Virgin Media Retention thread

visidigi

Jaxer wrote: »

After the last price bump earlier this year, I agreed a 12 month contract in April 2012 for XL Phone (inc. calls and 0870/0845) and 10MB BB (now upgraded to 20MB) for £24.90/mth.

We've now received the letter saying an increase of £2.24/mth from Feb 2013 but on the back it says existing promo offers will be honoured so I'm assuming this won't kick in until April 2013 when the existing contract ends.

Is it better to wait until Mar/April 2013 to see what's on offer or call now about the proposed increase?

Promo offers like half price TV etc are not affected, but line rental etc is all charged separate to promos so if you have a phone this increase will affect you.

I would call now.

visidigi

DSofCambs wrote: »

Here is my experience – sorry it is so long but the experience was so surprising and hurtful!
I am a long term Virgin Media cable customer (approx. 15 years) - living in Cambridge, taking broadband, telephone and television services .

On the 28th January 2012 I telephoned Virgin Media and negotiated a new package deal with their Customer Services department (CS) and was happy to be verbally reminded, and receive, a written contract notification confirming a £12 “Loyalty Discount” had been applied to my account and that the term was for 12 months to January 2013.

I was also informed (verbally) that at any time I could request a change in my service provision, with proviso that any ‘change’ would have to run for a minimum period of one month. At no juncture was it mentioned that at each occasion of these possible ‘changes’ that I would be put on a new 12 months contract to run from the date of the latest ‘change’.

Subsequently, at the end of August I again telephone contacted CS, this time to request a short term reduction in my service as I would not be at home for the whole of September. The CS agent taking my call rightly advised that I could not cease the services outright and the only option available was to downgrade my TV from XL to M and my Broadband from 60mb to 30mb – this to save me about £20 overall a month .

At no point was I told that in changing my service requirement [even for a month] that I was committing to a new 12 months contract.

On my return home in mid October [I was away for nearly 6 weeks in the event] I discovered I had been sent a new ‘Residential Services Contract’ stating that I had been put on a new 12 months contract dated 28th August 2012.

With hindsight and now much to my dismay, I did not contact CS at that point to ‘discuss’ why I had been put on a new contract period! I instead put away the paper considering it a procedural hiccup in that it was the VM’s way of reminding me of the new monthly charges applying! WAS I WRONG!

Today (12th December 2012) I attempted to upgrade my service using the online facility (by logging onto my personal ‘My Virgin Media ‘), but encountered an error stating “woops the system appears to broken, please try later or contact our Customer Service”. I therefore subsequently telephoned CS to request the following upgrades:

Broadband from 30mb to 60mb, the addition of the Sky movies and sport HD package, and the Telephone call notification service. This I calculated as an increase of £47 (using the online ‘My Offers’ section [ BB £5, Sky package HD £39.75 and Telephone £2.25]).

Unfortunately this is where I first encountered the ‘issue’ and the appalling stonewall attitude of their CS staff and the labyrinth like minefield of VM’s pricing policy!

CS first calculated my services increase cost was to be £54 (£7 per month more than the online figure of £47), stating that as I was no longer eligible for the full £12 ‘Loyalty Discount’.

I appealed and stated that it was unreasonable and that I would end my contract unless they honoured the ‘online’ ‘My Offers’ price of £47 ….….. we are discussing a difference here of just £7!
“No” was the reply. “I can put you through to ‘Disconnections’ if you wish”.

The ‘Disconnections’ agent played even more hardball!

“Yes, your contract is to run until 28th August, you should have contacted us before on your return in mid October when you first sighted the new contract.

If you request a disconnection now you will be charged £136 early disconnection fee. Also, if you want to avoid taking on a new 12 months contract as a result of these latest changes, you will NOT at all be eligible for a ‘Loyalty Discounts’, therefore your new monthly charge will see an increase of £59 [Note! NOT the £54 already mentioned, or the £47 online price! ].

