Virgin Media: Haggle down your costs.

manulike

For those of you who rarely use the land line, or use it mainly to receive calls AND as long as you have VM cable (which needs no land line) - you can always have a totally free land line number on-line. I use https://www.sipgate.co.uk - you get to choose your own 01 or 02 land line local number and receive incoming calls and free answer machine service even if you have no credit. If you decide that you want to make outgoing calls, you can add £5 credit and UK calls are billed at 2p/min with no connection fee.

Hope this helps some of you

Amun82

In my opinion reduction of your costs after threatening that you will leave is already taken into consideration by Virgin Media when setting the base/initial price i.e. the package costs £50 but let's make it £60 just in case the customer gets a "discount".

Not to make this post too long I just say "been there done that" as in I got a time limited reduction to my bill, free HD channels etc
Don't be fooled though they have very sneaky and sly practises. The last point on their mission statement is satisfaction of a customer. For me the tipping point (I left them recently after a few years) was when Mr Branson doubled my price...sorry I mean speed...for "free". I thought that's it, if you're planning to increase the price just tell me - don't spend big money (and let's be honest it's coming from your and my pocket not Mr Branson's) on advertising campaign saying how great it will be - all for free. It's very typical of Virgin. They make you think you get something extra for free where in fact you pay for it...more than elsewhere. Perfect example of their sly practises, on their website, when you compare broadband packages under "download" it says "Uncapped1 with no hidden fees" but when you look under "1" it says in very non-direct and innocent way it's capped...for most of the day. It's like telling you in BIG fat letters "our broadband is the fastest" whereas in fact it's the slowest, it's black but it's white. At the top of this, whatever you paying for (broadband, tv, telephone) is below average quality. The list of why I left them is long: penalising you for using your broadband (nicely called Traffic Management), terrible call centres, below average tv, regular price increases, constant pressure to add new services, dishonest adds. But this can be summed up as putting your customer LAST.

I've switched to a different provider and even after adding telephone line it's half price to what I was paying to Virgin Media (without phone line).

The bottom line, if you are thinking of leaving Virgin Media, do it. Don't be fooled with a few quid reduction - they will recoup it twofold. Saying this, they have probably already done so.

jordanrs

My final package for my new house after 90 minutes of going back and forth between the CS rep and the other half over three separate phone calls comes in at

60mb internet
L TV with 500Gb Tivo and an extra HD box for the bedroom

£38 a month

Timbolla

Been with them since they where NTL (probably over 12 years) & currently on
BB L
Phone L
TV XL (V+ box)
Paying £53/month.
I phoned around mid April to discuss what deal I could get and had price reduced to £44.40 if I reduced the phone to M. Reps only way of keeping me was"well you will loose your e-mail addresses that you have had for a number of years".

In response all I need to do is to transfer my important regular e-mails to new Google ones that I have now been obtained for FREE. This will also mean I don't get e-mails from people ref the spam that 2 of my e-mail addresses seem to be sending.

So, I looked at the best deal on the market that suits my needs and it comes down to Sky & their BB & phone. Phoned on Saturday 28th wouldn't budge on price or even ask me would I consider upgrading to one of the collections. Said I would consult with my OH and call back.

So I called up on 1st May and asked to cancel my package. I got the most snotty oik on the phone who insisted that I was mistaken that you can combine Sky 6 months 1/2 price TV, unlimited calls & broadband. I informed her that I can get a package similar to what I am getting (less HD channels) for £37/ month for 12 months (with Cash Back £32). She informed me that she was on Sky (couldn't get cable) and couldn't get cheaper. Even if she is couldn't get cable she wan't a great advert for Virgin Media. When I tried to put my point over with the figures I had in front of me she just talked over me telling me I was wrong which for me this is a no no. I think because of this she didn't try to offer me anything to stay, so to stop me banging my head on the wall I just cancelled everything becuase I don't want to be talked down to by a service provider.

To be honest this is the worst example of "customer service" I have EVER had.

Previously when I have called them I have normally had a polite rep on the phone and normally I have got a good reduction (not always the best on the market), but it saved me switching.

Since the phone call I have not heard anything from them either via letter, e-mail or phone call. I logged on to "My Virgin Media" yesterday (6th May) and it shows that my package will change (cancelled) and we will be getting an engineer coming out a few days later, probably to collect the kit. It would have been polite for someone to at least call and let me know, if we aren't in I won't worry. Another example of bad customer service.

I have looked on Moneysavingexpert.com and other people are getting good deals, but it seems that us long service people aren't getting the deals. I think I might just as well try Sky and see what VM offer me in 12 months time. If all else fails I have 30 days to ponder .

BTW I don't know if it is a coincidence, but since I have asked to cancel the packages my internet keeps on dropping out. I have to switch my wireless router and modem combo off and back on. When this happens once a day it is an inconvience you could live with, but when it happens 5, 6 or 7 times a day it is a pain.

Murmansk

I have Virgin's basic broadband only - no other services - and it's now £23 per month.

How much do you reckon I could get it down to if I threaten to leave them?

I used to make my phone calls via SIPGATE by VOIP down my broadband line but I've now given that up and gone for a Primus landline via my old unused BT line.

I think I need Virgin to cut my broadband fee massively but what's realistic?

nobile

Been with Cabletel, NTL, VM for 15 years.

Now I find that my friends, family, neighbours are all paying considerably less than me for identical packages.

A dozen calls in the last week have led to nothing in terms of price reduction, apart from 'we'll drop your TV services and save you 50p/month'!

Handed in my 30 day notice out of frustration.

Now looking for unlimited net & anytime call package - I am a Sky TV customer also.

Any suggestions?

Murmansk

Well I heard nothing from Virgin - which doesn't surprise me as they are famous for being bad communicators. I'd have been more likely to succeed I suspect if I'd phoned them and pressed the option "thinking of leaving us" - but I couldn't be bothered.

So I too have given them 30 days' notice.

I've gone to Plusnet - they may not be the very cheapest but they have great customer service and they claim to be able to transfer my old Sipgate number over too. Fortunately I live very close to an exchange so I should get a good speed.

katherine31

After reading the forum I wondered if others have had the same problem as me. I emailed Virgin on 8 June re a 'quandarry' my statement showed me phoning myself. To date I have had no response. I have also emailed again but to no avail. Can anyone help or even explain?

mastr2k27

I tried to move TV which was from sky over to VM and tried to haggle down , it was imposable.

I had a chat with sky person when i want to cancel. He was trying to sell me a more experiencing package with slower Internet speed.

Scots

Have to agree with Timbolla.

My 10mb VM BB was recently doubled or maybe even tripled I cant remember which all without asking me. The price has crept up and I notice my internet speed seems slower if anything.