The Things You've Got To Do .....

[Gizmonster]

... to get a discount.

I've been with Virgin Media for aaaaages and recently noticed the monthly bill creeping up.
Anyway, it seems like existing customers are not valued much, as new customers can get virtually the same package as mine, for approx £20 per month less !!

I haggled with the lady on the line but she couldn't offer any discount, so I told her I was leaving VM and re-joining as a new customer. She told me I couldn't re-join for 3 months, so I then told her I was actually moving out and my partner was taking over the account, as she was staying in the house.

That seemed to do the trick. So now I'm officially moving out of my house next Friday, the services will be disconnected on the Friday and then switched back on the following day.

An envelope will be sent to my "new address" so I can send all the VM equipment back and new equipment will be sent to my missus.

The things you've got to do to get a good deal eh ??

I'm sure they know what's really going on - why can't they just offer me a good deal in the first place and avoid all the hassle for both parties ??

[pastafreak]

I wish I could do that...I haven't got a missus...OR a Mr for that matter. :-((
I've been with Virgin for 9 years,and have seen my monthly payment double.

[Old_Geezer]

No one appreciates existing customers anymore. A good relationship is such old fashioned decent thinking. Existing ones are treated with disdain for not going.

[whiskeryron]

I'm sure I've heard tales of people threatening to go to Sky being offered a new deal by Virgin, keep persisting.

[snags]

''noticed the monthly bill creeping up''

Same happened to us: told them I was 'defecting' to BT unless they could do better: got jumped to the next broadband level and given a new Super Hub for £8 per month less than we'd been paying which will be frozen for the next 18 months.

[jno]

loyalty's meaningless these days. The number of times I've had to call up the AA and tell them I'm switching to the RAC... I actually did leave DirectLine (house insurance) for a year after I got a better offer from my bank; when the bank put their price up I went back to DirectLine and ended up paying even less with them than I'd been paying before I switched.

The answer to "why can't they just offer..." is because they rely on inertia selling - on customers not noticing their bills are creeping up.

[Gizmonster]

In January, our bill was £24 ish, as we were on a promotion.
Since then, the price has risen from £45 ish to £53 ish.

They wouldn't offer me a deal, so with me "moving out", our new deal works out at £31 ish for 12 months :)

[hc4361]

Going up again in November :(

[Gromit]

When I was with Virgin the threat of leaving always worked.
I would phone up and say I wanted a MAC code of off them. This would alert them that I was planning on leaving. Instead of getting normal customer services (who cannot offer you a deal), I would be put through to sales. Who normally would cut the bill to near to the current offer price to new customers.

[bodeker]

Whats a MAC Gromit? I am paying £95 to Virgin for the privilege of flicking through channels every night trying to find something to watch , plus recently my laptop keeps disconnecting nearly every day ! I have had enough.

[Gromit]

Bodeker,

You used to need a MAC address when switching, but now your new provider gets that. However, just phone up and ask for one and I am sure Virgins Sales people will offer a deal. Especially if you are paying £95!, they won't want to lose you.

https://www.uswitch.com/broadband/guides/mac_codes/

[Gromit]

Bodeker,
Also I found the Virgin technical staff very good. Thay can see your connection logs and see if your router is dropping. And can do resets at their end to solve it.

[bodeker]

Thank you Gromit.

[Jackdaw33]

I am paying £28.50 p.m. via DD to BT (phone only). Because my phone was broken I did not make any landline calls over the last quarter. When my bill arrived yesterday it said I was still £7 in debt. Am I being ripped off? I do have caller display.