Poor review of Virgin's internet, television, phone

I have high standards of customer service, but even really basic versions of competence are lacking with Virgin Media. I mean - I have patience - but enough is enough! Note to those who are considering Virgin Media's Telephone, Internet (Cable Modem), or Television (TV) services: save yourself lots of time and hassle and do not use Virgin Media.

When we first moved into the house, the idea of having one company that could provide a bundle of services to include the TV, Internet, and Phone service was nice. I have a pretty good brand image of Virgin, so we decided to sign up for one of their VIP Packages that combines high speed internet, telephone, and HD television. You may have read that when they came to install the television and telephone, they were completely incompetent and tried to drill through a wall inside my house that wasn't needed - and did drill through the outside of my house into my neighbor's front yard. Oops. (If you didn't read the saga, you can read it at Moving Into Ealing Broadway.)

In any case, they finally got the installation done fine, and I set up direct debit to pay the monthly charge. After a month or so, I get a nasty letter than I hadn't paid my bill, so I call them. Oops. Their mistake, they didn't process the application but they have it fine and will activate it for the next billing cycle. Would I ever mind paying the current bill, because it's really hard being them and they can't process the outstanding balance with the direct debit. Fine, so we pay it. Then two weeks later, I get another nasty letter - saying that we're being turned over to collections. I call them on their secret speed dial from a Virgin phone - 170 - and they want to know my account number or home phone number. "I don't know, it's not on the letter, and I'm calling you from your own phone line, doesn't caller ID come through?" That's sorted. Yeah, so it shouldn't have been turned over to collections, big apologies. Everything's fine on the account after all.

This past Monday night we notice the internet isn't working. TV and Phone are fine though. Tuesday night the Internet still isn't working. I call Virgin Media. "We shut off your internet service because you haven't paid your bill since January and you don't return our calls or notices." "Um, first of all, I do talk to you all the time. Too much in fact. Secondly, I have paid the bill, multiple times and if it's not been processed, it's sure as heck isn't due to my lack of effort." The helpful lady at Virgin Customer Service (or maybe it's Virgin Collections) explains that upon digging into my account, the TV and Phone bills HAVE been paid fine - it's only the Internet bill that has not been paid. Would I ever mind paying that over the phone? "I'm on a bundle, I get one bill only, and you have my direct debit. How can the bill partially be paid?" "Oh, Virgin uses different billing systems, so even though it's a bundle, the charges are each handled separately." Whatever.

Not a problem, it so happens that Virgin Media HAS been deducting the right amount from my direct debit after all. It just hasn't been allocated properly on the billing systems. She will personally take the credit balance from my Virgin TV / Phone, and apply it to the balance owed on the Virgin Internet bill. Give it a couple of hours and the internet will be reactivated. After about an hour, the Virgin customer service rep calls back and confirms that the internet has been reactivated and the billing has been all straightened out, and apologies for the confusions, but every with Virgin Media is now completely fixed and everybody is happy.

Friday evening, about 5:15pm. Virgin Billing and Collections department calls me - "Mr. Earls," they begin. "This is Virgin Media Collections and we need you to pay your £172 balance on your internet bill." I explain the story of Tuesday, and how the nice other woman from Virgin Media took care of the problem and if they would kindly verify that, I'm sure they will notice that everything in fine. I am put on hold. Virgin man returns, apologies profusely, because it appears that the Virgin billing people made a mistake and instead of CREDITING the Virgin internet account with the right amount, they ADDED TO MY BALANCE OWED by that amount. Of course, they can't fix it themselves, but they'll send an email through to the billing department and it'll be sorted in no time.

Yeah. I'm so sure. The frustrating thing with all this (other than the obvious) is that the actual Virgin services are pretty damn good! The Internet is reliable, the HD box and selection is fine, and the telephone service is good. Why can't they just set it up properly and never touch it again? So what's the morale of the story? Unless you find these types of interactions engaging, or perhaps if you're lonely and want a guaranteed frequent amount of contact with people, stay away from Virgin Media. I'm sure there are equally good services out there that don't involve Virgin.

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