any do's and don'ts about Virgin cable installation?

[CMAC]

getting cable after a hundred years with SKY:mmm:

Cheaper per month, extra HD box FOC, no charge for HD channels and 60MB Broadband....:thup:

Anyone gone through it and have any tips on do's and don'ts i.e things you wished you'd said at the time but too late now its installed?

 

[GreiginFife]

I thought that HD for Sky Sports was £7.00 a month with VM...?
Good deal if you are getting it cheaper though as looking at their prices (bear in mind I'm not in a fibre optic area so the 60meg BB means nowt to me) that for the same as I get for £92 per month with Sky, VM would charge me £115.49.

They have a deal of 6 months half price but that's on an 18 month contract. So it's hard to compare like for like when Sky is a 12 month contract.

 

[timd77]

Yeh, don't expect them to turn up when they say they will! We waited in for them 3 times earlier this year, they didn't show on any of the occasions and only rang to cancel once. We therefore told them to shove it.

Good luck!

 

[harpo_72]

Honestly, we just have the BB and obligatory telephone line ( I hate them means I get pestered by some recorded message! ) we stayed on sky HD because it worked out cheaper for the F1 coverage, but I have not watched anything live after race 3 I don't think. All I can say is the guys in our area were very good they cemented the cable around the door step, put the box where I wanted it not where it was easy for them, unlike sky who huff and puff take at least 28 days to get back to you and are owned by an Australian sausage jockey....
The BB has been mega, the router is okay. We have been mind blown by the speed or at least I have my wife just has found new ways to clogg it up!

 

[Blue in Munich]

Darth, we moved years ago, few if any complaints. Unlike timd77, they've always turned up when they've promised, very respectful of the property & residents (put on overshoes to protect carpet). They won't lift board or anything to hide cables, as per Sky, but I had draw cables in place & mine are all hidden as the guy was happy to help. Yes Sky Sports HD is £7 I believe but that is now per house, rather than per box. They own the box so no callout fees for repairs, when we have had an issue, they identified a need for a box change, asked if we wanted it done now or scheduled for a week or two in order to watch recorded programmes. One slight issue recently when the Mrs had a cold call for faster (60mB) Broadband and a reduced monthly cost, Mrs said yes & they put us on a reduced package; phoned back, got a supervisor who agreed the sales girl had got it wrong, changed the package back so that we now have 2 Tivo boxes and 120mB Broadband for a little (and i mean a little) less than we were paying and waived the £50 install as a goodwill gesture. Not suggesting they're perfect, but more impressed than with Sky, only obvious downer is no Sky Atlantic and no HD on SS3 & SS4. think of anything specific to ask post here or PM me, but I probably won't get to it before Sunday (Rod Stewart tonight , golf & footy tomorrow) & need to get off here before the boss comes back.....

 

[Khamelion]

I'm with Virgin and never had any issues, BB, Phone or TV. I had call recently to have one of my V+boxes replaced, the guy turned up on time when scheduled and replaced the box. He was courteous and efficient.

The only thing the irgin guys will nt do, is move a customer belonging, they wil always ask you to move stuff.

 

[CMAC]

Thanks Guys, I was more interested in the actual cable installation as I'll be very clear on the fact I want the cable (to all parts of the house) run externally and buried, then in to the house at 3 key points for the boxes and BB...
Before I went with them they assured me they'll put it anywhere I want so we'll see.
Looking forward to 60MB BB after years of 300kbps max with SKY.....

I assumed ALL HD was free as they state they don't charge for HD channels, however, looks like a few of you are saying they charge £7PM for Sports HD.....hmmmmmmm I feel my negotiating head coming on.

@Greig, I realise its 18mths Greig over Skys 12 mths but if I extrapolate it up or down it comes out cheaper plus a second HD box FOC and the fast BB. I dont watch Sky Atlantic so no issues there, SKY and BBC News not being in HD is a pain but I can live with it

 

[happyhacker]

I'd be very surprised if they give you 3 demarkation points for the cable. Normally one into the home and then up to how you get broadband etc working in other areas of home.

