Rate Your Broadband/TV Supplier

[Sooperstar]

I've been with Virgin for as long as I can remember but their customer services over the past couple of weeks has been absolutely horrific. I'm moving home soon so using that as a prompt to change my provider. I've been more than happy with the actual service, speeds etc from Virgin but they have messed me about so much that I just want away from them.

 

Would be good to know the good and bad for other providers, including ease of initial set up and reliability of keeping appointments etc - I'd like to be connected as soon as possible after I move house.

 

Thanks!

[mrmarkus1981]

I'm with ZEN broadband, cant fault them - 10/10

 

https://www.zen.co.uk/

[Tazio]

Can’t help I’m afraid as I’ve been with Virgin since they were Telewest. The customer service can be problematic but I stick with them as the service is solid and I’ve only lost one day in over 20 years in terms of connection. I had a clumsy boiler engineer last year tread on the router and snap the cable input and they had a new router with me at no charge the next morning. 
I’ve read a few horror stories about BT from friends on social media recently and they’re the only real rival in terms of fibre. So I reckon Virgin are worth it as the product is better. Though they could do with lowering their prices by quite a bit. 

[i8hibsh]

Vodafone Connect broadband

 

2/10

 

Vodafone Custotmer Service

 

8/10

 

Vodafone Mobile

 

10/10

[Dazo]

Level of product service should take priority over customer service for me. You’ll use the product far more than their customer service. In my experience they are all the same so I’d go for price and performance. 

[Tazio]

10 minutes ago, mrmarkus1981 said:

I'm with ZEN broadband, cant fault them - 10/10

 

https://www.zen.co.uk/

Out of curiosity I checked them out for my address, I could get 70mb which seems the fastest they can give me. My current Virgin is 200mb and I could go higher. Not that I even need 200mb of course. About a tenner cheaper than Virgin though. 

[Sooperstar]

25 minutes ago, Dazo said:

Level of product service should take priority over customer service for me. You’ll use the product far more than their customer service. In my experience they are all the same so I’d go for price and performance. 

It's a fair comment and maybe in a few days I'll be more open to staying with them - will depend what others say in here too - but I can't begin to explain how farcical my dealings with them have been over the past two weeks and how pissed off I am with them.

[The Real Maroonblood]

37 minutes ago, Tazio said:

Can’t help I’m afraid as I’ve been with Virgin since they were Telewest. The customer service can be problematic but I stick with them as the service is solid and I’ve only lost one day in over 20 years in terms of connection. I had a clumsy boiler engineer last year tread on the router and snap the cable input and they had a new router with me at no charge the next morning. 
I’ve read a few horror stories about BT from friends on social media recently and they’re the only real rival in terms of fibre. So I reckon Virgin are worth it as the product is better. Though they could do with lowering their prices by quite a bit. 

I was with VM since Telewest days and I couldn’t fault them.

When I moved house a few years ago VM wasn’t available so I had to settle with BT and I haven’t encountered any problems with them.

[Tazio]

2 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

I was with VM since Telewest days and I couldn’t fault them.

When I moved house a few years ago VM wasn’t available so I had to settle with BT and I haven’t encountered any problems with them.

A couple of people I saw had issues with not getting the package they’d ordered and the resolution to problems being slow as opposed to the actual product. 

[The Real Maroonblood]

6 minutes ago, Tazio said:

A couple of people I saw had issues with not getting the package they’d ordered and the resolution to problems being slow as opposed to the actual product. 

That’s pretty poor.

[Zico]

Another who’s been with Virgin since the Telewest days. Customer service is ****ing appalling but fortunately haven’t had to use it much. Shite wifi signal from the routers as well but with Eero throughout the house, the wifi is consistently great. 

[Mysterion]

1 hour ago, Sooperstar said:

I've been with Virgin for as long as I can remember but their customer services over the past couple of weeks has been absolutely horrific. I'm moving home soon so using that as a prompt to change my provider. I've been more than happy with the actual service, speeds etc from Virgin but they have messed me about so much that I just want away from them.

 

Would be good to know the good and bad for other providers, including ease of initial set up and reliability of keeping appointments etc - I'd like to be connected as soon as possible after I move house.

 

Thanks!

 

I have BT Broadband - I rate it highly and I have found the customer service to be very good. 

