Virgin too expensive now

Frankie56

Three years ago, I lost my job because of the pandemic. I contacted Virgin who reduced my 100 Mb broadband and a phone line for £25 to 50 Mb and no phoneline to £20. I retired a year ago but could still just manage the £20 so stayed with Virgin as I've been with them for many years. 

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email saying the discount had been removed and I had to pay £37 a month. I phoned them and said I could not afford that and that Vodaphone were offering me the social tariff 38 Mb for £12. Virgin's is 15 Mb for £12.50. The very young sounding man I spoke to said the best he could offer was Volt 125 6 Gb for £32. I said I didn't need that speed as there is only me with 1 laptop and streaming Netflix for a few hours a week. He just said it was up to me if I accepted what he offered or left. I told him I would leave and get back to cancel once I had Vodaphone set up.

I tried phoning Virgin back but was told the previous offer still stood (Volt 125 6Gb for £32), even though Vodaphone were offering me the social tariff. A couple of days ago, I got another email from Virgin saying my bill would now be £44 a month. 

I phoned Vodaphone back and they said I should give Virgin 30 days notice and they would time it so they switched me on in 30 days time. Unfortunately, the lady's computer was playing up so she phoned me back once their tech team had sorted it. It seems that Openreach are in my area replacing the cables ready for the phone change over in 2025. (I have seen lots of vans at the boxes in my area.) so Vodaphone can't change me over until they've finished that. The lady said she'd phone back in a month. 

Does anyone have any advice on what to do about this, please? I really don't want to stay with Virgin now. I definitely don't want to be paying £44 for 50 Mb, or even £32 for 6Gb that I don't need but feel stuck if I can't move yet. I have thought about trying to manage without broadband for a while but think I'll be lost as I do so much online.

flashg67

Presuming you're outside your minimum term with Virgin, just don't renew, paying Virgin's higher price and wait until Vodafone can connect you.
Do you get a decent mobile signal where you are? A monthly rolling 30 day sim card and a cheap (ebay)  'mifi' unit(basically a router that takes a mobile sim card) is an option

Frankie56

Thank you flashg67. I am out of contract but they sent an email with the updated amount and just keep taking the payment by direct debit. I've told them I want to leave but don't want to put in the 30 day notice until I can sort something else out.

Yes the phone signal is pretty good. I've thought about asking them to reduce that bill too but think I'll do better going elsewhere with that too. 

How does a mifi work? Do I need a sim in my phone and another one in the mifi? How do I pay for the internet?

savergrant

Frankie56 said:

Thank you flashg67. I am out of contract but they sent an email with the updated amount and just keep taking the payment by direct debit. I've told them I want to leave but don't want to put in the 30 day notice until I can sort something else out.

Yes the phone signal is pretty good. I've thought about asking them to reduce that bill too but think I'll do better going elsewhere with that too. 

How does a mifi work? Do I need a sim in my phone and another one in the mifi? How do I pay for the internet?

Depending on your current data allowance on your phone you could use your phone as a WiFi hotspot for your other devices. Otherwise you get a dedicated device (better for your battery life) and a 1 month pay upfront sim with enough data and use that to generate wifi Internet for your other devices. It means that, like with mobile data, your Internet is coming from your cellular network not your fixed line.

Frankie56

Thank you savergrant. I've got 2GB of data on my phone, which was £6 but now £7.80 since last month. I rarely use it, only an app when I do food shopping once a week. I'll have a look in to that, thanks.

littleboo

The message from Vodaphone is a bit confused. If your exchange is "stop sell" for copper based products, then they can offer you fibre instead. What do you get when you input your details here? You' need to use the Address Checker if you don't have an Openreach line. Is anything under Exchange Product Restrictions a Y?

Frankie56

littleboo, I'm sorry, I have no idea what any of that means. Virgin switched my landline off 3 years ago so I don't think I will still have my phone number. I did have a phone with BT many years ago before I changed it to Virgin. Not sure I've remembered my old number (the one I had with Virgin) but did put in what I thought it was and it said it was in a town about 6 miles away. 

I also checked Martin's broadband check list again this morning, and it looks like Vodaphone has been taken off the list for my address. 

littleboo

Use the Address Checker at the top of the page and enter your address, or use this link

Frankie56

Found it. Thanks. SOADSL has a Y next to it.

littleboo

OK, if you look at the top of that output it will tell you if VDSL is available and what speeds you can expect, and also if WBC FTTP is available (not FTTP on Demand, that's something else). Post a screenshot of the table without the address if its easier 

Frankie56

Featured Products	Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)		Upstream Line Rate (Mbps)		Downstream Handback Threshold(Mbps)	WBC FTTC Availability Date	WBC SOGEA Availability Date
	High	Low	High	Low
VDSL Range A (Clean)	50.2	36.2	14	8.5	34.3	Available	Available
VDSL Range B (Impacted)	49	34.2	13.6	7.6	27.9	Available	Available

Featured Products	Downstream Line Rate(Mbps)	Upstream Line Rate (Mbps)	Downstream Range (Mbps)	Availability Date	FTTP Install Process
FTTP on Demand	330	50	--	Available	--

ADSL Products	Downstream Line Rate (Mbps)	Upstream Line Rate (Mbps)	Downstream Range(Mbps)	Availability Date
WBC ADSL 2+	Up to 4	--	2.5 to 6.5	Available
WBC ADSL2+ Annex M	Up to 4	Up to 0.5	2.5 to 6.5	Available
ADSL Max	Up to 2	--	1.5 to 5	Available
WBC Fixed Rate	2	--	--	Available
Fixed Rate	2	--	--	Available

SOADSL Products	Downstream Line Rate (Mbps)	Upstream Line Rate (Mbps)	Downstream Range(Mbps)	WBC SOADSL Availability Date
WBC SOADSL 2+	Up to 4	--	2.5 to 6.5	--
SOADSL Max	Up to 2	--	2.5 to 6.5	--
SOADSL Fixed Rate	Up to 2	--	1.5 to 5	--

Other Offerings	Availability Date
VDSL Multicast	Available
ADSL Multicast	Available

Exchange Product Restrictions	Status
FTTP Priority Exchange	N
WLR Withdrawal	N
SOADSL Restriction	Y

FTTP is not available.

The exchange is not in a current fibre priority programme

WLR is currently available at the exchange

SOADSL is restricted at the exchange

For all ADSL and WBC Fibre to the Cabinet (VDSL or G.fast) services, the stable line rate will be determined during the first 10 days of service usage.

For all SOADSL services,the stable line rate will be determined during the first 10 days of service usage.

Actual speeds experienced by end users and quoted by CPs will be lower due to a number of factors within and external to BT's network, Communication Providers' networks and within customer premises.

In order to be eligible for handback, downstream speed should be less than Downstream Handback Threshold values.