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Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

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Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby 9fingers » 22 Jan 2022, 09:57

If so have you had your price increase letter yet?
I’m looking to use the rise as justification to leave VM but no letter yet. I had my monthly bill yesterday but no mention of the price increase which is expected from 1-3-22

I’ve never looked forward to a price rise before :lol:
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby Steve Maskery » 22 Jan 2022, 10:02

I was with VM for many years, but it just got more and more expensive. Last time, they wanted nearly £40 a month just for broadband and a landline which was only ever used to tell con-men to go elswhere.
I switched to a SIM router with Three. Less than half the price. Nowhere near as good speeds, sadly.
When I cancelled VM, all of a sudden I could get what I wanted for £22. Why didn't they off that to me when I first expressed my unhappiness?
My mate Charlie went through a similar excercise and got a BB-only deal for £20, so it's clear that area reps have some flixibility.
He's had his letter. 17% price rise. He rang VM, pressed a load of buttons, never spoke to anyone at all and still got a reduction, greater than the actual price rise! Bonkers.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby Andyp » 22 Jan 2022, 10:17

I'm out of touch with UK costs. I pay 30 euro per month for unlimited BB and landline calls across Europe(Inc UK) included. That also gives us 4 mobiles at 2euro per month each with unlimited calls and txts to same provider.
I do not think therefore I do not am.

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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby 9fingers » 22 Jan 2022, 10:36

I’m still on the deal from when I complained last time. £56 for bb and anytime calls. This would otherwise be £59. In contract until July when it is rumoured to rise to £63.50

I have all my ducks in line to move to a new supplier but I just need the letter to justify the move as it should give me a 30day get out of contract free from very severe exit terms that virgin impose.

I guess they have until the end of January to tell me but it seems most users have had their letter already. I’d expected to be included with my bill that came yesterday.

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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby Robert » 22 Jan 2022, 11:19

I took out a new 18 month contract with them 5 or 6 months ago so not expecting any rises.

I'm on the top package thanks to a deal posted on hotukdeals that was open to existing customers.

I have 1.1Gig internet, sports and movies TV, 2 boxes, landline (that we never use) calls, 1 unlimited everything mobile (sim only) and pay £111 a month.

I have gigabit networking and use the virgin hub as a modem only so can't get the 1.1 speed without messing about with dual cables. Speedtest on a wired connection shows 890Mbps which is fast enough for me.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby Woodster » 22 Jan 2022, 12:20

We complained a while back and they gave us a new TV Box and Router and dropped the price. I have out of interest looked at other BB providers but the speeds offered were a complete joke.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby 9fingers » 22 Jan 2022, 12:48

Woodster wrote:We complained a while back and they gave us a new TV Box and Router and dropped the price. I have out of interest looked at other BB providers but the speeds offered were a complete joke.


We currently get 100M (billed for) 50-90 actual from our cable VM. Alternative suppliers various have a 60-70meg offering often referred to as fibre 2 or fast fibre none of which actually use FibreToThePremises but are FTTC. We are quite close to the openreach cabinet so should get good speeds.
Until I changed my router recently for a newer one, I was getting about 30meg max which had been proving more than adequate.
Prices vary from £20-40, various deals, contract lengths, introductory discount etc etc.
I'm 90% certain to go with ZEN - upper end of the price range significantly positive customer service and incidentally will get me over the migration to digital voice (VOIP) at the same which we will all have to change to in the next few years as standard analogue phones service with be switched off country wide.
ZEN say that once signed up their prices will never rise for each customer! which is code for all cost increases will be dumped onto new customers. - Just a different business model which generally gets ZEN customers waxing lyrical about the company. My initial discussions with them on a variety of technical matters were all answered by the sales guy. They do seem to have well trained customer service operators.

All I have to do is to extricate myself from VM.

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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby 9fingers » 22 Jan 2022, 12:59

Robert wrote:I took out a new 18 month contract with them 5 or 6 months ago so not expecting any rises.



The discussions on the VM forum suggest that notice is/should be given prior to the default price prices each year and this is just for information to those with fixed price deals. Getting the letter opens up a 30day window to make alternative arrangements from the date of the letter. After said 30days the contract cannot (sensibly) be broken and the price stays fixed for the rest of the contract after which the discounts offered are removed and the new default price is added and customers can cancel penalty free.

