Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Virgin Media have recently renamed and increased the speeds of all their Broadband packages. They are now called, Up To 30mb, 60mb & 100mb instead of 'L', 'XL' & 'XXL'.

I am on the 'L' package with a speed of up to 10mb at a cost of £22.50 a month, the new low end package on offer is 30mb and also costs £22.50. I recently received a letter informing me that VM were going to double my speed to 20mb, that's very nice but new customers paying the same £22.50 are getting 30mb.

I have e-mailed VM three times asking why I am only receiving 20mb and received three answers all different and nothing to do with the questions I have asked. I foolishly called C/S and the advisor had no idea what I was asking about, don't you just love these overseas call centres?

I have checked and there is no technical reasons as to why I should not receive a speed of 30mb as I have the new SuperHub . As a new customer I have been offered the faster speed so why not as an ex NTL, now VM customer of 12 years?

What's going on?

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

ring retentions they will give you 30mbit.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Thanks for the advice.

:)

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Retentions were rubbish the three times I called them about this exact same question. Ended up agreeing to 60Mb.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Are they charging you extra for 60? Given what you've said, I'd be mightily peeved if they are, unless you did want the extra upgrade.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

I rang retentions last week and got offered 30 no problem with a superhub being installed next week

I think it really depends on the person you speak to

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Most customers on L don't have a SuperHub, therefore mass uplift can only do a change to 20Mbit. If they put everyone on L onto 30Mbit, then those who didn't have a SuperHub would lose internet access

However, if you move onto the Essential Collection you get 30Mbit, and I'm sure as the upgrades happen there will be ways for those on L 20 to go up to L 30

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

@BenMcr,

That's not what I was given to believe, I understood that older modems would just max out at whatever the speed modem could give. They would not lose internet access.

When they increased the speed from 2mb to 10mb the modems at that time were far lower spec than is in use now and there was no problem. Off the subject a bit but there is word that VM have under estimated the volume of new customers which has resulted in the many problems experienced after the increase in speed to SuperHub users. You only have to read the VM web site forum, as well as other forums to see all is not well.

Sky shot itself in the foot when it first ventured into BB, as I experienced. Too many customers, maybe because to many it was free, the system just could not take the strain. It was not even possible to open the Sky page to register. (I lasted 4 days and it took 13 months to get the marker removed from my line.) Consumers have long memories.

Re your suggestion, why should I have to move to the more expensive and unwanted package ''Essential Collection'' to get what others are getting for the same price as I am paying? If VM cannot supply 30mb to all customers on the base product then I fail to see how they can charge the full price of £22.50. If we both went into a shop and both bought a packet of the same biscuits for £1 and your packet had 1/3 less than mine would you not complain and ask why?



;)

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

The configs for 30mbit+ tell the modem to lock onto the docsis3 network, which the old modems cant do

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

I meant that is one way to get L 30, as everyone gets the current advertised speed when they move onto a Collection.

In regards to your case, again L 30 is a different tier to the one you are on. It may cost the same, but it's not the same product. So as I also said, I'm sure there will be other options for people to move up to L 30 as the upgrades progress.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Same here, but I got mine the same week :)

I've never had any problems.

---------- Post added at 13:59 ---------- Previous post was at 13:58 ----------

I can confirm this. I was also told that I would lose 'net access on the day they switched me to 30mb if I didn't install the superhub. I didn't.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

That was wrong. Due to the way the order is processed, the 30Mbit config change doesn't happen until you install the SuperHub

---------- Post added at 14:05 ---------- Previous post was at 14:03 ----------

However if the mass uplift sent the configs immediately - it would knock off existing kit

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

That's because of VM's specific setup though, not a limitation of the device or standards itself.

Don't forget the thousands of 10/20mb users on old modems running off a single channel on the new network.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

AFAIK the OP is on Virgin Media ;)

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

@Carlwaring,

Thank you for confirming what I had been told.

