Can anyone help point virgin in the right direction ... they say they cant fix it

[fedupstill]

I'm hoping someone will maybe know or have seen the problems im facing and have an idea whats wrong and how to fix ... virgin have had 3 tries and the last guy to his credit admits he hasnt a clue whats wrong

I have 2 tv boxes the 1 upstairs is a standard V box and the 1 downstairs is a V+ box - i also have 50mb broadband and live in the northeast on UBR 13 NEWY
All 3 services have issues and i think there connected to each other because when 1 fails they all fail and when they work they usually all work

Problems:
My V box upstairs seems to have trouble getting a lock for the on demand services and sometimes wont display programme info and the cable light flashes on and off ,usually a few reboots will help and it can lock on and on demand works but sometimes it has a lock but still wont access on demand features and displays a few error codes and reasons why

1062/NAVHandler get folder hierachy uid is null ! where
(8866)
(18) Reboot - power cycle (repeated over and over again)
(1062) (repeated over and over again)
(8863)
(1092)

My V+ box downstairs will record the wrong programmes and when it eventully records right it will crash and reboot half way through watching it and at times it wont even reboot it gets stuck loading and i have to unplug it and wait a few mins and the errors shown are

(8866)
(23) Reboot - TDT received (repeated over and over again)
(18) Reboot - power cycle (repeated over and over again)
(8863)
(1073)
(170) Access notification received (repeated over and over again)

When these happen i cant do anything with the box or remote and even switching off at the sockets dont fix it but then sometimes they work fine

Another thing having the same random errors is my 50mb broadband and again when it works its fine and fast but unreliable and keeps cutting out, the tick on the modem to show it has a lock with stop and then just come back on and then stop again ... it can work for ages or short times but it comes back on without having to switch it off or touch anything
i know the upstream power levels are to high but virgin dont see that as an issue and ignore my screen shots

even the modem cant be accessed properly or pages dont load fully


Right now its showing 56.71 but it will jump from its usual 54.71 as high as 60.00
looking through the forums and past issues ive had the rest seem ok aswell but they wont stay ok for long

Status:
Acquired Downstream Channel 299.001343 MHz Primary Downstream Locked
Ranged Upstream Channel 37.504002 MHz Success
Provisioning State OK Operational
Ethernet Link Status Up 100 Mbps/Full duplex
Downstream:
Frequency 299000000 307000000 315000000 N/A
Lock Status
(QAM Lock/FEC Sync/MPEG Lock) Y/Y/Y Y/Y/Y Y/Y/Y N/N/N
Channel Id 60 61 62 N/A
Modulation 256QAM 256QAM 256QAM N/A
Symbol Rate
(Msym/sec) 6.952 6.952 6.952 N/A
Interleave Depth I=12
J=17 I=12
J=17 I=12
J=17 N/A
Power Level
(dBmV) -0.98 -1.46 -1.36 N/A
RxMER
(dB) 37.09 37.09 37.94 N/A
Correctable
Codewords 10 6 6 N/A
Uncorrectable
Codewords 930 956 1036 N/A
Upstream:
Channel Type 1.0 N/A N/A N/A
Channel ID 2 N/A N/A N/A
Frequency
(Hz) 37504000 N/A N/A N/A
Ranging Status Success N/A N/A N/A
Modulation 16QAM N/A N/A N/A
Symbol Rate
(KSym/sec) 2560 N/A N/A N/A
Mini-Slot Size 2 N/A N/A N/A
Power Level
(dBmV) 56.71 N/A N/A N/A
T1 Timeouts 0
T2 Timeouts 0 0 0 0
T3 Timeouts 7 0 0 0
T4 Timeouts 0 0 0 0
Operation Config:
General Configuration
Network Access : Allowed
Maximum Number of CPEs : 1
Baseline Privacy : Enabled
DOCSIS Mode : DOCSIS 3.0
Primary Downstream Service Flow
SFID : 11292
Max Traffic Rate : 53000000 bps
Max Traffic Burst : 3044 bytes
Min Traffic Rate : 0 bps
Primary Upstream Service Flow
SFID : 11291
Max Traffic Rate : 1750000 bps
Max Traffic Burst : 3044 bytes
Min Traffic Rate : 0 bps
Max Concatenated Burst : 1522 bytes
Scheduling Type : Best Effort

hopefully someone can help because i cant afford anymore time off work for engineer visits and virgin havnt a clue whats wrong and walk away saying theyll escalate it to networks ... few days later i ring up and ask for an update and find they closed the job because they cant resolve it.

