Virgin Media - Retention Deals?

[Hoofy]

James6112 said:

Hoofy said:

They always do this. At the end of every contract you bat them down again then expect the price rise.

Some other suppliers don’t partake in the shady practice though!
At least I have a viable alternative now, so will switch on that basis asap

Lucky!

[PRTVR]

What a nightmare trying to cancel my elderly relatives contract, she had the lowest speed Internet 125 And phone with call anytime, they wanted £60, told them I wanted to cancel they came back with £50 asking do you want this special deal,
Told them you fibre did the same deal for £28 and I wanted to cancel, they agreed a termination date and that we wanted the number porting across,
repeated phone calls to try and get her to stay saying things like you will loose your number unless you stay, the people doing the calling were aware of the situation because they mentioned my name but refused to let it go,

move on a couple of weeks and I was at her house when virgin phoned and my relative asked me to speak with them, again asked them why they hadn't terminated the service? They apologised again they were aware of my past phone calls, pointed out to them that all calls are recorded and it should be easy to confirm the cancellation , me thinks this the end of the matter but how wrong was I, next she received a bill for the internet but no phone, how do you get them to cancel, it appears impossible, next is a letter to the Sunderland address recorded delivery

On a positive note all her dealing you fibre have been excellent, modem fitted and all working well, just waiting for the number to be switched across.

[Tye Green]

HTP99 said:

I still don't understand how these increases are a thing, if I sign up to a 2 year gas and electric contract, the gas and electric tariff doesn't rise in line with RPI and CPI, I know it's spelt out in the contract but I just don't understand why it is allowed.

this scam of theirs wasn't always spelt out in the contract.

my contract with them which commenced in Nov 2022 had no such mention of a mid term increase yet in October 2023 they sent an email stating that there would be an increase but giving me the option to cancel if I wasn't happy. it's outrageous that they are allowed to get themselves out of a contract simply by providing the other party the option to cancel if they weren't happy with the proposed increase.

[Chris Type R]

"Virgin Media O2 clients hit with 8.8% price rises or crippling exit fees"

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/feb/28/virg...

[cobra kid]

This "shady" practice which is mentioned quite clearly up front. Take it or don't take it.

[soupdragon1]

cobra kid said:

This "shady" practice which is mentioned quite clearly up front. Take it or don't take it.

Yes. Eyes wide open. They offer a cheaper overall package if you're into all you can eat TV, sports, movies etc when compared to Sky TV. I'm happy with my monthly amount, fully aware that I'm getting a dig in the face once a year, but if the base price is good, I just take the increase on the chin. I've already factored in it when looking at the renewal offer. So my renewal is x + 10%? Ok, that's fine.

[James6112]

cobra kid said:

This "shady" practice which is mentioned quite clearly up front. Take it or don't take it.

Indeed.
Now there are alternatives.
BB only here. dumped Virgin/Sky Tv a few years ago. Not missed at all.
Make in contract increases a priority.
Once bitten, twice shy.
It’ll hit them hard.
Bye bye!

Edited by James6112 on Wednesday 28th February 15:48

[megaphone]

I cancelled yesterday after over 4 hours on chat via whatsapp. Tortuous, going around in circles with different advisors, repeated the same questions multiple times, hopeless. I have tried to call on numerous occasions over the past week but never got through.

I was paying £15/m for 250mb BB only, this has just gone up 16% to £17.xx with the apr rises. The contract is up in March when it will go to over £50. Best they could offer was £27/m. Cancellation has gone in. Will see if they come back to me over the next 30 days, if not I'll proceed with cancellation.

I have a very good 4G service from 3, unlimited data for £15/m which works well, so will use that. Loads of other BB options here so I can pick and choose, fibre is being installed in the street, won't be long.

I like the Virgin service, it has been really good and reliable, their annual price gouging and end of contract rises are unacceptable.

[pavarotti1980]

cobra kid said:

This "shady" practice which is mentioned quite clearly up front. Take it or don't take it.

Mid contract price is fine. The whole nature of having no idea what that increase will be based on a made up % by the provider is not, hence why it is to be banned and mid contract rises will have to be stated at the commencement of the contract as a monetary value instead.

For others also worth noting that Virgin seem to apply the increase to the "original" price not the discounted price you are paying so the 8.8% might look higher. My increase in 2023 on a £50 month deal was £13 and when I challenged this the person explained its not applied to the extra special VIP discount they give you

[megaphone]

megaphone said:

I cancelled yesterday after over 4 hours on chat via whatsapp. Tortuous, going around in circles with different advisors, repeated the same questions multiple times, hopeless. I have tried to call on numerous occasions over the past week but never got through.

I was paying £15/m for 250mb BB only, this has just gone up 16% to £17.xx with the apr rises. The contract is up in March when it will go to over £50. Best they could offer was £27/m. Cancellation has gone in. Will see if they come back to me over the next 30 days, if not I'll proceed with cancellation.

I have a very good 4G service from 3, unlimited data for £15/m which works well, so will use that. Loads of other BB options here so I can pick and choose, fibre is being installed in the street, won't be long.

I like the Virgin service, it has been really good and reliable, their annual price gouging and end of contract rises are unacceptable.

Update, got a call from retentions today, they will call me back on Monday with some better deals, will wait and see.

[ridds]

megaphone said:

I cancelled yesterday after over 4 hours on chat via whatsapp. Tortuous, going around in circles with different advisors, repeated the same questions multiple times, hopeless. I have tried to call on numerous occasions over the past week but never got through.

