Leaving Virgin TV; replacement options?

stumitch513

Hi all

I've been a Virgin Media customer for a long time with the package (broadband/phone/TV). Cost has been creeping up and I'm now at around £60/month for basic TV, evening calls free and 100MB broadband.

Happy with broadband service, but want to:
- Replace landline phone with VOIP service (to keep my number) over the internet
- Replace TV with terrestrial or other option

I've an aerial which is a little dodgy and needs a repair, but thinking of rewiring it all and going back to Freeview with a splitter to provide signals to the two TVs downstairs.

Has anyone done this - or has anyone found a better way of getting Freeview channels (not relying on apps such as iPlayer, ITV hub etc?)

Thanks...Stu

iniltous

I know your main question was about TV , but if you are keeping VM broadband , what is the price difference between VM standalone broadband and VM phone and broadband ?, the price is usually almost the same , so if your intended VOIP provider charges some sort of monthly fee when added to the VM broadband cost , is it much cheaper ?

stumitch513

Good question. I'd checked on the website; £40 per month for 100MB. So I'd be saving £20 per month. Fair point about VOIP. I've seen deals for around a fiver, and of course there's the advantage of taking calls on your mobile, wherever you are, via your landline number.

Part of my issue with Virgin is how the cost keeps creeping up; I was initially on £43 per month, and it's up to £60; I call threatening to leave every year or so, which pushes it down again. But it's the hassle of doing that!

Inner_Zone

For VoIP I use Sipgate Basic, no monthly fee, PAYG for calls, can be used with various apps on a Smart phone.

vacheron

I'm in the same situation, leaving Virgin on the 26th of November after being with them continuously since 2007!

VM broadband on it's own is often almost the same price as their phone/TV bundle deals because they really want your phone line with them for some reason.

Your best bet (in my experience at least) is to sign up with BT (or whoever else is doing the best deal) for their broadband/phone/TV service with installation to begin in about 35 days time and tell them you want to keep your phone number (important).

Within a day or so, Virgin will receive the authorisation request from BT or whoever to transfer your phone number their best retention people will be straight on the phone to you to offer you a far better deal to stay with Virgin. (Far better than if you just called and "said" you were leaving).

If Virgin makes an offer worth staying for you can easily cancel the BT installation without charge under the 14 day distance selling regulations and save yourself the hassle of switching. If the new offer is still better you can give Virgin your 30 days contractual notice to cancel which will occur before the new service is installed.

To give you an example, I last year I was paying £70 for line rental,phone, full house TV and 200Mb fibre. they wrote to say it was going up to £88 per month. I switched over to BT and Virgin called me the very next day and offered me my existing deal for £38 per month, so I cancelled the BT application.

They did the same this year, £88 again, reduced to £43 when I switched. However this year I still left as the BT deal was better suited for my requirements.

stumitch513

That is excellent advice Vacheron, thanks. I'll do that. I'll kick off a BT deal and see what happens. Worst case is that I end up with BT! Great.

vacheron

Certainly worth a punt. As you say, What is there to lose!

Let us know how you get on. 😊

worried_jim

I pay £30pm for vivid 200. I bought a Youview box with a 500gb hard drive for £30 from eBay and I also have Amazon prime (worth it's weight in gold). Job done. Call them every year and threaten to move and get a discount.

iniltous

stumitch513 wrote: »

Good question. I'd checked on the website; £40 per month for 100MB. So I'd be saving £20 per month. Fair point about VOIP. I've seen deals for around a fiver, and of course there's the advantage of taking calls on your mobile, wherever you are, via your landline number.

Part of my issue with Virgin is how the cost keeps creeping up; I was initially on £43 per month, and it's up to £60; I call threatening to leave every year or so, which pushes it down again. But it's the hassle of doing that!

I can see that you save £20 losing the TV and phoneline, but what do you save if you lose the TV only and keep phone/broadband , there may be a £20 saving just from losing the TV
I only ask because I was recently a 50/70 Mb VM broadband only customer ( never had TV and phone with them ) and was tired of the constant price rises , went up from £28 to £36 ish in a little over 2 years, and I never even had a reduced price introductory deal, these were 'list' prices ....when I left , VM phone and broadband ( 50Mb ) was cheaper than my standalone broadband (70Mb, they give a free upgrade during my time with them) , and although when I called to cancel I got the impression they would negotiate price and up speed to 100Mb, I went elsewhere.
You may be no worse off if you keep the phone , and strangely possibly better off keeping the VM phone if VOIP costs something, although VOIP does have some benefits ( and drawbacks, like no phone during a power cut)

Bigphil1474

OP, when I looked at VM it was cheaper to have the phone and BB, than just BB. We seem to be in the minority in that we use the landline a lot though. We looked at the TV but didn't bother. I have a Youview box from when I was with PlusNet and use that for freeview and recording TV through aerial.
I currently use Now TV for extra content and on a deal for entertainment package of £3.50 a month. I tend to flick between NowTV, Netflix, and Amazon during the year, watch the content I want, then cancel. Works out cheaper and only monthly contract. Not sure if Amazon still monthly, but if you have Prime TV is included anyway.
The only dilemma I have at the minute is that VM are the only provider I can get who can give BB speeds above about 20mb - currently on their 100mb deal.

kevanwild

Dear all,
I am one of those old people, just retired. I have rather excellent broadband, being in the London region. It also costs me nearly £100 a month. This includes a basic TV package of which I mainly watch Channel 4, and therefore seems a waste to be paying Virgin for this.
If I were to switch I would need to purchase a freeview box/es for the house; and set up the relevant aerials. I have no plans of getting rid of the broadband, as I use it heavily.
Does anyone have comments on whether this is worth making an outlay on freeview and new aerials, etc.

Thanks
Kevan