NTL Virgin TV

[tony64]

Our TV box is down and not for the first , second or third time, I'm seriously thinking of swapping to Sky, anyone done this and if so what are the drawbacks/advantages?

Can we keep our ntl number, do we need a new e mail address???

Any thoughts?????

 

[jen_uk]

For me one of the biggest advantages of Virgin is the on demand service, I watch the catch up tv all the time, I know that if you get Sky plus then you can record programmes but with Virgin the programmes are already there.

I don't think you will be able to keep the same phone number but I would of thought you could keep the same email. Have you tried asking Virgin for a new box? We had a few problems with one and they swapped it for us and now its ok.

 

[tony64]

Jen we've had the box in the living room swapped at least four times now. My DD has one in her room and never had a problem, I just don't like their backup service, it's a call centre in India with a 30 minute wait and then an engineer isn't available until the earliest, end of next week. You or someone over 18 must be in between 12-4 or they will charge you £10, not much of a backup service IMO.

Has anyone experianced Sky's backup, are they any better/worse???????

 

[wilma-bride]

Has anyone experianced Sky's backup, are they any better/worse???????

OK, Sky is not a call centre in India (yet!) but their service (in my experience) is not much better. Yes, there has to be someone over 18 at the house when they call. They will arrange a date but can only tell you whether it will be morning or afternoon the morning of that day (that's if the engineer even remembers to ring and tell you).

When we moved here, we arranged for the engineer to come and connect our Sky (we'd paid £50+ for the moving home service) - no phone call in the morning, couldn't get through to Sky all day. Nobody turned up at all that day and when I eventually got through to them (after over an hour on hold) they said the engineer was sick. They wouldn't refund the fee I'd paid and couldn't arrange another Saturday visit for over a month - not impressed at all

 

[tony64]

Now what do I do Joh ?
Should I stay or should I go?

 

[Goofysmate]

We've had sky in the past and found that every time we had a heavy down pour we would lose the signal which ment you lost the picture.
there customer service at that time was terrible & once i said that i did not want there service any more they then changed there tune & kept ringing me once a month for nearly a year asking me why have you left & would i come back. This was about 6yrs ago & can only say what they were like then.
Virgin media are going the same way too so it's pretty much swings & round abouts like life.

 

[natalielongstaff]

i won't swap to sky !! i think the way they handled the package debacle was way out of line

 

[oceanscape]

i won't swap to sky !! i think the way they handled the package debacle was way out of line

I completely agree.

I'd do the opposite and switch to NTL/Virgin if I could, but unfortunately we are not in a cable area, so we are stuck with sky. I've found their customer services to be dreadful.

 

[tony64]

Looks like i'll be staying with Virgin then, Just no TV for a week

On the bright side more DIS time

 

[Goofyish]

If you haven't already got it and want to stay with Virgin Media ring retentions and see if they will give you the V+ box for free!

We have had the V+ since December and it's a great piece of kit (although it does have it's off days when it freezes for a few seconds and changing channels isn't as quick as I would like). It works the same as Sky+, but you have 3 tuners, so you can record 2 channels and watch a 3rd
Since I've had it I haven't used my DVD recorder once!

I've read that Virgin are giving quite good deals to existing customers to keep them

 

[Boss Hogg]

We jumped from telewest a few years ago, and have never regretted it - even more so now as Virgin hasn't got Sky News, which we always watch.

Our experiences with Sky have been ok, and I love Sky+, albeit I am sure V+ is similar.

You could just change TV and keep your telephone and broadband with Virgin, which is what we did.

Sky have just launched anytime TV, which is a selection of shows ypu can just put on whenever you like - not used it yet, but seems pretty cool to me.

Let me know if you decide to jump ship and I'll introduce you and we can get some M&S vouchers each

 

[BingsingsWaltDisney]

have been on sky since its inception many moons ago
never had a problem, apparently lucky me

whenever i've had a problem not had to wait long
or foreign call centres.

i've got sky+ which is a godsend as i work shifts

also tried sky anytime and i am a registered user
and it is quite good.

the surf package is quite good my DMIL is on it
and its value for money

as for losing our picture when its raining, i live near
Manchester and it rains all the time and i dont
have a problem??? i would say that if you are experiencing
this that your dish is poorly situated.

no matter what you choose Tony they both have
their advantages and disadvantages
.

 

[tony64]

Cheers guys I'm going to get hold of them this afternoon and see what they are going to offer.