Virgin (as an ISP)
 

PickaxeFairy

I used to be a Virgin customer, back in the dim and distant past, and I do not like them because of the following:

a) They are very anti-P2P and has lead an anti-P2P campaign in the UK.

b) They have said they will introduce "Deep Packet Inspection" meaning that they will be monitoring what their customers are uploading and downloading.

c) They treat their customers like British Telecom does, i.e. as if they are doing you a favour rather than a paying customer who is using hard earned money to pay for a service.

And, as you have found out, whenever Virgin has a change in policy they don't tell you.

Needless to say, I will never ever go back to being a Virgin customer.


UK Bob

Bob - What you say regarding Virgin Media - I can't disagree with....

In relation to the 'Deep Packet Inspection' thing though - the way things are going, how long's it going to be before all ISPs follow suit....

Obviously, none of us is 'immune' from getting 'caught'....
We can all 'help' ourselves though by being a bit sensible and not going overboard when it comes to how much we download/upload....

At the end of the day, what I want from an ISP is....

- The speed I'm paying for
- A monthly charge that I'm happy with
- Helpful, friendly customer service

So far anyway, from my own experience, I can't actually fault Virgin about any of the above....

The never ending story
 

Well PickaxeFairy

Not sure how to reply to your post so I'll start off this way:

The lady at my place of work has had another visit from the tech guys, two this time, in order to resolve her problem. If you remember, they got her son's laptop wirelessly connected to her modem but not her main Dell PC.

However, this time two tech guys managed to loose her son's connection without establishing a connection for her main PC, and then throwing some goobledegook over their shoulders they left.

She was so angry that she threatened to go back to dial-up, and to add insult to injury, after phoning the help line, they tried to get her to set up the equipment after three engineers failed.

I asked her to bring in her manuals and the wi-fi connectors to take a look at, from what I could see there was no reason why this equipment failed to work. So I advised her to call in the engineers again (for the last time), get them to move the modem from her upstairs room and install it, with the yellow RJ45 cable, next to her main PC. I also offered to be with her when the engineer paid her a visit.

I can confirm that her modem does work because she was able to connect her (work) Bl@ckberry to it wirelessly without any difficulty whatsoever.

And finally, her ISP (the one she is having so much trouble with) is Virgin Media.

Nuff said.


UK Bob

PS "Bl@ckberry" seems to be a forbidden word

Yes Blackberry Pie was banned on this forum because they were using artificial blackberries. lol :D Not sure how that crept into the censor but it's since been removed. ;)

I'm thinking it was on the censored list because spammers will list those devices for sale....

Tech guys - who needs 'em! :rolleyes:
I'm assuming she's got everything sorted now?

Had my brand new install today :) Finally!
Am more than happy, it has to be said....
I really didn't expect such a difference....

One thing that did surprise me though - and that was that the tech bloke actually knew what he was doing! :eek: :D

Whilst I realise it's not necessarily the way forward for everyone - I have to say that I'd have no hesitation in advocating a fresh install if your pc's on the older side, or just getting a bit sluggish....
The difference it's made to me in terms of speed is huge!

A whole lot cheaper too than a new computer ;)

The Lady now has her broadband connection
 

PickaxeFairy

You said:Well, certainly not the lady that I work with because she told me last week that she has got her Internet broadband connection working, with no help from the tech guys.

She told me that she got so fed up with not getting what she was paying for that she tried (one more time) to establish the connection herself.

From what she described, she was able to call up a configuration screen (one of two or three) that had opened and immediately closed on previous occasions, this time she was able to keep it open and fill in the info this screen was asking for. After some more fiddling around (and some praying) she managed to obtain and maintain a wireless connection to her modem from her main (Dell) PC.

Suffice to say, she is extremely happy with her accomplishment especially as she has had no help whatsoever.

I also believe that since she was able to connect her Blackberry to her modem this gave her the confidence to try connecting the PC herself.

All's well that ends well.


UK Bob

PS. Her son's laptop is now also connected.

Glad to hear all the problems have been sorted Bob. :cool:

Just thought I'd bring to light BT's latest 'offering' to my friend's mother....
You've never heard anything like it!!

She's just moved house; ideally wanted Virgin Media, as she's always been with them and basically had no problems with them....
However, Virgin Media have told her they don't 'reach' to her area. Okay, it's pretty rural where she lives - but for goodness sake - it's 2010!!
SO - she rings up BT, arranges for them to come round and install a 50MB connection.....

FOUR separate appointments she's arranged!!
Every time, she's rung them on the day to confirm and everything's been sweet. They've just never bothered turning up!
As you can imagine by this point, she's at the end of her rope and tearing her hair out....

The last communication she had with them was when they said....
"Have you considered bookmarking the sites you want to download from, so that when your connection is finally established, you'll remember what it is that you want....?"
They've also 'suggested' that a friend downloads what she wants and then 'keeps' it for her until she's got her own connection....

WTF?? :confused:

Obviously, she's put in *several* complaints - but they 'claim' to have no record of any communication with her.....

It's all kicking off between them and my friend's mum as we speak....

Certainly not something you would expect from a company with a name as well known and respected as BT....

BT treat their customers like second class citizens
 

PF

You asked: BT has always treated it's customers like rubbish, especially when they know you have no other choice than to use their services.

I have used BT in the past and I have found them overbearing and arrogant, I will never ever be a BT customer again.


UK Bob

It costs such companies to send technicians out of the way to rural areas. We have had this issue for years with Telstra (previously Telecom.) They wait until they have a few requests to do technical work in the area before they send someone. Otherwise the techs waste a lot of time on travel to both reach and find the location, etc. I'm talking about rural Victoria, Australia. But I heard same issue was happening all over Australia. ie: what a tech could do within an hour in the city, would take them perhaps an entire day in rural areas due to both the travel & locating of equipment concerned.

Similar to the costs of upgrading the phone & internet cables. Less people to cater for in rural areas, so very high costs for less income. Less demand and cost efficiency gives it a very very low priority for Telstra.

I personally 'detest' Telstra. And yes I have lots of stories I could tell of their cheating ways. Telstra are arrogant & aggressive in various ways. (Dare I say, I worked for them twice lol.)