[Nedkelly]

After 3 fault calls a Principal tech should come out to look at your problem .These techs will ring you up and arrange a time which suits you (thats what they do here ) they can spend some time at the property as they manage there own time (this might different in some areas) Looking at the upstream level on the modem are high .What are they on the set top boxes its in the tech stuff bit .If they are all high 55 to 61 then it could be the drop cable or high snr on the network causing this .Is there anyone in the street you know who can look at there levels this would rule out network problem

[fedupstill]

After 3 fault calls a Principal tech should come out to look at your problem

that means 1 more engineer before the principal tech can be arranged and he would be the 4th visit i cant afford to lose the money and i work as part of a civils gang so that means the rest of my gang lose out because virgin wont listen and fix things 1st time round and its been an ongoing issue since november

back on topic and thank you for your reply aswell

standard V box shows return power at 56 dBmV
V+ box shows return power at 50 dBmV
50mb modem shows power level at 58.21

its been off and on all night and day again but the odd thing about it is that i started watching on demand on my V+ box and went up to bed to watch the end only to see it was off upstairs ... downstairs was ok but upstairs wasnt
i have a forward power attenuator value 3 dB fitted to my modem aswell so couldnt virgin just post a higher value and ill fit it myself ?

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by fedupstill

i have a forward power attenuator value 3 dB fitted to my modem aswell so couldnt virgin just post a higher value and ill fit it myself ?

A higher value would make it worse. Try taking the attenuator off completely. (Your downstream power is OK, so you should get away with it).

[fedupstill]

thank you for the replys but i dont want to touch it and after a long discussion with customer relations and the CEO i have agreed to lose a days pay and have an engineer coming monday ... i hope he can find and fix the problem because ive been told that due to problems i had in december and now more issues im not a profitable customer because of all the service calls ive had apprently they run a business to make money and i dont make them any so its pay from crappy broken services or go elsewhere

next time anyone has an engineer out you better hope he fixes it because if hes to lazy or stupid to find a fault it goes against the customer and its wrote in the T & C's that they can pick and choose whos money they want and whos money they dont

would a passing mod please close this post thanks

[Rob]

So VM agree there is a problem, but blame the customer by implying that because there is a VM problem the customer costs them too much money.

I know Virgin Media don't guarantee a fault free service, but if they had applied themselves to resolving the problem first time, rather than multiple times by escalating to a greater level of expertise, it would have probably cost less in the long term and thus kept things profitable. Blaming the customer for your own organisations failings makes excellent business sense to me

[ShadowTD]

That's absolutely disgusting. I'd be furious if any company I ever purchased services from said that to me on the phone. They'd be kicked in to touch in short order.

[cableguy3]

You are not alone. We have had an engineer out 3 times now. We had a new V+ box, new Modem, new cables and the chimps they send out to fix the problem has produced nothing.

I heard a rumour that there is a problem like these when you are in the 50MB are which is yet to be fixed which means dropped connections.

I had a near on uninterrupted service for 4 years and ended up getting a new modem (which was unrequired in my mind as the internet was broken around the world during the DNS update error last year). It is one of those Ambit one which looks like it was made at Toys R Us.

Now, everyday, perhaps 30-40 times a day our Online Signal drops and the V+ box reboots - it comes back online and then the signal goes solid for anywhere between an 30 mins or 1.5 hours then it drops and reboots again...

Still no answer from VM as to why it doesnt work etc and I am calling out an engineer out again when I get home - going to ask for a new modem but if it is not fixed the next time...

Sky here I come.

[fedupstill]

another day wasted and another days pay gone ... still the same 3rd time not so lucky for me
apprently its not possible to reduce my upstream power and they agree thats the issue and possibly a faulty V+ so thats been replaced but a fix will cost money and im not worth it because i have a discounted price on my services already so that special offer isnt so special anymore, a possible fix is some kind of hub or node fitted inside my home but they cost lots network guys will decide tomorrow if its worth the time and money fixing or theyll simply cut me off because apprently they can just drop customers if they cant fix a fault on a once perfect installation

as much as im aware that virgin media is a business out to make profit i do find it very unfair that i get switched off because they cant fix the upstream power and finding another provider to offer 50mb broadband - phone line and 2 tv boxes on almost the top package is not going to be an easy task and will proberbly cost me money and more time wasted sorting out i miss the telewest days when things worked fine and were reliable

[fireman328]

In the old days sometimes I could have wished I could have let the fire burn itself out but I got on with because it was my job and people expected me to do the job I was paid for.

