View Full Version : My internet is saying it needs to be activated!
I switched on my computer tonight to be greeted with 'Please click on this link to proceed with broadband activation'
The problem is i've been with NTL/Virginmedia for donkeys years so i should be activated.
I phoned up faults only to be told my MAC address isn't recognised as being registered and they have filled in a form to escalate it to get it fixed and i should wait 48hrs.
Does this sound correct? and why would my MAC address just disappear from my account?
Thanks in advance for all help.
broadbandking
21-04-2010, 19:26
The activation page means the walled garden normally has been taken off but as you account is active, might be a UBR issue not recognizing the mac address
Well hopefully someone will know what they're doing and it'll get fixed as i feel helpless and now in the normal annoyed state of thinking this won't get fixed easily.
danbayliss
21-04-2010, 20:08
I think i know what has happened.
Your modem was not attached to our billing system and this will of caused issues for you in the future. This was most likely caused by our previous provisioning systems. We have a very small number of these and we are going through them at the moment and linking them up as and when customers call us.
Unfortunately as its not linked to anything we only have a MAC address so we couldn't notify you in advance.
I'm not sure about the 48 hour wait. All technical support need to do is add your correct modem MAC to your account and send the appropiate signals to activate it. I would suggest you phone them up and ask for them to check/correct your MAC address on your account.
jellybaby
21-04-2010, 20:23
I've had the same thing today. I'm waiting for them to ring me back, apparently they are trying to trace my modem to confirm that I had it installed by them and its not dodgy one. \will have to wait and see what happens
Thanks guys, let me know how you get on Jellybaby.
jellybaby
21-04-2010, 20:40
Will do
pip08456
21-04-2010, 20:44
I had the same thing a couple of months ago, it only took one phone call and about 15 mins to sort out.
Perhaps I was just lucky getting a UK agent.
I had the same thing a couple of months ago, it only took one phone call and about 15 mins to sort out.
Perhaps I was just lucky getting a UK agent.
If it is an account issue it has to go to another department as the is nothing we can do as even replacing your modem at this point would not work.;)
If it is an account issue it has to go to another department as the is nothing we can do as even replacing your modem at this point would not work.;)
I just hope it's quicker than 48hrs!
Well my internet is now working again but i did have to phone up again and was lucky to get first level support based in Glasgow, the whole process took 20 minutes and 3 reboots of the modem before it was working and added to my account.
jellybaby
22-04-2010, 19:32
Same thing for me too. They had 'lost' my modem. All sorted now though :)
broadbandking
22-04-2010, 19:49
they should just be able top add the mac address on, if you have the same issue jellybean.
jellybaby
22-04-2010, 21:04
Thats what they have done. I just had to comfirm my mac :)
bbwannabe
22-04-2010, 22:32
just had this happen to us. Started around 2pm when it mysteriously popped up this register your modem page. Only just got it working after calling a 2nd time (the big gap between then wasn't any indication of how long it took to get it working on VM's side, rather we couldn't use the phone in the evenings due to it being for work).
Finger crossed, nothing like this happens in future.
*I noticed hotfile was downloading at it's max speed even when i knew it was meant to be capped at the time, though it did prevent browsing, as soon as I stopped hotfile downloading, browsing worked fine. Not sure if this is related though*.
Just browsing this forum for exactly the same problem.
Initially my broadband wasn't working so after restarting everything ended up with the 'Please click on this link to proceed with broadband activation' and nothing more.
Got really concerned when CS knew nothing about me, my account or my mac address "that didn't exist"!!!
In the process of putting me through to another department I got cut off and couldn't get back through. (7pm, is that when they close?)
Anyway decided there was nothing to loose so followed the registration wizard and it is all working again.
Do you think I need to anything else, ie speak to CS again?
If it is working then hopefully that's the end of the issue, but what you should have done is phoned Broadband Technical support on 151 rather than CS. I'm guessing CS transferred you through to them though.
Hi Snoop thanks for the reply. I did in fact phone 151. Perhaps they linked my mac address to my account in the few minutes it took me to follow the wizard and thats why it is now working.
Well, this happened to me last Friday (23rd) morning, just after midnight.
I called in the fault on the Friday lunchtime, I was told they'd phone me back. They phoned back on the Saturday afternoon, I was told it was a server problem and would be fixed in a few hours. Gave them the MAC address twice and confirmed it three times.
Monday evening, still nothing, so another phonecall. After 20 minutes of rebooting PC and modem, the guy on the other end of the phone finally accepted that it was their problem. They asked for the MAC address again, said I'd get a tenner in compensation, and told me it would be working by midnight.
Wednesday evening, still nothing, so another phonecall. No fault finding, straight admission it was VMs fault, server / database etc, promise of a tenner. I wonder if this is the same tenner as last time or a new tenner; might be worth putting VM on speed dial for a while! ;) Anyhoo, told me it should have been working 20 minutes previously.
Thursday morning, waddaya know, still not working
It's not so much the fact it's down that bugs me (although it does) it's more than I keep getting told it'll be working soon and it doesn't. The guys on the other end of the phone don't know what the problem is and can only go off the date they've been given. None of this fills me with confidence that I'm going to be back online any time soon. Now, reading this and other threads here, I could be down for weeks.
I'm passed irritated and annoyed, and am piling headlong towards disgruntled. :(
Micky
We have had exactly this problem since about 08:30 this morning. We spent over an hour talking to various people on 'technical support' who came up with various reasons such as faulty & obsolete modem as they could not trace our Mac Address on their system. Finally they decided that we had been sent a new cable modem to replace the 'obsolete' one & that it would arrive within 3 working days & that meanwhile the old one had been disconnected! We demanded to have to current cable modem reconnected which they assured us they would do by 2pm.