Sorry, the online offers are from a different VM department and we do not have contact with them! ”

By now I just wanted to give up. I therefore have acquiesced to their bullying and agreed to the additional £59 charge per month (to £92.40). I have also asked that the CS agent’s manager contact me to discuss, but I have no faith in receiving a conciliatory or reasonable hearing [They will surely want to ‘back up’ their staff]. [PS I wrote this 12th Dec. and as yet (14th Dec.)I have not received the promised call from a manager – call me naïve to think I would !]

I have transcribed this appalling experience here to provide as a warning to all unwary future and current customers of VM.

After more than 15 years with them I now understand that ‘Loyalty Discount’ does not mean “loyalty”. It think it means, in their eyes, a discount for how much they can bully out of you.

NB If anybody out there has a view on the ‘legality’ of VM imposing a new 12 months contract at each ‘change’ in service, I would be glad to hear? Else, I see that I have no option now other than to see out my current contract until the end August 2013.

Sorry I had to put carraige returns in to read it...

Your contract states any changes is a minimum 12 month term, your situation, by your own admission, was as a result of the lack of call from you to question the contract you received.

They aren't bullying you, they are sending you a contract which you agreed to without reading.

Thats not unfair, nor it is bullying I am afraid.

Magenta

DSofCambs wrote: »

Here is my experience – sorry it is so long but the experience was so surprising and hurtful!
I am a long term Virgin Media cable customer (approx. 15 years) - living in Cambridge, taking broadband, telephone and television services .
On the 28th January 2012 I telephoned Virgin Media and negotiated a new package deal with their Customer Services department (CS) and was happy to be verbally reminded, and receive, a written contract notification confirming a £12 “Loyalty Discount” had been applied to my account and that the term was for 12 months to January 2013. I was also informed (verbally) that at any time I could request a change in my service provision, with proviso that any ‘change’ would have to run for a minimum period of one month. At no juncture was it mentioned that at each occasion of these possible ‘changes’ that I would be put on a new 12 months contract to run from the date of the latest ‘change’.
Subsequently, at the end of August I again telephone contacted CS, this time to request a short term reduction in my service as I would not be at home for the whole of September. The CS agent taking my call rightly advised that I could not cease the services outright and the only option available was to downgrade my TV from XL to M and my Broadband from 60mb to 30mb – this to save me about £20 overall a month . At no point was I told that in changing my service requirement [even for a month] that I was committing to a new 12 months contract.
On my return home in mid October [I was away for nearly 6 weeks in the event] I discovered I had been sent a new ‘Residential Services Contract’ stating that I had been put on a new 12 months contract dated 28th August 2012.
With hindsight and now much to my dismay, I did not contact CS at that point to ‘discuss’ why I had been put on a new contract period! I instead put away the paper considering it a procedural hiccup in that it was the VM’s way of reminding me of the new monthly charges applying! WAS I WRONG!
Today (12th December 2012) I attempted to upgrade my service using the online facility (by logging onto my personal ‘My Virgin Media ‘), but encountered an error stating “woops the system appears to broken, please try later or contact our Customer Service”. I therefore subsequently telephoned CS to request the following upgrades:
Broadband from 30mb to 60mb, the addition of the Sky movies and sport HD package, and the Telephone call notification service. This I calculated as an increase of £47 (using the online ‘My Offers’ section [ BB £5, Sky package HD £39.75 and Telephone £2.25]).
Unfortunately this is where I first encountered the ‘issue’ and the appalling stonewall attitude of their CS staff and the labyrinth like minefield of VM’s pricing policy!
CS first calculated my services increase cost was to be £54 (£7 per month more than the online figure of £47), stating that as I was no longer eligible for the full £12 ‘Loyalty Discount’. I appealed and stated that it was unreasonable and that I would end my contract unless they honoured the ‘online’ ‘My Offers’ price of £47 ….….. we are discussing a difference here of just £7!
“No” was the reply. “I can put you through to ‘Disconnections’ if you wish”.
The ‘Disconnections’ agent played even more hardball!
“Yes, your contract is to run until 28th August, you should have contacted us before on your return in mid October when you first sighted the new contract. If you request a disconnection now you will be charged £136 early disconnection fee. Also, if you want to avoid taking on a new 12 months contract as a result of these latest changes, you will NOT at all be eligible for a ‘Loyalty Discounts’, therefore your new monthly charge will see an increase of £59 [Note! NOT the £54 already mentioned, or the £47 online price! ]. Sorry, the online offers are from a different VM department and we do not have contact with them! ”
By now I just wanted to give up. I therefore have acquiesced to their bullying and agreed to the additional £59 charge per month (to £92.40). I have also asked that the CS agent’s manager contact me to discuss, but I have no faith in receiving a conciliatory or reasonable hearing [They will surely want to ‘back up’ their staff]. [PS I wrote this 12th Dec. and as yet (14th Dec.)I have not received the promised call from a manager – call me naïve to think I would !]
I have transcribed this appalling experience here to provide as a warning to all unwary future and current customers of VM. After more than 15 years with them I now understand that ‘Loyalty Discount’ does not mean “loyalty”. It think it means, in their eyes, a discount for how much they can bully out of you.
NB If anybody out there has a view on the ‘legality’ of VM imposing a new 12 months contract at each ‘change’ in service, I would be glad to hear? Else, I see that I have no option now other than to see out my current contract until the end August 2013.

