Telewest bought by Virgin

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 02 Mar 2007, 18:04

He obviously loves getting one over on the big guys.

Porty · Post by **Porty** » 02 Mar 2007, 18:10

He loves that nearly as much as he loves himself

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 02 Mar 2007, 21:33

Seems upgrade time may be over.
Sis tried down in England, sob story about missing fave shows, they were unmoved, she asked how long notice needed, thinking this would be clincher- 30 days ma'am.
Perhaps Virgin's patience has run out.
Anyone else got nowhere with them?
Anyone got anywhere with them this evening?

Izzie · Post by **Izzie** » 03 Mar 2007, 08:50

We phoned Sky and were told due to demand there would be at least a 6 week wait.

So no lost or 24 for a long time yet

ifstar · Post by **ifstar** » 03 Mar 2007, 10:06

SoupDragon wrote:Seems upgrade time may be over.
Sis tried down in England, sob story about missing fave shows, they were unmoved, she asked how long notice needed, thinking this would be clincher- 30 days ma'am.
Perhaps Virgin's patience has run out.
Anyone else got nowhere with them?
Anyone got anywhere with them this evening?

As I said, the best thing to do is compare prices and use those figures rather than just say you want to leave. I did this in January before any of this kicked off and am saving £20 pm.

nads · Post by **nads** » 03 Mar 2007, 12:10

I called VM on the day it kicked off, got top tv channels same broadband and fee day, night and w/e calls only had free w/e before and I got a reduction of £6.00pm off my bill!!! was very chuffed

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 03 Mar 2007, 14:40

I'm not great at bluffing my way but decided I would phone up. First though, I thought I'd take ifstar's advice and check out comparable packages with Sky. I didn't get too far before discovering that Virgin's own site was offering a far better package than my current one and at a cheaper price!

I phoned up and complained and on top of my current max TV package I've gained free phone calls, the V+ hard drive, a mobile deal and will be upgraded to the fastest broadband service all for £10 a month less than I'm paying at the moment! I'm also getting a £10 rebate. Overall I'm pretty happy I phoned up - she even gave me the discount that should only apply to online orders.

I'd advise all Virgin customers to check what they pay currently with the price of packages on their site under 'Special Offers'.

Incidentally, I was told that they are negotiating to buy the rights to screen many of the programmes that were on Sky 1. They've already got some of them but can't remember which ones

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 03 Mar 2007, 15:08

When did you phone them Marya?
My sister tried last night and they seemed indiffrent.
I'm going to text her to say try again after looking at Sky package/ Virgin offers.
Perhaps we all got in at the right time just after Sky 1 went off on Thursday.
Anyone had any luck with deals off Virgin Friday evening/ today?

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 03 Mar 2007, 15:24

SoupDragon wrote:When did you phone them Marya?

Noon today Soupdragon. There was a special number being given out for queries about Sky 1 but I ignored that and went through to billing instead. I didn't get any special individual treatment; I just got what anyone can get. Get your sister to check out Virgin's site. Chances are she is like me and paying too much.

ifstar · Post by **ifstar** » 03 Mar 2007, 15:42

Virgin have bought the rights to show lost season 3 on demand but it won't be available until about August.

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 03 Mar 2007, 17:21

Sounds like you got the same deal as me, Marya.
I've sent text to sis to tell her to look online at prices/ offers and phone Virgin again
The number they give out for Sky queries just gives you the same bumf about sky picking up the ball etc.. they're working on V central etc...zzzzzz

Dadaist · Post by **Dadaist** » 03 Mar 2007, 17:34

Slightly tougher call this time - although it was to customer service and not disconnections.

The guy said that the rebates are automatic adjustments coming off everyones bill. He said I have to phone the sales dept to sort out V+ and stonewalled on the broadband upgrade.

As far as I know, they aren't giving out mobile handsets - it's just this "4 for £40" deal for a sim card.

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 03 Mar 2007, 18:07

I didn't go for the mobile , Clanger 1 had a Virgin phone and had nothing but problems with it, so that put me off but then again others seem to be ok with it.
http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/bundles/vip.html shows some of the deals

Been watching Babylon 5 on teleport, series 1, but there's only 10 episodes, sure there were about 20

bearcub · Post by **bearcub** » 03 Mar 2007, 20:09

Did much the same as Marya, no good at bluffing disgruntlement either

, so pointed out that the deals they were offering online were cheaper and gave more than I was getting at the moment.

Apparently those deals were only if you were a new customer or upgrading, and cost £75 for installment of the additional service. However they "fiddled" the agreement a bit so I get the new cheaper service, with 10mB broadband and unlimited calls (which I had neither of before), without having to pay £75. Only caveat was that I had to take an additional V+ box, said I wasn't really bothered about that, but they insisted if I wanted the cheaper deal...........bureaucracy eh?

Oh well, I'll just have to make do with an additional V+ box gathering dust in the spare room.

bearcub · Post by **bearcub** » 03 Mar 2007, 20:12

SoupDragon wrote:Been watching Babylon 5 on teleport, series 1, but there's only 10 episodes, sure there were about 20

Think they're only releasing so many episodes at a time, but yes, they are 22 episodes or so in each series.

I've got the first 3, or maybe 4 (can't remember to be honest), series on DVD if you want to borrow, SD. I've watched the first 1 1/2 so far, but not got round to watching the rest again yet.

