I guess my review is joining many other reviews for Virgin Media. My own personal experiences have been mixed, something shared with most of the reviewers on here. I have been with Virgin Media (formally Telewest) for many years now. In the Telewest days I was very happy with the service and customer relations I recieved. However, todays mega corporation offers a slightly diluted experience. On the one hand their broadband (cable) service is very good and I would argue until blue in the face that it was better and faster than all other UK broadband suppliers.

The problems start when things go wrong. If one has to contact customer services this is when the Virgin Media lottery begins. A lottery is exactly what it is as the competence varyies so greatly between representatives I've spoken too. On one hand you have the technical staff (usually reside in Ireland) that are more than willing to go the extra mile. On the other you have the overseas call centers that follow the script and never listen to what you have to say. They must cost the company more money than they save as they insist in sending out replacement routers to people who don't really need one.

Calling early doors and particularly Saturday mornings tend to get the best representatives. I wouldn't complain about customer support cost cutting if the prices were being passed to the consumer but the prices have gently risen quite regularly over the last 12 months or so.

So am I a happy customer. Well, kind of yes. You see, the Broadband suppliers in this country are interested in one thing and that is their bottom line. Virgin Media are no different to any other except perhaps Zen Internet who have a great support record.

To summarise then. The cable broadband service is good, the TV (in particular V+) is very good too. I haven't used their phone services so cannot comment on those. It's just that moment of dread I get every time I know I will have to contact them. I shouldn't feel like that but I do.