By 2:30 no change so I called again. Guy in India spent 15 mins unable to access my customer account. Finally I was put thru to Customer Services in Swansea who had no problem accessing the account. She passed me on to an engineer who knew exactly what the issue was (nothing to do with obsolete modem) & read me one of their bulletins. It seems that a server holding the inventory of several hundred ex-NTL customer's modems had gone down. If they try & reregister our Mac address, it says 'not on inventory.' Apparently it will be fixed within 48 hrs & is affecting several hundred customers :mad:
I'll be calling back tomorrow & also complaining about their dire customer support.
Daniel_S
29-04-2010, 22:12
Had exactly the same problem yesterday (28/04) and was resolved with a 20min phonecall to a nice scottish tech support guy! He did insist on powercycling my modem and router a hundred times, and clearing IE cookies/temp internet files (even though I don't even use IE) but it got resolved in the end.
More details: http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12/33664474-what-on-earth-is-going-on.html
Had exactly the same problem yesterday (28/04) and was resolved with a 20min phonecall to a nice scottish tech support guy! He did insist on powercycling my modem and router a hundred times, and clearing IE cookies/temp internet files (even though I don't even use IE) but it got resolved in the end.
More details: http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12/33664474-what-on-earth-is-going-on.html
Am afraid that is not the issue. Have spoken to them again today. They are having to reinstate several hundred Mac addresses back on their inventory & are giving 3-5 working days to fix it! There are hundreds of very disgruntled ex-NTL customers...:(
sounds to me that they are weeding out the pirates that have clone mac,s and waiting for you to phone up to see if yours is the true mac so they can cut the pirates cloned mac off
sounds to me that they are weeding out the pirates that have clone mac,s and waiting for you to phone up to see if yours is the true mac so they can cut the pirates cloned mac off
Sorry it is just an outage so no need for the tinfoil beanie hat.:D
sounds to me that they are weeding out the pirates that have clone mac,s and waiting for you to phone up to see if yours is the true mac so they can cut the pirates cloned mac off
Why would they do that? We would have been reinstated if that was the case. Their internal bulletin mentions a lost database of mac addreses for ex-ntl customers. When we give our mac address, they get 'not on inventory' so they can't reconnect us.
We have now been without internet for 4 days as have several hundred other users. All of whom will be demanding compensation & will be looking to elsewhere after this.
Why would they do that? We would have been reinstated if that was the case. Their internal bulletin mentions a lost database of mac addreses for ex-ntl customers. When we give our mac address, they get 'not on inventory' so they can't reconnect us.
We have now been without internet for 4 days as have several hundred other users. All of whom will be demanding compensation & will be looking to elsewhere after this.
As I said above it is an outage and we are well aware of the problem but it is the IT department that has to sort out the glitch.;)
As I said above it is an outage and we are well aware of the problem but it is the IT department that has to sort out the glitch.;)
Save your breath m8.
You will not win. They know better than you even thou you work for vm on broadband support, Know about the glitch and know about the process to fix it.
But they KNOW better and because of that your wrong. :LOL:
Why would they do that? We would have been reinstated if that was the case. Their internal bulletin mentions a lost database of mac addreses for ex-ntl customers. When we give our mac address, they get 'not on inventory' so they can't reconnect us.
We have now been without internet for 4 days as have several hundred other users. All of whom will be demanding compensation & will be looking to elsewhere after this.
i am a ex-ntl customer i haven't been cut off.
so why can you not just phone up give them you mac no and they enter it manually ?
---------- Post added at 19:48 ---------- Previous post was at 19:43 ----------
As I said above it is an outage and we are well aware of the problem but it is the IT department that has to sort out the glitch.;)
if vm has lost the inventory/mac database how can they sort it out with no data :rolleyes:
---------- Post added at 20:13 ---------- Previous post was at 19:48 ----------
thinking about it VM wouldn't run a database without making a back up would they ? :erm:
i am a ex-ntl customer i haven't been cut off.
so why can you not just phone up give them you mac no and they enter it manually ?
---------- Post added at 19:48 ---------- Previous post was at 19:43 ----------
if vm has lost the inventory/mac database how can they sort it out with no data :rolleyes:
---------- Post added at 20:13 ---------- Previous post was at 19:48 ----------
thinking about it VM wouldn't run a database without making a back up would they ? :erm:
They can try entering the MAC but not all will work and they have backups but as it is not an particular area problem most people will need to call in so they can rectify their issue.
danbayliss
03-05-2010, 17:48
Just wanted to clear up whats happening as what Zennor has stated is not true.
Some modems was cleansed before adding them to the inventory system. This means some accounts will need to be raised to second line and IT to resolve them and will take 3-5 days to resolve.
This was raised on Thursday and any further cleanses will be in the inventory system and will be able to be fixed over the phone by Technical Support
Fault fixed over the weekend. :) One of the guys I spoke to last week promised a phonecall to tell me when it was fixed, but I didn't get one. The fault could have been fixed the middle of last week - I've no way of knowing. I ended up being bounced back and forth between CS and the broadband help guys yesterday for reasons I'm too grumpy to go into right now, but I eventually spoke to a very helpful Indian girl who got me reconnected in a few minutes.
I don't have a problem with the VM people I've been talking to about this, they've generally been very helpful. I am annoyed that I didn't get the phonecall telling me the problem was fixed; I could have saved myself a lot of aggrevation if I'd known sooner.
Itchy_chiN
04-05-2010, 10:23
I fell foul of this issue Saturday morning and am still without service. I feel that to be down this length of time due to a "Clerical Error" is totally unacceptable. I could sort of understand it if there was a physical fault and cables needed digging up, but all that needs doing is the MAC address I gave the Support Team Saturday morning needs allocating to my account, hardly a biggie.
