What about the customer service 'Virgin'?!! (virginmedia.com)

Member Name: sugar78

Product:	virginmedia.com
Date:	28/06/09 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheaper than most providers

Disadvantages: Customer service is very, very disappointing

Me and my partner have been with Virgin Media when they first took over Telewest. We had been with Telewest for a while.
We have the internet and telephone with Virgin. We've got freeview tv, and don't watch it much anyway, so we never went for the tv with Virgin.

I have to be honest and say that i have mixed feelings about Virgin Media.

I'll start with what i think is good about them:
The price for the internet and telephone is a good deal (or at least i think it is!). The internet is £27 per month for 8mb with unlimited downloads etc. The telephone is £11 per month and then your charges for calls on top. The bill we get normally comes in around £45-£50 per month for internet and telephone. There are no extra service charges on the telephone, like you can find with BT and maybe other companies. You do get charged £5 extra per month if you do not pay by Direct Debit.
Of course there are various packages that you can have that can include the telephone, internet and tv.

I have found that the engineers that come to your house are very helpful and very polite. They do their job very quickly and i have never had a problem with their work.

I do have a few disappointments about Virgin. They go as follows:
The first is the customer service. We have been having problems in our area with the internet connection, and decided to telephone Virgin to find out what is happening. When we did telephone, we were made to check the modem etc, which i can understand. When it was found there was nothing wrong there, we tried connecting to the internet, while speaking to a customer service representative over the telephone. I spent nearly 10 mins talking to the rep on the telephone, and he told me it was my computer, which i knew it wasn't and told him so. He then told me it was coming up to 10 minutes that i had been on the telephone, so he would have to end the call and i would have to telephone back. I was astonished!!!! He then put the phone down on me!!! I wouldn't have minded so much, but i was paying for the call!!!
I have checked with other customers and they have had similar experiences.

The other fault that i find is that if you are late in paying your bill, even by 1 day, they cut your services off. I was late in paying a few months ago and when i tried the internet or to use the telephone, all the services were suspended until the bill was paid. I can understand them not wanting customers to use the services if the bill has not been paid, but there can be a genuine reason for this. You do not recieve a reminder bill, as with other providers.

Here is a conclusion for those of you out there thinking about joining Virgin Media:
The services provided are good value for money, especially the telephone. I can say that they are one of the cheapest providers that i could find for my area. It will be an easy set up for your services as the engineers are good and are able to answer all your questions.

The main doubts for Virgin is the customer service that is provided over the telephone. I know other people who have experienced the same as me and it can be so frustrating, to say the least!!

I hope that this does not sound like a rant, but i have tried to explain what i think the pros and cons are of Virgin Media from my experience!!!!

Summary: Good value, but bad customer service