Virgin Media b/b & phone charges

tanyo78

I took on Virgin Media's broadband MSE offer in August 2019 - £25 per month plus £75 credit towards the service - and including my landline. A good deal. I only need a landline mainly for some incoming calls (getting less and less these days).
I then noticed in November that I was being charged £30 per month not £25. Long story short, the extra £5 was for a "Talk Anytime" landline feature. I have no recollection of even being aware of this service, let alone asking for it.
I went through all the VM paperwork - and the early emails refer to me paying £25 per month. Once I went right through the records, I found some references to the Talk Anytime feature and there was mention of the charges rising to £30 in November - but I was hard pressed to find information indicating the Talk Anytime service was a paid-for feature.
I did not question the "Talk Anytime" provision because (a) I was not looking for that service - I can use WhatsApp etc - and (b) I have no recollection of it being offered as a paid service. From the outset, my image was always that I would be paying £25 per month.
Apart from possibly thinking me a goose for not having checked more carefully at the outset, does anyone have any thoughts on this? Can I reasonably ask to have the Talk Anytime feature removed - or am I simply stuck with the contract?
I did contact their call centre - the "feedback" I got was that I was getting a very good deal!
One other weird thing is that the landline "deal" is for 18 months but the broadband is for 12 months. I don't get this at all.
I know £5/month is not the end of the world - but that really isn't the point. I can't help feeling I've been taken advantage of - it's "just" a fiver and who's going to worry about that? Thanks in advance for any useful comments.

AndyPK

I think you can stop talk feature at any time.
Just ring them up and ask for it to be stopped. (It's usually £8/month)


Just need to be careful. sometimes when making changes it will lock you in for another 12 months. So ask on the phone when going through the process if this will happen.


It normal for some things to be 12 months and others 18 months

cranford

Its important that you look at the actual contract rather than emails. If you don't have this, if you have already set up an online account then you should be able to view it on line. If not then set one up at https://my.virginmedia.com/home/index

This will show you the end dates and discounts you are receiving.
It looks like you may have unwittingly signed up for the talk any time in which case unless you can prove that you did not then you are stuck with it until end of contract.
Your difficult time will come at end of contract when the price will probably go up to something like £49 a month even if you remove the talk any time. You maybe able to get another discount but it will be nothing like the deal you are on now without actually leaving and waiting to see if VM contact you with an offer.