Virgin Media retention deals (post your haggling successes)

ImranQ

leew said:

What are people paying for BB only, lowest tier?

I've just had my latest bill via email and the cheeky so and sos have put mine up by £4.33p which I'm not happy about!

I was paying £18 and have since I can remember for the lowest speeds granted but did us fine. 

If you are happy to move from Virgin, have you tried a price comparison site? If so, as a tip, I would suggest finding a provider you like and then going onto their site (without using the affiliate link/code as given by the comparison site). Using the affiliate link is always more expensive.

leew

ImranQ said:

leew said:

What are people paying for BB only, lowest tier?

I've just had my latest bill via email and the cheeky so and sos have put mine up by £4.33p which I'm not happy about!

I was paying £18 and have since I can remember for the lowest speeds granted but did us fine. 

If you are happy to move from Virgin, have you tried a price comparison site? If so, as a tip, I would suggest finding a provider you like and then going onto their site (without using the affiliate link/code as given by the comparison site). Using the affiliate link is always more expensive.

Yes, done all that found a slightly cheaper deal and a faster speed but not fussed about the speed as the lowest Virgin does us fine. 

Retentions rang us twice today but I missed the calls! 

artyboy

leew said:

What are people paying for BB only, lowest tier?

I've just had my latest bill via email and the cheeky so and sos have put mine up by £4.33p which I'm not happy about!

I was paying £18 and have since I can remember for the lowest speeds granted but did us fine. 

I was on £18/month at the start of my
last contract for M250 + talk weekends, which I think is pretty much their entry level now. Since then it's gone up to £25 with 2 annual rises. 

And now, 2 months from contract end, they've sent me a letter trying to get me to renew at £30. And they have rung me multiple times with a load of foreign call centre weasel nonsense about how the cheapest deal will include TV and a mobile SIM, even though I want neither.

So I'm ignoring them for now. But I want it under £25 next time...

fastyan

just started my cancel process now, cheapest from inbound retention was £79
outbound just offered £59 (although they started at £71)

1gb BB
TNT with max tv
Phone with weekend calls
TNT is £8 a month

not taken it up yet as only use tnt for motogp
was paying £62 with 500mb BB

mits999

Anyone had a deal on mega volt + extra box + tnt sports?

Halifax_sux

PZ19 said:

ian_til said:

mits999 said:

PZ19 said:

Maxit tv, sports Hd, 200mb, weekend calls £57.25.  Was offered £76 first then outbound call was £71, refused that, was on verge of moving to now and sports £45 offer, so called the 0203 number and very nice lady offered me that which I a more than happy with.

What’s the number?

Is it [Removed by Forum Team] ??

Had a call from that number yesterday after putting my 30 day cancellation in on Friday.  Unfortunately their "offer" was £54 which was £3 more than normal retentions in India offered me Friday!!

Old package was £35/mo for:-

200Mb broadband

Maxit TV

weekend calls

2 x TV boxes (not latest & greatest)

Hoping for another call - don't really want the fuss of changing provider

Yes sorry..been away all weekend, that was one.

I had a mystery call from [Removed by Forum Team] earlier today - they hung up just as i answered.

When i looked it up i found this thread plus lots of "complaint" type reports about the same number!.

Yes, i did cancel my Virgin Media broadband contract yesterday (was 200 BB only for £28pm)

FYI: my Virgin Media "contact me" settings are for email and snail-mail only - NO calls or text.

And yet still the rung!

Furthermore i made it very, VERY clear to them when i gave notice precisely what i thought of their speed and their "service" for the entire length of my 18m contract.

p.s.

They also insisted that all wifi connections share, i.e. REDUCE, the bandwidth available to each connection

 - EVEN WHEN THEY ARE NOT BEING USED.

Also that ethernet connections also share (reduce) the bandwidth available to WIFI connections, again even when not being used,

e.g. a PVR or desktop  connected to the router via ethernet cables reduce the bandwidth available to, say, a mobile phone using wifi - even when the PVR and desktop are switched off!

Why don't OfCom do something about this type of abuse?

Are Virgin Media fit for purpose?

Are Ofcom fit for purpose?

Will i get banned from MSE for posting this?

Answers on a forum near you please ...

Realgonekid

An interesting contract negotiation this time. Forgive the detail but maybe it will help people. 

Coming off   Maxit TV,

                    1x V6 Box,

                    Volt 350 Broadband,

                    Sky & TNT Sports,

                    UHD, Weekend Calls

                    £52.75pm.

First, 2 months ago I saw the “change my package” option only on the app/online, which appeared to offer £53pm with no changes. In fact I clicked on it without pressing “submit” and appeared to get a pre contract offer by email. I called to be reassured I had not submitted. I almost went down that route, but be warned it disappears either two days before contract ends, or when cancelling.

