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Virgin broadband renewal

I have tried searching as I thought there was a thread about Virgin and negotiating deals at end of contract, but I can never seem to get search on MSE to work properly for me.

I just wondered what the latest position is with people trying to negotiate at the end of their contract.

My position is I have Gig 1 and am currently paying £45.50 pm., renewal is showing online at £42.75 a month- which surprised me as I've never had a lower offer before . On the basis of money saving I thought I'd try live chat to see if they could do better as new customers have the offer of £26.99 for the same deal. I got an agent who was obviously cut and pasting his welcome as it ran for lines and lines telling me what a brilliant customer I was and how much they value me- but seemed happy to just take my cancellation - no offer to see what could be done. I asked whether there were any offers if I decided not to go ahead with cancellation and was told they can do me an extra special deal of £64.50 for the same deal I'm currently on. I queried this and he said that the deal on my account is obviously a special today but would definitely be over £60 if I left it until later- he also denied that new customers can get a £26.99 deal .

I'm still several days of my date on which I need to give 30 days notice, so may try them by phone later - but I wondered what other people are getting as offers at the moment.

The days of companies caving in and offering retention deals seems to be long gone , I gave up everything but the basic £16 sky package as they offered no deals at all and in the 2 or 3 years since I cancelled have never come back with a single offer.

I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.

Comments

  • iniltous
    iniltous Posts: 4,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 16 July at 3:25PM

    As with most ISP’s it can be the luck of the draw , some are offered cracking deals (one on here recently was , if I remember correctly it was £22 for the VM 1Gb broadband and included Netflix ( with adds ) but that person was unimpressed, although they had an alternative offer from someone else (an alternative network) of £20 for 1Gb , they took the alternative network, others are not given any discount at all and Virgin tell them to take it or leave it , so it can and does vary enormously …..probably the best offer is if you serve notice to quit , and the retention department contact you although even this may not you get a killer deal .

    Although not myself , friends recently contacted VM about a renewal offer which was basically pay the same as the previous deal but 24 month more , in their case a child of theirs had recently bought their own place not that far away , and took VM (the same package as the parents ) and it was half the price , my friend had to serve notice to quit to get any discount, and even then the new renewal offer although cheaper than the original quote was still 25% more expensive than the price the child had , but they took it anyway , in that case the alternatives were relatively slow (no FTTP ) , VM no doubt know what’s available in your area and the likelihood of you switching if the alternatives are unable to match VM for speed

    I’d say check the alternatives, many still think Virgin are the only company with Gb speeds , they aren’t , there has been a massive FTTP rollout from Openreach and Alt Nets , so it’s more likely than not you have a realistic alternative, especially if you haven’t checked for a while .

  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 75,238 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper

    I spoke to someone else and they have offered me the same price as I see online £42.75 and with Netflix added for the 24 month contract at £2 pm . I'm not sure about Netflix but for £2 a month I might give it a go and accept. It just irritates me to see that new customers are getting the same for considerably less.

    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • JSmithy45AD
    JSmithy45AD Posts: 1,463 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper

    Presumably that includes TV then, if you're just looking for broadband find an alternative supplier, use the OTS to switch and ignore all future calls trying to change your mind. Do the same in 2 years time.

  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 75,238 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper

    No TV, just Netflix through an app. I can't change, I have a lot of extra extenders etc supplied by Virgin, and despite opening a new email several years ago- my work refuse to use anything other than my Virgin one. They are also sending an engineer to see if they can improve my connection as they say it is under performing against expectation even with the new mini hubs they have supplied.

    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
  • sheenas
    sheenas Posts: 453 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper

    I am with Hyperopic with a 1gb. Renewal price £40 but new customers price £26.99 (from another price comparison site). I just requested a switch and next day they were on the phone with a price match. Hyperopic have been very reliable and consistently fast, so I have stayed with them.

  • iniltous
    iniltous Posts: 4,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 16 July at 4:44PM

    VM 1Gb , if I were to join again (I had Virgin probably 6 years ago but have had FTTC since ) is £26.99 so £42.75 doesn’t seem very good ,but if you are unable or unwilling to move to another provider and don’t actually say you are quitting ( you can cancel the cancellation in the 30 day notice if you don’t really want to quit ) that may be the best you can do …..VM must love customers that will accept paying so much more than what a new customer gets ….if they couldn’t get within £5 a month of the new customer price personally I’d walk ,

    As you have WiFi extenders supplied by Virgin , do you pay rental on them and if you do , how much ? , if you do pay something for them obviously the comparison to a new basic 1Gb VM customer for £26.99 changes .

  • soolin
    soolin Posts: 75,238 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper

    The extenders are something else that has kept me with Virgin, they are like little mini hubs that I use in difficult rooms. I’m not charged for them at all as apparently I’m not receiving the speeds that are expected for my service.

    I spoke to Virgin again about offers, but nothing was offered annd they were happy to process my cancellation. They did say they can see from their side that my service is not performing well. I thought it was OK since my last engineer visit about 6 weeks ago when he gave me these mini hubs . They are sending a new engineer Monday to see what can be done, apparently my service dropped out 113 times in the past 4 weeks. I’ve accepted the £44 renewal which includes Netflix .

    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales, Boost Your Income, Praise, Vents & Warnings, Overseas Holidays & Travel Planning , UK Holidays, Days Out & Entertainments boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know.. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com.All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.
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