Brief explanation on Virgin and O2 required for a numbskull...

Aristotle67

I am in the process of trying to get a new deal from Virgin for my broadband, line rental, calls and tv package. I currently have the Ultimate Oomph package.

Apparently my current package includes a Mobile Oomph unlimited data sim. I find this interesting as I am not with Virgin mobile and never have been. I am with Talkmobile for my mobile services.

I have been offered a new deal from Virgin, both with and without this Mobile Oomph unlimited data sim. The data sim will now be with O2, I know Virgin and 02 have merged. The price quoted for the package with the unlimited data sim is £20 per month cheaper than without the unlimited data sim. I guess they want me to have the unlimited data sim, but I do not understand why for as I wrote I am not with Virgin or O2 for my mobile, so therefore I have no use for the unlimited data sim. 

Unless I am missing something it is a case of the lesser package costing more, so I do not follow this pricing. What is in it for Virgin and O2?

If I go with the unlimited data sim it would mean having two bills from now on; one from Virgin for broadband, line rental, calls and tv and one from O2 for the unlimited data sim. The combined price might be better, but it means having a bill from O2 for something I don't use. I can stay with just the one bill from Virgin by not having the unlimited data sim, but will pay more for this, er, privilege.

Can someone advise or explain, please, because it just seems rather odd to me, but I confess to being naive in these matters.

Bigphil1474

They'll have their reasons - maybe O2 just want to expand their customer base, so they are basically paying Virgin to give away the sims. Maybe their combining their services to make it cheaper overall. There's probably some expectation that you'll use the sim and O2 will make money some other way. It's usually the same with line rental where the without line rental packages are more expensive than with. 

flaneurs_lobster

Aristotle67 said:

Apparently my current package includes a Mobile Oomph unlimited data sim. I find this interesting as I am not with Virgin mobile and never have been. I am with Talkmobile for my mobile services.

Any reason why you can't move your number to O2 and cancel your Talkmobile contract? 

Aristotle67

flaneurs_lobster said:

Aristotle67 said:

Apparently my current package includes a Mobile Oomph unlimited data sim. I find this interesting as I am not with Virgin mobile and never have been. I am with Talkmobile for my mobile services.

Any reason why you can't move your number to O2 and cancel your Talkmobile contract? 

Just that I am not inclined to do so; but I guess the plain answer is...no!

I am always happy to switch if there is a better deal around, but I have remained loyal to Talkmobile as they have been good with my and my partner. Not falling into the be-loyal-and-get-screwed trap here, but I pay so little to Talkmobile and receive more than I require for my needs. There has been no price increase for years. I know I would have an unlimited SIM with O2 but I don't download stuff to my phone and never go anywhere near the present allowance. So I am happy to remain with them. 

Bigphil1474

I was on with VM yesterday as our package is up for renewal. Are they offering you the Volt package? I got offered that package with an unlimited O2 sim, which i said i didn't need so they offered me the same package without the sim and it was £25 cheaper. Maybe they told you the prices wrong way round?

I've gone with it as we're getting Sky cinema and standard Netflix extra, plus speed up from M200 to M500,  for £9 a month less than we were paying before, and I can cancel my now tv cinema and too. The package includes Sky and BT Sports (in HD),  Sky Cinema (in HD), Netflix standard, anytime calls, and a second VM box.

Aristotle67

Bigphil1474 said:

I was on with VM yesterday as our package is up for renewal. Are they offering you the Volt package? I got offered that package with an unlimited O2 sim, which i said i didn't need so they offered me the same package without the sim and it was £25 cheaper. Maybe they told you the prices wrong way round?

I've gone with it as we're getting Sky cinema and standard Netflix extra, plus speed up from M200 to M500,  for £9 a month less than we were paying before, and I can cancel my now tv cinema and too. The package includes Sky and BT Sports (in HD),  Sky Cinema (in HD), Netflix standard, anytime calls, and a second VM box.

That is interesting. Yes, it was the Volt package and I got back in touch with them to start the cancellation process. They looked again and came up with a slightly better price but this included the unlimited O2 sim. I emphasised again I did not need this. They looked into the Volt package without the sim, put me on hold for a while, but when they came back they again said that if I wanted the Volt package without the sim it would be more expensive than with the sim by around £20. So it seems they did not tell me the prices the wrong way round. Perhaps you are more of a preferred customer than I am though I have been with Virgin for around 15 years. 

The package is similar to yours with maxit tv, Sky Sports and Cinema, Sky and BT Sports HD, Netfix and M600 speed. 

I have arranged the cancellation of my Virgin services which will happen next month.

Aristotle67

All sorted. I have the package I wanted minus the SIM. It remained at a higher price than with the SIM but the difference was considerably less and the price I received is less than I have been paying and much less than originally quoted. 

Bigphil1474

Having thought mine was all sorted, turned out the sales person had sold me a package they weren't allowed to. The Volt package requires you to have an O2 Sim, otherwise it won't be set up properly. Had all sorts of issues even the engineer didn't know what was going on. After a couple of hours with their CS people, they have provided me with a £10 O2Sim, and reduced the Virgin price by £10, so I now have an O2 sim I won't use, but the overall price is the same.

saajan_12

Their rationale would be that they get you onto their network for (a) future custom and (b) any overages, roaming, etc. 
However you can always switch your Talkmobile to O2 and essentially get mobile for free vs what you were expecting to pay, and then switch away once the minimum term finishes. 

If you don't want to do that and prefer to stay in one place than get the best deal, then that's up to you.. just pretend the Virgin+O2 bill together is the cost of your broadband/TV and ignore the extra sim. 

ladruid

From my understanding of this when I signed up was the Volt package did come with a o2 unlimited sim at a cost of £25 (used to be a Virgin mobile sim when it was the Ultimate Ooomph bundle).

Now the funky business happens with the billing, if you signed up for a £99 volt package, you would get charged £74 by Virgin and £25 by o2. Although both parts are signed up at the same time, by a Virgin representative, they are in fact two different contracts. It is possible to sign up, then cancel the o2 sim directly within your 14 day cooling of period, I didn't but I have read a few posts where people had done this to get the Volt bundle without sim for £74 a month.

Now the issue I had was o2 attempted to do a 10% RPI increase on my £25 sim shortly after signing up, which of cause I was not happy about, increasing my bill by £2.50 a month. I played merryhell with them and said I would not be paying it, and they could chase me to court if they wanted to fight it as there was phone recorded proof that I had asked Virgin if the £99 was for the full 18 months, and as the original contact was facilitated through Virgin. In the end my bill did still go up, BUT I agreed to a full promotional credit to cover the £2.50 till the end of the contract, so in essence it cost me nothing extra.

Regards
La