Virgin - Breach of contract with price increase?

Up_against_it

I've had the message all Virgin Media customers have had announcing the price hike. Just two months ago I was out of contract and negotiated a new deal for the next 18 months. I agreed a contract with them for a fixed monthly fee for the 18 month period. Now they say pay more, or leave, if you don't like the new terms. Hang on a minute Virgin, we agreed a contract. Nothing in the contract terms allowed for an uplift and I was told that was the price I'd pay for the duration. It's not good enough to say we've changed our minds and you are free to leave it you don't like it. Surely it's a binding agreement between both parties that should be honoured on the agreed terms until the expiry date of the contract.

Does this have any legal weight on Virgin's side or am I free to insist that they provide the service at the agreed price until the end of contract?

victor2

Up_against_it said:

...
Hang on a minute Virgin, we agreed a contract. Nothing in the contract terms allowed for an uplift and I was told that was the price I'd pay for the duration. It's not good enough to say we've changed our minds and you are free to leave it you don't like it. Surely it's a binding agreement between both parties that should be honoured on the agreed terms until the expiry date of the contract.

Does this have any legal weight on Virgin's side or am I free to insist that they provide the service at the agreed price until the end of contract?

Don't know where it stands legally,  but does not telling you there won't be an increase mean they are saying there could be one?
The fact that new contracts now say there will be an annual increase, plus them allowing you to leave penalty free suggests they are on shaky ground, but have addressed it.
They are offering something to at least partially offset the increase if you call them, and the usual game of giving notice to leave appears to still work in your favour. 
Will be interesting to hear other opinions on how contract law operates though.

victor2

400ixl said:

I don't believe Virgin have any contracts where they do not have the yearly increase clause, so you would have had it in all liklelyhood, but not registered that it is there.

I (like many) have been with them for years, and never had an annual increase clause. It is only recently that they introduced it. They used to offer 12 month contracts, with no increase, which wasn't a problem as contracts would end anyway close to any increase. Only since moving to 18 month contracts has it become an issue.
My contract clearly states my monthly service charge (after discounts) then an increase when the contract ends next July. No intermediate increase. That is why they are giving everyone the penalty free option to end their contract as a result of the increase.

Up_against_it

I hear what you both say and agree that Virgin have never had an automatic uplift clause in any contract. The latest email confirms that and states from April 2024 they will include the automatic uplift clause unless I opt out before April 2023. Indeed, they give me until the end of March 2023 the option to cancel and move on to another provider. Great for them, not for me.

My question is whether they can legally do this. I accepted a contract for them to supply at an agreed price for the next 18 months. They seem to think that they can change the agreed terms on the basis of take it or leave. What's the point of a contract if the supplying company determines the rules as and when it suits them? I'm sure if I said to them that I'd changed my mind and wanted to pay less or leave before the end of the agreed terms that they would throw all the legals at me. It seems a very one-sided arrangement.

powerful_Rogue

Up_against_it said:

I hear what you both say and agree that Virgin have never had an automatic uplift clause in any contract. The latest email confirms that and states from April 2024 they will include the automatic uplift clause unless I opt out before April 2023. Indeed, they give me until the end of March 2023 the option to cancel and move on to another provider. Great for them, not for me.

My question is whether they can legally do this. I accepted a contract for them to supply at an agreed price for the next 18 months. They seem to think that they can change the agreed terms on the basis of take it or leave. What's the point of a contract if the supplying company determines the rules as and when it suits them? I'm sure if I said to them that I'd changed my mind and wanted to pay less or leave before the end of the agreed terms that they would throw all the legals at me. It seems a very one-sided arrangement.

Yes they can, it's all in the T&C's. If you don't want to accept you can leave penalty free.

Gezmonder

I just received the email about this and came on looking for a thread relating to it. The issue I have is not so much with the price increase in principle it's the amount it's increasing by. I currently pay £35 a month for a basic broadband and TV package and they said this is going up by £9, this is over 25%! Pretty outrageous, it's even more than double inflation which is now falling (albeit slowly).

victor2

Gezmonder said:

I just received the email about this and came on looking for a thread relating to it. The issue I have is not so much with the price increase in principle it's the amount it's increasing by. I currently pay £35 a month for a basic broadband and TV package and they said this is going up by £9, this is over 25%! Pretty outrageous, it's even more than double inflation which is now falling (albeit slowly).

You are probably getting a discount, and the increase as a percentage of the base price before discount will be less than 25%.
Phone them up and they should at least credit you with the amount of the increase - ignore the automated offer of a credit for half the increase and hang on for a human.

Up_against_it

powerful_Rogue said:

Up_against_it said:

I hear what you both say and agree that Virgin have never had an automatic uplift clause in any contract. The latest email confirms that and states from April 2024 they will include the automatic uplift clause unless I opt out before April 2023. Indeed, they give me until the end of March 2023 the option to cancel and move on to another provider. Great for them, not for me.

My question is whether they can legally do this. I accepted a contract for them to supply at an agreed price for the next 18 months. They seem to think that they can change the agreed terms on the basis of take it or leave. What's the point of a contract if the supplying company determines the rules as and when it suits them? I'm sure if I said to them that I'd changed my mind and wanted to pay less or leave before the end of the agreed terms that they would throw all the legals at me. It seems a very one-sided arrangement.

Yes they can, it's all in the T&C's. If you don't want to accept you can leave penalty free.

But it's not in the T&Cs. Certainly not in the ones I have downloaded relating to MY contract with THEM. I fully understand that I can leave penalty free if I don't agree to the terms. My point is that I agreed a contract between myself and Virgin in which you would reasonably expect the agreed terms to last for the duration of the contract. Virgin would hold me to account if I broke the terms. Why do they feel it acceptable to break the agreement with a take-it-leave-it attitude?

I've got a contract with EDF energy to supply me at stupidly low prices until August 2024. I agreed it on a 3 year deal and they supply at that price without question.

Virgin have recently been advertising for new customers offering prices far less than I currently pay for a similar package. The Government outlawed that practice for motor and home insurance but never went far enough to encompass all utility companies. 

I still can't understand why they are legally permitted to break an agreement when I wouldn't have a leg to stand on if I attempted the same.

gameinn

Pretty sure it's in the terms that they themselves can terminate it at anytime.

Count yourself lucky. I'm pretty sure other providers will beat whatever Virgin has, ofcourse if they supply your area. Vodafone offers look really good right now.

Plus I'm pretty sure this means you can probably negotiate with virgin to get an even cheaper price than you currently pay.

Don't get me wrong I know where you're coming from and it is pretty ridiculous.

banks_anthony_r

I've just read the email sent last week. Of concern to me is the fact that "As this annual price increase is provided for in your terms, there is no right to cancel given for this price increase from April 2024".

I've always threatened to leave when the price change has been announced and have always got a discount that covers the price increase until the end of my contract term. So I take the above comment to mean that when you sign up to a new Virgin contract, you in effect are agreeing to lose that right to leave penalty free because they have imposed a price change? Our ability to negotiate will be taken away.

Time to look at other providers....

victor2

They are indeed removing the option to leave without penalty if/when a price increase kicks in before your contract ends.
It's probably the move towards 18 month contracts that has caused that. In the old 12 month contract days it really didn't matter that the customer would miss an April increase, as they'd soon be negotiating a new deal anyway. 
I think all providers are moving towards annual increases within the contracts now, which does make a bit of a mockery of the whole contract...