{"id":455102,"date":"2026-05-18T15:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/455102\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T15:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T15:58:08","slug":"couple-setting-up-new-home-on-their-disastrous-experience-with-virgin-media-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/455102\/","title":{"rendered":"Couple setting up new home on their \u2018disastrous experience\u2019 with Virgin Media \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI feel compelled to write to you after a disastrous experience with Virgin Media<\/a> in recent weeks,\u201d an email from a reader starts ominously. <\/p>\n

This reader came home to Ireland with her Belgian husband just under two years ago. His job is carried out remotely, so as a matter of urgency, they set up a broadband account with Virgin Media. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe account was in my husband\u2019s name, as he also needed some form of utility bill as proof of address for various purposes after moving here. He set up the account online without issue using a Belgian phone number, and the monthly direct debit came off our international bank account,\u201d she writes. <\/p>\n

The problems started last month when the couple were closing on their new-build home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were advised by the builder that Virgin Media had provided fibre to the estate and that there wouldn\u2019t be any issues getting connected,\u201d she says. \u201cMy husband first logged a \u2018move house request\u2019 online with Virgin Media on April 14th. A week passed and we received no update, but our move-in date had moved forward, so my husband submitted a second form with our effective move date of April 30th.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our reader followed up this second form with a phone call to Virgin Media, \u201cand was moved from customer service to house move to customer service teams before speaking to an agent who noted that the move request had been \u2018loaded\u2019 and that I didn\u2019t need to worry\u201d.<\/p>\n

She says she took the opportunity while on the phone to query the speed of the internet that would be available at the new house, flagging that this is a new build and inquiring whether any change would be required to her current subscription. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was told that I\u2019d need to speak to sales about changing my subscription or the technical team to know more about the speed available at the property. I was also informed that I would not receive any information about the move until after my move date passed, and that I should look out for an SMS. I asked if my Irish phone number could be loaded on to the account as I wasn\u2019t sure if messages would issue\/were issuing to my husband\u2019s non-Irish number. The agent noted the new phone number and assured me that I would have an appointment by Friday May 1st.\u201d<\/p>\n

That day arrived, and while our reader was in her new house, the broadband connection was not. \u201cI spoke to a man who told me that the only house move ticket he could see related to a move date of May 5th and that I would receive a text message by end of day on May 1st, or Saturday May 2nd latest, with my technician\u2019s appointment. I asked again that the text message be sent to my Irish phone number and I confirmed the address and Eircode of our new-build home,\u201d she writes. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018Have I any rights at all?\u2019 Virgin leaves one customer without broadband and chases another for two centOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

On May 5th, her husband got a text message from the technical provider for Virgin Media confirming an appointment for Wednesday, May 6th.<\/p>\n

He was asked to confirm via text or by calling the number. <\/p>\n

\u2018She was in the process of doing what was necessary when the call ended abruptly. My heart sank. I learned that mobile networks drop phone calls over two hours in duration\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThis message arrived to my husband\u2019s Belgian number, and we were unsure if the SMS confirmation would arrive, so I phoned the company and spoke to an agent. She loaded our appointment and told me that it had been scheduled for our old address and asked me to confirm. I told her that we needed the technician to attend the new house address and was advised that I would need to speak to Virgin Media to have this changed on their system.\u201d <\/p>\n

So our reader rang Virgin again and waited 40 minutes to speak to an agent who \u201cnoted that we had changed address and confirmed that messages in future would be sent to my Irish number. He then told me there was a technical issue with my account and would need to transfer me to the technical team. I waited a further 20 minutes before speaking to a man who was unaware what my issue was, having received no information or my case file. I asked if it was in relation to the phone number associated with the account or if it was to do with the new house being a new build.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the guts of half an hour, she says, the man attempted to issue her with a four-digit pin on two Irish phone numbers and one Belgian number without success, before transferring her to the house move team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 1 hour 42 mins on the phone, I spoke to someone from the house-move team who was somewhat sympathetic to my plight. I told her that we were in our new-build house, without internet, which was desperately needed for remote working, and that our technician\u2019s appointment for the following day was scheduled for the wrong address. She claimed to note this and take the necessary steps to fix this,\u201d our reader writes. <\/p>\n

\u201cShe was in the process of doing what was necessary when the call ended abruptly. My heart sank. I learned that mobile networks drop phone calls over two hours in duration. Some 15 minutes later, while I was again on hold with Virgin Media on another device, the woman I was talking to rang me back and said she was going to liaise with the installation company to confirm our technician for the proper address and would ring me back again later on. The relief was palpable. We carried on unpacking and waited for her to again return our call,\u201d the reader continues. <\/p>\n

She did get a call to confirm the appointment was set for the new address, for a full fibre install, the following day. \u201cI asked her if we needed new equipment or if the technician would provide this. She confirmed that the technician would have everything they needed to get the job done. We breathed a collective sigh of relief \u2013 the end was in sight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Early the next day she got a call from the technician who said he was in the area and would be with her at about midday. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe said he would call again when he was on the way, and called again shortly after 1pm to confirm our Eircode. When he arrived at the door a few minutes later, he asked if we had received our equipment. I said that we had existing equipment and showed him this \u2013 what I later learned was a HFC modem with a coaxial cable, not suitable for the full fibre connection at the new house. He was sympathetic and said that this happens regularly with house moves. He spoke to an agent from Virgin who advised that we call customer service who could send another technician who might be in the area and that we could be sorted in 24-48 hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The process started again, and she was told she would get a text message about next steps \u2013 and when she said there was a problem with getting messages from Virgin and could she get an email instead, she was told this was impossible. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the meantime, my husband explored availability with other providers and identified an installation appointment within the week with an alternative supplier. Before booking this, I rang 1908 and opted to speak to the cancellations team. I spoke to a very helpful woman who after a half dozen other agents was the first to apologise for the ordeal and the fact that we have been without internet and the ability to work since April 30th. She went away to speak to the technical team to return and advise that it would be at least a week before they could send us the appropriate technician and equipment. I queried this in light of our experience and our long-standing customer relationship. She acknowledged my disappointment and apologised that there was nothing further they could do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Feeling like she had no option, our reader cancelled the contract.<\/p>\n

On May 7th, \u201cafter receiving no email correspondence from Virgin Media in relation to our queries or escalations, despite a request for these, we received a bill of \u20ac150 for the cancellation of our TV and broadband services as well as our monthly invoice, due on May 21st, of \u20ac65, brought forward. We also got an email to say they were \u2018sorry to see us go\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

We subsequently spoke to this reader, who said she had switched to another provider and was currently waiting for them to do the necessary. She said she had managed to convince Virgin to drop the demand for money, but still wanted to find out how and why things had gone so badly off the rails.<\/p>\n

We contacted the company and received the following statement. \u201cAt Virgin Media, we always aim to provide the best possible service to our customers, and we regret that this experience fell below that standard. The issue has now been resolved directly with the customer, and we are taking steps to prevent a recurrence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI feel compelled to write to you after a disastrous experience with Virgin Media in recent weeks,\u201d an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,943,61,60,9825,907],"class_list":["post-455102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-cost-of-living","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-pricewatch","tag-virgin-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}