Posted 2 days ago

Safe to go BT openreach -> Virgin -> Back to BT after 18 months? Virgin won't destroy anything?

Hi everyone. Stupid question but once bitten twice shy.

Ages ago I recall having virgin and when I switched to BT they complained that someone had destroyed the old installation and I had to pay extra and more time to get it reinstalled.

I am with EE (via BT openreach) with 70mb/s download. All fine.

But for a bit extra I can get multiples of this from Virgin for 18 month contract.

I then know the prices double and you have to haggle. So worse comes to it I will just go back to BT openreach.

But in the past I recall getting messed around with them saying some previous engineer had snipped the old line.

Is this likely a common problem or easy to flip from BT openreach to Virgin and back again if I cannot get a good deal?

There's no other fast cable companies in my area.

Thanks
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  1. captainbeaky's avatar
    Switched between Virgin & Openreach isps (Sky/ TalkTalk) several times & never been charged for the installation of a new line.

    The switch is not always plain sailing though. Had no internet for 3 weeks last time I moved away from Virgin - a mix up of start/ end dates that each company blamed on each other. (edited)
  2. KodaBear's avatar
    If you go with an Openreach based ISP that charges an installation fee for a new line, you will pay this regardless, no matter if it's damaged or not.

    If you leave to go to Virgin, your Openreach line will cease and you'll be classed as a new line order. It's only if you keep an active Openreach line and switch from one provider to another on their network that you'll not go down as a new line.

    While BT/EE Charged you for a new line, not all of them do. Now TV for example give free installation of a line if you take a 12 month contract.

    If it was me, I would personally stick with Openreach and just go to a cheaper provider if looking for better value. Onestream's 80/20 Speed package is £20 a month for example. Openreach's network is more reliable than Virgin Media's, and VM's customer service absolutely sucks too.
  3. sm9690's avatar
    Why on earth would they destroy their installation? It'd cost them money to do so and also to install again if someone moved in and took out Virgin
    Deedie's avatar
    The issue being. When virgin engineers installed cable, they would routinely snip the BT cable. Making it more difficult and costly to leave them. This used to happen regularly, not sure if it still does! (edited)
  4. Deedie's avatar
    Check and see if your exchange is in the plans for openreach full fibre roll out. By the time you complete the virgin contract, then you can move over to full fibre and your old cabling will be redundant anyway
  5. horizon-in's avatar
    Don’t go for Virgin, Terrible CS and deferring installation (edited)
  6. dcx_badass's avatar
    I did this before, huge mistake, no point having Virgin's (claimed) fast speeds when it's so unreliable, had them at a few addresses and a waste of time, ended up sticking with my 50mbps until I could get full fibre (via cityfibre). Virgin are by far the most complained about I see on SM too.
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