Currently my bills each month say" Package cost £59 , Promotional discount £3 and £56 to pay" it also states the contract end date and has a link to view the contract brief terms online and a full downloadable version.
They have it pretty well sewn up with price rises each March typically 3.9% plus inflation. Presumably the 3.9% it tied into infrastructure investment and OFCOM approved/monitored.
I've heard the 3.9 figure for other telcos too.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby Woodster » 22 Jan 2022, 13:16

9fingers wrote:
Woodster wrote:We complained a while back and they gave us a new TV Box and Router and dropped the price. I have out of interest looked at other BB providers but the speeds offered were a complete joke.


We currently get 100M (billed for) 50-90 actual from our cable VM. Alternative suppliers various have a 60-70meg offering often referred to as fibre 2 or fast fibre none of which actually use FibreToThePremises but are FTTC. We are quite close to the openreach cabinet so should get good speeds.
Until I changed my router recently for a newer one, I was getting about 30meg max which had been proving more than adequate.
Prices vary from £20-40, various deals, contract lengths, introductory discount etc etc.
I'm 90% certain to go with ZEN - upper end of the price range significantly positive customer service and incidentally will get me over the migration to digital voice (VOIP) at the same which we will all have to change to in the next few years as standard analogue phones service with be switched off country wide.
ZEN say that once signed up their prices will never rise for each customer! which is code for all cost increases will be dumped onto new customers. - Just a different business model which generally gets ZEN customers waxing lyrical about the company. My initial discussions with them on a variety of technical matters were all answered by the sales guy. They do seem to have well trained customer service operators.

All I have to do is to extricate myself from VM.

Bob


Let us know how you get on as I’m always interested in the state of play with these things.
We’re on 200 I think but get a pretty solid 110. The best Sky could offer about six months ago was 24! :lol:
Our current bill with VM (TV + BB) is about £60 so it will be interesting to see if we get notice of a rise.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby Robert » 22 Jan 2022, 13:33

If it is about price then it is worth calling them. Retentions have deals that customer service can't offer.

Long time since i called them but it was hidden under the moving house option in the phone menu system - thinking of leaving. Other stupid thing was some retentions people can offer better deals than others so pot luck what deal you get. Worth a try. They may even call you back with an improved offer if you do cancel.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby 9fingers » 22 Jan 2022, 14:01

Robert wrote:If it is about price then it is worth calling them. Retentions have deals that customer service can't offer.

Long time since i called them but it was hidden under the moving house option in the phone menu system - thinking of leaving. Other stupid thing was some retentions people can offer better deals than others so pot luck what deal you get. Worth a try. They may even call you back with an improved offer if you do cancel.


I've pretty much resolved to exit VM. We have had a few technical issues recently. The latest was complete loss. After few phone calls, I go through to a helpful chap who dug around and found that the previous night they had done a software update on my modem and left it is a locked up state that power cycling my end would not sort out. He had to run several tricks from his end before it recovered.
I also dislike the general way to get online help is via a volunteer forum and only when after a day or so of a problem not getting solved does a passing VM member of staff pick up the problem if you are lucky.

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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2022, 14:09

9fingers wrote:.....
ZEN say that once signed up their prices will never rise for each customer! ......
Bob



[end smug mode] :D
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby Peri » 22 Jan 2022, 14:12

Ours was going up to about £112 (not sure of the pricing, the bill paying is the wife's domain), she phoned up and said we were switching to Sky, we'd like to cancel VM. They offered us 300mb internet (up from 100), and everything else stayed the same for £95'ish.

The following day she received a call from VM customer service type, they offered 200mb net, anytime calls (ours was originally weekend only), everything else as we originally had, £67 for the next 18 months.

We've been with them 20+ years, not sure if that played a part.
Two thirds of people don't have a clue about fractions - and the other half aren't much better.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2022, 14:13

Woodster wrote:.....
...
We’re on 200 I think but get a pretty solid 110. .....


