Virgin Media retention deals (post your haggling successes)

Bettie

Did you not get the email as stated a few posts above by Bossworld?  You should be able to cancel as Usenet is not going to be offered anymore so terms will change. 

Singh_87

Bettie said:

Did you not get the email as stated a few posts above by Bossworld?  You should be able to cancel as Usenet is not going to be offered anymore so terms will change. 

Thanks for pointing this out! I have looked at my e-mails and I can't see an e-mail from Virgin Media regarding Usenet. 
To be honest, I have no idea what Usenet is (until now, I have just googled it), so I am not even sure if I had it in the first place? Was it something you have to subscribe for, or did everyone automatically have access to it? This does seem like a potential way to cancel though, so will wait to hear anymore responses before giving them a try! 

youreds

Usenet was available to every BB user, no subscription.

Bettie

"We wanted to give you a heads-up that the Usenet platform is being removed from the Virgin Media service on 30th June 2021. After this time you will not be able to add or remove content from the platform.

We hope you want to continue enjoying your Virgin Media service. If not, call us on on 150 from a Virgin Media home phone or mobile, or 0345 454 1111 by 30th July to cancel your contract without early disconnection charges"

Received above  this week . At one time I would have cancelled as I used to use Usenet a lot. Now a lot of my old groups are dead. I will have to look for a free news server or pay for one. 

youreds

Well, I was on the Player bundle for a just increased £37, they have offered it for £32 for 18 months, but I've still said no & cancel. Is £32 reasonable for that? 100MB, Basic TV & phone.

EDIT: She has processed the cancellation & I'm prepared to walk. Will cancellations contact me with a better offer?

OLIVEGUY

Received a letter headed “Just keeping you in the loop - your reduced contract price ends soon”. 

Current price £55.00 a month.
New price £92.50 a month!!

A 68% increase for the same package. 

Armed with MSE website advice on haggling I phoned Virgin Media. In less than 10 minutes they offered me the same package for just an additional £6.50 a month. I thought that reasonable and worth avoiding the hassle of not switching. 

Thanks MSE. 
John - Leicester

Bettie

youreds said:

Well, I was on the Player bundle for a just increased £37, they have offered it for £32 for 18 months, but I've still said no & cancel. Is £32 reasonable for that? 100MB, Basic TV & phone.

EDIT: She has processed the cancellation & I'm prepared to walk. Will cancellations contact me with a better offer?

I think that's a reasonable price. I've seen it slightly cheaper.  I pay £30 for that package with documentaries thrown in free.,,its week end free calls though not anytime.. I thought it was going up after the €3.50 rise but I've been lucky with it sticking at 30.

sysadmin

Was paying £34 pm for M350 (just broadband) and its going up to £52 in June. 
Went on live chat and got offered 1000mb for £62pm or 500 for £52pm, dont need either so told them to cancel. Then got put through to retentions, and got offered 500mb for £42 or 350mb for £38

Dont really want to pay anymore than I currently am so have put the 30 day notice in. Will see if they call with anything better in the next week or two before looking at other providers.

Bossworld

I wonder if they only emailed those who actively used the Usenet service.

Reminds me of Three removing the ‘roam like home agreement back in about 2009,
I managed to cancel my four month contract and keep the handset as I’d recently been in one of the countries. A few others, inc a uni friend, were able to cancel by claiming they’d be adversely affected by the change (by saying they were planning to spend a placement year abroad).

Might be a stretch to convince them you were about to start using Usenet, but you never know.

My new contract has come through anyway, so it’s hopefully rectified the issues from December. At that point, I was simply trying to take up the promised 200mb/weekend calls/max it tv for £50 a month. They kept screwing up the order. Ended up cancelling the order and having to sign a new 18 month contract for 200mb at £40.


When I got this week’s post cancellation callback, I was offered 200mb for £31 (seems others get this for around £23) or the above 200mb/weekend calls/max it tv for £49 a month.

I’m viewing it as a £9 uplift to get 4K BT sport, rather than spurning a £9+ a month saving.

youreds

OK, finally done a deal. Was on Player Bundle 100MB, Freeview TV, Weekend Phone just increased to £37 from £33.50, Going up to £54.
Got an offer of £48 on live chat for the same with Mix TV, refused. Customer relations next, down to £37, refused, down to ££2, refused & cancelled.
Retentions guy called today, offered it for £29 with Mix TV a choice of Sport Lite, Documentaries, Drama or Lifestyle (Music). Said I'd prefer faster broadband. So have accepted 200MB, Tv Entertainment + Documentaries (Wheeler Dealers fan) & weekend Phone for £32 a month. Basically a lot more for £5 less a month than my last deal.
The guy even said to do the same in 18 Months time, refuse all offers & cancel.
I think you need to make sure your settings allow them to contact you by phone, otherwise they won't call.