Failed haggle

nevakno2much

My M200 virgin package has been costing me £69.25 for about a year. Finally took the time to call them end of last week to haggle a better deal. Fat lot of good that done. Their best deal was £46 when my mum (who has the same as me but she has 500mbps got hers reduced to £30! I was polite and asked the price for just Internet, their best offer... £38! I explained that whilst I was talking to the operator that I was looking on the sky deals and they were offering tv, Internet (and a decent speed) plus Netflix thrown in for £42. To which she added I could 'add' Netflix to the £48 if I wanted Netflix! I then asked if there was a better deal she said no that's the best price I would get. So I said I wanted to give 30 days notice amd cancel, she said fine and the call was ended after she told me they would sent packaging to send back my equipment. Wow. No customer retention. I also received an email saying sorry to see you leave after 6 years. Mehhh not THAT sorry. Bit peeved as I have a hard drive of stuff I've never found time to watch. Disappointing to say the least. Whether it made any difference but I called about 6pm and my mum told me after that I should have called in the morning. Although it shouldn't matter what time you call all customers count, or so I thought.

Neil_Jones

No entitlement to any discount, its in Virgin's court as to whether to offer a better deal or not.  If they choose not to, vote with your feet.

Bigphil1474

Are you complaining that they only offered you a 33% reduction in your package cost, or that your mum got a better discount? I'd have taken the reduced price. They may still get in touch with you, if not, go to Sky. You can always go back to Virgin next year. You don't need to send your equipment back until the end of the 30 days.

brewerdave

You are in the "fortunate" position of being able to play Virgin off with Sky - but it is still possible to haggle even if you are "restricted" to just one of the two, as I am.
Should become even easier with all the streaming options now available - and will be even better if the Premier League get their finger out and stop doing the dance with Sky as has been suggested is a possibility.

ladruid

nevakno2much said:

Bit peeved as I have a hard drive of stuff I've never found time to watch.

Hardly the fault of Virgin Media how you prioritise to use your time.

It doesn't sound like you have followed the usual route that offers success in a lot of cases, cancel and the either wait or contact the final retentions team before the actual disconnection takes place. You very rarely get a good deal with the first person you speak to.

nevakno2much

Hi, an update to my previous post. I received a call just after lunch today from VM. They have offered me the same package but M250, same tv, phone-in also thrown in a remote you talk to and an upgraded box for £27 a month on am 18 month contract.The upgrade taking immediate effect. The saving grace is that I didn't delete my 97% used hard drive on my box of TV I haven't managed to watch. Haven't told my mum yet!! I would have been fine switching to Sky and yes am grateful I do have the ability to 'bat them against each other' as I am well aware others are not so fortunate (like my OH) so if you do take the plunge and cancel, don't fret straight away. As I still had about 24 days left of my termination period. Thanks for all your comments and good luck to all who are stuck being ripped off unnecessarily like I was for over a year stupidly.