Virgin Media: Haggle down your costs.

tpurch

I have only been a NTL Customer for 6 months, but I want to cancel because I find that I am calling them every month for something..... Basically I have TV/Phone, BB for £56pm. But, I had issues when I switched to the service - my phone number wasn't ported for 1 month, TV service wasn't permissioned correctly, BB didn't work cos they hand setup there end as STB Cable Modem. 1471 Service disappeared after number ported and then Billing issues.

I am now looking for a way to switch back to Sky (as they want to give me 6months half price to comeback anyway)

I think NTL have just given me a chance to cancel.

is it true that the NTL prices are going up June 1? If so, should I be able to invoke my right to cancel the contract? from my understanding its only going up by 50p on the line rental (for my package), but since I need the line rental for TV, I guess that means that I can cancel the TV/Phone and leave BB until the 12months is up. Any thoughts on this ???

scanner1

scanner1 wrote:

I have been on cable since 1994 when it was first laid in my street, and recently have been unhappy with the price I was paying knowing of all the deals around. After reading the posts here I was straight on the phone knowing I can get the talk talk package and it would cost nothing to get my existing BT line reconnected.
I made a deal with NTL on 17/5/06,
Family pack+dual movies £35.50, will reduce Fam pack 1/2 = £25.25 (no time limit)
Second STB £15, will make that free = £0 (no time limit)
1mg B/B £17.99, will reduce by £8 = £9.99 (no time limit)
They will give me talk unlimited 24 free for 6 months (I have standard 321).
So without the free talk 24 I would be saving £32.75 a month.

Bill received Sat 27,
1/2 price Fam pack for 6 months only
Second STB still £15
1mg B/B 1/2 price for 3 months only
Talk unlimited 24 free for 3 months only
and to top it all they have charged me £7.01 for part month for the talk U/L 24, needless to say I will be on to them first thing tomorrow, this being bank holiday.
I will keep you posted.

Update: the 1/2 price Fam pack and 1/2 price B/B will be automatically updated at the end of each period, the talk U/L24 will be renewed for a further 3 months. He apoligised that the 2nd STB had been charged and would amend the direct debit to reflect the change + the £7.01 charge, so I will see on the 10th June if this is done.
If all this takes place I am going to be better off by over £350 a year.
Thanks Martin.:beer:

Update: as promised only £45.24 was debited, a big change from the usual £78.

stopthespends

hi

i called NTL earlier and did the "i want to leave to go to Talktalk thiing" and the bloke started advising me about talktalks small print and the fact that i wont get anything up and running until dec and that the prices will then go up etc etc....basically i got nowhere and at the end of the converstaion he said go to the website and read about it first!!!!

i was all geared up for getting my prices down! he wasnt in disconnections...should i insist i go through to them?

Rogerb_2

mickeypops wrote:

I used to have:

Line rental £10.50
1mb Broadband £17.95
Talk unlimited 24 £14.50
Total: £42.95

After my pleasant and easy phone call this morning I now have:

Line rental: £10.50
1Mb Broadband £9.99
Talk Unlimited 24: free
Total £20.49

These prices are valid for 6 months, with a promise to do a fresh deal at the end of the period.

There seemed to be so many variations of deals I was beginning to wonder if ntl had given total freedom to their staff to give whatever they wanted. However my deal yesterday is identical with the above quote except the line rental is £11 from June and hence the total of £20.99 was quoted. I am just coming to the end of the year offer of £9.99 1 meg bb and I wondered if they would ask me to wait another month until it was due to revert back to the full price of £17.95. As I cancelled their TV a year ago after yet another price increase and freeview competing strongly I didn't even need to convince them about being prepared to give the month's notice but just mentioned talk talk. Let's hope talk talk keep up the competitive pressure and the deals stay available.

When I mentioned I had heard that 2 meg BB was available for a couple more pounds and that it doubled to 4 meg tomorrow the operative suggested that I stick with 1 meg for now unless I really needed it as the 2 meg was only a three month deal, and although no specific date is set 'he would put money on' the 1 meg being doubled foc well within this six month deal period. There were plans to do so with only the date not set.

