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24 Mar 2011
Angry V3.co.uk readers have been complaining in their droves after many were unable to access their Virgin Media email accounts when a service upgrade hit unexpected problems.
Virgin Media said that the problems occurred after changes were made to its account management system, but that it expects a full service to be restored as soon as possible.
The issue came to light through a number of recent comments to V3.co.uk's Labs blog. Many readers complained of not being able to access their Virgin Media email accounts, and that user names and passwords were being rejected as invalid.
"I haven't been able to access to my ntlworld account since Virgin started the upgrade of their web site & I am getting very annoyed as I may have some important emails in there," wrote Janet Francis.
Another, Anna Paton, appealed to other readers for help. "Has anyone fiound a solution to the problem? I can not access my email since the new 'exciting' redesign on 23 Feb," she wrote.
"I know that calls to some support centre cost a fortune and take hours and just frustrate you by the sheer incompetence of the staff, so won't even try that."
Meanwhile, reader Jake hinted that the issue may have been ongoing since last weekend. "Downtime planned for 10pm Saturday to 10pm Sunday, then 8am Monday, then 8pm Monday, now it's to be 0800 Tuesday," he wrote.
In a statement issued to V3.co.uk, Virgin Media said that there has been an authentication issue for a small number of customers, but claimed that the vast majority of users are unaffected.
"We have been upgrading our 'My Virgin Media' account management area to make things easier for our customers to view and pay bills, as well as provide easy access to Virgin Media Mail and other services such as Digital Home Support," the firm said.
"Whilst the vast majority of these changes have been implemented successfully, we are aware of an issue whereby a small number of customers have been having difficulty signing into their email accounts."
Virgin Media said that it is working to restore service for affected customers and rolling out changes from this evening that should fix the issue.
"We expect full restoration by lunchtime tomorrow. We're sorry for any inconvenience caused," the spokesperson told us.
Ironically, this issue was brought to our attention via comments against a blog article dating from last year, when this author was experiencing similar difficulties following Virgin Media's migration of its email system to Google Mail.
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Do you agree?
Virgin foot in virgin mouth
I operate my own domain but send mail via Virgin's smtp servers. Their recent changes mean that I had to register my email with their service for messages to go. The recipient now gets a message saying its from my virgin media email address on behalf of my normal one. This is utter rubbish. To make it worse, autoresponders go to the virgin mail account, not my own so I don't see them without wasting yet more time. Utter rubbish
Posted by: mulucave 11 Dec 2011
virgin should close down
Time is too short to have a company like this. Virginmedia have made my iphone4 worthless. They only let the house phone ring three times to make you upgrade to a paid service too. The company must be on its last legs. Goodbye virginmedia someone will take them over soon.
Posted by: Mike Howarth 14 Oct 2011
Fuming
The dates of these messages just prove what a bunch of BS merchants Virgin are. I was told yesterday that my email address's are no longer on their server and to get new ones. When I said that was not acceptable, that I wanted my email addresses put back on the system I was told that isn't possible, get new ones. I spent hours on the phone going up the ladder of rubbish staff with crib sheets, some IT expert was supposed to phone me back yesterday afternoon, I'm still waiting for that call. My missing email account suddenly started working about 10 mins after my call, but then stopped again at about 9 pm and still isn't working. Don't these people realise that for some of us having to get a new email address isn't that simple and would cause a huge amount of work tracking down sites that need it so you can log on or get newsletters etc notifying everyone in your address book of the change and due to a computer crash last year there are people who have my address, but I don't have theirs to even tell them the new one. I'm wondering if Virgin don't want to support older customers with ntl addresses and they think the cheapest and easiest option for them is to cripple the system often enough they can force us to get new virgin email accounts, rather than be up front and give us the time needed to do that and ensure we don't loose contact with anyone.
Posted by: Ell 09 Jul 2011
e mail down
23rd april and my virgin account and password are still being rejected on pop3 using outlook . what a joke( if it was not so anoying)
Posted by: jim dinnen 23 Apr 2011
I don't understand this message am i caught up in this issue ? can anyone help please
Account: 'pop.ntlworld.com', Server: 'pop.ntlworld.com', Protocol: POP3, Server Response: '-ERR Protocol error.', Port: 110, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 0x800CCC90, Error Number: 0x800CCC91
Posted by: KG53 23 Apr 2011
Why do people STILL bother with ISP-based e-mail?