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 04 Mar 2007, 20:42

Thanks for the offer Bearcub.
I'll work my way through the ones on tv first and see how that goes.
Thet're adding in more and more stuff on the replay and teleport tv now and then there Virgin Central but there's still times it seems theres nothing to watch when I'm got time/ in the mood for tv

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 08 Mar 2007, 21:19

got the V+ box. Looks like this is going to be fun.

And you can find out whats on in the next week!
On demand not working at moment
Got half a dozen progs set to record already.

Sis still never got anywhere with Virgin down in England but still hearing of folk getting upgraded up here

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 08 Mar 2007, 21:30

SoupDragon wrote:got the V+ box.

I've got to wait until Sat 17 March for that and my speed upgrade (though that seems a bit strange when I think about it

) . There must have been a few more phonecalls and upgrades between your phone call and mine Soupdragon

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 08 Mar 2007, 21:34

The guy who brought our box said he was very, very busy at the moment!
Might be coincidence but we got the new box on the day the direct debit usually comes out

bearcub · Post by **bearcub** » 08 Mar 2007, 23:18

Marya wrote:
SoupDragon wrote:got the V+ box.
I've got to wait until Sat 17 March for that and my speed upgrade (though that seems a bit strange when I think about it ) . There must have been a few more phonecalls and upgrades between your phone call and mine Soupdragon

I get my extra V+ box (that I don't really want, or need) on the 17th too, must be their P+ day.

foxy · Post by **foxy** » 09 Mar 2007, 00:06

I spent 55 minutes in the phone queue last Saturday morning just after 9am and gave up.

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 12 Mar 2007, 10:28

Anyone else getting really slow connections this morning? I'm on the 4Mb package but using a speed test seem to be getting :

Speed Test Results
Date 12/03/07 09:19:22
Speed Down 2448.31 Kbps ( 2.4 Mbps )
Speed Up 353.68 Kbps ( 0.3 Mbps )

PortyConvert · Post by **PortyConvert** » 12 Mar 2007, 20:46

Speed Test Results
Date 12/03/07 19:44:15
Speed Down 3842.21 Kbps ( 3.8 Mbps )
Speed Up 361.57 Kbps ( 0.4 Mbps )

I'm on 4MB also....

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 14 Mar 2007, 15:37

V+ box replaced on Monday. It wouldn' t let us watch what we'd recorded!!

PortyConvert · Post by **PortyConvert** » 31 Mar 2007, 13:56

I sent Virgin a letter of complaint about the Sky channels issue & also prices in general - they didn't reply so i followed up with a phone call and got £20 disc pm. I'm £59.50 now for Sports, Movies XL TV, phone & 4MB broadband. Worth a moan...... although i forgot to push them on the V+ box......

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 16 Apr 2007, 10:37

Having only been on Virgin's "up to 10 MB" broadband package for a month I am chuffed to read in a BBC report that
A spokesman for Virgin Media, formerly NTL/Telewest, said some of what the BSG was calling for was already available over cable. He added that Virgin Media's 10Mbps service will increase to 20Mbps from May this year and it is running trials of 50Mbps among some customers in Ashford, Kent.

bearcub · Post by **bearcub** » 20 Jul 2007, 21:16

Apparently, from 26th July, the Setanta Sports package will be included in Virgin's XL TV bundle at no extra cost.....

Pretty good deal, considering they're about to start showing Premiership games on top of increased SPL coverage.

ifstar · Post by **ifstar** » 23 Jul 2007, 14:57

Yep, great deal to get Setanta free. I did think about ordering it just a few days before.

No news on the 20Mb increase yet though, it's supposed to be done at some point this month.

PortyConvert · Post by **PortyConvert** » 25 Jul 2007, 22:24

That sounds great!!! Was a bit miffed that i wasn't going to get all the premiership games anymore..... but this would be a result!

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 19 Aug 2007, 11:46

Anyone else having problems with the broadband the last few days.
Ours seems to be intermittent, we loose the connection or it wont let us online.
Then it can be so slow at times
We lost tv and internet totally the other week

Maria · Post by **Maria** » 19 Aug 2007, 12:07

SoupDragon wrote:Anyone else having problems with the broadband the last few days.
Ours seems to be intermittent, we loose the connection or it wont let us online.
Then it can be so slow at times
We lost tv and internet totally the other week

Broadband connection is fine SD, but we have had some problems with the TV reception 'freezing' for a few seconds then coming back. Seems to be OK at the moment *touch wood*.

Stray NO.666 · Post by **Stray NO.666** » 19 Aug 2007, 12:49

our broadband is going very slow at the moment AND our tv is freezing every now and then we gave them a fone and they didnt help, had no idea what i was talking about!

SoupDragon · Post by **SoupDragon** » 19 Aug 2007, 13:20

According to their service status there are some "issues" in the EH7 area but they dont mention EH15
Mind you they didnt the other week and when I phoned up to say we'd lost tv and internet they claimed no one else had compained, have to send engineer out etc etc. I've learnt that it takes at least 5 complaints before Virgin logs it as an area fault

Stray NO.666 · Post by **Stray NO.666** » 19 Aug 2007, 14:10

well if i fone them another 4 times they might actaully listen to me for a change then!

bearcub · Post by **bearcub** » 28 Aug 2007, 00:27

Just found out that Music On Demand is now free to XL TV customers, 1,000's of music videos to watch whenever I want! Have started on them already....

Don't know why they didn't advertise this, think it's something they should be shouting about - especially considering the ongoing 'battle' with Sky.

Talk Porty ~ Portobello

Telewest bought by Virgin

Broadband speed