Virgin Media contract run out - Looking at options - Advice welcomed.

SaitenMar

Hi folks, 

Need some help. So recently my Virgin Media broadband contract ran out and I'm currently paying a higher cost per month. I need to look into getting something sorted but I need some advice. Basically, I've started looking at other options to see if I could get a better deal elsewhere or get a better deal with VM. I hate talking to VM because it's an absolute nightmare to get any sense out of them sometimes, it took ages to sort out a new contract with them last time and they weren't very helpful. Right now we're currently on the M200 right now and have taken a look at what VM had to offer for new customers and it's pretty underwhelming. I know I'd have to speak to them to find out what deal they have to offer (which I intend to do Monday) but I'm also taking a look at alternatives. 

Right now I've only looked at EE, but I wasn't clear on how the internet is connected to the home with them. A good while back we had Sky which was connected through the phone line but the speed was so poor that we switched back to Virgin Media. Is it still connected through the phone line? When we left Sky they actually cut our phoneline so we would have to have that fixed. Honestly, the speeds offered with EE are somewhat underwhelming but I do believe something slower than the M200 would be more suitable for us now given the rising costs. 

Would appreciate it if anyone as got any advice or have experience with other internet providers. Been with VM for so long now (since the Blueyonder days) that I haven't a whole lot of experience dealing with the likes of BT, EE, etc. Plus if anyone as any tips that might help when dealing with VM I'd appreciate that too. I find it such a stressful process dealing with them, they rarely seem to want to help. 

*Quick edit*
Apparently, I can only get up to 36MB/s with EE in my area, which isn't great in my opinion. I imagine BT will be similar.  

littleboo

How many people in your household, how do you use the internet?

SaitenMar

littleboo said:

How many people in your household, how do you use the internet?

There can be up to three of us using the internet at once, and we use it a lot. We watch stuff on Netflix, play video games online, web searching (the usual stuff). That's why I'm not sure some of the speeds will be enough for us. 

It seems the only realistic speed we can get from the likes of EE, BT and Sky is 25MB/s to 36MB/s. 

littleboo

What results do you get from:
https://www.broadbandchecker.btwholesale.com/#/ADSL

daveyjp

I assume you have Virgin cable.  If your area hasn't had Openreach Fibre to Property upgrades you will be limited to what is available through conventional phone lines, hence the poor EE offer.

Until you get an area upgrade Virgin will be your only option if you want very high speed.  Once Openreach upgrade you will have gigabit options to compare with Virgin.

littleboo

yes, but it doesn't sound as if they actually need gigabit broadband

daveyjp

Possibly not, but it also reads like they require more than 36 meg, which is the only other option.

Just because gigabit is available doesn't mean you have to have it at full speed.  I have a choice of Virgin, Cityfibre (11 providers using their network) and Openreach FTTP, all offer Gigabit, I don't have it, but ao many providers means I do have a choice and they are now competing on price.

J292

If your prepared to haggle I’d suggest placing a cancellation notice with virgin if you have your marketing preferences set for them to contact you, you should get a call from their outbound retentions who are well known to offer the best and deepest discounts i had outbound retentions contact me within 24 hours and they offered me 350mbps for £25 or 200mbps for £22 and they threw in the stream box for free so I could get my freeview channels through it and add monthly channel passes if I so  wished hope you manage to secure a good deal! 👍

littleboo

daveyjp said:

Possibly not, but it also reads like they require more than 36 meg, which is the only other option.

Just because gigabit is available doesn't mean you have to have it at full speed.  I have a choice of Virgin, Cityfibre (11 providers using their network) and Openreach FTTP, all offer Gigabit, I don't have it, but ao many providers means I do have a choice and they are now competing on price.

36 Mbps is potentially more than suitable for up to 3 people, and many households exist perfectly fine on such speeds. It does of course depend on the detail, is it multiple HD or UHD streams. However, the OP mentions "up to 36" which is not a usable measure, so without a forecast for the property, it's impossible to say.

SaitenMar

Thanks for all the replies, sorry for the late reply. Having done more research it definitely sounds like I'm somewhat limited in options. Today I intend to ring up some providers to see what they are willing to offer. 

Thanks for the sound advice, hopefully, I'll have an update at some point. 

SaitenMar

So I spent all day trying to get through to Virgin Media, Sky, and EE to see if I could get any good deals. Honestly, I wasn't surprised by the speed offered by Sky and EE which was disappointing but kept them in mind. Eventually got through to VM and the customer service rep offered a new deal of £40 a month for the M200 speed, I said I intended to leave (I was working off the Haggle with Virgin Media guide and it was still more than I was happy to pay) and they put me through to cancellation team. Played hardball and got it down to £36 which is just £1 more than I was paying previously. Tried getting a better deal but that was the best he said he could do for broadband alone and I have no interest in phone or TV. 

I wish there was more choice that could provide higher speeds but that is what is it. Hopefully in the future things improve. Still, I'm fine with paying the £36 per month. Thanks for all the help folks, much appreciated.