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Original poster

Failed at getting Virgin to reduce TV and Fibre bill

14 replies

DerelictWreck · 16/09/2018 11:52

Anyone got any tips on how to do this? I joined last year at £39pm for Mix bundle, Unlimited fibre and talk (which I've never used). It was supposed to go up to £52 in April but actually went up to £56 and now they want to increase it again.

I spoke to them on chat and explained that I was unhappy with the cost - after 30 mins of questions they offered to take £3 of the bill aby removing all talk functions....

I told them I could get the same deal with Sky for £34 (true!) and they basically said tough shit, here's the number to cancel then.

What did I do wrong and what should I do when I try again over the phone in a few days?!

OP posts:

dementedpixie · 16/09/2018 11:53

It was the same when we tried to reduce our sky bill so in the end we moved to virgin

Spacezombies · 16/09/2018 11:54

That's the price. If you don't like it then switch.

chickedychicked · 16/09/2018 11:55

Ring up and say you want to give one months notice to cancel, then they usually ring you back from the retentions team to offer you a better deal about a week after.

Original poster

DerelictWreck · 16/09/2018 11:58

That's the price. If you don't like it then switch.

I will switch, but it's frustrating knowing other people are paying less for the same service from Virgin! They even advertise it at a lower cost.

OP posts:

FunSponges · 16/09/2018 12:01

Switch. Virgin are crap. Our bill went up ridiculously and they wouldn't budge. Sky always give us a deal when we say we will leave.

ThomasShelbysBunnet · 16/09/2018 12:04

Call up and cancel. I did this with my sky tv the other week, it was creeping up and I wanted to cut the price a bit. They got my bill down from 40 to 34 without a new contract.
The next day I changed my mind, decided it was too expensive and was going to go with now tv. Called and cancelled, they offered me the same package for £20, albeit in a new contract. Happy with that.

Ginkypig · 16/09/2018 12:08

There's no point in talking to anyone outside of the retention team.

They are the team employed to retain customers and have been given the power to offer reduced bills or offers etc

Just phone up and say you would like to leave and can they transfer you to the person you need to talk to about that (make sure you find out how much notice you need to give so you know how long they have to either offer you something to stay or have a timeline to stop the cancellation before it's too late). They will either transfer you to the retention team or accept it there and then it's a waiting game.

Or just go through with it and find a cheaper service.

Bombardier25966 · 16/09/2018 12:08

You're not speaking to the right people. You won't get a decent offer until you've actually given notice. Then you play the game and negotiate over several calls.

mrs2468 · 16/09/2018 12:22

Cancel then they usually contact you before the end of the notice period to reduce the price if not move to sky. You have nothing to lose really.

Original poster

DerelictWreck · 16/09/2018 13:30

Thanks everyone - will try this and hope I don't have to move as it's a lot of hassle!

OP posts:

PurpleCrazyHorse · 16/09/2018 14:42

We had to move because Virgin could only get our out of promotion £52 bill down to about £45. We’ve moved to TalkTalk and it was really easy, even though BT had to come out and put a phone point in. Now we have a Virgin phone point and a working BT one, it can all happen automatically next time we switch, including the number port. Should be no different than moving any other service provider now.

MismatchedStripySocks · 16/09/2018 14:42

The trick is to ring and calmly say you are leaving. The will offer you a deal but hold your nerve and end the call, after all you have to give 30 days notice. Guaranteed, within less than a week someone from the retention team will call you with a better deal which you can probably wangle down! Last year I got Full House, 200mg and off peak calls for £23pcm by doing just that.

ratspeaker · 16/09/2018 15:01

It depends on it you are near to the end of your contract time I think. They seem to be willing to do deals if you will take out new contract.
I got a V6 box, new router with increased speed and reduced the cost last November but I did phone rather than use chat and renewed, I had said my DH was wanting to switch to freeview ( he does mutter about this every so often)

DGRossetti · 16/09/2018 16:36

You need to be careful, because they will treat any change as a new contract, and lock you in for another 18 months.

If you don't need the TiVo/TV package, and can live without a phone, it's well worth looking at a broadband-only VM business contract. Completely different side of the business. I had a VM business line when I was WFH and it was £30/month for 200Mbs fibre.

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