Very slow and unresponsive V+ box

[admin_exported]

does any one else have the same problem with there V+ box?

when changing channels it doesn't respond then flicks through 4 or 5 channels

does random things when trying to navigate with the remote

i cant explain how annoying this is. it has stopped me from changing channel because its so frustrating.

i've had the cable guy out but he didn't help.

so im wondering is this a problem with the box its so user unfriendly and if it is a common fault im gonna try and get virgin to do something about it.

wish i'd stayed with sky there user interface is so much faster and easier to use

and if your reading this and considering about getting V+ then DONT DO IT!!!!

 

[kena]

No problems with my box, I use a Harmony One to control but just dug my original V+ remote out of cupboard and had a play no issues , you may have a sticky remote (Am assuming your batteries are good!).

 

[Anonymous]

I reported a minor issue with my V+ STB to VM on Wednesday afternoon, an appointment was made for them to come and take a butchers. It was the older silver version which has provided great service for ages but all of a sudden changing channels with the remote became sluggish but only for a couple of minutes after the box had been powered up or rebooted. It seemed that once it was "warmed" up the annoying glitch no longer happened. Anyway not being 100% happy I wanted it sorted.

The VM engineer arrived less than 24 hours later as scheduled. He had a quick play around with the box and could find no reason for it and at my request changed it for a new one, black in colour which now matches nicely the rest of my kit (sadly not one of the smaller black Samsung boxes which VM will soon be rolling out). Presto, all fixed and back to working fine and dandy. Well done VM.

Just give them a bell, tell them you are not content and want the boxed switched.

 

[Anonymous]

There's a lot of problematic V+ boxes about. Mine played up a bit when new, then settled down and mostly worked normally for 18 months or so then recently went completely spaz on me, became completely unusable for recording. Virgin replaced it but it took a cancellation threat, the replacements watchable on perhaps 90% of the recordings which is a much as you should hope for with this PoS.

 

[Anonymous]

yeah i've replaced batteries i dont know how many times and i have the black box.

when the engineer came he said 90% of his call outs were to do with this problem, he also said the new box was being rolled out but only in scotland at the momment.

like i said i wish i'd stayed with sky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[Anonymous]

adison:
when the engineer came he said 90% of his call outs were to do with this problem, he also said the new box was being rolled out but only in scotland at the momment.

Hopefully a limited release so it can be de-bugged before general release, which is the proper way of doing it, so on that basis I'm happier to wait. Although I may go sky myself at some point.

I gather the new (samsung?) boxes are MPEG4 compliant so V will be able to provide a proper HD service.

 

[Anonymous]

Probably not that limited a release - I've had mine about a year and it does the same thing.

 

[Andy Clough]

Can't say I've experienced this problem. My V+ box has been pretty reliable (touch wood), only occasionally freezing and then a quick reboot does the job.

 

[JamesPianoman]

I did have this problem with V+ but Virgin came out very quickly and swapped it for an identical black V+ box which solved the problem. Thumbs up for VM...although I did lose 2x 60hrs recorded programmes before the box was swapped

 

[Garth Man]

my box is rubbish, have the same problem. I am going to request and push for the new samsung v+ box when its out in Hornchurch

 

[rob_981]

I had a similar problem with my V+ box recently too (I also have the black one). I would press a button, and it could take up to 30 seconds for the button press to be recognised, then of course, all the buttons I'd pressed since the first one would all take effect immediately. And about half of the programs I wanted to wouldn't record. It was very frustrating. Despite the woman on the phone telling me this was normal (and I knew it was not), I pushed for an engineer to be sent out (she warned me that I would be charged if nothing was found to be wrong - a chance I was happy to take!). He came out, said there was a problem, changed the box, and away he went.

The second box was even worse. Half an hour before a button press would take effect. No joke! So I called again, and the engineer very kindly went out of his way to come back and take another look. He got a chance call from a colleague who suggested removing the card from the back of the box and trying it without the card in. You still get the basic channels, and the box worked perfectly like this. No delays at all. So it was the card that was at fault. It had got corrupted somehow. He replaced it, and I have had no problems since.

So try removing the card from the back of your box and see if this helps. If it does, get the engineer to try replacing the card.

Despite their help though, I'm still moving to Sky when I move house - I want HD!

 

[Anonymous]

well i have an update after complaining and being passed from piller to post i eventually got the new samsung box which looks a hell of a lot nicer and works much better not quite up to sky standard but a lot better.

so keep complaining or wait until your contracts up and switch to sky

i will be in 7 months and counting

why oh why did i switch in the first place.

 

[rob_981]

Adison, having used both, what would you say are the advantages of Sky over Virgin? I'm planning on switching to Sky when I move house, but I just want to know if I'm making the right choice. I like the fact that you can record two programs and watch a third on VM, but I really want more HD choice.

The only thing stopping me switching for definite is the broadband. Do you have Sky broadband, and if so what's it like? I find VM really good for this, but I imagine it would work out more expensive having VM broadband and Sky tv as you don't get the package discounts then.

 

[Garth Man]

I had Sky broadband and its good most of the time, but when it doesn't work ohhh boy its bad. Sky are terrible for their costumer service. Well to be honest all of them are.

I work in IT, I setup cisco switches netwroks etc, and I had quite a bit of trouble getting the bloody thing to work sometimes.....

If the broadband was Fibre optic and reliable.....I would go back to them straight away. But virgin broadband, never had any problems with and works like a dream

Annoying really

 

[Anonymous]

well i had a choice see

i had my phone and broadband with virgin and tv with sky

so i phoned both companys and said i wanted to get it all with one supplier and asked which one could do me the best deal.

well with sky i could have had sky hd tv with movies unlimited calls and 20 meg broad band down the phone line

and with virgin i could have tv xl with sky movies 800 anytime calls and 10 meg broadband fibre optic

both these options would have cost me the same

sky also said i needed a bt phone line and as i didnt have one this would have cost me

and the phone package on virgin suited me better (we make a lot of international calls and they are included in the 800 mins)

so i opted to go virgin on tv because it was less hassle to set up.

sky tv is a lot better for speed of switching chanels and the like, definetly a better user interface, although having sky + before it is limited if you want to record 2 things and watch another but now a days most things are repeated any way so you never really miss anything also with sky if you see an advert for a program you would like to record you simply press the green button and it records it automaticaly.

you cant info a different program while watching something on sky like you can on virgin though.

and theres no i player and the on demand is limited with sky although most the movies are available a day early to sky+/sky hd subscribers

maybe its just me being so used to sky that i find virgin a pain but its beeen 5 month now and it aint getting any easier.

it would be good to here from some one who has made the switch from virgin to sky to get there opinion on this aswell.

by the way both companys customer services stink.