Leaving Virgin Media after 14 years - Moving to Community Fibre

Zoom7000

I've been a Virgin Media customer for over 14 years, having signed up for my own account after I moved out of my parents house in 2008. At the time, "as a new customer" even though I was the primary user at my parents home, the account was in their name, the cheapest package was basic TV, XL broadband (the top tier package was about 250Mbps at the time) and telephone line (talk evening and weekends). Soon enough, I cancelled the TV as I didn't really watch it and was left with just telephone and broadband. We never made calls on the phone line, only ever received spam or scam calls, but the broadband package was cheaper with the telephone line.

A few years ago, around 2017/18, I did what I usually do at the end of my contract and always advise friends and family to do the same:

Call up Customer Service

Tell them you are leaving

See what they offer you to stay

Take note of the offer, but give them your 30 days notice to cancel anyway

Wait for them to call you back and they will usually give you a better offer

If they don't call you back, call them around the 20th day and ask what they'll offer you to stay and take the best offer of the two (if you really want to stay!)

Finally, someone at VM retentions realised that you don't need a home phone for their broadband and so they offered me a decent package for broadband only. Some of the best deals I've had in recent years:

£29/Month for 350Mbps

£31/Month for 500Mbps (Most recent offer)

As an IT Director and general all round IT geek, I've always had higher than average usage, as well as just wanting faster speeds! The problem with Virgin Media and 99% of all home broadband has always been shockingly poor upload speeds. Whilst I was getting on average 550Mbps on a wired connection with VM, the uploads have always been around 20Mbps. That's until Community Fibre arrived here in London. CF offer FTTP (Fibre to the Premises, sometimes known as FTTH - Fibre to the Home) and you get synchronous upload and download speeds.

In recent years, I've always been happy with Virgin Media and haven't had any reason to cancel or move. Furthermore, having always been on their fastest (or near fastest package, with the arrival of Gig1) they knew that if I cancelled, I really didn't have anywhere else to go where I would get anywhere near the similar speeds.

However, with the recent £3.25/month rise in bills, I figure that it was now time to see what my options were. Technically, it was a two horse race, between Virgin Media and Community Fibre.

I called VM and immediately as I selected the option for leaving, they had an automated message offering me £3.25/month discount for 6 months. I didn't take this and decided to try my luck with retentions. When I got through, after a long hold, they offered me £35/month for 500Mbps on a 24 month contract, which is even more than I was already paying. I declined and told them I'd call back. I called back a few days later, there was no more automated offer and this time, the offer went up to £41.25/month for 500Mbps. So, I gave them the notice to cancel.

Checked Community Fibre on a price comparison site and they were offering 920Mbps (synchronous upload and download) for £35/month with a £20 Amazon voucher. I called up CF sales to see if they can better the offer but they offered me the same with 1 month free, instead of the voucher. I ended up taking this offer.

Ironically, in the time that I've been typing this very message, I just got a call from Virgin Media. They went all the way down to £29/month for 500Mbps to get me to stay. I've passed my cooling off period now, but I'm happy with the much faster speeds and better router. Too little too late from VM. Though I was surprised that I didn't get a call back from the retentions department sooner. Usually, it's within 3 to 5 days, this time it was about 3 weeks! 😒

Either way, I'm happy with Community Fibre, even though I'm paying slightly more, it's so much faster and the geek in me is very happy! 😂

unforeseen

Very nice provided that you live in one of 26boroughs of London. Not available elsewhere 

Zoom7000

unforeseen said:

Very nice provided that you live in one of 26boroughs of London. Not available elsewhere 

Yes, unfortunately FTTP is scarce around the UK, though in some places. Still though, I thought I'd highlight the process, for anyone still with Virgin Media, or any other company. I've had pretty good results with retentions over the years. If I hadn't gone with Community Fibre, I may have taken the £29/month offer today.

HaroldWren5

Zoom7000 said:

I've been a Virgin Media customer for over 14 years, having signed up for my own account after I moved out of my parents house in 2008. At the time, "as a new customer" even though I was the primary user at my parents home, the account was in their name, the cheapest package was basic TV, XL broadband (the top tier package was about 250Mbps at the time) and telephone line (talk evening and weekends). Soon enough, I cancelled the TV as I didn't really watch it and was left with just telephone and broadband. We never made calls on the phone line, only ever received spam or scam calls, but the broadband package was cheaper with the telephone line.

A few years ago, around 2017/18, I did what I usually do at the end of my contract and always advise friends and family to do the same:

Call up Customer Service

Tell them you are leaving

See what they offer you to stay

Take note of the offer, but give them your 30 days notice to cancel anyway

Wait for them to call you back and they will usually give you a better offer

If they don't call you back, call them around the 20th day and ask what they'll offer you to stay and take the best offer of the two (if you really want to stay!)

Finally, someone at VM retentions realised that you don't need a home phone for their broadband and so they offered me a decent package for broadband only. Some of the best deals I've had in recent years:

£29/Month for 350Mbps

£31/Month for 500Mbps (Most recent offer)

As an IT Director and general all round IT geek, I've always had higher than average usage, as well as just wanting faster speeds! The problem with Virgin Media and 99% of all home broadband has always been shockingly poor upload speeds. Whilst I was getting on average 550Mbps on a wired connection with VM, the uploads have always been around 20Mbps. That's until Community Fibre arrived here in London. CF offer FTTP (Fibre to the Premises, sometimes known as FTTH - Fibre to the Home) and you get synchronous upload and download speeds.

In recent years, I've always been happy with Virgin Media and haven't had any reason to cancel or move. Furthermore, having always been on their fastest (or near fastest package, with the arrival of Gig1) they knew that if I cancelled, I really didn't have anywhere else to go where I would get anywhere near the similar speeds.

However, with the recent £3.25/month rise in bills, I figure that it was now time to see what my options were. Technically, it was a two horse race, between Virgin Media and Community Fibre.

I called VM and immediately as I selected the option for leaving, they had an automated message offering me £3.25/month discount for 6 months. I didn't take this and decided to try my luck with retentions. When I got through, after a long hold, they offered me £35/month for 500Mbps on a 24 month contract, which is even more than I was already paying. I declined and told them I'd call back. I called back a few days later, there was no more automated offer and this time, the offer went up to £41.25/month for 500Mbps. So, I gave them the notice to cancel.

Checked Community Fibre on a price comparison site and they were offering 920Mbps (synchronous upload and download) for £35/month with a £20 Amazon voucher. I called up CF sales to see if they can better the offer but they offered me the same with 1 month free, instead of the voucher. I ended up taking this offer.

Ironically, in the time that I've been typing this very message, I just got a call from Virgin Media. They went all the way down to £29/month for 500Mbps to get me to stay. I've passed my cooling off period now, but I'm happy with the much faster speeds and better router. Too little too late from VM. Though I was surprised that I didn't get a call back from the retentions department sooner. Usually, it's within 3 to 5 days, this time it was about 3 weeks! 😒

Either way, I'm happy with Community Fibre, even though I'm paying slightly more, it's so much faster and the geek in me is very happy! 😂

That's really great! Well done. Brilliantly analysed as well. 

littleboo

I think you mean to say that you service is symmetric, rather than synchronous (although it also is)