I was paying £15/m for 250mb BB only, this has just gone up 16% to £17.xx with the apr rises. The contract is up in March when it will go to over £50. Best they could offer was £27/m. Cancellation has gone in. Will see if they come back to me over the next 30 days, if not I'll proceed with cancellation.

I have a very good 4G service from 3, unlimited data for £15/m which works well, so will use that. Loads of other BB options here so I can pick and choose, fibre is being installed in the street, won't be long.

I like the Virgin service, it has been really good and reliable, their annual price gouging and end of contract rises are unacceptable.

5 days to go until I have to ride this merry-go-round....

All I want to do is cancel, I don't want to hear their offers, just serve my notice.

Wonder just how long it will take me.

[SilverBirch]

I cancelled a week or so ago but unlike previous years not had a call back. I’m willing to see it through and change provider if I have to, but would prefer not to. Should I hold out longer? Is there a way of contacting their retentions team directly??

[Whistle]

SilverBirch said:

I cancelled a week or so ago but unlike previous years not had a call back. I’m willing to see it through and change provider if I have to, but would prefer not to. Should I hold out longer? Is there a way of contacting their retentions team directly??

I had this last year, about a week before termination they started to contact me.

[Ridealong]

Going to give them a call later, I'm on Big Bundle deal 125mb BB, evening/weekend calls, basic TV was £36, pro rota month £62.63, full month £68.
On there website the same package is £31 FFS.

[Simbu]

Having binned off VM 2 years ago after FTTP reached our road, the difference in contract renewal with Vodafone has been incredible.

I got a text from Vodafone offering me £25 a month for 500mbps, less than I was paying! I've bitten their arm off, I can't find anything that comes close, even considering the RPI hit we'll take in a few weeks.

I left Virgin after being thoroughly fed up with the contract renewal circus. This has been a refreshing improvement.

[Hedobot]

Simbu said:

Having binned off VM 2 years ago after FTTP reached our road, the difference in contract renewal with Vodafone has been incredible.

I got a text from Vodafone offering me £25 a month for 500mbps, less than I was paying! I've bitten their arm off, I can't find anything that comes close, even considering the RPI hit we'll take in a few weeks.

I left Virgin after being thoroughly fed up with the contract renewal circus. This has been a refreshing improvement.

Thats good to hear, will definitely give them a look at renewal time.

[Mr E]

They offered me a decent renewal, but not the new customer offer.

Off to Vodafone then

[deggles]

About to do the annual dance as our bill is about to go up from £21.80 to £80+

The renewal offers through the web portal seem to have improved, their ‘final offer’ is showing as £27 which I’d be tempted to take, if it wasn’t for the fact they’ll be tacking on the April price rise in a few weeks. If they waive that I’ll probably renew, but looks like I’ll have to engage with the chatbot/call centre to do it

[Hoofy]

deggles said:

About to do the annual dance as our bill is about to go up from £21.80 to £80+

The renewal offers through the web portal seem to have improved, their ‘final offer’ is showing as £27 which I’d be tempted to take, if it wasn’t for the fact they’ll be tacking on the April price rise in a few weeks. If they waive that I’ll probably renew, but looks like I’ll have to engage with the chatbot/call centre to do it

O2 did that last year with me. 4 weeks after joining. I was fking livid. They refunded me the difference after I promised not to fly over to India and remove his mother's liver with a Bic biro*.





* - I lied. I just said that they didn't explain that it would go up immediately from the price they're quoting. I mean it's a fking obvious thing to not do, you'd think.

[ridds]

ridds said:

megaphone said:

I cancelled yesterday after over 4 hours on chat via whatsapp. Tortuous, going around in circles with different advisors, repeated the same questions multiple times, hopeless. I have tried to call on numerous occasions over the past week but never got through.

I was paying £15/m for 250mb BB only, this has just gone up 16% to £17.xx with the apr rises. The contract is up in March when it will go to over £50. Best they could offer was £27/m. Cancellation has gone in. Will see if they come back to me over the next 30 days, if not I'll proceed with cancellation.

I have a very good 4G service from 3, unlimited data for £15/m which works well, so will use that. Loads of other BB options here so I can pick and choose, fibre is being installed in the street, won't be long.

I like the Virgin service, it has been really good and reliable, their annual price gouging and end of contract rises are unacceptable.

5 days to go until I have to ride this merry-go-round....

All I want to do is cancel, I don't want to hear their offers, just serve my notice.

Wonder just how long it will take me.

45 mins on "live chat" to cancel.

Told them I had could get (and already have) 1Gbps £25/month - 18 months, with guaranteed no price increase.

Offered:

1 Gbps £43/month - 18 months
Including....
A new SUPER HUB 5 with no extra cost
O2 sim with 2Gb up to 4GB data
You can get our 3 Free Wi-Fi pods

or

M500 £38/month - 18 months



After they accepted the cancellation I was told my final bill would be £55.40 (usually £35.00) I gave my notice 30 days exactly to the end of the contract (5th April). Explanation...

"I do understand that as you're going to out of contact you will be paying the standard price of the package as you have a 30-days notice of period to disconnect all of your services. not to worry as I can see here, you will be receiving a refund. all clear?"

"As I've mentioned earlier you will be using the remaining services of your package as we have booked a disconnection process which is 30 days notice of period our standard to disconnect a services. all clear?"

The agent couldn't explain the increase in charges for the final bill when questioned.

Final bill came through, £38.40....?



Direct Debit cancelled, they can chase me for their last £35.00 because they tried to stiff me for £3.40. Glad to be shot of them.