Haggle with Virgin - our new guide

whattochoose

I rang this morning as my present contract terminates in December. I spoke to a nice chap in retentions called Brian who was able to offer me the following deal for 18 months at £44 pm, effective from today (20th October 2020)
Virgin Mix TV with V6 box.
M100 Fibre Broadband.
Telephone Line Rental (Talk Weekends).
I'm presently paying £43, so the new deal represents only a £1 increase, and I am more than happy with the deal which gives me peace of mind for the next 18 months, and allows me continuing access to the Virgin products, which as a long term customer, I generally find to be very good, particularly their fibre broadband. which I'm finding is so important in my life during these current Covid affected times.

Eeeps

PhilK2 said:

VIRGIN MEDIA : IF YOUR HAGGLING FAILS... CALL BACK A FEW DAYS LATER !!!
Learnt a lesson this week with Virgin Media. Different advisors offer different discounts to keep customers!
I have 100Nf broadband, phone with talk all day (incl line rental) and basic TV ... £62/mnth
I got really annoyed that a new customer could have the same on an 18 month deal for £29   !!
CALL ONE:  I told them deals offered by BT and others and that I was leaving. The agent would only offer me £49/mnth... so still £240 a year more than a new customer.  The agent refused to budge. I declined.
CALL TWO: About a fortnight later I called agin. Very sympathetic agent. Immediately agreed a further loyalty discount to £39/mnth. I accepted this.... still not as good as a new customer deal, but I didn't want the hassle of moving provider, I lOVE the speed of their broadband, and I like the TV recorder box. 
SO... if your haggling with an agent does not work, leave it and call back later !!

This was my experience also...
Here's the background
I'm a two year VM customer on the top package. Was paying £99 rising to £139 on contact end (13th Oct).

Called on the 10th and was offered £99 if I dropped to 200Mb/s broadband. If I wanted to keep 500Mb/s I'd have to pay £125. Declined and told the agent I needed time to speak with Sky. Was then given a tirade of bad mouthing Sky for 5 minutes whilst I bit my tongue. Finally told the agent I didn't want to cancel yet and finished the call.

Called back the next day - what a difference. Explained I called before and was not happy. Immediately offered £89 for same Ultimate Oooph and then got offered 1 year of Amazon prime for free! Accepted the now 18 month contact and got (and applied) the Amazon code without issue. I was already a Prime customer and as advised by the VM agent my Prime membership has been paused for the year.

Definitely worth holding out, keeping calm and calling back.

NIcky2time

Hi all. 
Trying to lower my current bill which is currently £68.99 lowest tv package 200mb internet and weekend phone. Dont use phone and could easily get rid of tv as well. Just spoke to virgin being honest about needing to lower my bill they offered me £42.99. told them i need to speak to the wife before deciding. Have saw offers for same internet speed for £32 with out the tv. Would I be better ringing to remove phone and tv? tried a few months ago with the threat of going sky but they called my bluff. All other companies offer around the 3mb in my area. Any advice on which way to approach this or was there offer fair? Thanks

Mister_G

VM will have done their homework and will know that the alternative speed in the area is only 3Mb.  You may still get lucky if they want to keep you.

Christyt

I rang three times - I'm convinced different agents have different discount leeway so def worth ringing again if you can be bothered but you have to be firm that you are prepared to leave and cancel your contract if they can't improve things. This might not be the cheapest but I got:

100MB fibre broadband
Mixit TV
£32 / month

markBJ

Virgin gave me a renewal that matched their Bigger Bundle Black Friday new customer deal of £45 per month - but I didn't get this price by asking for the new customer deal. (and no setup fees)

I rang twice. The first time I was told the system had frozen and they'd call back in 10 minutes - no call back though. Tried again two days later at around 5pm. My bill was going to go up from £44 to £83 per month at the end of this month. I said I couldn't afford this and that I was thinking of a move to Sky 60Mb broadband and TV at £39 per month - thanks to the MSE broadband comparison tool for the package details.

The agent explained that I was a heavy user of data for downloads and uploads and I kept quiet whilst he told me all about the issues with Sky broadband being carried over the phone line instead of fibre, primarily lower speed and more variable speed. I wanted to keep the documentary channels and drop BT Sport which I don't watch, but they all came together as a package.

First offer was £55 per month to keep current package for 18 months, I said I couldn't afford this as I was no longer in work and needed to get down my outgoings. Next he tried changing broadband speed from 200 to 100Mb - this actually increased the cost to £62 per month. He said there are bigger discounts on the bigger packages.

He said he could ask his manager to see if £55 could be improved but he reckoned the best would be £45 and it was only worth asking if that was something that I would be happy with. I said ok, stayed on the line and after a short time he confirmed the manager had agreed to £45.

I've stayed on the same package for £1 a month more than what I had been paying in my current contract. I'm happy with this as it's also an 18 month contract instead of 12 month.

I am kept on the same Bigger Bundle package and instead of the cost going up from £44 to £83 per month I am now paying £45 per month for 18 months.

Broadband: 200Mb
TV with V6 box: MaxIt
Phone: Talk Weekends

bob123

Hi
Currently on M100 and have today given my 30 days notice.  Im paying £27/m after cashback and wanted something similar to the MSE newbies deal currently being plugged.  I dont use the landline phone at all.  I phoned up retentions today.  Best i was given was £27/m for 18m contract.  
1.  Have i got any chance of getting lower?
2.  Is there any problem with letting the contract end and just signing up again using the MSE link?  There doesnt seem to be any activation fee with the new deal and as ive given notice, no cancellation fee with my old deal?
Thanks

JJ_Egan

End contract phone number lost .

SteveVy

Hi I have the following:

200mb Broadband
Maxit TV

2x Virgin Media V6 Boxes

Telephone

I am paying £56.50 and the price rises in Jan to over £92 a month...I rang a few weeks ago and was told the best they could do was £70, the only way they could reduce the price was to put me on the "midi tv" pack which I declined...I am going to wait for the new years offers then ring back.

bob123

bob123 said:

Hi
Currently on M100 and have today given my 30 days notice.  Im paying £27/m after cashback and wanted something similar to the MSE newbies deal currently being plugged.  I dont use the landline phone at all.  I phoned up retentions today.  Best i was given was £27/m for 18m contract.  
1.  Have i got any chance of getting lower?
2.  Is there any problem with letting the contract end and just signing up again using the MSE link?  There doesnt seem to be any activation fee with the new deal and as ive given notice, no cancellation fee with my old deal?
Thanks

Well that didnt take long.  Had a call from loyalty dept the following day.  I didnt need phone line so they took that off and offered 100MB fibre for £15/m for 18m!!  Also had a cracking mobile deal which i didnt go for (Unlimited mins and 5GB data for £2/m).
Very happy!