I’ve rang numerous times regards this and have been given a multitude of expected resolution times ranging from 1 hour to 9 days. It seems that some Virgin media support staff feel they can just lie through their teeth to get you off the phone, which is the thing that annoys me the most. One person told me the Team were working hard trying to fix my issue, someone else told me that the Team who were fixing my issue didn’t work weekends or Bank Holidays, who to believe??
I work in IT support myself and had we accidentally removed a 1000 of our customers from our servers, we’d have people in on overtime to fix the issue in a timely manner, not have our staff lie to people regards the possible fix time.
Where I live there is no other alternative to Virgin Media if I want broadband over 512kb. I guess they already know that, hence the very poor service I’ve received so far.
Mariner A
04-05-2010, 11:10
I've had exactly the same issue. No service on Thursday evening. I left it a day to see if it was just a general outtage and then rang 151 on Friday evening. The friendly lady I spoke to tried something which did not work and said she would have to escalate to technical support. She said I should get a call back that evening, but to ring next morning if I heard nothing.
No call back so I rang again on Saturday. spoke to a very friendly guy who said the ticket showed it was due for resolution the previous evening. He put a £15 credit on my account, told me this was a major problem and that technical support would be working double and treble shifts over the weekend to resolve the issue. He said to ring again on Monday if no progress.
Come Monday nothing happened, I rang again. Spoke to a guy who was a good deal less friendly and who said that technical support issues could take up to 5 working days to resolve and I couldn't do anything further until this time had elapsed.
I do wonder how, if this is a general problem, some people seem to be getting this fixed quickly and not others? Why you get a range of different stories from advisers you speak to (including differing remedies such as offering credits)?
i have to say this is immensely frustrating. Virgin Media are great when everything is going well and things are working properly, but as soon as a problem arises it is like wading through treacle.
cheradenine
04-05-2010, 14:55
Mine died sometime on Saturday night. Having an old SurfBoard 4100 it simply stopped handing out DHCP addresses.
Phoned Monday, told the same tale about 'accidental' removal of MAC address details, and that it'd be probably 48 hrs - bank Holiday weekend and all.
Now if the story is really true, exactly how long does it take to type a MAC address into a database?!
Given that I work from home and rely on some kind of service, I'm a bit disappointed to say the least. Been with them from the very early days of Broadband (nearly 10 years continuous) and now starting to wonder if it's time to switch.
Itchy_chiN
04-05-2010, 17:52
48 hours.. Don't hold your breath.... My modem is only just 2 years old incidentally..
My patience had finally ran out today, so my other half said she'd call them. She has a dogged determinedness that would break lesser people. Once in a store she literally pulled up a chair and sat at the checkout until she got the refund she wanted.
Anyhow, she got through to the "Tech" people who performed to their usual standard, which resulted in her asking to be put through to disconnections, as to be honest we'd both had enough. The lady in that Department was very helpful. She went to see her Manager, who rang the Tech Guys. She came back and said "It's not good news, they're telling me to give you an ETA of the end of May, but there's every chance it will be sooner".:Yikes:
That is not a typo above "End of May"... Anyway this was clearly unacceptable so we said to close our account. At this point the lady agreed with us that this was wrong and went to speak to her Manager again.
We have a Engineer coming round tomorrow with a new router which will be set up as a new installation.
Incidentally a colleague at work was hit with the same problem, they're posting his router to him.
pip08456
04-05-2010, 18:07
The router does not enter into this problem at all and will not solve it. If you read previous posts in this thread it was a loss of MAC addresses of modems in the database which led tyo them not being recognised on the manual re-entry when you rang up.
This has, allegedly been resolve and if so should take no longer than 20 mins to put right. If you have a resolution time of the end of May then it would appear to be something else entirely.
I'm sure when Masque or another staffer sees you post they may have more to say on the subject.
48 hours.. Don't hold your breath.... My modem is only just 2 years old incidentally..
My patience had finally ran out today, so my other half said she'd call them. She has a dogged determinedness that would break lesser people. Once in a store she literally pulled up a chair and sat at the checkout until she got the refund she wanted.
Anyhow, she got through to the "Tech" people who performed to their usual standard, which resulted in her asking to be put through to disconnections, as to be honest we'd both had enough. The lady in that Department was very helpful. She went to see her Manager, who rang the Tech Guys. She came back and said "It's not good news, they're telling me to give you an ETA of the end of May, but there's every chance it will be sooner".:Yikes:
That is not a typo above "End of May"... Anyway this was clearly unacceptable so we said to close our account. At this point the lady agreed with us that this was wrong and went to speak to her Manager again.
We have a Engineer coming round tomorrow with a new router which will be set up as a new installation.
Incidentally a colleague at work was hit with the same problem, they're posting his router to him.
I believe you mean a new modem not a router as the engineers do not fit routers.
The fault should have been raised to IT for a 3/5 day resolution, a new modem may resolve the issue and you will be able to tell us tomorrow if it did.
The system generated estimated fix date is 30th May for an overall fix to this issue, but if it happens to you ring up and and make sure that it has been raised to IT.
pip08456
04-05-2010, 20:04
I believe you mean a new modem not a router as the engineers do not fit routers.
The fault should have been raised to IT for a 3/5 day resolution, a new modem may resolve the issue and you will be able to tell us tomorrow if it did.
The system generated estimated fix date is 30th May for an overall fix to this issue, but if it happens to you ring up and and make sure that it has been raised to IT.
Knew you'd be along to clarify Masque.
Seems to be an expensive "Glitch" for VM though.
You say a new modem "MAY" resolve the issue? Would you like to explain further on that?
Knew you'd be along to clarify Masque.
Seems to be an expensive "Glitch" for VM though.
This kind of thing can happen to any company at any time.;)
I would be equally angry if it had happened to me and I expect that the are some staff that have been caught by this fault and even they will not get any special treatment.
pip08456
04-05-2010, 20:43
This kind of thing can happen to any company at any time.;)
I would be equally angry if it had happened to me and I expect that the are some staff that have been caught by this fault and even they will not get any special treatment.
