Broadband and tv packages

[Ilovetocrochet]

I’ve been with Virgin for years but have just received an email saying my bill will be going up by £9 a month taking it to over £70 a month - for basic tv with no added channels, broadband and landline phone. The email also said that they intend to increase charges annually by the cost of living increase plus 3%!

I was intending to phone them this month anyway to try to negotiate the price as I still have the old TiVo box which is really basic to the newer ones. So now I’m about to do some serious research! My reluctance to renegotiate stems back to the problems I had swapping to Virgin in the first place when I was left without broadband or landline phones for several weeks through poor communication between old provider and Virgin.

I am happy with just the basic tv channels, I don’t watch enough tv to want and extra channels, films, music or sport but I do want to be able to record programmes to watch later. Sometimes I keep films for months or even years until I have time or inclination to watch them so they often become unavailable on Catch-up.

Previous to Virgin, I had phone and broadband with Plusnet and used a digital recorder to record tv programmes. I am going to look into that method again but I am aware that there are now other ways of watching tv. I have a fairly new smart Sony tv but I’m not sure exactly what can be plugged into it!

I can’t have a dish attached to my house as it’s a bungalow built in a hollow so cannot get a signal but my boosted tv aerial used to be fine. I’m going to research costs but I am hoping that some of you could help by sharing what you use and how much you are paying.

So, to clarify, my requirements are to watch and record tv programmes
( basic package only), Wi-Fi broadband and a landline. I still prefer having a landline as I have a number of elderly relatives who don’t use mobiles. BT have a bad reputation in my area for going off line but then so do Virgin although I’ve never had a problem with my connection.

Price is obviously a consideration, I can afford to pay for any necessary equipment upfront ( eg a recording device) if the monthly cost is much lower than to £70 plus I’ll be paying next month.

Thanks in advance

I left Sky many years ago due to their ever rising costs. Can't get Virgin in my area. Like you, I mostly just watch basic channels. I bought outright a BTYouView box [ same as Humax ] and can watch, record and pause programmes. I have never looked back. No subscriptions ever.
I use Plusnet for broadband and wifi, don't have the landline package, but you can get that. For Broadband and wifi I pay around £28 per month.

The only issue I had was miscommunication between Sky and Plusnet and like you worry about, I was without either for 3 weeks. But I do think this is very rare.

Also be advised that broadband costs for most are going up in April, but will still be cheaper than you are currently paying.

Thanks for the reminder about increasing broadband costs in April, I had seen something about that but forgotten. Obviously the email from Virgin was triggered by this increase.

When I has communication problems changing from Plusnet to Virgin, I blamed Virgin but now you say that you also had issues, I’m wondering if Plusnet is the common denominator? At least Plusnet were easy to speak to as they had a UK based call centre but I don’t know if that has changed post Covid.

Hello OP, I've posted a similar query under chat. I've got some other advice there if you want to have a look.