Virgin Media is back on track after its customer exodus slows down, said The Times a week ago:

[…] The pay-TV and broadband group, whose hoped-for sale collapsed amid the global credit crunch, is expected to reveal a decline of about 31,000 customers in the third quarter, compared to a loss of 70,000 in the previous one.

It will also stress to investors that a sale of the business will now not happen until next year at the earliest.

[…] Neil Berkett, the group’s former chief operating officer and acting head, is expected to confirm a pledge to return the group to overall customer growth in the second half of this year.

Back on track? As a still not happy Virgin Media customer, what I’d like to see is a pledge for some actual customer service when you have a major problem.

A follow-up piece in The Times last Wednesday has this gem:

[Virgin Media is] seeking to win customers by focusing on its broadband service.

I have the 20-meg broadband service (what Virgin calls the XL package) and it is good. Very good.

It’s when it breaks that your nightmare starts, when you have to deal with tech support.

About a week after my 3-day broadband outage last month, Virgin Media emailed me a questionnaire on how I felt about my experience with tech support.

I told them what I thought.

And I’ve heard nothing. Not a word relating to my outage and what it cost me, nor a follow up from the questionnaire.

Isn’t one of the golden rules of business to do with keeping your existing customers happy?

But do they really give a damn?