6 weeks back I got a reminder email, not my contract, but it appeared to be a general April price rise reminder. If I wasn’t happy I could cancel before 31/10, even though my contract ended on 23 November.  So, I did cancel just before then. I thought there might be some merit in negotiating when I was still paying £52 on their screen, instead of it showing £138 or whatever.

I did try for a live chat deal first over a couple of days, but they were all around £90 and as usual they prefer me to trade up to get better discounts. Still ended up live chat cancelling.

24 hours later I miss a call. Then miss one 48 hours later. Tried live chatting again but more of the same. Nothing for a week so I called the number back. ‘Loyalty Team’ answered instantly. Same package £69, or Mega TV package trade up £78. Insisted they were also the outbound team. Said I’d think about it. I am thinking now at least I have a number and might get some sort of deal if no one was going to call. People ask what number to ring. They use more than one and it changes every year - so just make sure your phone isn’t switched off and watch for a strange number – and google it.

Bizarrely, 24 hours later get another outbound call which I couldn’t take so they offer to call back that evening. But no one did. Slightly worried now that the loyalty team was not really the outbound team. 

So, I leave it another week. No more calls and I am getting a bit too close to termination day for my liking. I call the loyalty team, saying I missed a call last week and again questioning if they really are the same team? “Yes they are”. Guy can see my previous “loyalty” offers. Checks prices again. Same package offering £69, but the same trade up offer is now £68! I sound tempted even though I don’t need half of the stuff. Agreed he’d call me in 24 hours.

He does. This time I simply say I really don’t want to pay £60pm, so can he see if he can get it with half the broadband speed? As with any form of negotiation it helps to offer to concede somewhere. He goes away to press buttons. He comes back saying he cannot, as the best discounts are only on the top packages, but he did check those discounts again and some new “black Friday deals” had been released. 

We agreed the following

Mega Volt TV,

1gb Broadband,

Kids channels,

Sky Cinema,

Sky Sports (UHD),

TNT, add 360 box,

Netflix Standard,

Anytime calls.

£58pm.

Could I have done better if I held my nerve until the last day? Maybe, but I’d need to be really prepared to go to risk it. It helped to know I had an inbound route. Though I didn’t completely trust it was the same place. We learn every 18 months but then the process always changes. My worry is now I’ve hit the package ceiling which I didn’t really want to do, as that in itself seems to aid deal value.

Still, happy with this deal for now, and good luck with anyone else trying hard for the same. Hope this helps.

Tammer

Realgonekid said:

An interesting contract negotiation this time. Forgive the detail but maybe it will help people. 

Coming off   Maxit TV,

                    1x V6 Box,

                    Volt 350 Broadband,

                    Sky & TNT Sports,

                    UHD, Weekend Calls

                    £52.75pm.

First, 2 months ago I saw the “change my package” option only on the app/online, which appeared to offer £53pm with no changes. In fact I clicked on it without pressing “submit” and appeared to get a pre contract offer by email. I called to be reassured I had not submitted. I almost went down that route, but be warned it disappears either two days before contract ends, or when cancelling.

6 weeks back I got a reminder email, not my contract, but it appeared to be a general April price rise reminder. If I wasn’t happy I could cancel before 31/10, even though my contract ended on 23 November.  So, I did cancel just before then. I thought there might be some merit in negotiating when I was still paying £52 on their screen, instead of it showing £138 or whatever.

I did try for a live chat deal first over a couple of days, but they were all around £90 and as usual they prefer me to trade up to get better discounts. Still ended up live chat cancelling.

24 hours later I miss a call. Then miss one 48 hours later. Tried live chatting again but more of the same. Nothing for a week so I called the number back. ‘Loyalty Team’ answered instantly. Same package £69, or Mega TV package trade up £78. Insisted they were also the outbound team. Said I’d think about it. I am thinking now at least I have a number and might get some sort of deal if no one was going to call. People ask what number to ring. They use more than one and it changes every year - so just make sure your phone isn’t switched off and watch for a strange number – and google it.

Bizarrely, 24 hours later get another outbound call which I couldn’t take so they offer to call back that evening. But no one did. Slightly worried now that the loyalty team was not really the outbound team. 

So, I leave it another week. No more calls and I am getting a bit too close to termination day for my liking. I call the loyalty team, saying I missed a call last week and again questioning if they really are the same team? “Yes they are”. Guy can see my previous “loyalty” offers. Checks prices again. Same package offering £69, but the same trade up offer is now £68! I sound tempted even though I don’t need half of the stuff. Agreed he’d call me in 24 hours.