Never said anything else Masque and agree with what you've said.
I'd still like to know why a new modem would only "may" solve the problem as this would suggest that new customers would be affected as well which is not the case as far as I know.
Itchy_chiN
04-05-2010, 21:14
The fact I have no broadband is somewhat irrelevant at the moment as we are an hour into a powercut. it's like the dark ages.
I did mean modem by the way, not router. with regards as to whether it will fix it or not, I can only go on what Virgin are telling me and that's never been the same on any of the calls I've made. the fact is that the customer services girl was told by tech to tell us End Of May. That Tech obviously didn't give a toss about our expectations. You are also right in that it can happen to any company, it's that company's ability to deal with faults that mark it as good or bad.
Funnily enough the power has just come back on, 90 minutes to fix a major outage... That's more like it!!!
Andrewcrawford23
04-05-2010, 21:19
The fact I have no broadband is somewhat irrelevant at the moment as we are an hour into a powercut. it's like the dark ages.
I did mean modem by the way, not router. with regards as to whether it will fix it or not, I can only go on what Virgin are telling me and that's never been the same on any of the calls I've made. the fact is that the customer services girl was told by tech to tell us End Of May. That Tech obviously didn't give a toss about our expectations. You are also right in that it can happen to any company, it's that company's ability to deal with faults that mark it as good or bad.
Funnily enough the power has just come back on, 90 minutes to fix a major outage... That's more like it!!!
As long as it has been rasied to correct department it should be fixed within 5 working days but the fault does have estimated fix tiem of the 30th may as MAS said unfortnally errors happen it is a comptuer after all :) Oh fixing power can sometimes take weeks :p i know i worked with scottish power when i was younger and being on call i got to see teh fun of fixing that type fo fault is the ones caused by extreme weather and if it a high voltage fault oh fun he he probally be local low voltage fault which your local power company staff are authorised to work live on but high voltage only i think 15 people in this country are allowed ot work live on it very specialist training and very dangerous one wrong move and your picking your coffin :(
pip08456
04-05-2010, 21:20
Perhaps you should see if the National Grid will supply you with BB:D It is technically possible!
Andrewcrawford23
04-05-2010, 21:32
Perhaps you should see if the National Grid will supply you with BB:D It is technically possible!
Oh that is fun he he, ive seen some of the demos of ip over power lines and i dnt mean home power lines but naitonal grid, i think the us miltary and nasa have moved that way as it then next to impossibel to hack as the phyiscal network are different unless you egt eleitrc broadband supplier not sure
pip08456
04-05-2010, 21:43
Not fun Andy just think of the people who have the problem being the caring support guy you are.
3-5 days is abysmal for a national provider don't you think?
I was p***ed off with 24hrs and i had to phone up twice before it was fixed.
Andrewcrawford23
04-05-2010, 21:48
Not fun Andy just think of the people who have the problem being the caring support guy you are.
3-5 days is abysmal for a national provider don't you think?
i was tlaking about national grid internet as fun not the fault :(
I would be annoyed to be oflfien that long as well os i do udnerstand being annoyed
Not fun Andy just think of the people who have the problem being the caring support guy you are.
3-5 days is abysmal for a national provider don't you think?
bit of a bright spark :shocking::shocking::shocking::shocking:
pip08456
04-05-2010, 22:05
bit of a bright spark :shocking::shocking::shocking::shocking:
Vanman- you're sense of humour is about as warped and twisted as mine.
Andy - I don't have the problem I did a few months ago before the "glitch" and it was sorted "toot sweet!"
I'm still waiting an answer from Masque as to why a new modem "MAY" sort the problem as that should be a no brainer!
I still think that due to the numbers of customers affected it will cost VM quite a bit and due to that fact I still think VM could resolve the problem a damn site quicker if they got their fingers out.
Please note this is not a rant at you nor Masque nor even a rant at all, just common sense as the problem arose more than 5 days ago and the end date is the end of this month??? Unacceptable!!!!
It would more than likely be quicker and easier to reconfig the database IF VM would spend the money!
a new modem "MAY" sort the problem because it will have a new mac no and they will be able to enter it on there new database :erm:
pip08456
04-05-2010, 22:25
OK then. New modem new MAC no problem. We agree on that. Why the "MAY"! "MAY" would infer that the problem "may " persist which it shouldn't.
OK then. New modem new MAC no problem. We agree on that. Why the "MAY"! "MAY" would infer that the problem "may " persist which it shouldn't.
was just quoting your may":p:
pip08456
04-05-2010, 22:34
was just quoting your may":p:
Well I suppose I "MAY" accept that.:D:D:D:D
Knew you'd be along to clarify Masque.
Seems to be an expensive "Glitch" for VM though.
You say a new modem "MAY" resolve the issue? Would you like to explain further on that?
I said may solve the problem not will solve the problem, but by time you received a new modem the old one will probably be back online so not a very cost effective solution.
Also the glitch may prevent a new modem being added to your account as well, so a bit of a Catch 22 situation there.
pip08456
05-05-2010, 00:08
I said may solve the problem .
Sorry Masque you are correct as usual. However "may" solve the problem from a customer point of view (and I realise your posts are your own and nothing to do with VM) does not instill confidence in the company. I just wanted clarification.
That said I can see no reason why it should take up to the end of May for it to be resolved if the backups are in place. The "glitch" should be repaired quickly by the highly paid higher level techs surely (presuming VM has any).
It would appear that VM is run on a shoestring and will suffer in the future due to lack of foresight, investment etc especially now that BT has been allowed to compete on a level playing field, ie FTTC. It has taken away the only advantage VM ever had and is only due to past government restrictions, but that is another story which will be off topic.
Thanks for your honest reply though.
