Sky, Virgin & BT TV Haggle down prices and get serious discounts Article Discussion

xman

Keeop wrote: »

You may be called, you may not.

Sure many people is cancelling and they may not call due to capacity.
My services were disconnected 3 days ago - no messages left at home and no calls on my mobile.

BLUEWKD

JTrebor wrote: »

A common story, just feeling pleased as it's my first attempt.

Phoned Virgin today asked to downgrade our package to the lowest everything, I wasn't happy with the price and said that if I were to swap to Sky or BT Vision then as a new customer I would get a better deal, they couldn't offer me anything better. So asked to be put through to disconnections. They put me through to the retentions/customer relations who knocked another £10 off and swapped our old V+ box for the Tivo, it also means our broadband increases from the old 10Mb to the new 30Mb. Thing is we don't have a normal aerial and can't get BT infinity in our area, so wouldn't want to swap really!

£29.90 M phone, M+ TV, 30 Mb broadband and Tivo.

I have just got the above deal for £29.90 a month. I rang up because I was being charged £49 and that was for L tv, M phone and 20 mb broadband plus I had an old box.
They tried to charge me £49.95 to install the tivo box but I quoted the advertising leaflet and on their website saying they installed tivo boxes for free to new customers and they had ripped me off with high charges for being a loyal customer for years so can they install for nothing or I would move to bt or sky and hey presto, free installation.

cheekymonkeb0y

We are moving into a new rented flat that has previously had virgin media. We need good broadband as I downloa a lot and play online games, the pone we don't usually use due to having mobiles.

What do people think of the current virgin media bundles. Are these good value versus previous offers?

http://store.virginmedia.com/bundles/our-collections.html?buspart=portal_P2

We usually pay around 20 for be broadband unlimited plus 13 for bt line rental. Are the tv channels in say the premiere collection worth the extra 30 quid per month (you also pay for virgin line rental) when the first 6 months offer finishes.

The deal is 18 months offer, what happens if I move during this time, is it hard to transfer to a new address (I guess you pay for reinstallation)?

Any other tricks to look out for?

ranvinder

Keeop wrote: »

I would say you cannot guarantee that. Several posters on here have cancelled Sky, and been subsequently cut off, and not received a phone call from them prior to the cut-off - myself included. Frankly I'm not bothered, but you certainly cannot guarantee that people wil receive that phone call so if anyone is cancelling purely to get a deal and can't live without Sky, I would say it is a gamble. You may be called, you may not.

Cheers.
Keeop

Whilst you cannot guarantee they will call, you get 30 days notice period and can cancel that on the 29th day and not be any worse off. I don't see the point in not trying it?

DragonQ

cheekymonkeb0y wrote: »

We are moving into a new rented flat that has previously had virgin media. We need good broadband as I downloa a lot and play online games, the pone we don't usually use due to having mobiles.

What do people think of the current virgin media bundles. Are these good value versus previous offers?

http://store.virginmedia.com/bundles/our-collections.html?buspart=portal_P2

We usually pay around 20 for be broadband unlimited plus 13 for bt line rental. Are the tv channels in say the premiere collection worth the extra 30 quid per month (you also pay for virgin line rental) when the first 6 months offer finishes.

The deal is 18 months offer, what happens if I move during this time, is it hard to transfer to a new address (I guess you pay for reinstallation)?

Any other tricks to look out for?

You can create your own Virgin bundles, don't feel restricted to their 3 packages. Getting a phone line usually saves you a small amount over the 18 month contract (because getting all 3 services gives you the discount for the first 6 months) but after that it's best to ditch it if you don't need it.

Ask them about moving in the web chat, I have a feeling they sort it all out for free if you're still in contract. Also, if you do sign up, don't forget to use TopCashBack!

Keeop

ranvinder wrote: »

Whilst you cannot guarantee they will call, you get 30 days notice period and can cancel that on the 29th day and not be any worse off. I don't see the point in not trying it?

You can phone them up after you have been cut off and be put straight back on the same package you were on at the same price. However, as a previous poster has commented, if you do do this - either cancel your cancellation or phone up just after you have cancelled - your account will be flagged. This then means there is less chance of you negotiating a better deal in the future, according to that previous poster (just page back through this thread). I have no personal experience of this so cannot comment.

Cheers.
Keeop

xman

Keeop wrote: »

You can phone them up after you have been cut off and be put straight back on the same package you were on at the same price. However, as a previous poster has commented, if you do do this - either cancel your cancellation or phone up just after you have cancelled - your account will be flagged. This then means there is less chance of you negotiating a better deal in the future, according to that previous poster (just page back through this thread). I have no personal experience of this so cannot comment.

Cheers.
Keeop

My account was cancelled 4 days ago - I kept the Broadband and phone service active. Called sky and selected the existing customer and then add TV services. great guy looked into my account and and Keeop said reactivated my account for 12 months with the same half price TV deal I had before - Approx £56 for HD TV, movies, sports, phone and broadband.
If you are out of contract, call them and cancel the service. You may end up a couple of days with no service but it will be worth it.

ninrick

xman wrote: »

My account was cancelled 4 days ago - I kept the Broadband and phone service active. Called sky and selected the existing customer and then add TV services. great guy looked into my account and and Keeop said reactivated my account for 12 months with the same half price TV deal I had before - Approx £56 for HD TV, movies, sports, phone and broadband.
If you are out of contract, call them and cancel the service. You may end up a couple of days with no service but it will be worth it.

Def gonna try that myself, have noticed the half price offers for new customers this sounds like a good way to get it for existing customers, cheers!

learningaboutinsurance

Following Martins apperence on Watchdog regarding haggling with you existing provider to get cheaper deal and following the steps online.

Previously paid £72 pounds or so for my sky Package which is Everything :eek:

Phoned them today to speak to a lovely canadian call centre agent and after explaining that that way to much to be paying for a service i really use and its only the kids and OH who watch it i wanted to downgrade to £45 package (sports & Entainment Xtra). she quickly looked into my account and gave me the biggest of the day.

my package now is everything for the next 12 months at lovely price of £.....(wait for it)...44 per month total saving for the year £336 reeeesult :T

ranvinder

Keeop wrote: »

You can phone them up after you have been cut off and be put straight back on the same package you were on at the same price. However, as a previous poster has commented, if you do do this - either cancel your cancellation or phone up just after you have cancelled - your account will be flagged. This then means there is less chance of you negotiating a better deal in the future, according to that previous poster (just page back through this thread). I have no personal experience of this so cannot comment.

Cheers.
Keeop

Not experienced that and been with Virgin/Telewest for a good decade, as have my brother and sister.. my sister in fact today (after hearing about my deal last week) got a call back from retentions and got the same deal as me (albeit about £1.75 more a month).

Virgin called her back as with us two days after disconnection was served on monday... definitely worth a try and if they don't call back and offer you value for money surely its then time to go to another provider rather than fear 'potentially' not being offered a deal in future?

He who dares?

Good luck!