Really useful thread this so thanks to Martin and all contributors as it helped me prepare for what to say, albeit it was very easy and I got through in seconds at 9am yesterday. Although customer services at ntl really is about as bad as they come, I have found their other services really good if until now not priced too competitively.

Rogerb_2

louley wrote:

hi

i called NTL earlier and did the "i want to leave to go to Talktalk thiing" and the bloke started advising me about talktalks small print and the fact that i wont get anything up and running until dec and that the prices will then go up etc etc....basically i got nowhere and at the end of the converstaion he said go to the website and read about it first!!!!

i was all geared up for getting my prices down! he wasnt in disconnections...should i insist i go through to them?

I rang 0800 052 9403 the customer Relations number (option 2) yesterday and said I know there will be teething problems with changing to talk talk but their phone and broadband deal with inclusive calls ( talk 3 ) is less than half ntl's equivalent price so although happy with ntl service money is an important factor and got offerred the deal above.

stopthespends

ive just got off the phone with NTL...

only had to wait about 1 min to be answered and did the speel of talktalk offer being half price (tahnks for the suggestion!) and she looked at my account and said you alreadyhave BB at 9.99 but we will pay the 14.99 talk plan on youre phone for the next 3months! that saves 43quid....not much but she said ring back in 3months for a further deal!

better in my pocket than in theirs!!!

Freddie

Big thanx to Lady K!
Just spoke to NTL and told them my "friend" had the same as me, 2mg BB, talk 24 unlimited, and TV, tho I have base and she has family pack, all for 24.49! How come I'm paying over £50/m for less?! Also mentioned I would go over to talk talk if they couln't do me a better deal.
No problem, says the nice man (the very, very nice man!), we'll do the same for you, as it's only fair! And it starts from today!!

I forgot to ask how long this deal will last but I guess I'll see that in my next bill...

Thanx again, Lady K!

scanner1

Rogerb wrote:

When I mentioned I had heard that 2 meg BB was available for a couple more pounds and that it doubled to 4 meg tomorrow the operative suggested that I stick with 1 meg for now unless I really needed it as the 2 meg was only a three month deal, and although no specific date is set 'he would put money on' the 1 meg being doubled foc well within this six month deal period. There were plans to do so with only the date not set.

I agree with Rogerb, I was told by an NTL engineer that 1mg would be would be increased sometime this year, I'm happy to wait for this. He was spot on the last time, when he said that 512k would be increased to 1mg.

kroads

I need some help I badly need to save some money. I have just been transferred (I think from the family pack to the base pack. I am on the talk unlimited local. I have been told this costs £14.38 for the television and phone (without calls, of course). Can I save any money by changing tariff or using an override service?

I also have 2MB Broadband at £16.50; I get a £8.50 discount apparently… Should I be happy with this? Thanks for your help.

Lady_K

Freddie wrote:

Big thanx to Lady K!
Just spoke to NTL and told them my "friend" had the same as me, 2mg BB, talk 24 unlimited, and TV, tho I have base and she has family pack, all for 24.49! How come I'm paying over £50/m for less?! Also mentioned I would go over to talk talk if they couln't do me a better deal.
No problem, says the nice man (the very, very nice man!), we'll do the same for you, as it's only fair! And it starts from today!!

I forgot to ask how long this deal will last but I guess I'll see that in my next bill...

Thanx again, Lady K!

Thankyou, I'm glad you got it cheaper but they told me its going to be £20.49 not £24.49 but I'm not going to believe it till I have my bills through anyway. I did get the tv bill today though and thats stating I am on half price for 6 months and I'm to pay £9.77 this month so I don't know what the phone one and broadband will be to make it up to the £20.49 but I don't think I'll get those bills for a couple more weeks yet. I'm on 1mb by the way as I'm not too concerned about massive speed and I guessed it would go up soon anyway. They may have given me free broadband as I did say the talk talk one was offering free, maybe thats it but I just hope it doesnt end up more