 

I had no issues with BT Broadband and Mobile for years but had 2 issues in the last month. Both resolved really quickly. Customer service was superb - based all in the UK now. 

 

BT Halo is well worth it - if you have a problem they turn on unlimited data on all linked mobiles and send a 4G router to get you online if the line is hard down.

 

In Edinburgh there's a lot of the area with Openreach FTTP now so worth exploring.

 

 

 

 

[hughesie27]

I moved house last year. Used their online moving home form to get the ball rolling but as it was at the start of lockdown/people working from home I was concerned I'd be left in limbo for weeks without any service. After a few days of hearing nothing I gave them a call and managed to get someone to confirm that my request was there and from memory I think they just processed it there and then.  They sent out some new cables to connect all the boxes up at the new house.

Fast forward a month or so and we moved in on the Wednesday. Discovered that there was no Virgin line in the livingroom as it had been hidden behind a fake wall they'd built over the fireplace. Called them on move in day and they arranged to send out an engineer on the Saturday. 

He arrived having thought he was there to do a basic install but instead realised he had to do a full refit from the street into the livingroom. Done and dusted. Had to call them to sort out a new deal in January and after some awful offers decided I'd just leave them and let the GF sign up under a decent new customer deal. As soon as I got to the final stage of cancelling they offered to maintain my services at the current price I was paying. Ended up upgrading Internet speed at this stage, still paying less than I would have under their "best offer".

Our neighbours on both sides have moaned about their Virgin services being crap but in the year that we have been with them at that address there has only been 1 day we lost Internet and it was for maybe 1 hour tops. Also always get acceptable speeds.

 

Really sorry to hear you have had problems. Must be frustrating. 

[hughesie27]

14 minutes ago, Zico said:

Another who’s been with Virgin since the Telewest days. Customer service is ****ing appalling but fortunately haven’t had to use it much. Shite wifi signal from the routers as well but with Eero throughout the house, the wifi is consistently great. 

Do have to agree with the router. I get 500mb and in the living room the router will send 400+ on WiFi no bother. Step into the Hall way and that drops to about 60mb. Got another wifi router that is connected over Ethernet upstairs that gets the full 500 to it and has much better range.

[Captain Slog]

I use Now TV, and the service has been excellent.  They kept me on when i switched bank cards and forgot to tell them.  And, at the height of covid, the ex managed to cut through a wire which dropped al service.  They were at the door in 20 minutes, and even though the guy couldn't come in to fix it for her because of the covid restraints, he 'secretly' came in and fixed it anyway.

 

Cost is about 18 quid, goes up to 25 for 70mbs, i think everyone outwith virgin is carried on the same cables so is all similar.  No installation probs, though i recall the guy saying thank goodness i wasnt with talk talk.

 

https://www.nowtv.com/

 

They offer a guarantee that they wont charge if your network speed drops below a set level, have a super fibre option if you are in the right area, and access to all the sky channels through Now TV too

Edited April 14, 2021 by Captain Slog

[jambo89]

Recently switched to Utility warehouse and it has been a shambles. Lost 6 days at the start, and has been consistently cutting in and out  since then. Numerous days lost and not even a sorry from the customer service.
 

Has ended up costing significantly more than if I had stayed in the old crappy sky deal I had. Working from home has meant using our mobile data as a hotspot and after this has run out (due to the poor wifi) its cost is a bomb to “add” data. 
 

Avoid Utility Warehouse at all costs! 

[Captain Slog]

19 minutes ago, Captain Slog said:

I use Now TV, and the service has been excellent.  They kept me on when i switched bank cards and forgot to tell them.  And, at the height of covid, the ex managed to cut through a wire which dropped al service.  They were at the door in 20 minutes, and even though the guy couldn't come in to fix it for her because of the covid restraints, he 'secretly' came in and fixed it anyway.

 

Cost is about 18 quid, goes up to 25 for 70mbs, i think everyone outwith virgin is carried on the same cables so is all similar.  No installation probs, though i recall the guy saying thank goodness i wasnt with talk talk.

 

https://www.nowtv.com/

 

They offer a guarantee that they wont charge if your network speed drops below a set level, have a super fibre option if you are in the right area, and access to all the sky channels through Now TV too

Oh, and this is a pay in advance one, you cant run up a huge bill like virgin, and once you are through your first year, no contract, just rolling month to month and no hidden termination fees.  Maybe of use to any hearts youngsters just setting up in life.  And no big deposit either.