Sorry to hear about your problems.

Just to say that I also have been with Virgin for 15 years and have never heard of a 'loyalty discount'. What did you do to get that please?

visidigi

Magenta wrote: »

Sorry to hear about your problems.

Just to say that I also have been with Virgin for 15 years and have never heard of a 'loyalty discount'. What did you do to get that please?

Theres two types of loyalty discount

the first is the monthly discount which gets applied to your account, this causes any other upgrades to wipe out the discount as its something thats negotiated for a specific package.

The second is, something they could do prior to a new system a little over a year ago Virgin could apply recurrent discounts which were manually applied, the staff would login to the system and a apply a monthly credit.

Now they say this isn't possible, either thats porkies or they have indeed stopped the system from allowing this.

All loyalty discounts are gained from Retentions, generally its not something Customer Services can do.

Magenta

visidigi wrote: »

Theres two types of loyalty discount

the first is the monthly discount which gets applied to your account, this causes any other upgrades to wipe out the discount as its something thats negotiated for a specific package.

The second is, something they could do prior to a new system a little over a year ago Virgin could apply recurrent discounts which were manually applied, the staff would login to the system and a apply a monthly credit.

Now they say this isn't possible, either thats porkies or they have indeed stopped the system from allowing this.

All loyalty discounts are gained from Retentions, generally its not something Customer Services can do.

Thanks for your reply.
So not worth me trying to get then........I notice they don't advertise the availability of these things:mad::mad: obviously!

dondhain

I'm Currently on 60mb broadband, m tv, phone XL + £2 for 0845 calls
paying £43.90 (inc line rental) plus i have a £6 rolling credit that ends in April (so im actually paying £37.90). The contract with Virgin Media is until September 2013. Price increase is expected to be £2.84

Just been in touch with virgin media retentions and the advisor happily said he will waive the price increase up until the contract ends but my rolling credit will be removed in April at which point i can ring and try to get another rolling credit (which is obviously risky)

I've had a look online and it seems 60mb bb + XL phone with talk 08 £2 + £14.99 line rental = £41.49. I understand ive got m tv but is that not usually free?

Any advice on what to do? I have said I'll think about it to the adviser..

visidigi

put through the cancellation, they will call you back in a few days with a better offer...

DSofCambs

Anon wrote: »

I am not sure how your recent discussion now affects this, but the price rise that they recently notified people about offered a right to cancel all services with no penalty.


Anon

Thanks :beer: Anon. Have just submitted a request to cancel under section 3 of their T&C's (increase in charges). I will let you know how I get on but unfortunately am not optimistic.

DSofCambs

visidigi wrote: »

Sorry I had to put carraige returns in to read it...