Out of curiosity why do you need such a fast speed ? Do you do a lot of gaming online and presumably a faster speed lets you zap someone before they zap you ? Or a household full of students - all busily downloading porn ? :eusa-think:

There's just me and the missus and the 8Mb I get with Zen suits us just fine. The only downside is not being able to watch any UHD programmes that happen to be available.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby RogerS » 22 Jan 2022, 14:14

Peri wrote:Ours was going up to about £112 (not sure of the pricing, the bill paying is the wife's domain), she phoned up and said we were switching to Sky, we'd like to cancel VM. They offered us 300mb internet (up from 100), and everything else stayed the same for £95'ish.

The following day she received a call from VM customer service type, they offered 200mb net, anytime calls (ours was originally weekend only), everything else as we originally had, £67 for the next 18 months.

We've been with them 20+ years, not sure if that played a part.


I simply couldn't justify shelling out that sort of money every month.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby 9fingers » 22 Jan 2022, 14:20

RogerS wrote:
9fingers wrote:.....
ZEN say that once signed up their prices will never rise for each customer! ......
Bob



[end smug mode] :D

It is still difficult to fully believe this claim and yes I know it is in writing - what if say we have roaring inflation? I can't help there will be some wriggle clause tucked away they can use if sh!t happens to their cost base.
That model works for modest inflation that we have had for years now, new customers will expect to pay a bit more and ZEN costs will be covered. if inflation takes off, new customers are likely to go to cheaper sources whereas existing customers will all stay loyal (even more than usual) as their prices get even better in real terms. All of a sudden ZEN can't cover their costs.
Low inflation and modest turnover in customers is what makes this model work.

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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby Woodster » 22 Jan 2022, 14:22

I don’t suppose we need a very fast speed but we’ve just been dragged along by Virginmedia’s upgrades. We were originally paying for the 50mbs which was the bottom rung at the time. They then upgraded to 100 so we got that with no change in our bill. I’m not sure what VM currently list but 200 seems to be the bottom rung in my area at the moment.

As I may have mentioned before, VM only goes down one side of my street. Luckily I’m on the VM side, folks opposite are still using copper I think?! :lol:
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby Peri » 22 Jan 2022, 15:17

RogerS wrote:
I simply couldn't justify shelling out that sort of money every month.


I was just trying to illustrate the kind of savings you could make if you told them you wanted to cancel.
Two thirds of people don't have a clue about fractions - and the other half aren't much better.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby 9fingers » 22 Jan 2022, 15:41

Peri wrote:
RogerS wrote:
I simply couldn't justify shelling out that sort of money every month.


I was just trying to illustrate the kind of savings you could make if you told them you wanted to cancel.


I’ve just got fed up with having to beg every 12-18 months for some sort of loyalty deal especially with all the advertising of super incentives but only for new customers. I’ve tried swapping the account back and forth between myself and swmbo but they don’t fall for that lol.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby woodstalker » 23 Jan 2022, 23:25

We have been with Zen for a few years having switched from BT. The customer service is pretty good and tech support is excellent. You go straight through to someone who can actually help. No idea if best deal but I tend to go with customer service as my main priority now. Sick of some robbing worksite and their promises that never answer calls or emails.
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Re: Are you with Virginmedia Broadband?

Postby Sheffield Tony » 24 Jan 2022, 00:13

We're on VM here, 350Mb, BB only. Just came to the end of the introductory discount so went up from £40 to £56. But that seems to be the same as the new customer price anyway as far as I can tell.

It is NOT fibre to the house - it is co-ax from the cabinet up the road. But at least it isn't BT's ancient wiring, and TalkTalk are no longer involved ! The previous connection (TalkTalk over the BT line) was unreliable for video streaming, and my son does a fair bit of gaming. The 350Mb is so his downloads don't take forever

We also had TalkTalk over a BT line, then BT broadband at the office. Same problem, ancient BT copper, long way to the cabinet, didn't work if it had been raining. Switched there to a local fibre provider at 1Gb for less than VM costs.

So at home, the problem I'm stuck with VM or BT / Openreach wiring. Which means VM for a decent service. Which means I don't have much of a bargaining tool to get a discount !
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