Virgin Media retention deals (post your haggling successes)

digannio

Can anyone report a recent deal clinched with Virgin for the Big Bundle. I currently have Mixit TV (essentially Freeview)  with TV V6 Box, M125 Fibre Broadband and Talk Weekends phone at £34 a month. Threatened with something ludicrous like £68 while new customers can have £32.99 a month for that Big Bundle. Negotiations about to commence.

victor2

I ended up with M250 and talk anytime for £33/month after I gave my notice and retentions called me the next day, and again a few days later with the £33 offer, even though I'd accepted a slightly higher offer during the first call. They weren't aware I'd accepted the first offer!

It seems Talk More Anytime (now called Anytime Chatter) is quite an expensive option. They charge £10/month to add it onto an existing contract. We have lousy mobile phone signals, so a landline is still essential.

It's a pain, but actually giving your notice is the only way to get a reasonable deal. City Fibre are laying cables all through our neighbourhood now, so might have better alternatiives come the end of this 18 month contract.

digannio

Thanks for that, good to get a yardstick. 

r3614

Kingsblue said:

Was paying £21 a month for 125MB, due to go up next month to £37 IIRC, phoned Virgin, was offered £29 then £27, declined this offer, put my notice in, had a phone call from retentions who offered the following on a 18 month contact


125MB for £23 a month
250MB for £20 a month
350MB for £20 a month (which I went with)

Hi, just agreed £26/mth for M125 (broadband only) for 18mths, but this is a much better deal. Any chance you could provide a screenshot (or snip) of this deal (something that shows the package and the price agreed)? 

dave_dph

victor2 said:

I ended up with M250 and talk anytime for £33/month after I gave my notice and retentions called me the next day, and again a few days later with the £33 offer, even though I'd accepted a slightly higher offer during the first call. They weren't aware I'd accepted the first offer!

It seems Talk More Anytime (now called Anytime Chatter) is quite an expensive option. They charge £10/month to add it onto an existing contract. We have lousy mobile phone signals, so a landline is still essential.

Do you not have WiFi calling on your handset / mobile network? Indoor mobile signal problems become a thing of the past!

victor2

dave_dph said:

victor2 said:

I ended up with M250 and talk anytime for £33/month after I gave my notice and retentions called me the next day, and again a few days later with the £33 offer, even though I'd accepted a slightly higher offer during the first call. They weren't aware I'd accepted the first offer!

It seems Talk More Anytime (now called Anytime Chatter) is quite an expensive option. They charge £10/month to add it onto an existing contract. We have lousy mobile phone signals, so a landline is still essential.

Do you not have WiFi calling on your handset / mobile network? Indoor mobile signal problems become a thing of the past!

Did when I was with Three. Same handset now with Asda on Vodafone network and although they claim to support WiFi calling, I no longer have that option - maybe because there is a weak signal, but barely enough to hold a meaningful conversation over. It's on PAYG anyway, so unless I buy monthly add-ons, would work out more expensive. 
Much prefer the "old fashioned" way of having a landline, but do have two DECT handsets on it. 

r44flyer

Hello all...
I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to negotiating with 'retentions', however I have made an initial call to VM to discuss our options. We currently pay £80+ for M125 (M250 Volt boost), Mix TV and landline phone. We have one TV, playstation, and 2x phones that require very little bandwidth, so broadband speed is way in excess of what we need anyway, I believe.

After one phone call we have been offered everything as is for £40. We pay an additional £5 each for sim only contracts on the phones.

Does this sound reasonable or can I expect a bit more if I push? I'm inclined to accept, as on the face of it it looks ok. What I cannot get my head around is if I could be getting more for the same money as all the deals for new and exisiting customers are making my head spin!

Thanks for any input...

victor2

r44flyer said:

Hello all...
I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to negotiating with 'retentions', however I have made an initial call to VM to discuss our options. We currently pay £80+ for M125 (M250 Volt boost), Mix TV and landline phone. We have one TV, playstation, and 2x phones that require very little bandwidth, so broadband speed is way in excess of what we need anyway, I believe.

After one phone call we have been offered everything as is for £40. We pay an additional £5 each for sim only contracts on the phones.

Does this sound reasonable or can I expect a bit more if I push? I'm inclined to accept, as on the face of it it looks ok. What I cannot get my head around is if I could be getting more for the same money as all the deals for new and exisiting customers are making my head spin!

Thanks for any input...

It doesn't look so bad. You could possibly negotiate a better deal by putting in your 30 day notice to cancel and waiting for retentions to call you, which they invariably do within a few working days, or even on the weekend.
Reducing it by a few pounds more will make a saving over the 18 month contract, but only you can decide if that is worth the effort. IF they don't call you back, you could cancel the cancellation, but I don't know if you'd still get the offer you have now. That is worst case, but unlikely, going by what we read on here.

Kingsblue

@r3614 please see image below  

staffsuk

Was paying £25 for M125 & 15Gb SIM (unlimited minutes / texts / data rollover). Just put my cancellation in after the absolute farce with emails. I've now migrated all of my email addresses away from VM, so I no longer have any ties that kept me from leaving. UK based callcentre tried to dissuade me, usual tactics, I declined. They said they put on my record that I wasn't interested in any deals. Not sure if outbound will call based on that? I am looking into alternatives, including mobile broadband, I have an excellent signal here. I'll put a PAC code request in. So, we'll see... What has anyone else agreed for a similar package?