Virgin Media: Haggle down your costs.

lonestarfan

Thats sad that they spotted that. Hope its not the case for us. I do know you have to be careful when they negotiate a reduction with you as they do put it back up after the 12 months so you have to remember to check your bill and phone them up at the end of your deal. I was going to phone them in September to see if I could get a bit off the bill as its my mum who is a pensioner and I try to do what I can via this website to try to get her a few extra pennies where I can but as you think I've done well anyway there may not be any scope to reduce it further. Shame as I wanted to get her an extra fiver or so.

ashnojutsu

Hi everyone i was wondering what I should be paying for my current package:

TV: M
BB: L (proper L, not the upgraded M)
Phone: Talk weekends

I've got a V HD box, and I'm paying £25.99 p/m. I want to upgrade my TV to the full package, but it's way too expensive compared to sky. I'm sort-of out of contract, here's what i posted on another forum:

Originally Posted by ashnojutsu
I'm on the L package BB, and I was upgraded to XL. After a 24 hours I decided to go back to the L package. My question is, am I on a new contract (and minimum period) for my BB service even though I am getting the same service as before?

Effectively, isn't there a cooling off period whereby your you can cancel any new services without affecting your current contract status?

So according to VM, I'm out of contract on the phone and TV, but still in contract with the BB. Any ideas?

beestonjim

Hi,
I'm looking to get a standalone broadband service for my home.
My phoneline is already taken up with a BT Business line & broadband which I use for work, but I want to get separate broadband for personal use.
I have cable in my road, so should I just opt for the cheapest Virgin package? (What puts me off is the compulsory line rental of £11.99 - I don't need phone calls!)
Or should I look at getting a 2nd phone line installed by someone like Plusnet and then get the cheap standalone broadband deal?

Just thought someone may have already done something similar and weighed up the options and costs.

Cheers!
Jim

Ashley007

This is my current package from VM

I have looked at sky with a similar package and they were approx £30 dearer. This was mainly due to multi room and HD subscriptions.
Ok they have more HD channels but that doesn't bother me.

[FONT=&quot]Description[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Date/period[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Amount[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Telephone Line Rental[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]19 June - 18 July[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]£11.99 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Bb/Phone/TV Sp Mov Discount[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]19 June - 18 July[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]£-20.25 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Additional Loyalty Discount[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]19 June - 18 July[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]£-1.75 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Calldispl[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]19 June - 18 July[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]£2.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]TV Size: X L[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]19 June - 18 July[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]£24.50 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]2 Additional V Box[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]19 June - 18 July[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]£30.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]V+ HD Box[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]19 June - 18 July[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]£0.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Add Set Box(es) Discount[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]19 June - 18 July[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]£-19.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Broadband Size: L[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]19 June - 18 July[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]£25.00 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Movies4,Movies5,Sports1,Sports2[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]19 June - 18 July[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]£27.50[/FONT]








Total £79.99
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]

iwontpaytoomuch

I've been with VM since they were NTL in this area & am perfectly happy with the service and the price isn't really too bad either. I have called them up in the past & told them I want a cheaper service to keep my costs down and they factored in the "Phone & BB Bundle Saving" which brought the cost down a bit.

So, until a month ago, I was paying the following;

Line Rental ................... £11.99
Talk Unlimited ................. £7.95
Phone & BB Bundle Saving £-8.00
Calldispl ......................... £2.00
M+ (Starter) ................... £5.50
Broadband Size: M .......... £20.50
E Bill Discount ................ £-1.00

Which gives a total of £38.94

They rang me on the 17th of June & said that as I was a long standing and valued customer that I could have a £12.00 discount to keep forever if I would take a 2 year contract virginmobile phone with 100 minutes & 100 texts at a cost of £8.50 per month - overall saving to me £3.50 with all those mobile calls for free.

I told them I wasn't interested (I thought there must be a catch) but as they were paying for the call, I thought I'd keep them on the line for a bit of fun.

The guy kept trying to get me to accept but I told him as I work in a factory I can't make my own calls in the daytime & have unlimited calling in the evenings anyway, so I wouldn't use it. ( I'm on ASDA PAYG which is 4p per text & 8ppm calling & have had £10 credit on there for nearly a year) - the factory & no calls bit isn't entirely true either

He then offered me a £15.00 discount with the same provisios but I again told him I wouldn't use it.
He then offered me the same cost deal but for a USB broadband system for the laptop. I would have taken it a year ago but I really don't need it now so refused that as well.

My wife is from the Philippines & I could tell his accent straight away so I passed the phone to her for a bit of fun - after all, they were calling us weren't they. She spoke Tagalog (Philippine language) to him & after a brief converstaion he was passed back to me.

This is now about 20 minutes into the call & he then said that as I was such a hard person to convince he was authorised to offer me the full £18.00 per month permanent discount if I took the mobile package on a new 2 year contract at a cost of £8.50 per month.

What could I do now but say yes !

Even if I don't make a call on the mobile, I am still £9.50 better off - forever !! :D:D


The mobile arrived the next morning (5*'s for service) but it is nowhere as good as my current one so I have returned it and am now going to try & get a better phone out of them.

Am I being too cheeky? LOL


I now have the first paper confirmation of what I am paying and it is as follows;

Line Rental .................... £11.99
Feature Bundle Upgrade BO £-3.50
Talk Unlimited Offer ......... £-3.50
Talk Unlimited .................. £7.95
Calldispl .......................... £2.00
M+ (Starter) .................... £5.50
Broadband Size: M .......... £20.50
E Bill Discount .................. £-1.00
2-10 Tracker Code
Loyalty Pack BB/TL .......... £-19.46

Which gives a total of £20.48

There is another £8.50 to add for the mobile but it still only brings it up to £28.98 per month with 100 minutes & texts on the mobile ( I think there are a lot of VM to VM calls for free as well)


Happy Bunny ?

