andsome Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 I have just received an e mail from Virgin Media, outling new helpline charges for the broadband services. Hithertoo, this service has been free by dialing 150 from a Virgin telephone line.This is a copy of a reply that I have sent via the website.I have just received an e mail outlining the new charges for broadband help. To say that I am disgusted is putting it mildly. You provide a service for which we pay, and if that service goes wrong, I fail to see why the customer should be expected to pay through the nose to get it up and running again. Isn't Richard Branson wealthy enough already?The charge is to be 25p per minute, plus a connection charge of 10p. :( :( :( :( This could soon rack up to quite an expense in the event of a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan2273 Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Andsome my brother received the same information this morning, fotunately for me it is my brother that pays for the broadband, but he was not very happy about the charges.Although he did say that the only time he normally rings the helpline is if the TV goes off and you can still check any faults in your area on a freephone number. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted June 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 Andsome my brother received the same information this morning, fotunately for me it is my brother that pays for the broadband, but he was not very happy about the charges.Although he did say that the only time he normally rings the helpline is if the TV goes off and you can still check any faults in your area on a freephone number.But NOT for BB problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyWhirly Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 I'm not on cable as I don't live in a cable area however hardly any ISP's offer a freephone helpline so Virgin Media appear to be doing what most ISP's do now and charge for the calls.AOL at one time used to offer a free helpline but ditched it a couple of years ago (I used to be with AOL until May last year) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted June 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 I'm not on cable as I don't live in a cable area however hardly any ISP's offer a freephone helpline so Virgin Media appear to be doing what most ISP's do now and charge for the calls.AOL at one time used to offer a free helpline but ditched it a couple of years ago (I used to be with AOL until May last year)How can it be right for any company to charge you for putting their program's right? How much could it end up costing just to satisfy them that their modem has gone bottoms up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyWhirly Posted June 15, 2007 Report Share Posted June 15, 2007 How can it be right for any company to charge you for putting their program's right? How much could it end up costing just to satisfy them that their modem has gone bottoms up?You misunderstand me, I'm not saying that it is right charging for the phone calls only that Virgin Media are no different from most ISP's besides broadband is like most things in life, it does occasionally go wrong! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted June 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 How can it be right for any company to charge you for putting their program's right? How much could it end up costing just to satisfy them that their modem has gone bottoms up?You misunderstand me, I'm not saying that it is right charging for the phone calls only that Virgin Media are no different from most ISP's besides broadband is like most things in life, it does occasionally go wrong!No misunderstanding, I know what you mean. I just don't think that these sort of charges are fair. We pay for a service, and it should be right NTL as they were, were a shining example of a company bucking this trend. Now however, Bransons greed has got the better of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyWhirly Posted June 16, 2007 Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 Now however, Bransons greed has got the better of him.This might be cynical of me but perhaps Virgin Media are trying to cash in on these phone calls to help balance out the loss of customers who are leaving the service http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6638013.stm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted June 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 Now however, Bransons greed has got the better of him.This might be cynical of me but perhaps Virgin Media are trying to cash in on these phone calls to help balance out the loss of customers who are leaving the service http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6638013.stmInteresting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted June 16, 2007 Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 There are two sides to this coin.A very high proportion of calls made to VM support are asking for help with self inflicted computer problems which are nothing to do with the V.M. connection or server. V.M. do not see it as their responsibility to help you with a virus infested computer that no longer connects to the web or corrupted files that stop you from connecting for Email etc. They would argue that their costs are unduly inflated by such irrelevant calls. They offer a support line for such help - but charge you £1.00 per minute or thereabouts.I am not siding with V.M - I have been a customer of Telewest for TV, phone and internet since 1996 and have made use of the formerly free support line a few times. It is unfortunate that they have chosen this time to impose charges - in my opinion they should have retained free calls but made it clear that they would impose a charge for support not attributable to faults with their systems.There are some newsgroups devoted to Virgin Media that people regularly use for reporting problems and getting support. They are monitored by Virgin media support staff who seem to respond very quickly when problems are reported.Look at virginmedia.discussion.broadband NewsGroup (substitute e-mail, phone or tv for the word "broadband" for the other services). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimv7 Posted June 16, 2007 Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 So, the answer to customers leaving is to raise phone charges and throttle b/b speeds.Pity the ntl/telewest/virgin merger ever took place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted June 16, 2007 Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 The whole of the phone/internet/cable arena reminds me of a wriggling can of maggots. Each one trying to climb to the top of the heap on top of the backs others but getting nowhere in the process. We have just got a billet douce from BT confirming that they are unfortunately having to charge us for continuing to pay our bill in the manner we have always paid it. (line rental only at present for us). So they are going to charge us £4.50 per quarter to pay a £30ish bill. 15% seems a bit over inflation to me.The conjuring that is going on to mask it all is something of which dear old David Nixon would have been proud.There is no wonder people are migrating from one supplier to another, likes touregs in the desert going from oasis to oasis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted June 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 The whole system in the UK stinks. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted June 16, 2007 Report Share Posted June 16, 2007 From what I have read on other forums, if after spending time on the phone to VM they find the fault to be with their equipment, they will refund you the call cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted June 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2007 From what I have read on other forums, if after spending time on the phone to VM they find the fault to be with their equipment, they will refund you the call cost.So they ought. I hope that you are right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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