Having had an ISP bought out and lost an e-mail address I had for 8 years ('94 to 2002) I never went back to depending on ISP for e-mail. Apart from the free services, there are some excellent paid-for services at relatively low cost (US$15 a year) and I can use them from my Asda mobile, laptop with Three mobile dongle, or home (Plusnet) connection. If I switch ISP no-one needs to be told a new e-mail address as mine does not change!
Posted by: NetworkGuy 20 Apr 2011
What a complete joke Virgin are!
Likewise, my account has been down for weeks. I've had to waste so much time rearranging e-tickets and items related to a holiday that it's become a nightmare. It really is unacceptable in today's society to leave people with no access to their inbox for weeks. Virgins customer service is the worst I've ever experienced. The call centres are clearly abroad which would be fine if they functioned efficiently but they don't. I have to communicate in pidgin english and have to resort to phrases as simple as 'it's broken' and then just receive a series of stock phrases. They may as well just have an automated phone service with recorded messages. The forums also offer no real information. You couldn't imagine that hotmail or yahoo would ever end up in this situation where email accounts went down for weeks. Virgin are sticking their heads so far in the sand on this, it's embarrassing. All the Virgin tech team should go home and call in some people who know what they're doing.
Posted by: LT 05 Apr 2011
@Carl Dean
Carl - you're making a very sweeping statement and assuming that everyone uses their email account in the same way you do. I'm sure that there are plenty of users who use their Virgin accounts for the purposes of holiday bookings, shopping, monitoring their Ebay sales and other time-sensitive uses so I'm sure for them this is a very big deal indeed. It's patronising to suggest otherwise. My personal stance has always been never to use the freebie email address given by my ISP in the first place. I prefer to use a generic, provider independent, webmail account from the outset (Gmail) - I'm sure that many Virgin customers being bitten by this outage will go down the same route, as you have, after the event but that doesn't make it any easier for them to try and figure out what emails are sitting, inaccessible to them, on Virgin's servers. They have every right to be annoyed.
Posted by: BadmanMonkey 04 Apr 2011
End of The world?
People should really take a step back here and look at the bigger picture. Emails have been down for a week, so what? i mean really.. is it the end of the world. I am a virgin customer and they have told me that this email/ v-stuff wont be fixed untill the 10th of April. So guess what i did!? I got a new gmail account, contacted the people who are important and redirected my mail that i needed urgent to it. C'mon guys, yes its inconvenient but hardly worthy of ' moving to another proivder ' or demanding compensation.
Posted by: Carl Dean 03 Apr 2011
Virginmedia, your service stinks!!!
I have had no email access since Saturday 19th March 2011. Despite constantly phoning them for answers and talking to all and sundry in India etc. I still have no access. I even wrote to their complaints department in Swansea. I have now taken the decision to arrange an alternative provider and once I am up and running I will cancel my direct debit. Obviously I will then owe them money but as far as I am concerned I will not continue to pay for a service I am not getting. If anyone from Virginmedia is reading this then I will guarantee that you will spend more time in telephone calls and ink trying to get the final payment from me than I have in trying to get the service that I am paying for from you!!
Posted by: Peter Riley 02 Apr 2011
Just be honest and informative
I think we would all be a little happier if they just made regular and honest appraisals on the situation. It is no good burying heads in the sand and all the while losing good and longstanding customers. I can accept that there are problems with complicated IT systems, but cannot accept a lack of honesty and information.
Posted by: Darren Hodgson 29 Mar 2011
am i dim?
I am hoping Mr. Branston is at least reading these comments (if he is not in a pickle) seriously am i stupid or am i the only person that seems to have to search for answers over a wide range of websites/or phone multichoice options? Can we at least get a realistic reason/answer on the email problem? I am ok waiting but please can virgin at least make it easy to find out things? Are there people calling in computer experts assuming its their kit that is broken?/ Richard if you are reading these comments on Necker island , kick someones butt now!
