Virgin Broadband- need to cancel

[mumofoneofeach75]

Hoping someone can help. I don't think I can afford the latest increase for our Virgin Broadband. It will be almost £60 for just broadband - the landline has a phone plugged in but doesn't work.

I have read other threads about this sort of thing and will be ringing them first thing tomorrow to try and get a reduction, but I want to be prepared in case I don't get one. I can cancel Virgin before the 14th March with no cancellation fee.

I just bought my son a PS5 at Christmas and he games most days (for short periods of time - about 30 minutes.) He also has online tutoring once a week. He uses his computer for homework, watching youtube/bbc iplayer etc.

I work on the internet a lot and this often involves downloading large files, watch youtube, general browsing/shopping online and I am starting an online business that will involve frequent zoom calls. I am also on a course that has frequent online meetings. I read all my news/articles etc online.

My older son is away at university, but watches youtube/netflix (his own account) and works online a lot for assignments etc when he is home.

Would we realistically be ok going back to a 'normal' internet service - we only have Virgin with the fast fibre broadband in our area - everything else would be back to internet via the telephone line. I am worried about buffering issues etc and would rather cut back else where (goodness knows where....), especially if my son struggles with his online lessons.

We live in Nottingham and any advice would be very much appreciated. x

are you on any kind of benefits? I'm wondering if you might be eligible for one of the social tariffs?
www.moneysavingexpert.com/compare-broadband-deals/broadband-social-tariffs/

Tell you can’t afford the latest price hike and ask what their best deal is. I was out of the contract period of my deal and got an email saying it was going up to £x amount. I rang and didn’t even threaten to leave as I find them much better than my previous provider……without any pushing she took £14 a month off my bill, and due to the timing of the month they refunded the difference for that months payment which was already in processing. I have a landline, they doubled my broadband speed and basic Tv package with TiVo recording box for less than your £60!

We were in exactly same position as you. Paying approx £60 per month for broadband only. It had crept up and we took our eye off the ball. We now have Toob opening up in our area so we used that as a threat. Toob are around £25 per month for broadband. We have just been offered £22 per month based on 28 month contract. Very happy.

We recently switched from Virgin Cable (fast!) for the same reason.. went to BT and our bill has dropped from £70 to £35.
DS2 plays a PS5, I stream, use Alexa, there are always quite a few devices on line.... and no issues.

Yes Virgin was faster, but not outstandingly so, and definitely not twice the price faster!

Thank you so much for your helpful replies - sorry for the delay in getting back to you all - I fell asleep on the sofa. Very reassuring to know there are other options if Virgin won't reduce the cost sufficiently. :)

I'll see if Toob are coming to my area - this sounds great.

this is very reassuring - thank you :)

wow! this is great - I will hopefully get as good a deal tomorrow when I call them. thank you so much for this information :)

Unfortunately not - I'm a single parent but caught between not earning enough to manage all the cost of living increases, but earning too much for any sort of help like social tariffs :(

Also check installation times if you change provider, I know someone who’s been waiting for weeks, if not months, to get connected since they signed up to a new provider because they need one person to do the outside cabling and then it’ll need another to do the inside connection.

thank you for this information - I didn't know this and definitely cannot afford to be without internet for any length of time at all. months would be a total disaster. thank you again :)

I spoke to virgin 2 days ago. We were out of contract so decent broadband, phone and basic TV package were £78. Told them I didn't want TV or phone and to pay less. The less services you have the more you pay! So by losing 2 services our bill would £55 but by keeping all 3 we are now at £48.

Your phone now gas to plug into the router - they should have sent you a letter and a dongle last year - so ask about that as it's daft to pay for something you aren't using.

I spoke to them today and they were quoting me similar for broadband only. And £85 to include the TV.
I mentioned that I could move to BT for same speed for £31 a month and they dropped the broadband only cost to £37 a month. Still not ideal but for a household that is constantly online it'll do.
Have a look at what else is available in your area to compare to, sit down for 30 mins and call them.

You've got this!!

I'm in Nottingham, I have fibre optic. Why would you have to go back to phone line broadband. I'm with EE and not happy with their price hike. So trying to get a better deal.

Virgin offered me a really good deal but I decided from a thread I stated not to go with them. Last time I tried to cancel EE gave me a good deal. Though the man in the shop today was absolutely clueless.

East london here, virgin no longer care , dont reduce bill, almost impossible to cancel, cut you off from call centre etc. they are awful, we soon switching to community fibre for half price plus 100 quid shopping voucher.

My Virgin Media bill was going up to £50 from £26 last December. I only had 50mb internet and a phone line.
I called and told them I was leaving when my contract ended in January and they dropped it to £18 for the same package on an 18 month contract.

when I've put our postcode into websites like plusnet for fast fibre they always say they don't cover our postcode. I've checked on moneysavingexpert as well. I don't understand why because we're not far from the city centre.

Call and say you can’t afford and you need to cancel, they will usually give you the cheapest option to retain your account.

thanks for this information. I'll definitely post back here once I've spoken to them as knowing what they've told other customers is really helpful to know before calling myself. thanks again x

@mumofoneofeach75 I'd be very surprised if you can't get fibre optic. I'm in Lenton

We swapped from VM to vodaphone last year, loads cheaper and almost the same. The saving has gone towards the massive gas and electric bills. Just be warned that virgin make it very difficult to leave.

An update from me...

Virgin called me back today and not only have they boosted our speed to 500mb but reinstated our TV package for exactly the same price that we were paying before all the kerfuffle.
£45/month for 18 months including Maxit TV.

Just don't go with Toob. Awful. Didn't show up for my installation. Can't get through on the phone.

£60 for broadband is ridiculous, mine is £35 with giganet which I thought was on the expensive side, but pretty happy with the speed and service.