That said I can see no reason why it should take up to the end of May for it to be resolved if the backups are in place..
The end date will be system generated due to the type of issue.
Most people that have posted on here that reported this issue last week should be starting to come back online.
cheradenine
05-05-2010, 09:10
Are you able to explain what the 'issue' is ?
Seems we're being told a MAC address is not in some kind of database - hence the frustration to type a dozen characters into a form should not take 5 days.
I rather suspect it's something more serious than that. Or, given the reticence, something more embarrasing..
Mariner A
05-05-2010, 10:07
Are you able to explain what the 'issue' is ?
Seems we're being told a MAC address is not in some kind of database - hence the frustration to type a dozen characters into a form should not take 5 days.
I rather suspect it's something more serious than that. Or, given the reticence, something more embarrasing..
:( Yes, I would like to know that, too. Some of the early posters seem to have got sorted out really quickly, so why are some of us waiting nearly a week later? or is it more complicated than that
Are you able to explain what the 'issue' is ?
Seems we're being told a MAC address is not in some kind of database - hence the frustration to type a dozen characters into a form should not take 5 days.
I rather suspect it's something more serious than that. Or, given the reticence, something more embarrasing..
---------- Post added at 10:16 ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 ----------
:( Yes, I would like to know that, too. Some of the early posters seem to have got sorted out really quickly, so why are some of us waiting nearly a week later? or is it more complicated than that
If you click this link to an earlier post you will have your answer from someone higher up.
http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/35013212-post30.html
dikky_boy
05-05-2010, 14:08
The problem for me in all of this is the appalling customer service issues.
Wednesday: call virgin about modem activation. response is that its an 'outage'.
Thursday: call back and told engineers are looking at it. Now I'm told about MAC code issue.
Friday: Call back and told its a 24 hours turnaround why wasn't I told this before??
Saturday: Call back and told engineers were in so it would be fixed today
Monday: Call back and told for the first time that a ticket was raised on thursday??? (why not Wedensday) and it was a 5 DAY turnaround, also they didnt work Sunday and Monday. Now at this point I was very very annoyed as with each call I was'nt given anywhere near the full picture. Also the guy who spoke to me made me feel like I was stupid and an annoyance for not knowing this.
I left the call in a very angry state, its now a full a week with no internet, all down to virgins mismanagement. One thing i was told that this was all because Virgin were trying to sort out the hooky modems. If so thats another case of corporations pis*ing of loyal paying customers while trying to catch pirates.
Mariner A
05-05-2010, 14:22
The problem for me in all of this is the appalling customer service issues.
Wednesday: call virgin about modem activation. response is that its an 'outage'.
Thursday: call back and told engineers are looking at it. Now I'm told about MAC code issue.
Friday: Call back and told its a 24 hours turnaround why wasn't I told this before??
Saturday: Call back and told engineers were in so it would be fixed today
Monday: Call back and told for the first time that a ticket was raised on thursday??? (why not Wedensday) and it was a 5 DAY turnaround, also they didnt work Sunday and Monday. Now at this point I was very very annoyed as with each call I was'nt given anywhere near the full picture. Also the guy who spoke to me made me feel like I was stupid and an annoyance for not knowing this.
I left the call in a very angry state, its now a full a week with no internet, all down to virgins mismanagement. One thing i was told that this was all because Virgin were trying to sort out the hooky modems. If so thats another case of corporations pis*ing of loyal paying customers while trying to catch pirates.
Sounds pretty much like the response I got (see #33), except that I was told they were working double and treble shifts at the weekend to resolve the issue. It seems like they'll tell you just about anything to get you off the line.
Itchy_chiN
05-05-2010, 16:25
I'm back up and running :cleader:
Engineer came out clutching a new modem, plugged it in, rang through to register the Modem, all sorted within 10 minutes :)
Mariner A
05-05-2010, 16:51
I'm back up and running :cleader:
Engineer came out clutching a new modem, plugged it in, rang through to register the Modem, all sorted within 10 minutes :)
So why do some people need a new modem? Or is this a different problem?
Itchy_chiN
05-05-2010, 17:09
So why do some people need a new modem? Or is this a different problem?
Not sure that I did need a new modem, depends on which tech person you listen to. I think the only reason I got an Engineer visit was because my Missus kicked off at the disconnections Department and they wanted to save the contract. Had she not, I have no doubt I'd still be sat waiting with no internet.
Andrewcrawford23
05-05-2010, 18:56
I said may solve the problem not will solve the problem, but by time you received a new modem the old one will probably be back online so not a very cost effective solution.
Also the glitch may prevent a new modem being added to your account as well, so a bit of a Catch 22 situation there.
Yip new modem wont necessarily fix it tried to do it for engineer today and it was not in the invertory so it really pot luck if it will work
Just wanted to clear up whats happening as what Zennor has stated is not true.
Am not sure what I have said that is untrue. I was only repeating what I was told by a member of VM Tech Support but as we were told something different each time we called, it could well be the case.
It's pretty amazing that there are VM staff providing more info on this forum than on the 'official' VM one where there is a similar ongoing thread with more tales of woe - see http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Fibre-optic-broadband-cable/Obsolete-Cable-Modem-deregistered-by-Virgin-Media-with-no/td-p/51581
We reported our issue on the morning of Thu 29th. Initially it was mis-diagnosed as a modem problem & a new one was ordered. Thu afternoon ours was identified as being part of this 'outage'. When we phoned Tue mid-day (after 5 days of no internet), Tech Support still had no idea when we would be reconnected. Fortunately the new cable modem arrived & with a further call to VM was connected & we are back online. But only because we had a new modem.
Is there anyone, identified as part of this particular outage, who has been reconnected yet (without having a new cable modem)?
Andrewcrawford23
06-05-2010, 07:09
Am not sure what I have said that is untrue. I was only repeating what I was told by a member of VM Tech Support but as we were told something different each time we called, it could well be the case.
