Virgin Media retention deals (post your haggling successes)

latecomer

custardy wrote: »

VM/Sky/BT etc need to look over their offerings and prices.
I know Im bored of the haggling and games.
More so (like many Im tech savy enough to have access to every Tv/Movie on the net if needs be. including having a full Sky or cable package for a fraction of what they charge.

Yeah some of us are but Virgin/Sky/BT etc know that the majority of people are not that savyy (in tech or finance) and will pay far more than they should for these services.

Martyn-F

Finally got around to calling this evening. After a full hour on the phone (most of it on hold), I got nowhere really.

Currently paying £63 for Fun TV, 100Mb and Talk Weekends.
Best they could offer was £54 for the same but with fewer channels (didn't name the package).
I kept saying I would be happy with 50Mb BB but no option was offered (I was continually asked how many devices we have; like they know best how I use the internet!)

I wanted options for BB only or BB+Tel, but they needed to put me through to another team. Retentions could only quote on all 3 packages. I had to nip out to pick up my son so called back later on and chose the "remove a package" menu option. This time I got a rather pushy 'salesman' of a guy extolling the virtues of VM and why I shouldn't let go of my current package, how I didn't understand the value of it since I'd had loyalty discounts in the past, how I would pay the same after 12 months with other providers etc. So much tripe, and he kept interrupting me quite rudely. I was pretty frustrated. (The whiny pop music I had had to endure on hold didn't help either!!!)

All he could offer for a smaller set of packages was:

• £47 for 100Mb BB only
• £54 for 100Mb BB + Talk Weekends

Rubbish - £54 was the price to keep my current packaging including TV. So a no go...

It was nearly 9pm and he wasn't able to put me through to the team for cancellations, so I'll have to put my notice in tomorrow now. And suffer another 30 minutes of hold music torment.




I'm seriously looking at all my options now. There are so many. For connectivity:

• BB only with a VoIP line (Skype is £44 per year for a landline number; much less than a traditional provider. Not sure how well it would work).
• BB with telephone (if Skype or alternatives don't look reliable enough; our mobile signal is terrible at home).

PlusNet is £22/m for 18 months then £33 after.

For TV (we don't watch much, but like to able to record things for later):

• FreeView with a DVR that I buy myself
• Streaming box (Roku, Now TV box etc.) plus options to take out short-term subscriptions to Netflix etc.
• Taking a package deal with Sky or similar, depending on what I go with for BB.

I'm tech-savvy enough to be able to find things on the internet if I wanted to, but I never have and don't intend to start. (Since leaving Sky 6 years ago, I stopped watching Game of Thrones at season 2... oh well.)

sysadmin

I has the same pushy guy probably, he was a right idiot and I know what im talking about when it comes to Internet speeds etc..

Put your 30 day cancellation notice in. A different team will phone you back (usually within a few days) and offer you a much better deal, and they are much nicer people to deal with.

If they dont call, you can always extend your cancellation, or cancel it entirely and take up one of the other offers or indeed switch..

Its the end of the month so now is a good time to do it as the sales/retention's folks will want to hit their targets.

Martyn-F

After 53 more minutes on the telephone, I was able to get my cancellation in. I'm also ready to jump off a cliff.


Called the "thinking of leaving us" team, was on hold for 5-10 minutes, then told them I wanted to cancel. Quick explanation of yesterday's poor offers, and they said they'd put me through to the relevant team. I was then on hold for a further 40 minutes, listening to the same 5-6 songs on repeat.


I could not help but vent my frustrations once I finally got through, especially once the gentleman asked me why I wanted to cancel. This was now a fourth obstacle to leaving. But once I'd had a polite mini-rant we got straight on with business, and the 30-day countdown has begun. I've only a 14-day window to revoke my cancellation though, apparently.


Both people I spoke to today were quite pleasant though. Possibly the same Welsh call centre I dealt with a year or so back when I last struck a better deal.



The website says I should return my Super Hub 3, but he said I didn't have to return anything according to their system. Suits me!

custardy

Martyn-F wrote: »

After 53 more minutes on the telephone, I was able to get my cancellation in. I'm also ready to jump off a cliff.


Called the "thinking of leaving us" team, was on hold for 5-10 minutes, then told them I wanted to cancel. Quick explanation of yesterday's poor offers, and they said they'd put me through to the relevant team. I was then on hold for a further 40 minutes, listening to the same 5-6 songs on repeat.


I could not help but vent my frustrations once I finally got through, especially once the gentleman asked me why I wanted to cancel. This was now a fourth obstacle to leaving. But once I'd had a polite mini-rant we got straight on with business, and the 30-day countdown has begun. I've only a 14-day window to revoke my cancellation though, apparently.


Both people I spoke to today were quite pleasant though. Possibly the same Welsh call centre I dealt with a year or so back when I last struck a better deal.



The website says I should return my Super Hub 3, but he said I didn't have to return anything according to their system. Suits me!

Be wary of this. Ensure you get some written confirmation of not requiring you to return equipment.

Martyn-F

Thanks. I would have likely double-checked but it's a good point.


The disconnection confirmation e-mail states the below, so I'll wait and see if a return kit materialises (if they don't conjure up a good offer meanwhile):

Returning your equipment
It's quick and easy to return your Virgin Media bits and pieces - and it won't even cost you a penny. Once your services are disconnected, we'll send you a free postal returns kit.
Just pop the equipment into the packaging provided - including any cables, remotes and smartcards - and drop it off at your local Collect+ store.

tazwhoever

In January next year my contact ends. If I go through retentions dept and don't accept the new price, I will cancel. If I don't hear from by day eg 25 days, can I cancel my cancellation? I am with VM.

Thanks

[Deleted User]

tazwhoever wrote: »

In January next year my contact ends. If I go through retentions dept and don't accept the new price, I will cancel. If I don't hear from by day eg 25 days, can I cancel my cancellation? I am with VM.

Thanks

You can stop a cancellation going through at any time before it actually terminates. Of course they then know that you weren't serious about cancelling in the first place so don't be surprised if you don't get an offer after this.

roddydogs

custardy wrote: »

VM/Sky/BT etc need to look over their offerings and prices.
I know Im bored of the haggling and games.
More so (like many Im tech savy enough to have access to every Tv/Movie on the net if needs be. including having a full Sky or cable package for a fraction of what they charge.

Do tell how you do this legally!

whattochoose

I rang first thing this morning and spoke to a lady in a call centre in the UK.
With today being Black Friday I thought it might be worthwhile ringing to see if any extra discounts might be on offer.
Recently I've lost discounts and loyalty discounts of £10 and very soon my rental line saver ends, the result being that from paying approx. £30 a month, I'll soon be paying about £60.
To be honest they have recently applied a new discount of £3 (active until April). The lady I spoke to, while being very pleasant, said she was unable to offer anything else on top of this, particularly as my RLS is still active, although it expires at the start of 2020.
She advised me to ring again in about a month when the RLS expires.
This I will do, although I'm probably closer to leaving Virgin now than I've ever been, and I've been with them for years and years.
From all the reviews and reading I've done it looks like EE might be the company to go with.
My Virgin package is...
Mix TV
M100 Fibre Broadband.
Talk Weekends Landline. (I never use it now).
TIVO Box.