Virgin Media - General observations....

TrundleAlong said:
I have the basic TV package....about 20 stations including RTE, BBC, Channel 4 etc. (over 20 years now).
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If that's the case I suggest you invest in a VPN app (about €50 a year) and use the various player apps. Change the location to suit the UK ones and you can switch to here for RTE and Virgin players.
Edit note: If your telly is as old as your tv box this may not be an option ;)
 
Dinarius said:
Has anyone ever received notification from Virgin, or any other BB supplier, that their fixed term contract was coming to an end?
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We had to call them today as out TV Box is no longer working. We have a very basic package that is TV only and does not include broadband.

We were told that our contract ended in 2019 and that we no longer have any contract with them. I wonder if this was when the analogue service ended?

So it appears that we can just move providers.

The Virgin Media TV box that we have is no longer available so they have offered us a refurbished one. I am not sure about this. Has anyone been given a refurbished box and how did you get on?

Alternative question. Our broadband is with Vodafone and we are thinking of moving our TV package to them. Is Vodafone TV any good/recommended?
 
I've had the VM TV streaming box for a month or so so far and it's a bit annoying because it regularly drops out the audio and/or buffers the video stream. Admittedly it's still on WiFi rather than a wired ethernet connection which I've been meaning to connect, but it's only metres from the fibre router. Anyone else experience that behaviour?

Streaming TV Box | Virgin Media Ireland

www.virginmedia.ie www.virginmedia.ie
 
We’ve had the VM streaming box for a year. The modem is in an upstairs office, about as far from the tv downstairs as can be. Yet, it only buffers when we’re watching programs that we know are being watched by many. For example, it buffered a bit during the World Cup. (I’m assuming big audience programs would be prone to buffering, if any.)

Apart from not being able to record programs, we’re happy with it overall.

D.
 
We went through weeks of back and forth about recording and gave up. We can’t record anything.

Can you record BBC, for example?

D.
 
Dinarius said:
Can you record BBC, for example?
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No, says I can only watch it live.
As I said, maybe only some channels/programmes can be recorded and not others?

Edit: is it only Virgin Media TV channels that can be recorded perhaps? That was my test earlier. But when I tried RTÉ it was the same as BBC and said that I couldn't record.
 
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With us it doesn’t say can only watch live. It says, cannot locate hard disk. Yours is a bit more honest.

We watch very little tv and 90% is on demand, so it’s not a big deal for us, just an occasional irritation.

D.
 
Dinarius said:
Apart from not being able to record programs, we’re happy with it overall.
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One of the reasons we want to try the refurbished box is that we can record our shows. We could record on our old box until this week. Without the record feature there is no point in us having this service really as we record about 90% of the stuff that we watch. So I hope when we get our refurbished old box delivered this week we will be able to record.
 
Dinarius said:
With us it doesn’t say can only watch live. It says, cannot locate hard disk. Yours is a bit more honest.
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This is the message that we are getting also. I wonder if Virgin Media have disabled some function in the box for some users......maybe those with older boxes?
 
ClubMan said:
Edit: is it only Virgin Media TV channels that can be recorded perhaps? That was my test earlier. But when I tried RTÉ it was the same as BBC and said that I couldn't record.
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On the newest VM boxes, they don't have a hard drive.
I think you can replay (via streaming) on most channels except RTE and BBC. At least with RTE you can use their player to replay.
There is no fallback option with VM for BBC, a lot of people unhappy \ cancelling because of it.
 
Dinarius said:
After fifty minutes “Joyce” answered the phone.

Apparently, the sales person back in June gave me the wrong information about the Sky Sports deduction. This is the first I’ve heard of this after chasing down overcharging the last three months. So, I’m now to be charged €8 more than agreed in June. VM will not take the hit for their salesperson’s incompetence.

If I want to cancel the contract, I have to give thirty days notice and I will be charged €150 cancellation fee per product. A total of €600.

You have been warned.
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For all -> open case with comreg..

I had to do this with Vodafone, I had been chasing them for 4 months for overcharging me for something I did not sign up for - was getting nowhere, opened case with comreg and was resolved in weeks...

The really really most infuriating part was when on hold with their support, I had to listen repeatedly to a recording saying you only have to open a case once, no repeating yourself, and the issue will be owned til resolved bla bla... they guy came back on the line and couldnt even tell me what the subscription I was being charged was for, couldnt tell me anything about it, how to even go about finding out what it is, or how to cancel it etc etc... I was really mad at that, you couldnt make that sort of incompetence up...
 
ClubMan said:
It must have an SSD or other flash drive or something given that it can definitely record some content. Some or all VM TV content at least.
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I thought they were accessing it from the cloud. You could try a test, if you disconnect your internet, can you still play the TV recording.
I can do this as I have an older box with a hard drive.
 
Grizzly said:
This is the message that we are getting also. I wonder if Virgin Media have disabled some function in the box for some users......maybe those with older boxes?
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I met up with a friend today who told me that he is with Sky....at the weekend he found that he could no longer record on his Sky Box....the message that he was getting was that the hard drive/disc was no longer able to record.

I wonder if this is widespread and if it is affecting many people? We are being told that it is a faulty box but I am beginning to wonder if there has been a withdrawal of the service that was available.......no more recording even on the older boxes?
 
There is a previous AAM thread here from 2024 about this subject which might be worth a read.

If this problem has been going on since at least 2024 and VM still misleading people then its probably not worth your while complaining to the CCPC who obviously won't/can't do anything about it.

I know this is AI but it does sound as if it is the full story:

You cannot record BBC channels because you have a newer Virgin Media streaming box. These internet-based boxes lack a hard drive and do not support local recording due to strict BBC licensing and cloud-recording rights agreements
 
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