It's pretty amazing that there are VM staff providing more info on this forum than on the 'official' VM one where there is a similar ongoing thread with more tales of woe - see http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Fibre-optic-broadband-cable/Obsolete-Cable-Modem-deregistered-by-Virgin-Media-with-no/td-p/51581
We reported our issue on the morning of Thu 29th. Initially it was mis-diagnosed as a modem problem & a new one was ordered. Thu afternoon ours was identified as being part of this 'outage'. When we phoned Tue mid-day (after 5 days of no internet), Tech Support still had no idea when we would be reconnected. Fortunately the new cable modem arrived & with a further call to VM was connected & we are back online. But only because we had a new modem.
Is there anyone, identified as part of this particular outage, who has been reconnected yet (without having a new cable modem)?
to be fair i think it was mid day thursday it was know it was outage, but they should have had a form filled out and it rasied to be readded not send a new modem the proess is jsut quick 3-5 workign days
We have had no cable boadband for 10 days and counting. Customer services at Virgin eventually admitted they had lost the MAC addresses on large numbers of broadband accounts and were having to re-enter them manually. But no-one else seems to have reported this. We have been told another 5 days at least. What is going on?
PS We are in Buckinghamshire
Last post Merged from seperate thread
If Virgin have lost the MAC addresses then, presumably, getting a new modem would solve it. The MAC address as I understand it is hard-wired into the modem. The new modem would then have its MAC address associated with your account and could be activated in the normal way. However, if this has happened widely they would have scallions of modems to replace!
Perhaps I can convince Virgin to send out a new modem and try it that way.
---------- Post added at 10:09 ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 ----------
FAO Dan Bayliss
We have had no cable broadband for 10 days with the same fault. We have called twice and gave the MAC address for our modem and obviously our account details but still ONE WEEK LATER no internet. The latest info from customer services is that it will be at least another week. When we call Virgin customer services again, can we ask for you by name? Maybe that would help us. And why is this problem not on the website? Why couldn;t we log into our account and add in the MAC for Virgin systems people to pick up?
stu_123456
06-05-2010, 10:35
Same problem - Virgin lost my MAC say at least 7 days to fix - unbelievable - are they entering them by hand? Contacted Dan Bayliss @ Virgin - hopefully he has the authority to get it sorted.
According to a Patrick B (VM staff) on the Virgin forum:
"Please quote outage ref:1246518 when calling to enable the guys to deal with your issue faster."
Perhaps one of the VM staff here can confirm that this refno is correct? Still haven't heard from anyone on either forum who has actually been reconnected yet (without being sent a new modem). Quote of 3-5 days does not appear to being met.
dikky_boy
06-05-2010, 10:42
ha ha.
Rang CS last night and my ticket had been closed (without telling me) as modem was now registered...um no it isnt???. Customer service wonk has had to reopen ticket as MAC was obviously not registered correctly.
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON??????
8 days without internet and counting
According to a Patrick B (VM staff) on the Virgin forum:
"Please quote outage ref:1246518 when calling to enable the guys to deal with your issue faster."
Perhaps one of the VM staff here can confirm that this refno is correct? Still haven't heard from anyone on either forum who has actually been reconnected yet (without being sent a new modem). Quote of 3-5 days does not appear to being met.
Off course it is correct as he wil be a 2nd line agent posting on the customer forum.;)
F001246518 ;)
itsnotworking
06-05-2010, 13:47
Just wanted to clear up whats happening as what Zennor has stated is not true.
Some modems was cleansed before adding them to the inventory system. This means some accounts will need to be raised to second line and IT to resolve them and will take 3-5 days to resolve.
This was raised on Thursday and any further cleanses will be in the inventory system and will be able to be fixed over the phone by Technical Support
mine stopped working on the 4th after your post so presumably qualifies as a 'further cleanse which will be in the inventory system' yet two calls to tech suport and they were unable to fix it over the phone.
can you enlighten me?
pip08456
06-05-2010, 15:32
A bit more info here
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/06/virgin_media/
We are now working to re add as many modems to accounts as possible so please ensure that your modem is powered up to enable this to be done as quickly as possible, if it is not powered up it will prevent our signals from going through.
I guess i was 1 of the lucky ones then getting mine sorted in 48hrs, although it did take 2 phone calls!.
itsnotworking
06-05-2010, 18:07
We are now working to re add as many modems to accounts as possible so please ensure that your modem is powered up to enable this to be done as quickly as possible, if it is not powered up it will prevent our signals from going through.
...what have you been doing for the last 10 days, how long can it take to enter a 12 digit number into a database for chrissssake....
pip08456
06-05-2010, 19:21
...what have you been doing for the last 10 days, how long can it take to enter a 12 digit number into a database for chrissssake....
Depends on how many you have to do and how many people are doing it.
...what have you been doing for the last 10 days, how long can it take to enter a 12 digit number into a database for chrissssake....
If it was that simple then the would not have been an issue in the first place.
If it says modem not in inventory, then it has to be rectified by our IT department.
itsnotworking
06-05-2010, 20:46
If it was that simple then the would not have been an issue in the first place.
If it says modem not in inventory, then it has to be rectified by our IT department.
lets take a reality check, yes it is that simple, to disconnect your paying customers from the network is bad enough, to not be able to reconnect them within 10 days when they ask is just ...incompetence.
pip08456
06-05-2010, 20:58
lets take a reality check, yes it is that simple, to disconnect your paying customers from the network is bad enough, to not be able to reconnect them within 10 days when they ask is just ...incompetence.
As a reality check your post is not realistic and does not allow for the problems that can occur with databases.
Yes someone or the script being run c****d up. Fixing the problem when so much data is involved can be a pain in the a**e and will cause customers to become frustrated etc.
