CIARAN M.

I have been a customer of Virgin Media for 10 months, using their 250Mb Broadband service.

I (foolishly) decided to upgrade to 1Gb + TV360 ("The Beast Bundle") las Thursday. New router and TV box arrived on Friday. This is when my living hell started.

Before I proceed, it's important to point out that I run a tech company and am extremely experienced in setting up broadband routers and WiFi connections.

I followed the simple instructions to install new router (effectively unplug old router, plugin in new one) and wait "up to 30 minutes".

Hours later, nothing.

I phoned Virgin Media 1908 - I was left holding for 2 hours, without being connected to a customer care agent.

Later, I was directed to their "customer support" (it's a WhatsApp number). Each question/message I posted took (on average) 15-30 minutes for a response.

I asked support why the slow response, only to be told that the support person "was simultaneously working on 6 other support requests"!

Yesterday morning (Saturday), I spent over 5 hours on their useless WhatsApp support trying to get the connection issue resolved. No joy, whatsoever.

WhatsApp support person was next to useless (check for loose cables, etc.). I then establised, via connecting to the router's ip (control panel) that yes indeed, a broadband signal was been fed to it), clearly indicating a faulty router (new, black Hub 2). After some online research, it would appear that many other customers have experienced faulty routers, so I suggested to support person a new router be sent out. No.

I was then told that an engineer visit was required. I asked when would this happen, only to be reminded that "there will be a €50 engineer fee".

I then requested for my existing white router to be re-enabled, until a non-faulty new router would be sent, only to be told that this was not possible, and that my white router "was no longer on their system".

I have no intention of paying for an engineer fee.

I now have no internet connection.

In my 54 years on this planet, I have never, ever, ever experienced such atrocious support from ANY service provider.

I would not recommend Virgin Media to my worst enemy, and rue the day I ever decided to contact them.