In late April, a long-standing Virgin Media customer lost access to their @virgin.net email account without any prior warning. The account, which had been the primary email for over 20 years, was accessible on a Saturday but by Monday could no longer be logged into. Despite spending an entire day on the phone with Virgin Media, the issue remains unresolved.
The customer was informed that Virgin Media may have sold the virgin.net domain to TalkTalk two to three years ago. However, when contacted, TalkTalk denied any involvement in the technical administration of the domain. This has left the customer caught between the two companies, unable to recover their account or the associated contacts and links.
The confusion stems from the complex history of Virgin Media, formed from the merger of NTL and Telewest in 2006, followed by the acquisition of Virgin Mobile. In 2007, these entities were unified under the Virgin Media brand. Later, in November 2014, Virgin Media sold its dial-up ADSL business to TalkTalk, and began transferring non-cable customers to TalkTalk in February 2015.
Since that transfer, there have been numerous complaints about sudden email account closures. Virgin Media has now acknowledged that the closure was due to a technical issue, stating: “We have unlocked JF’s email and are sorry for the inconvenience caused.” A customer service executive has been assigned to recover any lost content.
