virgin media bill seems very high - advise please

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  • visidigi
    visidigi Posts: 6,441 Forumite
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    You need to do your research, based on if you were a new customer BEFORE you ring them - they will seem like your best friend but offer you questionable discounts.

    Check this post of mine out...

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=66189166&postcount=3635

    And check that thread as a whole for ideas of what to expect before ringing.

    Good Luck.
  • gele
    gele Posts: 274 Forumite
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    hubby rang. not comfortable haggling - didn't do fantastic but got our bill down by £17 per month with the loss of a few obscure channels we don't watch. Also free upgrade broadband and they waved £20 delivery. Most important bill will be less and that's what we needed. Interestingly they offered immediate discount on package we had of £7 per month but we needed to save more than that. All in all satisfied but not delighted
  • custardy
    custardy Posts: 38,365 Forumite
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    gele wrote: »
    hubby rang. not comfortable haggling - didn't do fantastic but got our bill down by £17 per month with the loss of a few obscure channels we don't watch. Also free upgrade broadband and they waved £20 delivery. Most important bill will be less and that's what we needed. Interestingly they offered immediate discount on package we had of £7 per month but we needed to save more than that. All in all satisfied but not delighted

    If you are not happy. Phone back and say you have talked it over and decided to cancel your package.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,098 Forumite
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    edited 13 August 2014 at 6:51AM
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    gele wrote: »
    hubby rang. not comfortable haggling - didn't do fantastic but got our bill down by £17 per month with the loss of a few obscure channels we don't watch. Also free upgrade broadband and they waved £20 delivery. Most important bill will be less and that's what we needed. Interestingly they offered immediate discount on package we had of £7 per month but we needed to save more than that. All in all satisfied but not delighted

    You do realise that you have probably agreed to a new 12m minimum term in accepting the new tariff?
    Since a large part of your huge bill is made up of exclusive calls, why don't you simply switch to an Anytime calls tariff-normally about a fiver extra? Then make all landline calls via that and all mobile calls via your mobile.
    That will save you about £37 per month, or £444 pa. Rather more than VM offered you.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • gele
    gele Posts: 274 Forumite
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    Thanks for all your replies. I asked hubby after the call if that meant we had agreed to a new 12 month contract and he said yes. Initially not thrilled but £17 per month less is still over £200 per year saving so in retrospect not bad. I am wondering now though if its not a done deal until we receive something in the post to return signed, or, if not, if we have a cooling off period in case we decide to cancel/change it again?
  • gele
    gele Posts: 274 Forumite
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    macman, with regards to the anytime calls you mentioned. This is probably a stupid question but would this mean getting our phone from other than virgin media? We've always had it all with virgin but if it is simply a case of saying to virgin 'get rid of the phone from our package' and then getting landline phone elsewhere I would do it. [Assuming we haven't tied ourselves in already]Sounds simple enough. Can you confirm and recommend who to get the landline from. Thanks :)
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,098 Forumite
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    No. 'Anytime' is simply a generic term for a tariff which offers inclusive daytime calls 24/7 (usualy up to 60 minsutes maximum) to standard UK landline numbers (as opposed to evening, or evening and weekend only). But looking at your post again, I see that you are already on 'Talk Unlimited', which is the VM equivalent. I didn't think that was possible given your massive monthly spend, which can only then result from calls to mobiles or premium rate numbers. The remedy is in your hands to reduce that £444 pa to zero.
    You can't get rid of the landline anyway without paying an ETC, as you've just agreed a new minimum term. And to use any other phone services you'll need a new BT-based landline installing or reconnecting-there are no other cable providers.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • gele
    gele Posts: 274 Forumite
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    Thanks Macman for clarifying. Well, we'll stick to what we've got under the circumstances. Like you say the high calls costs are down to me to sort and when I get them down it wont seem so bad. We've saved over £200pa with yesterdays phone call which isn't bad after all, and today I switched my gas & electric [should save close on another £200 according to MSE energy club] and I have a Halifax current account switch ongoing for £100. Not bad for 3 days work. I wish I earned that much in my job ! I am slowly getting a bit more money savvy.
    Thanks again everyone. I'll make sure I do my homework better when this new 1 year contract is due to end. ;)
  • Cycrow
    Cycrow Posts: 2,639 Forumite
    edited 14 August 2014 at 9:43AM
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    You may be able to cut down the bill abit more too once you start using your mobile rather than landline.

    if you end up no longer using the landline for your calls, you could drop the talk unlimited and just have the basic phone package, which should save you some money.

    if you have plenty of free minutes on your mobile, then this would be cheaper to use, i assume most of your calls are to other mobiles?

    Althou dropping the phone all together probably wont save much, as when you have tv and broadband, the line rental is essentially free

    If most of your calls are mobiles, another option might be to upgrade the phone to Talk Unlimited Extra, which includes calls to other mobiles
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