Virgin Media Crooks. !

paye · 5 August 2018 at 9:57PM

Following the recent withdrawals of UKTV channels by Virgin Media, i phoned Virgin to let them know my disappointment of losing approximately 25 channels from my tv package, and was looking to change my contract over to just broadband and phone deal.

Virgin basically point blanked refused to change my contract on the basis I was still in contract and if I wanted to cancel I will have to pay £70 disconnection fee. After some time with them on the phone the best deal they could offer me was 100mb broadband and phone with free at weekends for £55 per month and they will cancel the disconnection fee.:mad:

Currently I am on a VIP deal with them which consist of 350mb broadband, Full tv with sky sports and movies and I'm paying £93 pm for this.

The best they could offer me was taking £3 p/m of my monthly bill with the tv still included. I know they are free to air channels but these channels were part reason why I took the tv package out as I don't have a roof aerial to receive FTA channels.

They are offering new customer with 350mb bb and phone for £45 pm but they can't offer me this as I am an existing customer.:mad:

Is their anything else I can do?

mije1983 · 5 August 2018 at 10:28PM

paye wrote: »

Is their anything else I can do?

You can either pay the charge and leave, or wait until your minimum term is up and then leave for no charge. If you haven't got, and don't want, an aerial, then Sky or Freesat would be something to look at. BT TV uses an internet connection, but I think the FTA channels still need an aerial.

If you really want those channels, then it will probably be worth paying the £70 and looking into satellite alternatives now rather than paying £40/£50 a month for the next 7 months.

Cornucopia · 5 August 2018 at 11:02PM

Some VM customers have reported being allowed to cancel their contracts without charge. So it might be worth going back to them one last time. Maybe they are keen to keep you because you pay so much? TBH, even if they are unmoved, paying the £70 is probably worth it, and will be repaid in a few months with a provider that offers better VFM.

Not all the UKTV channels are FTA - I think it's about half and half. So, depending on which channels you wanted to access, you may need another Pay TV service in order to do that. I'm fairly sure there aren't 25 channels there, either, unless you are including +1s.

350Mbps sounds excessive (in fact, I can't imagine more than a tiny percentage of residential customers making good use of that). So... if/when you begin looking for an alternative provider don't be put off by the fact that the typical deal is for around a tenth of that bandwidth.

[Deleted User] · 6 August 2018 at 8:51AM

Not sure where you get your 25 channels from, it's just 10, half of which I doubt anyone watches. You have of course gained some in exchange.

Dave, Gold, Drama, Alibi, W, Eden, Good Food, Yesterday, Really and Home

pmduk · 6 August 2018 at 11:47AM

The first rule of any negotiation is not to exaggerate. Virgin Media know full well you have only lost 10 channels and will probably have dismissed the rest of your comments as hyperbole.

Craig1981 · 7 August 2018 at 7:44AM

technically, there is around 22 channels lost, including HD and plus 1 channels.

I have two accounts with them. my current VIP one was due to end this month - negotiated a price of £90 for next 12 months, as wont find cheaper anywhere else. that is £2 more expensive than my introductory price from last year!
2nd contract for another property, also VIP, was only taken out in May this year - they would have let me leave without penalty, but I opted for £5 off per month for remainder of my contract, as the UKTV channels are not used very often, and are also free to air channels

its no use calling to complain from the get go - negotiations will not be so god if that is done. don't threaten to leave unless you actually will leave. they are aware what they have on offer is best on the market at the moment. Sky top Q package with 2TB box, one mini box and fibre broadband is £97 a month for 18 months. However new customers have to fork out around £130 for installation, boxes, activation etc... believe me, I have looked

Cornucopia · 7 August 2018 at 8:33AM

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

Dave, Gold, Drama, Alibi, W, Eden, Good Food, Yesterday, Really and Home

Thanks, and IIUC, these channels are FTA:-

Dave, Drama, Yesterday and Really.

And these are not:-

Gold, Alibi, W, Eden, Good Food and Home.

Bigphil1474 · 10 August 2018 at 2:44PM

Haven't you got access to the UKTV app? It's on my Youview box, but never used it as I record the odd programme that I may watch anyway.

Nicholas · 11 August 2018 at 11:42AM

UKTV channels are back on Virgin now (or shortly will be).

Craig1981 · 12 August 2018 at 8:19AM

all back and working
good thing i negotiated my contracts earlier this week - win win

Virgin Media Crooks. !

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