SilentProf
Well-known member
If you’re looking for a new network, I would recommend Smarty. No contract, 5G, excellent prices and best of all, the signal has been rock solid at the Riverside for me when everyone else seems to struggle.
Virgin Media Increases
- Thread starter h_m_boro
- Start date
Colgates_shaving_foam
Well-known member
Off on a bit of a tangent but i get so annoyed with having to haggle for everything.
Gas/elec/broaband/tv/mobile/car insurance/home insurance/mortgage.
It is never ending, I don't think it's a fair model that the people who are too ill/tired/ground down by life should have to subsidise the people that are willing to spend their lives on the phone or chat negotiating these things.
Surely companies should just renew your existing contract on their best current deal?
Gas/elec/broaband/tv/mobile/car insurance/home insurance/mortgage.
It is never ending, I don't think it's a fair model that the people who are too ill/tired/ground down by life should have to subsidise the people that are willing to spend their lives on the phone or chat negotiating these things.
Surely companies should just renew your existing contract on their best current deal?
SilentProf
Well-known member
It should be the law I think. They’re going that way with utilities. The difference in prices is often a third or more. It’s not fair at all on the consumer and loyalty just isn’t rewarded these days.
I used to work in the Retentions Team at VM.
When you initially phone up you are with general customer services, they will offer very little but most people accept and never go beyond them. Just make it clear to them you want to leave you will then go through to Retentions team who have more to play with - each person gets so much per call to use (could be £8) for example - the bonus is reflective of what they spend and save rates but it means more discount is available after they refresh and update your package to a more current package.
Again this wont make a massive difference and will put you in a new 18 month contract.
Its more of a risk but i annually get to this stage and still ask to leave and be cancelled. Its a 30 days notice period providing your not in contact and 9 times out of 10 within that 30 days you will get a final call for them with some really good offers to stay.
Its a pain but worth a a couple of hours of your day to keep the cost down or reduce it further.
Also note, any price increase usually means you have a 30 day get out free clause even if your mid contract.
When you initially phone up you are with general customer services, they will offer very little but most people accept and never go beyond them. Just make it clear to them you want to leave you will then go through to Retentions team who have more to play with - each person gets so much per call to use (could be £8) for example - the bonus is reflective of what they spend and save rates but it means more discount is available after they refresh and update your package to a more current package.
Again this wont make a massive difference and will put you in a new 18 month contract.
Its more of a risk but i annually get to this stage and still ask to leave and be cancelled. Its a 30 days notice period providing your not in contact and 9 times out of 10 within that 30 days you will get a final call for them with some really good offers to stay.
Its a pain but worth a a couple of hours of your day to keep the cost down or reduce it further.
Also note, any price increase usually means you have a 30 day get out free clause even if your mid contract.
Chutney
Well-known member
Contractually where do you stand with an RPI + 3% price increase with utilities and phone bills and such. It appears most companies are doing it. Can you just pull the plug or is this acceptable and in terms of contracts. It's quite an unexpected leap for a lot of bills and when you sign the contract you expect to be paying a similar cost for the length of it.
hendrieswondergoal
Active member
Just got the increase email. Justifiable whopping it up just under 19%.?
Slightly bolloxed as I need a good, fast BB service as I work from home with large (200-300gb) files.
Frustrating as Brsk and BT have laid all of the fibre cables in our street just haven't connected up yet.
Also with Virgin, if you use O2 as your phone provider you can get free extra data and an upgrade to your broadband speed. Just fyi. I had it last year. (Not a discount, but better than nowt)
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
Depends - you have to appreciate that companies make a lot of their margins from those customers as they're happy paying what they pay, with cost rises, and companies costs do actually go up just like ours do.
Whilst it would be more fair, the upshot will be that everyone will pay more on average to balance that out - it's not going to come out of their profits
I'm not averse to spending some time time being savvy and shopping around, it's time well spent if I can save a few hundred / thousand over the year.