Your contract states any changes is a minimum 12 month term, your situation, by your own admission, was as a result of the lack of call from you to question the contract you received.

They aren't bullying you, they are sending you a contract which you agreed to without reading.

Thats not unfair, nor it is bullying I am afraid.

Thanks VISIDIGI.

Am grateful for all the contributions to my post (whether positive or not) and particularly yours – you seem very knowledgeable about VM’s inner workings which is very helpful here.

I guess I was not that clear in my ‘ramble’ on why I thought it relevant to post here.

My particular surprise was to do with how opaque VM’s charging can be. I use and have used Virgin branded good and services for many years on account of their clear no nonsense communication and (apparent) willingness to be open and honest as at all possible – the Richard Branson affect! I currently have my life savings and insurance with Virgin. In the past I have taken holidays with them and was considering taking a mobile phone. Until this incident I held absolutely no resolve to quit VM . Overall I find all their services ‘top notch’ to use and their technical support staff excellent.

In this case I was telephone calling [having failed the online process] in order to make a significant upgrade. I could not understand why my additional business was not greeted with open arms.

Also, I really did believe I was party to a contract, complete with loyalty bonus, free of conditions, to run until end during January 2013. [hence my reference to bullying - I guess you and I will have to agree to disagree on whether that is so]. My opinion is that VM should worry that I, and possibly other of its customers, hold this view and possible 'confusion'.

Surely you must agree, as contributors to this thread testify, VM’s existing customer services charges are a minefield much beyond the normal ethics that Richard Branson espouses and works so hard to promote. I am willing to bet Richard Branson has no idea that VM apply such an irregular, unfair and unclear charging system on their customers. It is an old adage and probable realism, that in business it is much easier and cheaper to retain an existing customer than gain a new.

I still retain the sincere hope that VM will make their charging policy for all much fairer and clearer for the future. I for one would gladly use their services under such circumstances, but until then I remain with the belief that their charging system is underhand and shabby – buyer beware!

visidigi

ok for starters, Richard Branson is nothing to do with the business beyond a stakeholder. Its important to understand this as its the only part of your Virgin loyalty chain which is positioned as such.

Virgin Media is nothing more than a branding exercise.

Now to your case in point:

The VM systems have always been exceptionally complex, and never to the benefit of the consumer - they replaced them a few years ago and all that achieved was a tightening of the discount belt and stronger rules to avoid the truly special discounts on offer.

I think the problem here with your situation is that the systems are such that bonus introduced before the change in system cannot be reapplied. When I recently when through renegotiation on price the system had no way to get me back on the deal I was on with a slight upgrade in broadband speed. If you are on an old bundle discount etc then you cannot upgrade online, this is a known issue that affects all the legacy billing customers.

VM systems are catch 22 for the consumer, if you find the right deal at an exceptional price you stay on it until you need to change, they rarely will ask you to change or move you off the deal you have, especially if you are at the higher end - my last twelve months saw me save £29 a month versus list - a total 12 month saving of £348 - not too shabby I am sure you will agree - In order to keep my discount on that bundle I negotiated a month free on a new 12 month contract at the same price and terms - that was purely because if they changed anything all discounts were gone.

For this reason you have to get the adviser to think outside the box a little and come up with a better way to get your target price through manipulation of other costings and goodwill gestures.

There are plenty of people, myself include who are getting the line rental increase wiped out by a good will credit being applied now - this is the only way they can do this - the problem is Goodwill above a certain amount gets very difficult for them to apply. The consensus from many is that two months free or half prices Sky Sports/Movies for a period of time is achievable with the right type of discussion.

Experience tells us that going into conversation equipped with your own research really does bear the fruit when it comes time to deal with VM and the complex and restrictive billing systems.

My advice? Call and request disconnection if you are out of term. Get what you want written down and what you ideal price point would be (be realistic) get the person who does the disconnection to write down what you want - they are far more likely to call back to you prepared and the whole process is quicker.

You have to go through the disconnection process though and await the call back, best way to extract the best bang for buck.

Good luck.