. I have had to resort to buying extra data with my mobile provider as Virgin aren't providing a reliable service, this is also causing massive inconvenience with everything from our house alarm to our EV charger and lighting as it all works through wifi. I raised a formal complaint C-10112499 days ago. At what point can I leave the contract with virgin, penalty free? What proof do I need to provide ?
vickersdavey
6 months ago Place Networking and WiFi
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2Comments
Port forwarding issue VM can't solve, useless customer service - CHANGE YOUR ISP !!!
This post is to make community aware !!! Stay away from Virgin Media !!! Long story short (as short as possible): I wanted to unblock port 44158 on my router to be able to use Hellium miner, also wanted to be able to unblock different ports (some gaming server for my child). Obviously it didn't work despite following correct procedure (have done it many times before with different ISP's). I have tried everything including buying new 3rd party router and switching VM router to "modem mode". Still no luck. So I decided to contact VM customer service via phone. This was a nightmare. Hours on the phone with 5 or 6 different reps among few days. First of all : none of them could speak clear English (yes, we all know about abroad customer service but I was with SKY for 11 years and they have as well reps with Asian background - the difference is that SKY reps can speak English - I am not English myself, so don't have any issue with people of a different nationality). Also none of them knew what "port forwarding" is !! Not even tech team !!! One of their geniuses advise to "connect the cable to next port on my router" ??!!! Probably he assumed that mentioned port is physical and I have a router with over 44000 ports on the back (router from his mind would be size of a lorry). Obviously despite explaining myself many times I still had to repeat all from the beginning to next rep I was transferred to. Waiting time ....... you can imagine, probably over 2h only "on hold". One of them finally decided to appoint engineer for me, I was waiting half of the Saturday for mentioned guy who never turned up (later another ace confirmed that his friend rep done this incorrectly, so I wasted half of Saturday). Another day, another call and again engineer visit booked (it was strange to me as engineer normally deals with infrastructure issue not "server issue" but ok, I let them to try). In the mean time I was advised to contact paid service "Geek Team" to sort out issue. Which I have, some guy from them remotely connected to my pc and done exactly same thing I was doing before (with my help as he didn't know where that option on the router is !!?? Probably he was following some manual). He advised that he can't help as it's VM issue and I have to call VM customer service. So decided to wait for engineer to see what's going to happened. Guy who turned up was friendly and had knowledge about infrastructure but not about "port forwarding" (as expected). He advised, that is nothing to do with him and my signal is ok. He also changed the router for me to see if that will help (HUB 4 TO HUB5). Obviously it didn't (since is not working even on "modem mode" new router won't change anything). Engineer was really sorry and said that probably not many can be done as : "VM customer service is useless, he has heard loads of complaints and he is having problem calling them on engineer line as well" I was shocked finding out that I won't get any help as they are clueless, all that said by their technician 😞 I don't like giving up so decided to write formal complaint. I have described all my problems (port forwarding, time wasted, useless, lying and clueless reps etc.). Day after submitting my complaint I have received phone call, finally someone with proper English (rep named Jack or Jake) another apologies and another promise. He said that he came across this problem before and he will pass it to team, who will solve it once for all. He asked for up to 72h patience as they are busy. As you can imagine nothing happened since (he rang on 7th or 8th of Feb now is 29th), no.... sorry one thing happened: there is no sign of my complaint anymore, has been closed and deleted from my acc !!!! (Luckily got a ref number, email confirmation and print screen as a proof). Port forwarding is not working, time wasted on the phone and online, I am ignored but that's not all. One of their rep (would love to call him an idiot but it might be offensive to idiots) decided to add some premium services to my plan (just discovered on the newest bill), he switched on some paid addon for £9.99 a month, plus some charge for changes to my plan £6.33. Never asked for any additional service, not sure if that is a revenge from one of them or their poor English (maybe instead of fixing my "port forwarding" they understood "I want new addon" - of course joking as nothing else I can do 😞 I have submitted another complaint today, no hopes but need to be able to prove Ombudsman OFCOM that I've tried everything. I don't thing I can solve this problem without OMBUDSMAN help. To everyone who came across this post : STAY AWAY FROM VIRGIN MEDIA, go to different ISP might be bit more per month but is worth it !!!! SKY, BT etc - they have customer reps who knows what they doing, they speak English and willing to help - don't waste your time!! Maybe your broadband works fine today but one day it might not and then I feel sorry for you! There is only one world to describe it : PATHETIC