As an example my RAC renewal came through today. I'm happy to negotiate and investigate cashback options - 5 minutes work gets me a discount from £153 (with all the addons as GF uses car for work so needs strong cover). First offer was £120, then £99, we agreed on £69 after a few mins of discussion. More than happy to put that work in to negotiate and I'm pretty tired myself.
Flipping it back I don't want to be locked into paying the £120+ region because other people are too tired / timid to ask for a better price
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
It's included in the contracts usually - didn't used to be but firms have added it one by one. I had a few £500 phones for a few months then cancelled due to price rises in the past but those are mostly closed loopholes now
Vm was one of the last fee exceptions but they're adding it to their terms now but presume you'll only be bound when accepting a new contract.
Fully agree
This happened to me. I told Virgin I wanted out as my monthly bill after the rises would have been £117. This was ridiculous as it didn’t include sports or films. They offered me a small discount of around £8 which I refused and insisted I wanted out and was passed to retentions who put me on hold then came back with an offer which was worse than the original offer. What really annoyed me was that all I wanted was broadband, I barely watch TV and can stream the stuff I do watch. We got no where so I told them to forget it and that there were other fibre providers in the area offering high Gb speeds at much lower costs (which is true). They called me back a few days later and went from £117 to £55 for the basic TV package, 500Mb broadband and a landline with weekend and evenings calls free. There was also an additional £6 to move a mobile SIM that I had for free under the previous contract so total monthly is £61.
I could have gone cheaper broadband only but no landline or TV with an alternative but decided to stay with VM.
I think sky and virgin are realising the game is up for them so they're having to raise prices for the people that are sticking with them. The big thing now is exclusive content so the best stuff is on Netflix, Amazon, Disney, HBO etc and virgin and sky aren't offering anything. People are cutting the cord and going app only. All you get from virgin/sky is a centralised package for all your apps and Freeview.
They used to give broadband away because they wanted to lock you into the TV but now other companies are offering broadband they can't really raise the prices much there. The only reason for being with them now is for the sports and convenience. I know I'm no longer happy paying the big fee for sky or virgin because I still need to buy all the other apps on top.
They used to give broadband away because they wanted to lock you into the TV but now other companies are offering broadband they can't really raise the prices much there. The only reason for being with them now is for the sports and convenience. I know I'm no longer happy paying the big fee for sky or virgin because I still need to buy all the other apps on top.
Redwurzel
Well-known member
FG - those RAC prices - what period are they for?
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
2 days ago until next year
I compared RAC, AA and the firm you mentioned previously, start rescue, and looked at what cover we needed then factored in the cashback available with each firm. start were cheapest at £60, AA was about £124 and RAC £89 as new customer but we aren't a new customer so cashback probably declined. Don't mind paying a bit more to stay with a known quantity and not have to set everything up again etc
My renewal being £153 vs last years 135, but last year had a large cashback credit
Jonny_Rondos_Disco_pants
Well-known member
O2 is now a partner of virgin. Skme very good deals to be had through o2 for Virgin packages.
Im going to try it on to get a better package ehen I renew shortly
Im going to try it on to get a better package ehen I renew shortly
My basic package which is standard tv and broadband, they obviously say line rental for a phone also, gone from £38 to £62, when I get to talk to somebody I will be cancelling just out of principle. Only thing I need is broadband and I'm sure I can get a better deal elsewhere.
ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
If youre in Stockton go with youfibre, theyre immense. get a few months free and 2 more if you get referred - happy to do so. In boro I think Cityfibre are laying, and at some point openreach will eventually get in with FTTP.
In TS14 area I'll find something that will do me for a fraction of the price, thanks for the info though.
Cosmonaut
Well-known member
Ridiculous, struggling to deal with the number of providers I subscribe to notifying me they're raising things in line with this fking crisis .. what next, the little nuisance hound's insurance?? Probably 
Only thing is, Virgin Media have been excellent with me since I had their broadband installed last April. Then went onto a new contract phone with them ... both are now going up considerably. Until now, I have been very satisfied with how they have treat me as a customer, more kindly than any provider I have had previously.
