Haggle with Virgin - our new guide

shanethedog

I tried today to reduce my package today I'm also on the m100, which is due to end on the 13th November.

I got through to a very noisy call centre and was told they did not do offers for existing customers. I had explained that I'm thinking of leaving as the cost was to high and that other deals were cheaper.

The call centre operator tried to plug me for more personal information despite passing the security clearance which I thought was strange and instantly put my heckles up.

My bill is due to rise to £59.50 the only deal she could offer was over £60 and was readily signing me up for that 12 month package despite saying. No that's not acceptable I need to reduce the bill.

At no point did she offer to pass my call onto the retention team despite telling her I now wished to leave but was only interested in selling me a more expensive package.

bobbyhibs

hi

theGrinch- not sure if it ll be much help but when virgin upped there prices with the price increase recently we phoned up and like you the phone operater lady was trying to get us a better deal which she kinda did if i recall she was gonna save us like £3-£4 per month and well i said ok we will just cancel and she said ok will put in the 30 day cancellation .The next day they phoned and we are now saving like £30 per month!

as to frame it .say something you have been a customer for (however long) and see sky has a similar package for £34 are they able to match it? If not pehaps say ok i d like to cancel.

hopefully may be of help but of course there is NO gaurentee they will phone back but it seems most people in the thread have had luck in getting some money off!

shanethedog...As above maybe be of help? as i say it seems a vast number of posters on the different threads have cancelled and gotten a call back with a better deal.but as i say there os no gaurentee it ll happen.
I think searching other providers may be of help,like to see what you need and there prices and see if virgin can match it or get a price close to what you d like to pay
hope this helps a lil

victor2

I've just noticed my upload speed on Virgin's M100 has gone up from 6 to nearly 10Mbps. No announcement or anything, so maybe they are rolling it out gradually in support of the next price increase!
Their poor upload speeds compared to the rest of the market on fibre has always been one of my arguments against them. Competitors are still beating it, but it weakens the case againsat them now.

buglawton

I've queried this antique 6 mbps limit with Virgin before with them. Was informed there's some sort of technical limit if I have a Superhub 2.

Elsewhere I'm reading that to get better than 6 mbps up, you need to be on a Vivid package or something. This weird upload limit - which matters when I'm working from home - nearly caused me to turn down my last Retentions offer from Virgin. But in the end I opted for the easy life and stayed.

I'm currently on an 80 mbps package and don't need/am unwilling to pay for more.

victor2

Due to my old Superhub 2 failing, I ended up with a superhub 3. Got the Superhub 2 because the original Superhub had a known problem with Samsung smart TVs and All4, or 4OD as it was. At least the Superhub 3 (or just Hub3 I think they call it now) has both 5GHz and 2.4GHz WiFi, although its range is still rubbish.

I was going for 50Mbps down on my last negotiation, as they told me I would still get the 5Mbps upload speed I had with my 70Mbps down. They lied of course and it dropped to 3, so I ended up on M100.

SamMoneySaver

M200 and Talk XL £42 up from £22 last year.
So re-negotiated yesterday via outbound retention.

Cancellation inbound, offer £48 no discount but offered £30 credit. So put notice in.

Outbound retention 1st call, the next day. £45 no credit.
Outbound retention 2nd call, week later. £38 no credit, took it.

This year they seem ruthless, no budging. Has anyone left VM with refer a friend credit and received it back after via a cheque.

They told me, they wouldn't refund this credit, is it true?

alexnic

Currently nearing the end of my M100 mixed bundle pkg due to expire 21st Dec and then a price hike of around £30, currently paying £34.

Phoned Virgin retention and told them no way was I paying an extra £30, adviser told me no worries they can offer a better retention deal than given to new customers....as long as they have advanced notice!

Result was same package + a choice of extra channels (normally £10 per month) either Drama, Documentaries, Lifestyle or Sportslight, opted for the Documentaries

Cost is £31 for 6-months then £34 again for the remainder with the advisory to phone back next October for a new deal

All in all I'm happy with it...no change of phone number as seems to be the case with Virgin now if you leave or take out a new deal!:T

truescot

alexnic wrote: »

Currently nearing the end of my M100 mixed bundle pkg due to expire 21st Dec and then a price hike of around £30, currently paying £34.

Phoned Virgin retention and told them no way was I paying an extra £30, adviser told me no worries they can offer a better retention deal than given to new customers....as long as they have advanced notice!:T

When you say you phoned Virgin retentions what do you mean? I choose the "thinking of leaving us" option?

HungryForMore

On basic TV/100MBps Broadband/Basic Phone (which I don't use).

Package was £40.49 in April, £50.62 in May, £59.49 in August, £62.99 in September! Up 56% in 8 months.

Rang through to the "I'm leaving" choice (options 1, 4, 4 and 2) to be put through to the "non-UK" call centre. Was told that there were absolutely NO discounts - even when I said that BT were offering a similar offering for £34.99/month. Point-blank declined to offer anything!

Asked what my cost would be for broadband only (it's £42 on the website for 100Mbps). I could use iPlayer, ITV Hub etc to access the main channels on catch-up/live stream...

...got put through to a Scottish call centre. Explained that I was looking at the broadband only cost as I had been told by retentions that there were no offers. Immediately said they were wrong and they always have offers. He looked at my package, without hesitation he's given me 12 months at £40.49/month. Back to April's prices.

My conclusion: The retentions team are tasked with trying to give out as few discounts as possible, see if you can get transferred from them to another department. It's quite possible that you can get a discount from the new products/change features teams.

Price seemed fair enough to me even if it's a few £ more than the alternatives. At least I don't have to switch!

Muzz77

Current package broadband 100 plus basic TV at £30. It’s running out towards the end of this month and price will go up to 50+. So I called VM today to see if they could offer any discount and I’m willing to take off TV bundle because I never watch TV. The lady offered 42ish without TV and 30 penses more with TV. So I said I’d like to give my notice. We will see if they call back.