Andrewcrawford23
06-05-2010, 21:25
lets take a reality check, yes it is that simple, to disconnect your paying customers from the network is bad enough, to not be able to reconnect them within 10 days when they ask is just ...incompetence.
You ever owkred with databases? ever worked with vast amount of data with a database? i have and it not a easy job. yes someone mucked up mucks are easy the fixs arent and this is always the case for anything IT
itsnotworking
06-05-2010, 21:45
i'm no expert on databases, but for the people who've been waiting 10 days for them to re-create an entry which they deleted in the inventory databse of a mac address linked to an account... is that reasonable?... no, it's no technical problem, its a lack of will, they have no respect for their customers.
pip08456
06-05-2010, 21:50
Glad to see you agree with me Andy, I don't work in IT to the extant of the databases that VM must run, only in a small way.
It will cost VM though as they will have to compensate those affected allthough perhaps not as much as people will expect.
On say a 10Mb package 7 days downtime only equates to about £4.00 ( the standard rebate does seem to be about £10.00)
lets take a reality check, yes it is that simple, to disconnect your paying customers from the network is bad enough, to not be able to reconnect them within 10 days when they ask is just ...incompetence.
As you can obviously have no comprehension of what the issue actually is then I think it is you that needs the reality check.
We are working as fast as possible now to reinstate the affected modems back onto the system and due to issues out of our hands that has not been easy, I wish it had been as simple as asking you for your MAC address and just readding it but the modems were no longer in our inventory preventing this so we have had a team sorting this out.
If Virgin have lost the MAC addresses then, presumably, getting a new modem would solve it. The MAC address as I understand it is hard-wired into the modem. The new modem would then have its MAC address associated with your account and could be activated in the normal way. However, if this has happened widely they would have scallions of modems to replace!
Perhaps I can convince Virgin to send out a new modem and try it that way.
---------- Post added at 10:09 ---------- Previous post was at 10:04 ----------
FAO Dan Bayliss
We have had no cable broadband for 10 days with the same fault. We have called twice and gave the MAC address for our modem and obviously our account details but still ONE WEEK LATER no internet. The latest info from customer services is that it will be at least another week. When we call Virgin customer services again, can we ask for you by name? Maybe that would help us. And why is this problem not on the website? Why couldn;t we log into our account and add in the MAC for Virgin systems people to pick up?
virgin called - after some faffing about we are now up and running. it only took 10 days.
pip08456
06-05-2010, 22:48
virgin called - after some faffing about we are now up and running. it only took 10 days.
And the compensation offered/agreed?
Andrewcrawford23
06-05-2010, 23:50
Glad to see you agree with me Andy, I don't work in IT to the extant of the databases that VM must run, only in a small way.
It will cost VM though as they will have to compensate those affected allthough perhaps not as much as people will expect.
On say a 10Mb package 7 days downtime only equates to about £4.00 ( the standard rebate does seem to be about £10.00)
ive never worked on databases the size virgins are, but i have worked on large one and if something goes wrong it takes a lot logner to fix, i aint saying that it good for virgin just that it not as easy as peopel think to fix but the fixes are now coming i have reactivate a few today myself :)
Itchy_chiN
07-05-2010, 08:30
And the compensation offered/agreed?
As I posted earlier, I was got back online in 4 days with the delivery of a new modem. I've also been compensated £25 off my next bill.
I would like to state that the support I got from the Tech people at VM was nothing short of woeful, however there was one noteable exception. There was a lady called Sam in Customer Care / Disconnections who was brilliant. She really seemed to care and it was down to her we got our new modem and reconnected.
If any of you VM people know her, pass on my sincere thanks, or let me know where to email VM directly, she deserves to know what a ray of sunshine she is.
stu_123456
07-05-2010, 09:35
I'm pleased to say I'm now sorted.
BUT:
1/ If the deletion of MAC addresses was nationwide why no mention of this in the broadband status?
2/ Why wasn't the error picked up earlier in the support "team"
3/ Why does it take several working days to resolve - aren't there MAC address backups?
4/ As it was Virgin's error why restrict work to working days?
5/ Why couldn't my MAC address be entered directly when the supporter knew my MAC address was missing?
6/ Essentially I think Virgin should improve their support processes.
I'm pleased to say I'm now sorted.
BUT:
1/ If the deletion of MAC addresses was nationwide why no mention of this in the broadband status?
This only affected certain NTL areas.
2/ Why wasn't the error picked up earlier in the support "team"
It was raised up as soon as our Outage teams recognized a trend.
3/ Why does it take several working days to resolve - aren't there MAC address backups?
They had to match the orphaned modems against the correct accounts.
4/ As it was Virgin's error why restrict work to working days?
No idea, but if 2nd line were involved they would have been working normally.
5/ Why couldn't my MAC address be entered directly when the supporter knew my MAC address was missing?
As it needed to be reassociated with your account otherwise it will not be allowed to be added back on.
I do not know all the answers but we are working as quickly as possible to get all modems reinstated as quickly as possible.
itsnotworking
07-05-2010, 12:13
day 4, modem has lights on, still no internet...
If you are still affected by this issue then please ensure that your modem is switched on as well as any equipment connected to it to enable us to get you back online a quickly as possible with a public IP Address.
Andrewcrawford23
07-05-2010, 19:02
If you are still affected by this issue then please ensure that your modem is switched on as well as any equipment connected to it to enable us to get you back online a quickly as possible with a public IP Address.
and hope the original request had the correct mac address :(
and also hope that teh agent doesnt raise a rotuer and be like a :monkey:
and hope the original request had the correct mac address :(
and also hope that teh agent doesnt raise a rotuer and be like a :monkey:
We have been working to correct the account details all day today and yesterday and have got many customers back online.
Your post above will just make customers more inclined not to believe us when we tell them we are now fixing this problem as quickly as possible.
