Virgin Media (how long test)

15 days later, and they are still claiming to be the UK's fastest
broadband.
And the spelling has not been corrected.

I must point out that I have informed Virgin Media of these 2 things, as
the one of bein the UK's fastest broadband can be seen as fraudulent to
some people.
And the other is just a case of sloppyness.
So they can't say that it was an oversight on their part, when contacted
by the relevant bodies.

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/webs...ervice.do?id=2

On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:07:29 -0000, "Gonz" <T o p @ S e c r e t . c o
m> wrote:

>15 days later, and they are still claiming to be the UK's fastest
>broadband.
>And the spelling has not been corrected.

>http://allyours.virginmedia.com/webs...ervice.do?id=2

The "It's official. We're the UK's fastest broadband..." claim is
qualified in the small print at the bottom of the page:

"Fastest broadband claim is based on Epitiro data for 01/09/06 to
31/07/07 (up to 10Mb cable broadband average actual download speeds vs
BT, AOL and Tiscali ADSL Max average actual download speeds)."

However, I note they've forgotten to explain what the 'degree symbol'
they use in the following statement means:

"Unlike some of our competitors, you get unlimited[degree symbol]
downloads as a basic right so you can load up on music,
films...whatever you're into."
--
Martin Jay

"Martin Jay" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> On Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:07:29 -0000, "Gonz" <T o p @ S e c r e t . c o
> m> wrote:
>
>>15 days later, and they are still claiming to be the UK's fastest
>>broadband.
>>And the spelling has not been corrected.
>
>>http://allyours.virginmedia.com/webs...ervice.do?id=2
>
> The "It's official. We're the UK's fastest broadband..." claim is
> qualified in the small print at the bottom of the page:
>
> "Fastest broadband claim is based on Epitiro data for 01/09/06 to
> 31/07/07 (up to 10Mb cable broadband average actual download speeds vs
> BT, AOL and Tiscali ADSL Max average actual download speeds)."
>
> However, I note they've forgotten to explain what the 'degree symbol'
> they use in the following statement means:
>
> "Unlike some of our competitors, you get unlimited[degree symbol]
> downloads as a basic right so you can load up on music,
> films...whatever you're into."

That statement doesn't qualify for that statement, as there is no key,
such as ° / * to go with it.
It is a statement, statin that they are officially the UK's fastest
supplier.
It can be interpreted that it is meant to mislead, and is misleading.

It was only recently put there on that page, up until a few days ago
there was also a big banner statin the same, in big letters.
Why put up a big ad statin they are officially the UK's fastest
supplier, 4 months later?

One cud say that, why are you tellin us that you are the UK's fastest
supplier, but after questionin about whether it's misleadin or not, you
turn around and say 'we was, not are'
If you know that you are not, and you know that people find it to be
misleadin to many, as it is seen as a statement of fact in the present,
then why is it still there and not amended if not removed.

It is up on the top of the page, followed by the words "just pick your
package below"
*just* used in the context it is used in, should not be used if the
wordin was not meant to mislead.

They may have been the fastest at the time of 01/09/06 to 31/07/07, but
that was then, and is actually based on the 10Mb service thay don't
actually sell anymore, so it actually has no place on that page, unless
it is meant to mislead.

It's no good complaining to them as they don't seem to care about their
aggressive sales and marketing tactics, or the fact that their service is so
dismal.

If their ad is misleading (which I would imagine anyone who is using their
service has experienced), then I think that this needs to be taken up with
the ASA or OFCOM. The difficulty is, as they have published this statement,
it leads me to believe that they can back it up (whether it may be true in
real life or not), so ASA may not be able to do anything.

For me, I can't wait to get rid of them, just haven't decided where to go
yet. I really think that they are shooting themselves in the foot, because
I will never use them in the future for any service. Their corporate
identity for me is a bunch of fly-by-night cowboys. Of course, they are not
fly-by-night, but they seem to be acting that way.