[graygo]

2 hours ago, Dazo said:

Level of product service should take priority over customer service for me. You’ll use the product far more than their customer service. In my experience they are all the same so I’d go for price and performance. 

 

Agree with that, they're all shit when you have a problem.

[jack D and coke]

I signed up with Zen and honestly best I’ve ever been with. Customer service absolutely spot on and none of this blocking of sites and throttling pish that the main providers do. 
 

[Greedy Jambo]

I'm happy with virgin, although I do have to phone up every year to get a better price. 

 

Currently £28 a month for 100mb download, 10mb upload and mobile sim that has unlimited minutes/texts and 5gig data which rolls over if you don't use it. 

[been here before]

4 hours ago, Sooperstar said:

I've been with Virgin for as long as I can remember but their customer services over the past couple of weeks has been absolutely horrific.

 

4 hours ago, Tazio said:

Can’t help I’m afraid as I’ve been with Virgin since they were Telewest. The customer service can be problematic...

 

3 hours ago, Zico said:

Another who’s been with Virgin since the Telewest days. Customer service is ****ing appalling but fortunately haven’t had to use it much.

 

To avoid me contacting said service over a small issue could you gents answer a small enquiry... are you still getting Youtube on Virgin? The channel seems to have disappeared from the list and the app just spends forever ttying to load but going nowhere.

[Tazio]

3 minutes ago, been here before said:

 

 

 

To avoid me contacting said service over a small issue could you gents answer a small enquiry... are you still getting Youtube on Virgin? The channel seems to have disappeared from the list and the app just spends forever ttying to load but going nowhere.

Yep still got it. I have had apps vanish from my favourites list in the past and just had to reselect it from the apps page. I never use the actual channel finding the app more dependable. 

[The Gorgie]

Sky. ****ing dog shit! Broadband in gorebridge shocking. Sick of my porn buffering.

[been here before]

2 minutes ago, Tazio said:

Yep still got it. I have had apps vanish from my favourites list in the past and just had to reselect it from the apps page. I never use the actual channel finding the app more dependable. 

 

Cheers.

 

My Channel has vanished completely and as I said the apps gubbed. Annoying in as much as it means I have to spend more time entertaining the bairns.

 

Cant be arsed tackling the customer service over it though.

[Tazio]

Just now, been here before said:

 

Cheers.

 

My Channel has vanished completely and as I said the apps gubbed. Annoying in as much as it means I have to spend more time entertaining the bairns.

 

Cant be arsed tackling the customer service over it though.

Just checked and it does indeed look like the channel isn’t there if it was in he same channel range as Amazon and Netflix. I hope they aren’t in the huff with each other again as they lost permission from Google a while back to use YouTube. 

[been here before]

4 minutes ago, Tazio said:

Just checked and it does indeed look like the channel isn’t there if it was in he same channel range as Amazon and Netflix. I hope they aren’t in the huff with each other again as they lost permission from Google a while back to use YouTube. 

 

I dunno. Theres nothing recent online I can find.

[Zico]

20 minutes ago, been here before said:

 

 

 

To avoid me contacting said service over a small issue could you gents answer a small enquiry... are you still getting Youtube on Virgin? The channel seems to have disappeared from the list and the app just spends forever ttying to load but going nowhere.

I’ve just got Virgin for broadband, Sky for TV so can’t help I’m afraid. 

[been here before]

5 minutes ago, Zico said:

I’ve just got Virgin for broadband, Sky for TV so can’t help I’m afraid. 

 

Nae bother man at leaat I know its not just me 👍

[Captain Slog]

Virgin Media and O2 'blockbuster' merger provisionally approved - BBC News

 

Dont think it will effect broadband much, except them driving up prices

[sadj]

3 hours ago, Awbdy Oot said:

 

Agree with that, they're all shit when you have a problem.

