Virgin Media Cancellation regret

[Macaroni1924]

Sorry not sure where to post this. Virgin up next month, we pay a ridiculous amount for a whole lot of stuff we don’t use. Only thing we 100% need is the broadband as we stream Netflix/prime and I bring home work at night on laptop. Told them I wanted to save money, cut right back and was offered a £10 higher tariff. I explained again that we don’t use the mobile, landline, movies, sports etc and want to cut back and cut down costs so came back at £5 less. Back and forth for a bit, looked online at sky/bt great offers whilst waiting and much more reasonable. Very final offer I got was reduction of £40 with massively slower internet, change from top to bottom tier. I said no and cancelled. Then went to process a sky order and they don’t do fast broadband in my area nor do bt. Yes I should have confirmed this before hand, I’m an idiot. Didn’t realise you can’t just get sky anywhere, mad!
Wwyd? Figure my options are:
1- crawl back with tail between my legs and cancel the cancellation which really pisses me off. Not sure if you can actually do this?
2- go ahead cancel then rejoin but would be without for some time, not sure how long, differing views online.
3- go with a different internet eg sky essential and risk the fact that it’s just not going to be good enough for our needs.
I just feel it’s so wasteful to pay for things you don’t use it’s like buying food and binning it. Moneys going to be tight for everyone so it really grates me to pay them for services I don’t need. Any advice appreciated.

Don't cancel the cancellation !!

Do you have a partner or room mate who could use their name and go as a new customer they will get the best deals going

thabks I just checked this out and it says ‘the exchange is not in a current fibre priority programme’ so take it that means no intentions soon! We are hoping to move again next year depending on if we manage to save enough with all this energy price stuff going on. This house was a stepping stone to where we wanted to live! As my mum and dad are in the bit we want to go to at least I know then I will have choices!

I have my DH but worried with same name and address they might say something. I’m a bit of a worrier!

I cancelled Virgin as they refused to come back with a decent offer. Was really annoyed as I'd been a customer for years. After I signed up with another provider Virgin called with an acceptable offer. I'd love to have told them to stick it but was secretly relieved I didn't have to go through the hassle of changing. Brazen it out, I'm sure they will come back with a good deal.

If you go with a new provider don't forget to go through Top cash back, or get a friends recommendation if do those kind of deals

I pay £18 for just basic virgin Internet but because I'm also with o2 for my mobile I get the Bolt deal which doubles everything on my phone and Internet, which makes the basic virgin speeds not so basic.

Speak to Virgin they'd rather keep you than lose you, especially if they can tie you to a knew contract

Plus net fibre here, £22 a month for 24 months and got a 75£ pre paid MasterCard.

Then again, I used to pay £20 a month for Smarty SIM unlimited which worked fine and hotspotted TV, daughter phone, games etc. The downside was it only worked for teen DD if I was in the house 🙄🤣

Also we just use fire TV stick as no digital aerial when moved in

It's the top bit you want to look at - the VDSL bit. The fibre priority is about fibre to the door. You don't need that.

However if you have decent 4g signal you will be able to pick up a cheap 4g router and data SIM (such as Smarty) and have perfectly adequate internet if all else fails and Virgin are still silly money.

I game whilst watching Netflix and do video calls/ youtube etc and i pay talktalk £25 a month, not the fastest broadband just the basic fibre

Stick with it. We cancelled ours a couple months ago. Was paying 47 a month. Lowest offered through retention team was 37. I cancelled. They phoned every single day during the cancelled period and finally answered and offered a brilliant package and upgrades for 22. I'll be amazed if you don't hear from them by the end of the week

You don’t need the fastest speeds for what you do, but you do need to shop around.

most people seem to imagine they’re bill fucking gates or something and get the fastest package they can. Digital Willy-waving if you will.

I live somewhere where it’s adsl, 4g or satellite. Even on adsl 3MB d/l it was still fast enough for yt/Netflix/music/blah blah. Couldn’t handle zoom calls granted - but you really don’t need 60 squillion GB.

if you’ve got a Vodafone mobile, I’ve found their packages good.

bt have just given me unlimited 4/5G for 19.99

Even if they do notice that you and your DH have the same surname and address, they’re not going to do anything, they’re not going to call you to tell you off, or refuse to supply your property. Your DH is a new customer regardless, so he’ll be able to sign up. If they don’t offer you a better deal, I’d definitely just sign up in his name, and who cares if they notice?

I pay £25/month for 77mps with Plusnet

Following with interest and hoping Virgin pull a deal out the bag for you - please can you update as I may be tempted to do the same thing!

We cancelled virgin a cpl of months ago. They did NOT come back with a cheaper price in the cancellation period as others have advised mind.
As it happens we went with BT (I understand you're not doing this) but we're still not connected. They have given us a dongle with data and that actually works fine. We use the tv with fire stick and Netflix/Disney/prime etc. and my phone and 2 teens phones.

I pay £30/mth for 1000Mbps with Vodafone

Hold out @Macaroni1924 The retentions team will be in touch within 5 days with an amazing deal that they have managed to find you 🙄 🙄 I do this every time and it works each time. You’re unlikely to have to compromise on speed either.

We have stuck with Virgin for the same reason. It's so bloody expensive but after a blip in the early pandemic the broadband is always fast and reliable and we both wfh so it's essential. We switched from BT broadband about 2 years after moving here, as it was useless.

Yes this. A few people have said it on the thread - the easiest, quickest and lowest stress option is to do this. You probably don't have to speak to anyone. So what if they notice? Someone will just ring you to clarify, they don't some hmrc database they share with law enforcement or something, it is just some sales person looking at a virgin media screen with details you have entered into the system.

In the event they do phone, it is literally ten seconds - 'no, this is a new customer, our circumstances have unfortunately changed at home which is why we need to transfer the ownership of the package' - that would literally be it, they will never press for details. Then you are sorted at the low rate, with no service disruption, with the best service avail in your area for another 18-24 months at that low cost

Write it down a piece of paper by the phone if you need!

Moved from Virgin to Talk Talk as outages with Virgin and was expensive etc. talk talk a lot faster and cheaper but television is a bit confusing.

OP do NOT ring them back. Before your cooling off period is up they will ring you and that team will have much better offers available than who you already spoke to.
Try to research now for the best deal out there at the speed you want from Virgin (or nearest to it), and have this to hand when they call you.
Make sure you also know your bottom line - what price do they need to offer for you to stay.

Hi @WyldeSwan i had another look this morning and had to do by address as I don’t actually know my home phone number it’s never worked. I willl share photo as don’t actually understand it all!
thanks everyone for all the responses will update anything that I hear and have a proper read after work today.
hope you all have a good day

They are on phone to me just now tried twice today. Offer was 87 so only £2 cheaper than last nights offer. She is away to see what she can do

They will ring you again and you can change your mind later if you want - takes nerves of steel ha ha

It’s a start!
As long as you come away paying less I’d take it as a win 👍