do i stay with virgin media or switch to sky?

[butterfli]

I am a virgin customer, and get tv,broadband and phone, however i found a deal where you get a sky + box and installation free, so i went ahead and ordered it.
however because i am no longer on a package deal with virgin i will be paying more to be with 2 companies.
To get sky phone and broadband i need to have a bt line installed, which costs �129 (i have been told that sky will refund this as viewing credit) This also means that I will have to pay bt for their line rental for at least 12mths.
When I contacted virgin to cancel they said they would do the same package for a couple of pound a month cheaper, but to get a v+ box (which is their version of sky+, although it has a lifetime guareentee and comes as hd standard) I will have to pay �99.
Does anyone have any advice, I would be very grateful.

[Ethel]

Is your broadband connection good with Virgin?

How do your neighbours get on with their non-Virgin broadband?

I love my V+ box,. and I think the Virgin tv service is good. My broadband is excellent.

There is no way I would swap to BT - mainly because I don't have a phone line at all,and never want one

[Ethel]

And of course my Virgin tv doesn't suffer interference from snow, growing trees or other obstacles as Sky tv can.

With V+ you can record to different programmes and watch a third - you can't do that with Sky. You can record two and watch a previous recording, but not access three live programmes.

[butterfli]

hi there Ethel, thank you for taking the time to answer.
My broadband seems fine, to be honest i was perfectly happy with virgin, but didn't have the v+ box (in fact i did not know they did one!), so when i had the offer made to me by sky i thought it would be good because i get a sky+ box.
If the v+ box is as good, or better, it is probably worth the �99, as it has a lifetime warranty.
I'm just trying to work out the best option, Thank you for your advice. Most people i know have sky, so it's good to hear from someone else. x

[sarah_louise]

If your Broadband was always reliable with Virgin I would stick with them too.
I had SKY + and spent days of my life trying to phone Cust services and waiting for the Engineer to change the box.
I had 3 boxes the noise was apparent from them all and I was well used to having to restore them using the reset routine the Engineer showed me.
Virgin too have Customer service issues by in my opinion not as bad.

[Ethel]

My immediate neighbours have all lost their Sky due to the snow over the last couple of weeks - maybe just for half an hour, but sometimes for several hours.

I've had no problems.

[butterfli]

Thank you for your advice, I was halfway thinking of keeping virgin but didn't know if their v+ box was any good. Also it seems a bit of a hassle getting a bt line put in, and then having to keep bt for 12 mths.
I had my sky installed on saturday so i should still be able to cancel as i believe it is within their cooling off period.
Is their anyone who thinks i should go with sky?

[kevo2k7]

Hi im on Virgin and never had no problems except once when there was some type of power cut with a virgin cable in my area,it was fixed the next day but i complained and got 1 month free broadband which i was pleased with,apart from that its been great without any problems with the television phone or broadband so personally i would stay with Virgin but each to their own.

[Tony N]

Hi butterfli,

If you are still monitoring this, here's my twopennyworth.

I would have thought your best bet was to stick with Virgin and buy a Humax receiver/recorder. It has all the features of Sky+, record/rewind/fast forward and reverse/pause for a wee-wee and pick up where you left off, etc., without tieing you to a particular supplier. If you are getting all the TV, Broadband and 'phone you want from Virgin why move from 'up to date', high tech fibre optic cable to 'out of date', low tech copper cable?

Hope this helps.