YES !!!!

:rotfl::T:rotfl::T:rotfl::T

asandwhen

DOes anyone think that I might get a better deal?

Customer Relation BBI Goodwill7 May£-5.00

08 June - 07 July £11.99 (line rental)
08 June - 07 July £9.00 (Talk Anywhere 200)
08 June - 07 July £-19.50 (Loyalty Pack B B/ Phone/TV
08 June - 07 July £24.50 (TV Size: X L)
08 June - 07 July £30.00 (2 ADD Set Top Box(es) )
08 June - 07 July £-19.00 (Add Set Box(es) Discount)
08 June - 07 July £25.00 (Broadband Size: L)

Other charges £-1.00 Charges and credits (Provided by Virgin Media Ltd) £-1.00DescriptionDate/periodAmountE Bill Discount08 June - 07 July£-1.00

Average bill inc about £4 worth of calls and the odd pay per view film is about £65

shafty_bobs

Until a couple of months ago was paying £22.49 and everytime I haggled they wouldn't budge so I gave disconnection notice and nervously waited. After a week I received an empty box to send them back the STB and Modem and I started to get worried that they are seriously proceeding with the disconnection. I was contemplating ringing them back to withdraw my disconnection notice when I recieved a call from them and I managed to get this deal -


Monthly = £15.98, for Broadband and Anytime calls

Talk Unlimited .................................. £7.95
Loyalty Pack: Phone, Bband & TV M ..... £-18.46
TV Size: M ...................................... £0.00
Broadband Size: M ............................ £20.50

Line Rental ...................................... £11.99

Special Loyalty Discount, Half Price Line Rental For 12 Months
Your Promotional Saving ..................... £-6.00
E Bill Discount ................................. £-1.00

PS: virgin calls to 0844/0871 numbers are more expensive than BT so if you use MSE's CallChecker then pls be aware that Virgin are more expensive than the quoted BT prices!!!

lu_lu_2

lonestarfan wrote: »

BT have an offer on for a new BT line for 29.99 until 30.9.10 incl weekend package for calls, 18 month contract and must make 10 calls a month but you can make them out of your package.Their call package includes 0845 and 0870 whereas virgin doesn't. Its £50 installation for a line if you are going to take BT Broadband.
I have sky tv but have virgin cable internet and phone and calls package. I pay £30pm to virgin (11 + 10 + 7.95) . I am thinking of going with BT now they have a deal on the line installation and getting sky broadband but am still shopping around - I want to get phone and internet for £15pm. I think sky bb is £5 for me as I have sky tv. I might look at 02.
I don't think you can take 02 line tho if BT have given the installation for £29.99 - you'd have to wait the 18 months.
My experience of the low useage sky broadband (I got it installed for my sis) is that we are always going over the limit for the basic free package - if you go over 2 months running then they put you on their next package up which is £7.50 pm. and is not competitively priced for the useage so I am going to look around for a better price for my sis as well but its a lot easier as she has a BT line.
I have got all virgin package (tv XL with V+ box, tel, internet M, unltd calls) for my mum as the trees mean she cannot have sky and she pays £44 pm, and I got all sky for my sis. I am part and part because I just had to have a sky + box when I heard what it could do! and virgin at the time had no similar thing (they brought out V+ 3 months later!) and it is definitely better value if you are all with one rather than part and part like me.
However, I have stayed with virgin longer than I should because I like cable internet but my experience of sky BB has been perfectly fine that I feel I could put up with it. Don't forget to add in the line rental when you compare costings. Hope the info about BT offer is helpful.

Having just looked at the BT website the offer of reconnection for £29.99 finished on the 30th June not 30th September

OldGreyFox

lu_lu wrote: »

Having just looked at the BT website the offer of reconnection for £29.99 finished on the 30th June not 30th September

The offer has been extended.;)

bigjessie_2

I currently pay £41.44 to virgin for:
XL tv includes tv choice catch up and vplus
talk unlimited
m broadband

however because virgin has high charges for 0845 and 0870 numbers my bill is usually between £55 and £65. I checked my bills and this is almost all due to these numbers. Even though I do as much stuff online as possible sometimes it is unavoidable.

I called the 'thinking of leaving us' line told them I wanted to give a months notice, that Bt only charge 2p per minute and now offer similar tv offers under bt vision. I was then silent. The girl from virgin tried everything she could but could only offer a smaller tv package but free 0845/0870 calls for £46.44.

This would save me potentially 10-20 £s per month but i declined saying that it would still be cheaper to change, I said if she could match my current deal but give free 0845/0870 calls I'd take it. Off she went again but when she came back she said no there was nothing more she could do. I said then no i wouldn't take it.

An hour later I called back spoke to a guy, said I wanted to give notice even though his colleague had tried to get me to stay. Hang on he said i'll check her notes. He explained what the deal was...same thing £46.44 but that he could get me a better xl broadband, xl tv and phone deal for that price. I said no. I have been really loyal was even with them back in telewest days so wanted a refund on some calls i'd already paid for if I would even consider it.
off he went came back with Xl tv xl broadband and free 0845/0870 calls for 42.99 plus £15 refund off my next bill. So well worth the effort........should I have declined again? hmmm
:beer: