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Virginmedia - Loyalty Discount - Achieved by Lousy Haggler!!!
ibryant
Posts: 9 Forumite
I just wanted to share this with you. I followed the steps for getting a reduction with Virgin and it works. I will point out I am a lousy haggler and do not consider myself good at this.I have been a Virgin/Telewest customer for five years. My total bill with them was £48.45 a month. I knew Sky were probably cheaper, but had not been bothered to change. However, in the last month the service had gone down on five different days so I decided to act.
Virgin £48.45 a month
SKY £34.00 a month for same
(Phone line, call anytime, 2mb broadband, Starter TV/3 Sky Packs, etc)
Difference £14.45 a month
I rang up the Moving/Cancellation Department at Virgin and said that I wanted to discuss terminating my contract. I explained that I had accepted that Virgin were more expensive than Sky, but had stayed because the Customer Service had been better, however, that had all changed recently (service down 5 times in a month). He then started going through the “well our service is better than Sky’s etc”. I said yes but I want more children’s channels and I can only get those by going to the XL package and with Sky all I have to do is pick a children’s pack. He went onto say that Sky’s Broadband was rubbish and I would not get 2mb speeds. He then offered to check for me and had to admit that I would get 2mb as I was close enough to the exchange.
I have to admit I thought I was getting nowhere. I am a lousy haggler and we had been talking for 8 minutes and I did not think I was going to get a reduction. He then told me he would give me a £15.00 credit for the disruption and said “lets see what sort of deal we can do for you.” He then offered to upgrade me to the XL TV package and give me a customer loyalty discount of £22.00 a month provided I committed to a new 12 month contract. This meant I reduced my bill by £9.50 a month and got XL TV Package. The reduction stays with me as long as I am with Virgin.
I think the things which swung it were:
Virgin £48.45 a month
SKY £34.00 a month for same
(Phone line, call anytime, 2mb broadband, Starter TV/3 Sky Packs, etc)
Difference £14.45 a month
I rang up the Moving/Cancellation Department at Virgin and said that I wanted to discuss terminating my contract. I explained that I had accepted that Virgin were more expensive than Sky, but had stayed because the Customer Service had been better, however, that had all changed recently (service down 5 times in a month). He then started going through the “well our service is better than Sky’s etc”. I said yes but I want more children’s channels and I can only get those by going to the XL package and with Sky all I have to do is pick a children’s pack. He went onto say that Sky’s Broadband was rubbish and I would not get 2mb speeds. He then offered to check for me and had to admit that I would get 2mb as I was close enough to the exchange.
I have to admit I thought I was getting nowhere. I am a lousy haggler and we had been talking for 8 minutes and I did not think I was going to get a reduction. He then told me he would give me a £15.00 credit for the disruption and said “lets see what sort of deal we can do for you.” He then offered to upgrade me to the XL TV package and give me a customer loyalty discount of £22.00 a month provided I committed to a new 12 month contract. This meant I reduced my bill by £9.50 a month and got XL TV Package. The reduction stays with me as long as I am with Virgin.
I think the things which swung it were:
- Researched prices first
- Remained polite and calm on phone
- Pointed out that I could choose more relevant content with Sky
- I would have got 2mb speed with Sky.
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