He does. This time I simply say I really don’t want to pay £60pm, so can he see if he can get it with half the broadband speed? As with any form of negotiation it helps to offer to concede somewhere. He goes away to press buttons. He comes back saying he cannot, as the best discounts are only on the top packages, but he did check those discounts again and some new “black Friday deals” had been released. 

We agreed the following

Mega Volt TV,

1gb Broadband,

Kids channels,

Sky Cinema,

Sky Sports (UHD),

TNT, add 360 box,

Netflix Standard,

Anytime calls.

£58pm.

Could I have done better if I held my nerve until the last day? Maybe, but I’d need to be really prepared to go to risk it. It helped to know I had an inbound route. Though I didn’t completely trust it was the same place. We learn every 18 months but then the process always changes. My worry is now I’ve hit the package ceiling which I didn’t really want to do, as that in itself seems to aid deal value.

Still, happy with this deal for now, and good luck with anyone else trying hard for the same. Hope this helps.

For context, I am now out of contract and have a broadly similar package to your new one, but with 350 meg BB not 1gb.  I am paying £146pm.   I will be phoning to cancel next week (so it cancels after Xmas and NY).

PZ19

Realgonekid said:

An interesting contract negotiation this time. Forgive the detail but maybe it will help people. 

Coming off   Maxit TV,

                    1x V6 Box,

                    Volt 350 Broadband,

                    Sky & TNT Sports,

                    UHD, Weekend Calls

                    £52.75pm.

First, 2 months ago I saw the “change my package” option only on the app/online, which appeared to offer £53pm with no changes. In fact I clicked on it without pressing “submit” and appeared to get a pre contract offer by email. I called to be reassured I had not submitted. I almost went down that route, but be warned it disappears either two days before contract ends, or when cancelling.

6 weeks back I got a reminder email, not my contract, but it appeared to be a general April price rise reminder. If I wasn’t happy I could cancel before 31/10, even though my contract ended on 23 November.  So, I did cancel just before then. I thought there might be some merit in negotiating when I was still paying £52 on their screen, instead of it showing £138 or whatever.

I did try for a live chat deal first over a couple of days, but they were all around £90 and as usual they prefer me to trade up to get better discounts. Still ended up live chat cancelling.

24 hours later I miss a call. Then miss one 48 hours later. Tried live chatting again but more of the same. Nothing for a week so I called the number back. ‘Loyalty Team’ answered instantly. Same package £69, or Mega TV package trade up £78. Insisted they were also the outbound team. Said I’d think about it. I am thinking now at least I have a number and might get some sort of deal if no one was going to call. People ask what number to ring. They use more than one and it changes every year - so just make sure your phone isn’t switched off and watch for a strange number – and google it.

Bizarrely, 24 hours later get another outbound call which I couldn’t take so they offer to call back that evening. But no one did. Slightly worried now that the loyalty team was not really the outbound team. 

So, I leave it another week. No more calls and I am getting a bit too close to termination day for my liking. I call the loyalty team, saying I missed a call last week and again questioning if they really are the same team? “Yes they are”. Guy can see my previous “loyalty” offers. Checks prices again. Same package offering £69, but the same trade up offer is now £68! I sound tempted even though I don’t need half of the stuff. Agreed he’d call me in 24 hours.

He does. This time I simply say I really don’t want to pay £60pm, so can he see if he can get it with half the broadband speed? As with any form of negotiation it helps to offer to concede somewhere. He goes away to press buttons. He comes back saying he cannot, as the best discounts are only on the top packages, but he did check those discounts again and some new “black Friday deals” had been released. 

We agreed the following

Mega Volt TV,

1gb Broadband,

Kids channels,

Sky Cinema,

Sky Sports (UHD),

TNT, add 360 box,

Netflix Standard,

Anytime calls.

£58pm.

Could I have done better if I held my nerve until the last day? Maybe, but I’d need to be really prepared to go to risk it. It helped to know I had an inbound route. Though I didn’t completely trust it was the same place. We learn every 18 months but then the process always changes. My worry is now I’ve hit the package ceiling which I didn’t really want to do, as that in itself seems to aid deal value.

Still, happy with this deal for now, and good luck with anyone else trying hard for the same. Hope this helps.

Good price that 

ASB1960

A very low package. I have 125 BB, boosted to 250 through Volt, plus landline and base calls (unused).

£25. Rising to £58 in Jan. No online renewal offer.

Retentions offered £26. Refused and cancelled.

Outbound call today offered £20 for 250 or £19 with no phone, or £20 for 350 no phone.

I wasn't there to take the call so rang back. It had a recorded message with a slightly different number.