Posted by: william 29 Mar 2011
e-mail(not)
Whata misstakea to make 3months into 18months contract wishing there were easy ways out, it seems all you can do is hope the person who writes the adverts has a rubber and can add SUPER FAST WHEN IT WORKS
Posted by: Ken 29 Mar 2011
Virgin Media e-mail
After more than a week of incompetence and lies, I have switched to another provider
Posted by: Douglas Bromley 28 Mar 2011
my virgin media e-mail service - or lack of !!
cant enter my e-mails details, and like many other users am getting so annoyed - waste of time (and money) calling them, always delays in getting thro'. Haven't been able to get access via other suggested means - not very comp. lit. Thinking of cancelling service.
Posted by: sue curtis 27 Mar 2011
fed up !!
utterly fed up with being fobbed off ' its your router' etc, its about time virgin media started to look after its original customers, then trying to attract more customers who they cannot give a decent service too !, not been able to access my virgin email account for days!!
Posted by: Julie Hellewell 27 Mar 2011
Virgin Media
Just to set the record straight - I am one of the majority who have not had any problems. I have been with Virgin Media since the days of NTL when customer service was bad. Now the service is seemless and I have not had any problems - yes I would definately recommend them and no I do not have any affiliation with them!
Posted by: Colin 27 Mar 2011
E mails
I have been unable to get proper access to my e mails since last Sunday. Every time I ring they say it will be fine next day. Still waiting. 26.3.11
Posted by: joan collins 26 Mar 2011
virgins viasco
i ask to reimburse for ther disruption of service am waiting for a response?
Posted by: lisa 26 Mar 2011
Virgin failure
I have been having problems with my blueyonder email for a week. What idiot gave Richard Branson a gong. Every customer should get a year's free service.
Posted by: Alan Gibbons 25 Mar 2011
Virgin on the ridiculous!!!!
Once again off-line thanks to Vtrgin. Their contempt for customers is breath taking. Have I been too loyal? Yes. No e-mails or internet for the week. I've lost work and updates as a result. Too many empty promise and poor customer service in India. Should I go to BT/Sky or just accept that Virgin are inept and contemptuous or loyal, decent customers.
Posted by: Paul 25 Mar 2011
complete shambles
I have never met such a load of could not care less people than the lot that is running Virginmedia, I can't access my email and when you try to speak to customer services it is a complete joke, heads should role at top level.
Posted by: David Causer 25 Mar 2011
Emai Access
Have been unable to access emails since 19th March. Have telephoned every day for an up-date - just to be 'fobbed off' with another excuse. No answers forthcoming whatsoever. Find it very unacceptable to say the least
Posted by: Irene Geddis 25 Mar 2011
Virgin on the ridiculous
My Virgin Broadband and TV were both off throughout Monday. Virgin customer services (non-uk based) were of no help - and awfully hard to understand. The following day Virgin customer services did ring my answerphone and leave a message that I think was to say all was well again - I can't be sure of that as the speaker was so quiet and the accent so heavy I couldn't make out what was being said despite listening to the message several times. Time to move on? I have been looking at other suppliers and reading reviews from their customers and they appear to be all as bad as each other - so it is a bit 'better the devil you know' at the moment. Would I recommend any Virgin service to anyone? Absolutely... NOT!!!
Posted by: Dave Peden 25 Mar 2011
Whatever did we do.
What ever did we do before eMail? Its hardly the end of the world is it? For me if its that important then a telephone call wouldnt go a miss. I am from the old school background where i dont rely on email for very important things in life.
Posted by: Carl Dean 25 Mar 2011
UNABLE TO USE EMAIL SINCE 22ND MARCH 2011
THIS HAS BEEN A COMPLETE SHAMBLES, I WILL BE LOOKING FOR SOME SORT OF COMPENSATION, OR I WILL GO WITH ANOTHR PROVIDER. WE SHOULD NOT BE CHARGED FOR SOMETHING WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO USE.
Posted by: Sheila McKill 25 Mar 2011
frustrated
I have not been able to access my NTL email now since Sunday, the frustration at being on hold for an indifferent amount of time was mirrored bt the in difference shown by an off shore advisor. Help my work is stored in here that each day gets more worrying
Posted by: lyn clarke 24 Mar 2011
Shocking customer service
No access to virgin mail since last Saturday and nothing on the virgin website suggests there is a problem. This is a massive cover up by virgin media. I was told by customer services after waiting 30 minutes they have no idea when the service will be back. On this I agree, Virgin Media have no idea
Posted by: Robert 24 Mar 2011