VIRGIN Media broadband went down this afternoon leaving hundreds of customers without internet.
Some households also couldn’t use their landline phone.
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The telecoms giant confirmed it experienced an outage in Guildford, Surrey.
Almost 700 people were struggling to use their internet shortly before 11.30am, according to outage tracker DownDetector, but the problem has since been fixed.
DownDetector also appeared to show problems in London, Cardiff and Birmingham although Virgin Media says it’s unaware of issues in these areas.
Customers were complaining to Virgin Media via Twitter, with some saying they can’t work from home without internet.
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One person said: “Broadband in GU46 has gone down for the past 30 minutes. Your App keeps telling to book an engineer for my equip.
“[Problem] is in the street others have same prob. Can you investigate ASAP, can’t work and need to.”
A second said: “Internet has gone down in the GU15 area – can’t call 150 from my house phone. Is there any update on when this will be fixed? I’m working from home as are many others so this needs resolving ASAP.”
Another said: “Another day and broadband down again. This is a daily occurrence where I live and with the need to work from home is a disgrace. Can’t complain though as you have to wait 2 hours plus on customer service line. Joke.”
A fourth added: “Fuming with Virgin Media internet and everything gone down while daughter is trying to sit an exam cant ring off mobile either.”
Can you claim compensation for broadband, mobile or landline outages?
IF you’re suffering issues with your internet, call or mobile services you may be entitled to compensation.
Internet firms usually pay out £8 for each day broadband and home phone services are not repaired after two full days of no service.
They will also pay £25 for each missed appointment, or for appointments cancelled with less than 24 hours’ notice, plus you’ll get £5 for each calendar day delay to the start of a promised new service.
This is usually automatic but regulator Ofcom said back in March that firms don’t have to pay compensation during lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.
But as of June 5, most providers had restarted the scheme as normal, and that includes Virgin Media.
If you’re a mobile customer and you suffer from a lack of service then depending on the circumstance you may be entitled to a refund or account credit.
If you’re without service for a sustained period of time then you may also have the right to leave without incurring a fee, although neither of these are automatic – you need to ask your provider.
Replying to one customer, Virgin Media tweeted: “We are aware of an outage in your area.”
A spokesperson from Virgin Media said an engineer has now fixed the issue.
They said: “We’ve fixed the local issue which meant customers in the Guildford area briefly lost broadband services this morning and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Virgin Media, which has approximately 3.2million customers in the UK, confirmed some customers would have also been without a landline during the outage if their phone is operated via a broadband connection.
How do I check my Virgin Media service status?
Virgin Media has a dedicated web page where you can find out if there are any problems in your area.
Click here to visit the My Virgin service update website.
To find out if there are problems in your area, enter your postcode.
See our Virgin Media outages guide for more information on how to check your service and if you’re eligible for compensation.
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Virgin Media last experienced issues on August 13 after its network was hit by a series of outages.
The telecoms firm also had problems with its service on July 29 when its customer website, apps, and emails went down.
It comes as Virgin Media confirmed it will hike bills by £44 a year for millions of customers.
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