A man from Kingswood in Bristol has been left at his wits' end after problems with his Virgin Media O2 broadband have left him unable to successfully connect to the internet for a fortnight, despite paying £60 per month for his contract.
Ever since he signed up for Virgin Media broadband 18 months ago, Callum Nash from Kingswood noticed his connection would consistently drop out between 12:00 am and 02:00 am the morning. He notified the company but had no response back.
Recently, the problem began happening more frequently, and Nash says he's now been without functioning broadband for two weeks. When he has been able to connect, data speed tests showed an ineffectual 17mbps, a far cry from the 1000 Mbps he pays for.
Nash is self-employed and says having a high-quality internet connection is integral to his livelihood. He chose Virgin Media because it offered the fastest speed in his area, but he says the intermittent, slow speed and lack of tech support are inexcusable.
After arranging for an engineer to visit his property, Nash took time off work on November 3 to wait in but said they were unable to find his address and never arrived. Virgin claimed that no one was in and, as a result, landed Nash with a £25 ‘void’ callout fee.
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Two further visits from Virgin engineers, both of which Mr Nash took additional time off work for, took place on November 4 and 9, one of which temporarily rectified the connection. However, soon after the technician left, the issue returned. That engineer also indicated to Mr Nash the problem was due to a router software update and that multiple people were having the same issue within the BS15 area.
Unable to readily speak to someone at Virgin customer services, and worried about incurring more callout fees, which he would only find out about when he receives his next bill, Nash says he is now at a loss for how to get his broadband back. “The customer service from Virgin, I have no words for it; I can’t get through to anyone that can help me. We go around in circles every time I ring them; it’s doing my head-in 100 per cent,” said Nash.
In response to a request for comment, a Virgin Media O2 spokesperson said: "We apologise for the connectivity issues Mr Nash has been experiencing. Our systems show that his broadband is back up and running, but we’re continuing to investigate why some intermittent issues remain, and we’re staying in touch with him.
“We have issued a credit to Mr Nash’s account as a gesture of goodwill and applied a further discount to his monthly bill.”
After we approached Virgin Media, a member of the executive team did get in touch with Mr Nash and reduced his monthly bill by £5. Nash says there has been an improvement in his broadband connection without having to change or adjust any of his equipment. However, he says it is still inadequate and sporadic, often dropping out for long periods, and when it is functional, it clocks in at around 412mbps.
Nash was told four days ago that a senior Virgin Media technician would come and see him at the earliest opportunity at a time convenient to him. Virgin has not yet arranged to visit the property. Virgin has been unable to confirm with Bristol Live if the same issue is affecting other customers in the area.
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