Virgin Broadband Speeds, caps and general contractural obligations

[Ricklee]

HI there

I recently upgraded to 20mb connection. When I checked my speed on a range of testers it appears that I am only getting between 4mb and 10mb, with a max of 15mb. Mostly 4mb.

I call Virgin and they pass me onto a premium number that as of yet I dont know if will be charged for. They organise a technitian for today.

He comes round and I phone home to speak to him.

First thing he says is that my connection has been capped due to Braodband downloads thresholds being reached by me. and that capping is a policy by Virgin and its in my contract.

I tell him that:

1: No one has informed me of this.

2: I have only just upgraded to 20mb from 2mb and am paying for this and he says that it is capped, this is contracturally wrong.

3: I tell him that the telephone people did not say this and said that he would resolve the issue.

4: I tell him that he must resolve the issue and I want the 20mb connection I asked for.

5: I tell him that if he is saying that I am capped and that he cannot get my connection speed right, he should leave this his story in writing so that I can take it up with the telephone team.

He says:

1: He will leave a nhte

2: And he is looking at the machine.

I phone techincal premium rate support and they tell me there is no cap on my service.

I say:

1: Phone technician round my house now since he says that this is the reason for my slow connection.

They say:

OK

I phone the technician 20 minutes later and say:

1: There is no block on the speed.

2: Did they phone you.

3: How comes you cant check if there is a block on my speed.

4 Can you phone me before you leave to let me know if you have fixed the connection.

He says:

1: Can I have the number of techinical services

2: He does not have a number that he can contact.

3: He will phone before he leaves.

Final outcome:

He leaves, my speed is still less than 5 mb, he tells my wife everything is good, no note left, my computer settings are left haywire.

I am sure I have missed loads of relevant bits but this gives you a quick and probably too long note.

WHAT DO I DO NOW??? We should not accept caps on and as much as you like connection at a given speed, and we should expect the speeds we pay for. This needs to be dealt with.

Any help greatly appreciated
Thanks and regards,
Ricklee

[tomterm8]

Firstly, I would advise you to get as much communication as possible via writing. or at least record the calls.

Normally, broadband providers have the right to restrict the service in their acceptable use policy, this does not appear to be the case in Vergin medias AUP Virgin Media Acceptable Use Policy .

However, in the contract, the speed is described as the maximum speed you can recieve, if all hardware is working optimally.

Nevertheless, I am inclined to believe you are not recieving the service you could reasonably expect. Asking them to solve the problem is an obvious immediate step. after that, i would consider applying to the court to terminate your contract.

Do not fail to pay them the contractual amount, as you do not want to get a default notice.

[Ricklee]

Hi There

Thanks for that, I have had a look at the Acceptable Use Policy, and it gives 2 exampes, sending spam or racist remarks. All prety much clear cut unacceptable things to do.

But this enginneer said that in a recent meeting he had been told that if people used to much download then they would have there Broadband download speed capped. Virgin advetise on the back of an unlimmitted download allowance so I would find it hard to see how they could cap on the bassis of something that was the core of their service provision. The fact that you have unlimmited usage.

I think that this is something important and have a feeling that something may be going on, as well as dissatisfaction with the Enginneer and Virgin on a personal note.

Can anyone advise if they have heard about the cap??

Rick

[Bookworm]

Yep, see here:

Legality of Virgin Media traffic management policy