"Gonz" <T o p @ S e c r e t . c o m> wrote in message
news:R%e0j.18243$(E-Mail Removed). ..
> 15 days later, and they are still claiming to be the UK's fastest
> broadband.
> And the spelling has not been corrected.
>
> I must point out that I have informed Virgin Media of these 2 things, as
> the one of bein the UK's fastest broadband can be seen as fraudulent to
> some people.
> And the other is just a case of sloppyness.
> So they can't say that it was an oversight on their part, when contacted
> by the relevant bodies.
>
> http://allyours.virginmedia.com/webs...ervice.do?id=2

Gonz wrote:
> 15 days later, and they are still claiming to be the UK's fastest
> broadband.
> And the spelling has not been corrected.

Did it occur to you that your report may have been disregarded due to
your posting history and general appearance of illiteracy?

>I must point out that I have informed Virgin Media of these 2 things,
>as the one of bein the UK's fastest broadband can be seen as
fraudulent >to some people.
>And the other is just a case of sloppyness.

There's two spelling mistakes in the above, for instance. :-(

Mark McIntyre wrote:

> Gonz wrote:
> > 15 days later, and they are still claiming to be the UK's fastest
> > broadband.
> > And the spelling has not been corrected.
>
> Did it occur to you that your report may have been disregarded due to
> your posting history

Do you seriously think Ofcom etc monitor this group ?

Graham

"Eeyore" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)
> Mark McIntyre wrote:
>
>> Gonz wrote:
>>> 15 days later, and they are still claiming to be the UK's fastest
>>> broadband.
>>> And the spelling has not been corrected.
>>
>> Did it occur to you that your report may have been disregarded due to
>> your posting history
>
> Do you seriously think Ofcom etc monitor this group ?
>
> Graham

Ofcom?? - the OP said he 'had informed VM'

max wrote:

> "Eeyore" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote
> > Mark McIntyre wrote:
> >> Gonz wrote:
> >
> >>> 15 days later, and they are still claiming to be the UK's fastest
> >>> broadband.
> >>> And the spelling has not been corrected.
> >>
> >> Did it occur to you that your report may have been disregarded due to
> >> your posting history
> >
> > Do you seriously think Ofcom etc monitor this group ?
>
>
> Ofcom?? - the OP said he 'had informed VM'

I can't imagine VM paying any attention to that.

I thought he'd complained to Ofom.

Graham

Gonz wrote:
> 15 days later, and they are still claiming to be the UK's fastest
> broadband.
> And the spelling has not been corrected.

Yeah. 'cos for a company with as many (supposed) problems as VM, a spelling
mistake on a web site is *the* most important :-/

Don't know (and not really bothered) about the other thing.

--
Carl Waring
DigiGuide:
Full: http://getdigiguide.com/?p=1&r=1495
Freeview (free): http://getdigiguide.com/?p=4&r=1495
Web-based: http://getdigiguide.com/?p=3&r=1495

"Ali" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:6im0j.68604$%(E-Mail Removed)...
> It's no good complaining to them as they don't seem to care about
> their aggressive sales and marketing tactics, or the fact that their
> service is so dismal.

There's people on slow speeds who are told that the work needed to
enable them to have the speeds they're payin for, won't be done until
March next year.

> If their ad is misleading (which I would imagine anyone who is using
> their service has experienced), then I think that this needs to be
> taken up with the ASA or OFCOM. The difficulty is, as they have
> published this statement, it leads me to believe that they can back it
> up (whether it may be true in real life or not), so ASA may not be
> able to do anything.

They know they'll just be told to take it off, and that'll be it.
As long as they possibly get more customers than they wud otherwise get
from sayin that they are the fastest supplier, then it's worth it.
People lookin for an ISP will see that statement and assume that it's
true, they don't know otherwise.
I just don't like the Virgin Media attitude of treatin everyone as if
we're all stewpid.

> For me, I can't wait to get rid of them, just haven't decided where to
> go yet. I really think that they are shooting themselves in the foot,
> because I will never use them in the future for any service. Their
> corporate identity for me is a bunch of fly-by-night cowboys. Of
> course, they are not fly-by-night, but they seem to be acting that
> way.

They were meant to improve from this change of identity.
But the complete opposite has happened, and is gettin worse.