Virgin losing the battle for hearts and minds
Virgin Media has been getting an online beating from its customers - but the page featuring the user poll has mysteriously broken today.
Half of respondents to an interactive vote on the Virgin Media customer website have said they would quit the cable TV service over the loss of Sky channels.
The Virgin Media online poll asked: "What do you think of Sky withdrawing its non-premium channels like Sky One, Sky News and Sky Sports News from Virgin Media's TV service?"
Users were offered a choice of four possible responses, including "Virgin Media promised me channels that are now not available, it's unfair and I am definitely leaving". At around 6pm yesterday 50% of respondents had chosen this option.
Another 27% opted for "Murdoch's trying to bully me into switching to Sky, but I am not going to be bullied!"
A third option, "Virgin Media should spend whatever it takes to save these channels, even if that means I pay more in the long run", had attracted 18.5% of responses, while just 4% had chosen "I am happy with Virgin Media, I don't know what all the fuss is about".
The poll was inaccessible this morning and the Virgin Media customer website - virginmedia.com/customers- was experiencing technical difficulties.
Virgin Media put up a holding message saying it was having "some technical problems right now" with the customer site, but was working to fix them.
A Virgin Media spokeswoman denied the poll had been pulled from the website because of the responses, blaming a technical glitch.
MediaGuardian.co.uk was able to access a web forum on the Your shout area of the Virgin Media website, where users are invited to comment on the same question posed by the poll: "What do you think of Sky withdrawing its non-premium channels like Sky One, Sky News and Sky Sports News from Virgin Media's TV service?"
The Your shout thread, entitled "Sky withdraws", had attracted more than 800 posts by midday - with the majority criticising Virgin Media.
A significant number of posters were threatening to quit Virgin Media over the loss of the Sky channels, or demanding a reduction in their subscription, with some chastising both companies for ignoring their customers and allowing the stand off to reach this stage.
"If Sky One, Sky News, are not back on Virgin soon. Hello Sky, goodbye Virgin," said John Buckley from Wigan.
Joanne Doody from Farnborough added: "I am disgusted with both companies trying to score points with each other. I pay for an extra box purely for my son so he can watch Sky Sports News. I will be cancelling it and also changing companies as soon as I can get someone to answer the phone."
L K Bridgman from West Yorkshire was also not impressed: "The way I see it, you reduce your prices, bring the Sky channels back, or lose customers in their droves! Sort it out please, it's all too pathetic."
But Virgin Media did have some backers on the forum. "I'm sick of people whinging about Virgin Media! I don't care about losing those stupid Sky channels. I'm not a customer to Sky I'm a customer to Virgin Media," Donna from Grimsby said.
Jason Deans
Friday March 2, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
© Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
Virgin Media has been getting an online beating from its customers - but the page featuring the user poll has mysteriously broken today.
Half of respondents to an interactive vote on the Virgin Media customer website have said they would quit the cable TV service over the loss of Sky channels.
The Virgin Media online poll asked: "What do you think of Sky withdrawing its non-premium channels like Sky One, Sky News and Sky Sports News from Virgin Media's TV service?"
Users were offered a choice of four possible responses, including "Virgin Media promised me channels that are now not available, it's unfair and I am definitely leaving". At around 6pm yesterday 50% of respondents had chosen this option.
Another 27% opted for "Murdoch's trying to bully me into switching to Sky, but I am not going to be bullied!"
A third option, "Virgin Media should spend whatever it takes to save these channels, even if that means I pay more in the long run", had attracted 18.5% of responses, while just 4% had chosen "I am happy with Virgin Media, I don't know what all the fuss is about".
The poll was inaccessible this morning and the Virgin Media customer website - virginmedia.com/customers- was experiencing technical difficulties.
Virgin Media put up a holding message saying it was having "some technical problems right now" with the customer site, but was working to fix them.
A Virgin Media spokeswoman denied the poll had been pulled from the website because of the responses, blaming a technical glitch.
MediaGuardian.co.uk was able to access a web forum on the Your shout area of the Virgin Media website, where users are invited to comment on the same question posed by the poll: "What do you think of Sky withdrawing its non-premium channels like Sky One, Sky News and Sky Sports News from Virgin Media's TV service?"
The Your shout thread, entitled "Sky withdraws", had attracted more than 800 posts by midday - with the majority criticising Virgin Media.
A significant number of posters were threatening to quit Virgin Media over the loss of the Sky channels, or demanding a reduction in their subscription, with some chastising both companies for ignoring their customers and allowing the stand off to reach this stage.
"If Sky One, Sky News, are not back on Virgin soon. Hello Sky, goodbye Virgin," said John Buckley from Wigan.
Joanne Doody from Farnborough added: "I am disgusted with both companies trying to score points with each other. I pay for an extra box purely for my son so he can watch Sky Sports News. I will be cancelling it and also changing companies as soon as I can get someone to answer the phone."
L K Bridgman from West Yorkshire was also not impressed: "The way I see it, you reduce your prices, bring the Sky channels back, or lose customers in their droves! Sort it out please, it's all too pathetic."
But Virgin Media did have some backers on the forum. "I'm sick of people whinging about Virgin Media! I don't care about losing those stupid Sky channels. I'm not a customer to Sky I'm a customer to Virgin Media," Donna from Grimsby said.
Jason Deans
Friday March 2, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk
© Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
