Only joined Virgin Media for Sky? Blag some extra channels for the loss

VelvetGlove

Just thought I'd let you all know how I got on this morning. Phoned 150 & followed through the 'menu' - I ignored the "If you want to talk about losing Sky" & followed through for the "thinking about leaving".

Rang at 9.15 this morning & took half an hour on hold (the recorded message said they were very busy & current hold time was approximately 10 mins), I have to say though that it is the most worthwhile 30 mins I have spent on hold - OK they have really dull hold music but it was totally worth it!

Current Package:
Telephone line rental - £11pm (with free voicemail)
TV Size L - £11.50pm
Broadband Size XL - £35.00pm
Total £57.50pm

When the girl answered I asked her what the mechanism was to cancel Virgin please. She replied that as long as I wasn't in my 12 month contract I just had to speak to the Retention department to tell them (now I know I was already speaking to the Retention Dept as that was the phone 'menu' that I followed).
So I said well could you please put me through to them then as I want to cancel as I'm really disappointed at losing Lost & 24. She then ran through the ID checking that I was the account holder & said that she could offer me my current package for £37pm. Explained that I would still be upgraded free of charge in May when 20MB broadband hits & asked how that sounded.
I asked her how long that discount would last & she said for as long as you are a customer. I said oh well that really is not making Lost & 24 seem like such a loss - how would I take that offer? All I had to do was tell her that I would like it so I said 'Natalie I would like to take that offer please!'
She explained that as I pay in advance I'd get a credit applied to my account on the next statement & the next bill would be for £37pm
I thanked her & told her she had made my day.

After call package:
Telephone line rental (with free voicemail)
TV Size L
Broadband Size XL
Total £37pm

I was so happy that I made that call this morning Good luck to everyone else trying to reduce their monthly costs or get free upgrades.

(The secret, I think, is to go in with the conviction of canceling your service without showing any weakness - even if you really don't want that to be the end result. If it goes that far & they are talking dates for disconnection of service you can say that you would need to phone Sky to find out when they can install so you aren't left without anything on tv & you will call them back when you have that information).

Bear_family

My hubby also phoned up this morning and was on hold for 35 mins. We were on the:
Standard TV package S
Phone with free weekend local calls
Broadband, not sure which version

And when hubby told them we wanted to leave because of the Sky channel dropping and the fact that only 2 weeks ago we had to have a replacement box, as the last one broke and we lost 2 years of recorded progs, we were upgraded to:
XL TV package - but this doesn't inc movies and sport
Got free eve calls as well
Broadband stayed the same
All for £30 a month for life! Was dead impressed.
Not sure whether the fact my hubby is a journo and trialled one of their HDTV boxes for them ages ago was written on the account or whether we just got lucky?
Def worth a phone call, he didn't want to do it, thought I was mad.

Bf

foolsgold99

Bear Family, thanks very much. Do you have V+? I'm on hold just now

foolsgold99

Just been on and got my 3 for £30 down to £26 per month for life. Guy said it would be another £10 per month for V+

amb_2

perkisc wrote: »

Phoned VM this morning and asked what the proceedure was to disconnect a very polite chap asked me what the problem was and whether I felt I was getting value for money. I said NO as I felt I could get a better deal with Sky. He asked me to hold the line and would see what he could do. He came back with the following offer

was on

TV - XL
BB - 2 MB
Phone line only
TOTAL £49.50/month

New Deal
TV - XL
BB - 2MB
Phone upgraded to 24/7 inclusive calls
TOTAL £34.95/month for life !!!

Still said I wanted to leave as I missed sky 1 etc but the guy said I would not be able to get a better deal with Sky on the TV package I had. He said the true value of the package he was offering was £68.00 not sure whether this is true. Tried to upgrade broard to 10MB but would wanted to charge additional £7.00 per month so declined...........

Hi Perkisc,

I got the same deal, but then I mentioned that my old STB was a bit slow and the guy threw in a V+ box for free - worth a go.

StevieD_2

Call VM last weekend, gutted I've lost 24 (!) but pleased Virgin aren't prepared to work with the bully Murdoch. Was paying £29.50/mth for the old Telewest Essential package and broadband. Now on £20/mth. Very pleased :T

The_Bhoy_3

Just off the phone... Actually got through within about 10mins.

They said that they could waive the 12 month contract for the tv part of my package, but not the telephone & broadband, so if I wanted to cancel the tv then my bill would actually increase since I wouldn't be on one of the offers anymore!

I asked there was any other options & he said he could increase my tv to XL and give me a discount on the bill, so I'm now paying £31 for XL tv, XL bb & line rental.

Not exactly the result I wanted since I'd rather have went to free tv & paid a bit less for the XL BB & L phone, but better than nothing I guess.

Thing that I found interesting was that he said the Sky channels will DEFINATELY be back by the end of this month. When he said that it kinda threw me off...

Not sure that I believed him, but I couldn't exactly say "No they won't!".

lwt2006

Just put the phone down after holding for 35 minutes listening to that really dull music. I think they found the dullest music they could so people would hang up. It really is monotonous.

Congrats to all of you who held on for longer than I did. I suppose now is not the best time to call. When is it quietest, do you think?

alison74

lwt2006 wrote: »

Just put the phone down after holding for 35 minutes listening to that really dull music. I think they found the dullest music they could so people would hang up. It really is monotonous.

Congrats to all of you who held on for longer than I did. I suppose now is not the best time to call. When is it quietest, do you think?

Wow - you hung on for 35 minutes and then gave up ???? WHat if they answered it after 36 minutes ?

I phoned during the week around 10am, on hold for 10 mins or so. I imagine weekends would be busy.

Anon

hansi wrote: »

Ah, so you want three boxes, your original STB, another one upstairs, and a V+ box? If you already have a STB and you want it moved when you get your V+ box, there is no charge apart from the £10pm for the V+ box.

No - 2 should be enough! It appears the wording may be a little misleading:

I want a second standard digital box in another room when I take a V+ set-top box. Is this possible and how much does it cost?
If you take a V+ set-top box and would like a second standard digital box in another room, this will cost an additional £5 per month.

Hence my comment about £15 - I want the V+ in the living room and my existing standard box moving into the bedroom (which you say is £10) - I suppose I could make that call and find out what they are willing to offer.

Many thanks

Anon