:dozey:

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Yes, but VM can change VM policy.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

@BenMcr,

Sorry but I must have missed this is both the letter that arrived informing me that VM were doubling my speed, also on the VM web site. Is this a condition that you had to increase your package before you received the 30mb? Perhaps this is in the VERY, VERY SMALL print! Could you please post a link?

:confused:

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

No. Absolutely not. The new speeds are the ones that people will be on either after they have been automatically doubled; or before if they specifically arrange it.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Meanwhile you'll be paying the same price as a new customer getting double your speed until your area is upgraded - in my case the earliest estimate for that is October streching to July next year. Do I feel ripped off - you betcha. Do I care - not really VM had already done enough to lose my business forever even before this.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Can you think of a better way to do it that does not complicated things like their billing system too much?

Going by posts on here and DS, a lot of people have got their upgrades early either by VM calling them or vice versa.

If I hadn't called them and asked for my upgrade early would I feel "ripped-off"? No because there's no reason to feel that way at all. Everyone is currently getting the speed they paid for (No pedantry please. You know what I mean!) and they will get their speed doubled for free as soon as possible.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

I've no intention of calling retentions in case I find they've slipped me onto another 12 month contract without mentioning it. You know - the sort of problems you had not knowing just what you'd committed to and what product you were supposed to be getting.

No it's pastures new for me - there's a nice new FTTC cab just up the road from me - powered up now and waiting for BT to finish whatever is they do that takes them months before they sell - probably making sure it works I guess - after all they aren't VM who sell stuff to the public whether it's fit for purpose or not.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Sorry. I edited my original post as kwikbreaks was replying to my original one. I originally just suggested they call retentions and get their speed upgraded now before I realised they'd already left VM.

Sorry, no. No experience of that at all.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Looks like either your account was hacked the other day or Alzheimers has come-a-visiting you then...

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12...l#post35423939

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

That explains a lot of his posts IMO

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

A fair point. However, I was really responding to the bit in bold here.

I have always been told the important points like about new contracts.

The issue I had was of no real consequence to or of anything. I was just wanting something clarified where one thing was (incorrectly, as it turned out) told to me. None of which affected the actual service I was getting.

So he's ignoring me but still feels free to comment on posts I make via other people. Isn't that rather hypocritical?

WRONG! If it was "not fit for purpose" they would be in big trouble. Okay yes, that specific term applies to goods and not services, but I assume you get my point?

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

You're both wrong, you only get a service based on the modems set to be provisioned for that service. So if you have a modem that isn't able to get 30Mb, the platform will not provision you. End of.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

:LOL:

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

I had a "modem" (actually, I had a standard hub) that could not get more than 10mb, so by your logic I couldn't have 30mb. Yet I have because they gave me a SuperHub. So, sorry but you're wrong.

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

huh?

If you have a none d3 modem you won't get service if your account is provisioned to a 30+ service, you don't get "as good add the modem can do"

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Sorry if this is going back a few days, but this isn't what happened to me. I had the SuperHub delivered to me mid week and was going to leave till the weekend. But the day after receiving it I lost connection. I phone up and was told I had been upgraded to 30Mb. I was given no warning. I was under the impression that I had to fit the hub then contact them for the upgrade.
Just the normal communication from VM

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Can you perhaps kindly elaborate a little more on how the Vendor specific TLV codes are set on CM/Hubs, how the TFTP server/CMTS interact with Billing/OSSI to generate CM configuration templates and (presumably) generate the encrypted binary config files automagically for new CM's or those requiring software upgrades when CM negotiates the final Registration stanzas at end of it's initialisation process?

I just have a suspicion that when TW/BY merged and VM subsequently homologated their back end provisioning/Billing systems that some older legacy CM's were inadvertently missed from "inventory/audit" which might have some implications for mass auto-updating Speed Doubling some long term users with legacy CM's?

Enquiring mind seeking enlightenment…… ? ;)

Re: Virgin Media Not Playing Fair With Existing Customers!
 

Depends on which type of order is keyed.

No