Cutting VM cost. how?

Wilding

I am out of the minimum contract with VM and I have the following

1. Broadband & TV XL
2. Landline (Unused. No phone number or phone connected)

I'm paying £78 a month and it just keeps going up.

I tried cancelling the landline because its redundant. But they cant do that.. I had to keep cancelling other services down until I was down to £0.00 and no services. It was very convoluted and the gimmicks were as clear as mud.

We only watch Disney channels, Fox TV and Living. and have DVRs in Living room and Bedroom. Is there another way we can just get these channels? Is there an app we can download onto a TV?

I dont mind replacing the living room and bedroom TV's with smart TVs that have built in DVR. I can go without BB.

I'm open for suggestions on how to cut that £78 a month noose around my neck.

JJ_Egan

Virgin Media Retention thread for info.

No land line means no cable to supply the services .

Inner_Zone

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Virgin Media Retention thread for info.

No land line means no cable to supply the services .

Phone comes by separate cable to BB / TV service, so no phone is possible. I had that situation for over ten years with NTL then Virgin.

Cycrow

Its perfectly possible to cancel the phone line and keep the broadband/tv. However, usually theres little point in doing that, as usually when you have the phone line you get a reduction on the other services, with both broadband and tv this reduction is the same as the line rental, so you will be no better off. And in some cases, you could be worse of.

you should be able to switch to one of the virgin bundles, what broadband speed do you currently have ?

i was in a similar position to you but switched onto a bundle which increased my broadband speed, but reduced the monthly cost, i went from about £75/month to £60 with an increase in speed. This was also with TV XL. If you haggle,you may be able to reduce this further.
Its best to go via retention and say you plan to cancel, this is where you will get the better deals

The Fox channels are only on the XL package, so changing that you will lose access to it, the only other way would be to get sky instead, which will be a similar cost.

you wont be able to get rid of BB and switch to Smart TV, as you would need BB for the Smart TV

anotheruser

Change your viewing habits and stop watching channels that cost money?

[Deleted User]

I pay £21.49 a month for 50 meg BB and phoneline. I just watch catchup tv and youtube etc for entertainment thus also saving on the need for a TV licence. You can't get much cheaper than that! (a heck of a lot is on Youtube for free that isn't even on payfor sattelite channels)

Pincher

Switch back and forth between Virgin and Sky.
There's cash back and discounts to be had.

Not ideal if you want continuity of service.
I just cancel when it's out of contract, and then wait for the next good deal. You have to leave it for a year before going back, of course, so you need Sky to fill in the gap.

itstheone

Cancel the Phone and TV. I did just that and now only have 50Mb BB for £19.50.

Buy a NowTV box and subscribe to that for Fox/Living and Disney channel. A Freeview PVR for £150 for standard freeview channels.

Saving yourself a whole heap of cash over the next year.

jon81uk

itstheone wrote: »

Cancel the Phone and TV. I did just that and now only have 50Mb BB for £19.50.

Buy a NowTV box and subscribe to that for Fox/Living and Disney channel. A Freeview PVR for £150 for standard freeview channels.

Saving yourself a whole heap of cash over the next year.

Yep, unless you really are watching all those TV channels then just get NowTV for the "best" of Sky and a PVR for the freeview channels (or a Youview box) from Argos. Switch to Sky or BT for fibre broadband to get the new customer offer and then switch back in 18 months.

anotheruser

itstheone wrote: »

Cancel the Phone and TV. I did just that and now only have 50Mb BB for £19.50.

Buy a NowTV box and subscribe to that for Fox/Living and Disney channel. A Freeview PVR for £150 for standard freeview channels.

Saving yourself a whole heap of cash over the next year.

Now TV sub for 12 months: £83.88
Freeview PVR (would want HD version): £150
BB Only (12 months): £234
TOTAL: £467

You can get Sky or Virgin Media cheaper than that...

jon81uk

anotheruser wrote: »

Now TV sub for 12 months: £83.88
Freeview PVR (would want HD version): £150
BB Only (12 months): £234
TOTAL: £467

You can get Sky or Virgin Media cheaper than that...

But you only need to buy the PVR once and it should last three years. For NOW TV you get six months included in the box for £34.99 (http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/1985746.htm) and I bought a second box after the first six as it is cheaper than a subscription at £41.94 for six months.

Cheapest Virgin with TV is £22 + £16.99 line rental and that doesn't get you the channels Now TV offers, the £32 package gets more than that. In comparison broadband is £17.50 a month plus £16.99 line rental.