switch from virgin now or later?

Gti

While i'm satisfied with the consistency of the connection i realise ive been paying £17.50 a month for Virgins 2mb broadband (2 years now) and looking around the deals out there for this price and in some cases less i could have 10mb or even 24mb with be* for £13.50. i understand with everyone else id need the bt line rental fee but for the increase i could stomach that.

like others i got the letter talking of upgrading me to 10mb for free (although people have said their will be a price increase straight after) so im wondering if it's worth hanging on for that or switching now? i dont know what penalties id have for cancelling though.
would it be worth stamping my feet about this and telling virgin im changing over? bear in mind i suck at haggling/wrangling things for free.

thanks for any help

mazza111

Depends if you are still in the first 12 months with them or not? You say you have been with them for 2 years, but did you call them up after a year and get another deal or not?

If you are still under contract, then yes, you will have to pay to get out of that contract. The other services you mention are dependent on your phone line I believe, the condition of it and how far you live from the exchange. Would be an idea to ask your neighbours if they can check their speeds on something like speedtest.net, just to get an idea of what the lines are like in your area. I was going to go to another company, but it turns out that i live too far from the exchange to have a decent ping for online gaming.

Just check it out before you do anything. Also if you haven't had a deal in this period, i'm pretty sure they will come up with something to try and keep you, give them a call :rolleyes:

eamon

You need to look at the media that you use before making your decision. For example I had the VM medium package i.e. phone line, M size (2mb) broadband and the basic TV pack (no sports, sky movies etc) all for £34.50pm. After a quick call to the VM retentions team and explaining what I wanted I now have all the freeview channels (no bravo, living etc, still have access to catch up TV), M size broadband and phone line all for £20.50 pm. So make sure you have all the info.

Sol00

Yep, just say you're leaving and VM will offer you a better deal so you won't need to leave.

Rev

Gti wrote: »

While i'm satisfied with the consistency of the connection i realise ive been paying £17.50 a month for Virgins 2mb broadband (2 years now) and looking around the deals out there for this price and in some cases less i could have 10mb or even 24mb with be* for £13.50. i understand with everyone else id need the bt line rental fee but for the increase i could stomach that.

like others i got the letter talking of upgrading me to 10mb for free (although people have said their will be a price increase straight after) so im wondering if it's worth hanging on for that or switching now? i dont know what penalties id have for cancelling though.
would it be worth stamping my feet about this and telling virgin im changing over? bear in mind i suck at haggling/wrangling things for free.

thanks for any help

Check with be and the other providers (or even give BT a call and ask them) how fast they estimate the connection in your area, as ADSL connection speeds depend on the distance from the exchange. Which is generally why Virgin think (and do) get away with charging so much, when they say 10meg, they're capable of giving you that no matter how far you are from your exchange. (I know there's a lot of threads with people having issues, so I'm just talking in general here).

I pay £17 for 10meg, I wanted to leave and even signed up for o2, but I'm too far from the exchange to get any decent speeds. So if you're happy with VM and don't actually want to leave give them a call and tell them you don't want to leave, but the price is too high (maybe mention a new user pays only £3 more for 10meg) compared to others and see what they offer. You've nothing to lose. Make sure to speak to retentions, not customer service.

bazza9

I'd agree with what's been said above. If you're thinking of leaving Virgin then it's always worth talking to their Customer Retention team - they can often give considerably improved deals.

Tommok

bazza9 wrote: »

I'd agree with what's been said above. If you're thinking of leaving Virgin then it's always worth talking to their Customer Retention team - they can often give considerably improved deals.

What is the number for Customer Retentions from a non Virgin phone?

I've spoken to someone by going through to the "thinking of leaving us" option having phoned 0845 454 1111 and they didn't really offer me much at all!

alexchegwin

they just offered me £17 for 12 month contract of 10meg broadband.

I dont think its a complete bargain but can't be assd with swapping over!

I am a bit fed up that they said I was already on 10meg but I am only getting 1mb downloads ? and their capping is crazy!



anyone else annoyed by their capping ?

gorwen

Not annoyed by their capping - but is the disconnection fee they have introduced if you switch to a provider not using MAC legal?

Tommok

gorwen wrote: »

Not annoyed by their capping - but is the disconnection fee they have introduced if you switch to a provider not using MAC legal?

I'm annoyed that they put their rates up every year by huge amounts and DON'T TELL YOU!

Obviously there is some onus on us to check the bills but I was slack and didn't and they started taking an EXTRA £13 a month out of my account for 3 months before I noticed.

Even SKY have the decency to write to you specifically to inform you their fees are going up and its usually only by around £2 or so a month.

latecomer

Are you sure you didn't just reach the end of a promotional rate?