 

[MattM]

I'd be very surprised if they give you 3 demarkation points for the cable. Normally one into the home and then up to how you get broadband etc working in other areas of home.

Not necessarily, locally to us they'll put a single junction box externally usually at the closest point to the road / closest room nearest the road requiring a cable, then if you want additional rooms serviced they'll run cables around the outside of the house to other rooms / access points. We've got one going in the front of the house to the main tv, one going in the back of the house for 2nd TV and broadband.

If you've got a definite preference on where you want the junction box outside then make sure you're at home to tell them.

 

[FairwayDodger]

I despise them, appalling customer service. Too much hassle for us to switch but when we move I'll be avoiding them if at all possible.

 

[Khamelion]

As for access points, we have one main junction box on the wall outside, this feeds the phone and Tivo box in the livingroom, from that junction box there are cables around the house to my daughters bedroom, my office and one to the kitchen.

They will put cables to where you want them, if it's possible they will work with you to route through the house as well. They did the internal cabling at my mother in laws house. As long as it's reasonable they will help, or if you ask they will leave you sufficient cable to run it in yourself.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

We are moving to an estate which is suppose to be set up for Virgin. We are due to move in on Dec 20th and they reckon it should be up and running by March. Not keen on sticking a dish up but other than that its no tv

 

[Imurg]

Not necessarily, locally to us they'll put a single junction box externally usually at the closest point to the road / closest room nearest the road requiring a cable, then if you want additional rooms serviced they'll run cables around the outside of the house to other rooms / access points. We've got one going in the front of the house to the main tv, one going in the back of the house for 2nd TV and broadband.

Snap

We only went with Virgin as our Freeview TV signal was so appalling,it kept dropping out and stopping recordings, and the BB was severely limited by the local phone lines. That meant most other BB providers wouldn't be able to deliver anything like they promised.
Had it fitted about 3-4 years ago and it's great. No complaints at all and the guys turned up, got the job done and moved on.
No hassle at all.

 

[CMAC]

I despise them, appalling customer service. Too much hassle for us to switch but when we move I'll be avoiding them if at all possible.

for everyone like this there is an equal number who despise the CS (or lack of it) at SKY and BT......

 

[granters]

I used to have cable and the installation was great, the guy couldn't do enough. The broadband is easily the best I've ever had and the on demand knocks the socks off sky, which I find very user -unfriendly. Our sky broadband constantly drops too and the price just went up again. Will be cancelling the whole thing shortly and making do with freeview until some boffin sticks a cable in our street

 

[CMAC]

I'd be very surprised if they give you 3 demarkation points for the cable. Normally one into the home and then up to how you get broadband etc working in other areas of home.

I had 3 confirmations that they will do exactly what I want..apparently. If they don't its very easy for me to say (politely) Jog on

 

[granters]

Oh, and don't start me on BT who decided to double our price overnight because we didn't phone for a better deal. The customer service manager actually said that they assumed we were happy with the service and price. I stayed on the phone unt they cancelled the entire contract. That was a long call!

 

[BrizoH71]

Make sure you ask them to provide enough cable so you can move furniture about later.

 

[Blue in Munich]

for everyone like this there is an equal number who despise the CS (or lack of it) at SKY and BT......

Indeed. Had a very difficult time trying to cancel the father-in-law's Sky contract. They kept repeating the on-screen prompt that I couldn't do it and that they had to speak to the account holder. I eventually managed to persuade his supervisor that as the FiL had died that wasn't going to happen. Absolutely appalling service.

 

[vkurup]

Assume you are getting the new TiVo box, much better than old V+ box???they were phasing out the 500gb model, so giving it away free.. 60mb inter web is brilliant.
On another note, keep an eye out on the bill.. Whenever they do deals, they do manual adjustments to bills, which they kindly forget ever so often, so worth checking esp when on 'specials'.