The Truth About Virgin Media (virginmedia.com)

Member Name: Lehen

Product:	virginmedia.com
Date:	15/06/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good package prices, ability to haggle against competition, fast broadband

Disadvantages: System errors and downtimes can happen from time to time, may have to monitor your account regular

I've been a subscriber to Virgin Media since they were under the NTL brand name, back in the days when we used to pay 1p a minute to dial-up to the Internet.

I have mixed feelings about Virgin. I will share with you some of the key advantages and downsides to being a customer.

If you are a first time customer, you can get a lot of decent bundles on your first point of contact. It is also worth checking out Quidco (see my latest review to find out more about them) who have various additional benefits when signing up to them, such as cash-back that can be up to £150 on some contracts.

With Virgin Media, you can get some decent packages and its fibre-optic broadband Internet connection, which has been rated as the overall fastest speed in the country.

If you are an existing customer and you see a competitor of Virgin are offering a better deal than what you're currently getting, it is possible to haggle with them via telephone clearly stating the offer and ask if they can match it, or better it. You are more than likely going to get a decent offer from them in return to keep you as a customer. Over time this can be done every 3-6 months. So if you stay with them for 12 months you can make a big saving if you contact them saying you're interested in switching providers. Some people I know are getting a £60 a month package for £30-40 simply due to them haggling.

One tip for you when doing this is don't do it when you are transferred to an Indian Call Centre. When this happens, the majority of times that I have tried communicating with them is very hard, as a lot seem to be reading from FAQ sheets and can't answer, or understand everything you say, or ask them. This is not that important, but if you are trying to negotiate a billing problem or your Internet has gone down - it can be very frustrating!

Some issues of concern when planning on becoming a customer are as follows:

* Internet speeds can be slow at peak times
* Internet connections can randomly go down and require you to telephone support lines
* Internet speeds can be reduced to a lower package speeds upon connection loss, which can resort to more phone calls
* Telephone charges can be added to your bill by mistake if you are on a 'call free' package
* Digital TV can lock up at times, which requires to be cold booted at the mains
* You can be charged for call-outs for Digital TV errors which are not your fault.

Note: If you are aware of your service packages and stay 'on the ball' you can sort any errors that may happen on their system.

Warning: When calling some of their hotlines, you may be charged for the call. If the numebrs are 0845 or 0870 - check my recent review of saynoto0870 where you can convert these premium numbers to landline numbers. It is worth doing this early on, as you may end up needing to call support at least once every couple of weeks during a bad time.

All-in-all, Virgin Media are a decent company to choose. But have caution when dealing with their representatives and make sure you monitor your services and accounts from time to time to make sure you have not been charged for something that was caused by an error in their system.

If you are looking for a package for telephone, broadband, digital television and mobile phones you won't find another company who can handle them all in a bundle, with decent savings to be made on all combined

Summary: One of the better service providers on the market but only if you know exactly what you want