For example, when I joined I didn't even realise they had mentioned it in the contract but found a £100 Amazon gift voucher delivered from them, for use on anything, which came in handy. They've also been very helpful and quick to respond when needed with any issues, which have been little, really.
I will be getting in contact with them about this raise, though. If it is worth trying at all?? ... it is getting beyond a joke now, I understand the issues with inflation, etc but I agreed to a specific contract rate for a reason, for half my broadband contract everything is half price for 12 months, but now I am only just getting into reading the emails/notifications to see how it all adds up. I did not know (my own stupid fault, I know) in the rush of getting my broadband sorted that my contract would be subject to inflation and the rates will go up that I had agreed to, and the monthly tariff was not fixed. I thought what was agreed was final and this would not have my prices nudged up as I have never had a situation like this before with a service provider.
That is my own stupid fault and should have thought about this in the rush of getting my phone contract sorted especially.
When it comes to financial crises and the lot I am the first to admit I know fk all about it, or not enough, rather .. to know how to react if you feel what you are being asked to pay is unfair. Would I be allowed to leave for another provider if I feel it is too much?? (not that there'd be much difference with another provider) .. They would probably want an exit fee and I am not in a position for paying such things right now as I am doing my best to sort out a lot of debt with the help of StepChange ... (nightmare)
On another note, I have had help from British Gas on a number of things and just about managed what they have been asking and that is even with the govt subsidies etc, Christ, I do not know how they have calculated what I have had come in in billing over the colder months. Glad it is getting warmer but still! I live in a tiny space, I have friends who have paid less with four/five bedroomed gaffs
All a bit of a mess, I don't know where to begin. Where's that Martin Lewis fella ... or has even he given up now in the face of this complete rip-off, chancer cnt world we're drowning in ..
Only thing is, Virgin Media have been excellent with me since I had their broadband installed last April. Then went onto a new contract phone with them ... both are now going up considerably. Until now, I have been very satisfied with how they have treat me as a customer, more kindly than any provider I have had previously.
For example, when I joined I didn't even realise they had mentioned it in the contract but found a £100 Amazon gift voucher delivered from them, for use on anything, which came in handy. They've also been very helpful and quick to respond when needed with any issues, which have been little, really.
I will be getting in contact with them about this raise, though. If it is worth trying at all?? ... it is getting beyond a joke now, I understand the issues with inflation, etc but I agreed to a specific contract rate for a reason, for half my broadband contract everything is half price for 12 months, but now I am only just getting into reading the emails/notifications to see how it all adds up. I did not know (my own stupid fault, I know) in the rush of getting my broadband sorted that my contract would be subject to inflation and the rates will go up that I had agreed to, and the monthly tariff was not fixed. I thought what was agreed was final and this would not have my prices nudged up as I have never had a situation like this before with a service provider.
That is my own stupid fault and should have thought about this in the rush of getting my phone contract sorted especially.
When it comes to financial crises and the lot I am the first to admit I know fk all about it, or not enough, rather .. to know how to react if you feel what you are being asked to pay is unfair. Would I be allowed to leave for another provider if I feel it is too much?? (not that there'd be much difference with another provider) .. They would probably want an exit fee and I am not in a position for paying such things right now as I am doing my best to sort out a lot of debt with the help of StepChange ... (nightmare)
On another note, I have had help from British Gas on a number of things and just about managed what they have been asking and that is even with the govt subsidies etc, Christ, I do not know how they have calculated what I have had come in in billing over the colder months. Glad it is getting warmer but still! I live in a tiny space, I have friends who have paid less with four/five bedroomed gaffs
All a bit of a mess, I don't know where to begin. Where's that Martin Lewis fella ... or has even he given up now in the face of this complete rip-off, chancer cnt world we're drowning in ..