[Nedkelly]

I can not belive this is still going on if the upstream is to high .What you have been told is rubbish no matter what service you get. There a number of things the tech could do to check the upstream ie disc all the services and connect one at a time in case it a power problem .Ask networks to check for noise on the node .I am sorry you are going through this is does make Virgin Look bad

[Druchii]

Originally Posted by fedupstill

another day wasted and another days pay gone ... still the same 3rd time not so lucky for me
apprently its not possible to reduce my upstream power and they agree thats the issue and possibly a faulty V+ so thats been replaced but a fix will cost money and im not worth it because i have a discounted price on my services already so that special offer isnt so special anymore, a possible fix is some kind of hub or node fitted inside my home but they cost lots network guys will decide tomorrow if its worth the time and money fixing or theyll simply cut me off because apprently they can just drop customers if they cant fix a fault on a once perfect installation

as much as im aware that virgin media is a business out to make profit i do find it very unfair that i get switched off because they cant fix the upstream power and finding another provider to offer 50mb broadband - phone line and 2 tv boxes on almost the top package is not going to be an easy task and will proberbly cost me money and more time wasted sorting out i miss the telewest days when things worked fine and were reliable

You'll have one hell of a strong case against the company if they drop you because of a fault on their equipment... and then blame you for it.

Keep fighting on.

[fedupstill]

What you have been told is rubbish no matter what service you get

This is from the Chief Executives' Office going off reports from the engineers and faults managers so i cant go no higher other than neil berkett can i ?

You'll have one hell of a strong case against the company if they drop you because of a fault on their equipment... and then blame you for it.

They say its in my contract and everyone else that if it becomes expensive to fix they can drop you

I dont think i can MAKE them fix the issue can i ? all i want is to be restored to my old perfectly working setup and nothings changed at my end ... its never been the same since 50mb was available

The new V+ box is still re-booting and shows the same errors but a higher return power level than the old box, its now on 52dBmV and the standard V box shows 56 dBmV and again wouldnt let me use on demand last night to watch ashes to ashes in bed ... and the modem still shows 58.21 with the tick showing the modem lock coming on and off several times through the day i think its only because i have all 3 services and an extra box im still on because any other cheaper customer would of been dropped before now
Unless your worth fixing and pay fortunes each month you can know expect to be dropped because THEIR equipment breaks or shut up and pay for a service you cant recieve like a crappy V+ box that reboots for fun and wont record what you ask and if it does manage not to reboot and to record something itll be a completly different programme to what you wanted to watch

[Rob]

The current Terms & Conditions for Cable Services: http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html...ble/terms.html

I can see nothing in there that allows Virgin Media to cancel the contract just because there is a fault on their network, unless they are alleging it's due to your misuse. I don't see that claim being made here. Yes they don't guarantee that there will be no faults, but under their clause C2 there is an implication that Virgin will make efforts to repair faults that do ocurr.

If you have received service for beyond the minimum period of a contract, they can terminate your services if they give you 30 days notice, J1. And they can suspend the services to allow the repair of a fault, I1b But suspension is not the same as termination, i.e. it is a temporary measure.

I would be requiring VM to specifically quote the terms of contract they are relying on if they are refusing to use reasonable endeavours to provide a fix. It's not your fault if they haven't been charging an economic price for the services supplied. They entered into a contract and should now be obligated to fulfil their part of that bargain.

[fedupstill]

cheers rob and i will ask them but right now there ignoring me ... typical virgin media customer service

i cant ring them because they placed a flag on my account showing only the CEO can deal with my account and when i ring the CEO im told hes on a call and hell call me back or last night i tried again and hes gone home so 2 days left in the dark.
i did however have 3 network engineers in my street looking in the cabinet and the pits but then they just took off with 2 of them doing stupid speeds through my estate ... no wonder they moan about costs when 3 people arrive in 3 vans yet 1 transit van holds 3 people ? so why have 1 van each and why do they insist on racing each other so no wonder fuel costs are high but again thatll be my fault because its my fault.

so now i just sit and wait and wait and wait ... until they decide they can restore my once perfect service or boot me because it costs money to repair