Solved
Apropak
2 years ago Place Networking and WiFi
2.5KViews
0likes
17Comments
No internet since installing Hub 5; customer service refusing to help
Upgraded to 1gb internet and received a new hub. Installed on Friday morning following the instructions included. No service since then (now 3 days later). Called VM who said there is a fault on their end and they will investigate and fix it. Later used the WhatsApp chat to speak with another agent who said the hub is faulty. Engineer scheduled for three days later. Refused to order a new hub. Refused to provide a dongle or internet via o2 to provide temporary access. Refused to attempt trouble shooting and asked me how they can fix the problem. Advised VM that household has a vulnerable person who is dependent on internet for emergency communication, they seemed not to care and said wait until Monday. Advised VM that I need to work from home and they’ve already caused three days of lost earnings, they said they will compensate me £1.36. Have now been waiting for them to connect me to o2 for 5 hours to try and get emergency internet access via a phone hotspot on my account. Have exhausted my other network data packages using a hotspot. Took many hours of pleading with customer support for them to even attempt basic troubleshooting by asking for my MAC address to check the hub status. Agents then disconnect the chat and refuse further assistance.
AvoidVM
2 years ago Place Networking and WiFi
1.6KViews
0likes
10Comments
Hub 5 Router Wi-fi inconsistent and unstable.......Don't take it!
Hi all and VM, Posted the below on Friday 21st Oct on an existing thread. Now starting my own to hopefully get a response from VM Found this post while searching for answers to why my Hub 5 is so terrible! I'm surprised by some of the responses on here - seems ridiculous to issue a new piece of hardware to the public and not make it clear that the Hub 5 is still in development. I upgraded to 1gb/Hub 5 only a few weeks ago and the wifi signal has been terrible ever since. As an example, I have Samsung s21 and while sitting only 1.5m from the hub I'm often receiving download speed of just 29mbps............diabolical service and surely in breach of contract. As a comparison, if I connect my laptop via an ethernet cable I'm getting around 850mbps. When I call VM last week they agreed to send a Intelligent Wi-fi pod which I plugged in last night..........initially I was getting very high wifi speeds on my phone, around 800mbps but today this has dropped back to 30mbps. There seems no logical reason for this especially when you consider that my son had his PS4 connected via wifi last night but today its not connected. When I was upgrading to 1gb I did ask for a Hub 4 (because I had previously been refused a Hub5), I now, after reading this thread, wished I pressed for a Hub 4. I currently have an open complaint with VM and await a return call regarding the complaint. I have also have 'engineers' monitoring my line (allegedly) and await a call back later today (allegedly) in an attempt to resolve the problems. It's ridiculous to suggest I should go and buy a 3rd party router and turn my state of the art Hub 5 into a modem. Absolutely pathetic. If VM on this forum can please reach out to me before I lose the will to live and ditch Virgin once and for all, that would be great. I look forward to some sound, technological advice from a competent engineer to a CS assistant (as I've had to date). Update:- Well, surprise surprise...........the VM engineer didnt phone me last night as promised by the call handler. So, to date:- 1. I'm waiting for a manager to call me regarding my complaint (7days ago.......lost track if I'm honest). 2. I'm waiting on an engineer to call me at 2030 to fault find the poor wifi problem (14hrs ago) Wifi download speed continues to be as inconsistent as the Tory government.............speed test today shows I can download at 865mbps, which is great and where it should be. So why was I only downloading at 29mbps less than 24hrs ago. Nothing has changed in my home - no additional electronic devices causing interference, no other gadgets downloading................the inconsistency is baffling and, to me, suggests its a fault with the router, but I'm not an expert - hence why I need VM to pull their finger out and contact me. I know everyone on this topic has issues with their hub but has anyone had similar issues to me? TIA
Bazzab1975
2 years ago Place Networking and WiFi
6.3KViews
0likes
31Comments