Im with Talk Talk n rarely have any problems with the t’internet. Speeds steady etc. However they get slated for customer service. Iv had cause to grump properly at them twice. Once as they couldnt switch my bt sports on when i moved home. Once because i move a payment date and reduced my package and they wanted paid in full then refund the difference the next month. Id have ended up being three months in front with internet had i done that. Contacted the ceo complaints office and first time they gave me a £200 refund for lost service (bt sports) and 3months free full tv service and broadband. Second time just cleared my bill (£30ish) no messing

[Tommy Brown]

I was with Plusnet for years and only have compliments for tem.

They are basically BT Lite.

Only switched for my son's gaming.

Now with Virgin 100mb. 

Last month my street got new BT cables.

I will keep my eye on what's available this time next year and Plusnet will be my first to look at.

[Pap]

Youtube is still there. I dont have VM but at my mums i noticed when i went to YT in the guide it had a message saying its moved and *i think* if you press home then other apps then you will find it. Somewhere arohnd there. Cant remember exactly but its definetely still there.

[skinnybob72]

I stay in Gorebridge and broadband out here is like something from the stone age. Was with someone called Origin Broadband and it was absolute mince, really slow and the connection would just pack in altogether fairly often. Not very handy when WFH all week on a laptop. Even saving basic excel sheets was taking 10+ minutes recently but has improved a bit since then. 

 

Moved to BT and while the connection doesn't pack in it is so slow you would not believe. I've started to go back into the office just to enjoy working at a normal speed. 

[luckyBatistuta]

I’ve been with most, as I constantly kept changing to find one that actually gave me a semi decent speed. At times we were getting slower than dial up. They were all the same, promised this speed and that speed and none ever delivered. I reckon they’ve probably taken 5 years off my life. Then they finally put Virgin in our area and everything changed. There was a few teething problems for the first week, but they sorted out all the problems. I’ve since moved house 3 months ago and also had a couple of problems with Virgin when I first moved in. There was quite a few long waits online for someone to answer, but it wasn’t too bad. They even sent out a second router to make sure the problem I had wasn’t with that. Virgin definitely the best we’ve had.

[luckyBatistuta]

4 hours ago, jack D and coke said:

I signed up with Zen and honestly best I’ve ever been with. Customer service absolutely spot on and none of this blocking of sites and throttling pish that the main providers do. 
 

 

[jack D and coke]

2 minutes ago, luckyBatistuta said:

 

 

[luckyBatistuta]

45 minutes ago, jack D and coke said:

 

[Hansel]

9 hours ago, i8hibsh said:

Vodafone Connect broadband

 

2/10

 

Vodafone Custotmer Service

 

8/10

 

Vodafone Mobile

 

10/10

This.

 

Vodafone broadband is shite. Going back to virgin when I can be arsed

[Sooperstar]

Looks like it's a case of swallowing my pride, stopping being a stubborn *******, and staying with them after all then.

 

At least I won't lose my ever building 73 recordings of Cheers episodes.

[Ribble]

With broadband you only really have a few options either virgin where most people overpay for speeds they don’t need or one of the others that use openreach’s infrastructure, it’s gradually stating to open up and the likes of Sky will hopefully get to the point where it’s their own infrastructure which will either force openreach to improve or simply lose customers hand over fist

[Der Kaiser]

Previously with Vodafone. Awful 2 year contract. Promised a speed that never got close to so had £5 every month deducted from bill. Pretty sure this was a ploy to sign up.

Customer service was crap. App was crap. Apparently could boost individual devices but saw no improvement with it.

Glad to see the back of them.

 

Now with Talk Talk. Marginally better. Didn't take 2nd payment as they said my setup wasn't good enough. Then they credited my account with £150 as they said my service was below what they aim for so technically I'm getting OK broadband for free for the next 7 months. Can't really complain now.

Edited April 15, 2021 by Der Kaiser

[The Real Maroonblood]

Just now, Der Kaiser said:

Previously with Vodafone. Awful 2 year contract. Promised a speed that never got close to so had £5 every month deducted from bill. Pretty sure this was a ploy to sign up.

Custo

Vodafone have laid a lot of cables in Edinburgh.

I don’t know anyone who has used them or are they any good.

[Harry Potter]

Had virgin for a long time , maybe slightly more expensive but great broadband, had Talk Talk for

a brief period, lucky to get 5mbps , must be better now.

had sky as well but bad weather ruins the probe on the dish, moisture etc, and you need insurance to fix

the problem.

I also have an unlimited sim for mobile with my package.