Andrewcrawford23
07-05-2010, 20:08
We have been working to correct the account details all day today and yesterday and have got many customers back online.
Your post above will just make customers more inclined not to believe us when we tell them we are now fixing this problem as quickly as possible.
Oh i aint trying to make peopel think we aint fixing it just that i did have to rerause one today as the mac was incorrectly rasied jsut 1 letter/number misprinted but the mac that was mispritned was fixed but that isnt the cust mac, the other part was more a dig at mysel for being daft
Oh i aint trying to make peopel think we aint fixing it just that i did have to rerause one today as the mac was incorrectly rasied jsut 1 letter/number misprinted but the mac that was mispritned was fixed but that isnt the cust mac, the other part was more a dig at mysel for being daft
I know what you meant as we have been doing the same thing in different parts of the country but people sometimes only read the negative part of such posts.;)
We have had MAC addresses with incorrect letters so no surprise there.:(
I had the job of floorwalking while we resolved them.
itsnotworking
08-05-2010, 11:05
day 5, internet working again, received a call yesterday afternoon from virgin support to say they have fixed my problem, sure enough after powering the modem on and off my internet connection was working again, the person was very apologetic and said I should receive a £10 credit on my account. all as it should be, only 4 days too late.... commiserations to anyone still waiting.
day 5, internet working again, received a call yesterday afternoon from virgin support to say they have fixed my problem, sure enough after powering the modem on and off my internet connection was working again, the person was very apologetic and said I should receive a £10 credit on my account. all as it should be, only 4 days too late.... commiserations to anyone still waiting.
You will receive a £10 credit on your account over this issue.
Mariner A
11-05-2010, 10:28
Now up to Day 12
When I rang last Friday I spoke to another Indian guy from technical support (it seems hit and miss whether you get Customer Services or Technical Support), he first tried to convince me that 5 working days had not elapsed, then expressed surprise that the issue had not been resolved. He then took the Mac address and tried to do something. After a short pause he went away; on his return he said he had further information that the issue would be resolved by 30th May. At this point I started to lose my temper and asked if he thought this was acceptable, to which he replied that this was what he was being told.
I asked to be transferred to Disconnections where I relayed the gist of this conversation to the agent. He said the quoted timescale was "ridiculous" and asked if I had been sent a new modem. When I said no he offered to put one in the post immediately.
Got in late last night but was cheered to find the new modem had been left with neighbours. At last some progress! Set it up and rang activations. After going through the account details we got to the Mac address: I read it out. "Are you sure that's right?" the agent asked. After further discussion it transpired the Mac address of the old modem was still on the account!
It was, apparently, nearly closing time so too late to do anything last night, but I have been assured it wil be working midday, today. I have to admire the faith some of these agents have in their colleagues, but I won't be rushing to put money on it.
:redcard:
Now up to Day 12
When I rang last Friday I spoke to another Indian guy from technical support (it seems hit and miss whether you get Customer Services or Technical Support), he first tried to convince me that 5 working days had not elapsed, then expressed surprise that the issue had not been resolved. He then took the Mac address and tried to do something. After a short pause he went away; on his return he said he had further information that the issue would be resolved by 30th May. At this point I started to lose my temper and asked if he thought this was acceptable, to which he replied that this was what he was being told.
I asked to be transferred to Disconnections where I relayed the gist of this conversation to the agent. He said the quoted timescale was "ridiculous" and asked if I had been sent a new modem. When I said no he offered to put one in the post immediately.
Got in late last night but was cheered to find the new modem had been left with neighbours. At last some progress! Set it up and rang activations. After going through the account details we got to the Mac address: I read it out. "Are you sure that's right?" the agent asked. After further discussion it transpired the Mac address of the old modem was still on the account!
It was, apparently, nearly closing time so too late to do anything last night, but I have been assured it wil be working midday, today. I have to admire the faith some of these agents have in their colleagues, but I won't be rushing to put money on it.
:redcard:
If they had added the new modem you would have been online now that is why you received the modem, call again if not online and ask for the new modem to put on the account.
cheradenine
11-05-2010, 21:46
Well, after speaking to the subcontinent last wednesday, he decided actually my Cable Modem was 'broken' rather than the MAC address having gone awry, so I'd have to have a new one.
Rather magically, on Friday, it un-broke itself. However, the speed is really terrible; between 1.5 to 2 Mbit :-(
Hopefully this'll get fixed as I decided that if a new CM was going to be required I might as well up it to a 50Mb package. :sleep:
Well, after speaking to the subcontinent last wednesday, he decided actually my Cable Modem was 'broken' rather than the MAC address having gone awry, so I'd have to have a new one.
Rather magically, on Friday, it un-broke itself. However, the speed is really terrible; between 1.5 to 2 Mbit :-(
Hopefully this'll get fixed as I decided that if a new CM was going to be required I might as well up it to a 50Mb package. :sleep:
What speed are you supposed to be on.
cheradenine
12-05-2010, 09:47
10Mbit (which it was doing quite happily, albeit on my slightly ancient SurfBoard 4100!)
pip08456
12-05-2010, 10:29
Could be the ancient SurfBoard 4100 causing the problem. You should've accepted the offer of the new modem.
That said if you're going onto 50Mb then it would be a waste of time.
Itchy_chiN
12-05-2010, 11:44
Could be the ancient SurfBoard 4100 causing the problem. You should've accepted the offer of the new modem.
I agree, when I upgraded to 10Mbit in April 2008 I was sent a new Modem as I was told the 4100 would max out at about 8MBit, so was no good.
Mariner A
12-05-2010, 18:01
Got my new modem activated last night, but there now seems to be a fault on my cable! Technician coming at the weekend.
I have to say that the two guys I spoke to in Technical Support, Grant and Johnny(?) were excellent, though. Thanks, guys.
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