Virgin Media F*** existing customers.

hatingutilities

Hey there everyone another year up, close to xmas time to get some bargins. So..
first thing to look at is my internet, big bill and something i cant really do without. so i check about, look at deals, and see another great one with virgin media. 50 mb for 12.50 for 6 months, 25 pound after that as long as i get a phone with them at 12.47 a month. So i pick up the phone. and supprise supprise virgin really dont give a damn about me as an existing customer. the best deal they can or will offer me as an existing customer, is 46 pound per month, 20 pound extra a month. so i ask them to cancel and they come up with some BS that says if i leave them they wont let me return to them for 3 months (90 days) basicly their way of stopping any existing customer of Virgin from threatening to leave if they dont get a good deal and taking out a good deal as a new customer. (currently im paying 30ish a month for a 10mb connection)

Just wondering if anyone else has had this happen to them?

ive been with virgin off and on for 10 years, through all its name changes, and every time ive been with them ive recevied a contract to sign after 12 months, but this time ive had no contract to sign, they just started a new one on the 3rd of this month without asking me if i wanted to, and if it was okay for money to be taken out of my bank account. is this allowed, and have they pretty much locked me into a years contract without me wanting or asking for one?

If they wont offer me the same price as they do a new customer i simply wont stay with them, but cant find another isp that offer fiber optic broadband, does anyone knows of any other company that is piggybacked by virgin, cos tbh the reason virgin blackmail customers this way is cos they know that fiberoptic broadband is really the only choice if you want a good fast reliable internet connection.

Thanks in advance everyone.

robt_2

Virgin Media is the only provider of cable, nobody piggybacks on them. And they are correct - they won't reconnect you before three months is up.

I'm guessing the ONLY service you currently have is broadband?

Your contract and billing seems very strange. After you have completed a minimum term (12 months) it should just be a rolling monthly contract. Did you make any changed to your services recently (eg change your broadband speed)?

hatingutilities

well i have phone and broadband with them, the deal i took last year was the same, only cheap if i took out a phone line too, and i also have a fairly expensive mobile phone and contract, which i dont think is tied to anything.

and no changes have been made to my broadband, they basicly said the same as they do everytime i change that i would have to pay the remainder of the the contract to leave early.

has anyone ever won with virgin and managed to get the same deal as a new customer?

Guess i will have to look at the BE as its the only one thats half decent speed and short contracts.

I just think its shockingly off to be charged an extra 20 quid just to get the same speeds as new customers.

penrhyn

The speeds you can get on ADSL, are dependent on your distance from your telephone exchange, if fast broadband is important to you ADSL may not be the way to go.
You could check potential speeds on samknows.
Its possible that BT are rolling out FTTC in your area, might be worth checking this out as well.

kwikbreaks

VM are far from alone in offering a one-off incentive to gain a new customer. I'm guessing that you had something or other free when you joined.

hatingutilities

To start with no i didnt get anything good offered, i had to bargin and reason with them to get the same deal a friend i knew had. even then i didnt get as good as they did, normaly i do manage to bargin with people, but i never seem to get the same deals others get, thought maybe i was missing a trick.

kwikbreaks

> thought maybe i was missing a trick

Perhaps being as rude to the rep as your first post suggests you probably were didn't help...

Heyman_2

Similar thing happened to me, I phoned them the first time and asked for one of the 'new customer' deals and was told I couldn't have it. Put in a complaint via the website, got a call from a Customer Service rep who apologised.....but confirmed that I couldn't have it.

Waited a week.

Phoned again as if calling for the first time, and asked about the deal.

A bit of umming and ahhhing and then they said ok! Been on it ever since.

So it may well depend on who you get and how you are about it. Maybe try again without referring to your original call.

liam8282

Check out this thread for some good tips:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1021885