Is Virgin Media basically telling its old customers just P off?!

[IwantToRetire]

I am not surprised by this, and know it has been an issue for some time, but talk about telling your existing customers you aren't valued!

My current contract which is due to expire is around £70pm - it was a discounted deal and has had bits added to it for free over past 2 years.

So they tell me if I want to renew with same content, it will now be £170pm

Or then can do a stripped down package for £130pm

And then at the end of the email they tell me that the stripped down package of £130 offered to me, for a new customer would be £40.

Hardly a clever sales tactic!

Talk about letting you know they dont care about you!

Thanks for letting me rant.

It's the total cheek of being so blatant!

Urgh they make my blood boil. Just change provider. They are all as bad as each other, but there is some satisfaction in doing it!!!

Change provider, they will call and offer you a better deal. Nightmare

A dd just moved to Sky for this reason. A MASSIVE hike in the monthly charge.

We recently cancelled a d just have the fire stick . Now £20 a month broadband, we were due to go from £76 to £148…no!

Go ahead and sign up with someone else. They'll notify virgin and they'll call you within a few days with a much lower offer then cancel the new provider

Oh dont worry, I will be.

It was just such a blatant slap in the face, and in print.

ie they as saying just to let you know we will over charge you!

(Added to which but not relevant to this forum, they are going to stop providing an email service, which losing the email address which is part of my access to the NHS, my bank, my GP, and ... It was quite honestly this as much as the tv that kept me there as the hassle of having to go and change so many log ins because of a new email address is just something I dont want to have to spend time on.)

I renegotiated some months ago and now pay £45. Mind you. I was surprised by just how many channels I lost to facilitate that until I saw the yawning chasms in my programme guide

In fact, as some PP have said they have done, I think I am just going to change how I watch, stream tv. ie no more box.

Invest in a good Smart tv, pay the small amounts pa to get ITV and C4 ad free, and sign up for streaming services as and when they seem worth it.

And maybe a firestick ...

And I think I can learn to live without being able to record.

I moved to a fibre provider after 5 years with virgin. My box simply wasn't working so they wanted to up my fee loads just to get a working box. I left and now pay half what I was paying - basic broadband/Freeview only which is fine for me.

Have just today cancelled VM. Saving £60/month and getting 4x faster broadband into the bargain.

We could have done it a couple of years ago, but the convenience of the TiVo held us back. But a little tinkering into the home server and that's replaced.

Whilst I agree with your opinion on customer retention, I have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever with anyone who uses an email address associated with their Internet provider for banking, GP etc.!

And I've thought that since people were using AOL addresses in the 90s.

Thanks - that is sort of what their lower offer to me was. And could see that quite a few would disappear, but in reality I only watch a limited number of channels.

Please expand. I know some people say this, but many dont.

How would my bank or gp knowing who my internet provider was would have any impact?

When is this happening? I’m with Virgin (yuk) and have several email addresses with them. Same as you it stopped me changing because of the hassle.

Sky email is backed by Yahoo, and they are messing around with the free emails. Had my email over 15 years and dont want to change but might need to next year. Have dropped all other SKY products. Are Virgin now easy to leave? Heard they were a nightmare which puts me off moving to them.

I took a similar offer with SKY and it was not great. Eg Sky arts, I could watch and record in advance, but couldnt go back to record. They also changed my router at the same time, it is awful. Small modern house - i have 2 boosters.

I think they mean you shouldn’t use it because if you change Internet provider you will lose your email address.

HOWEVER, I don’t believe that’s true.

I have been using a Sky email address for donkeys years, despite the fact I haven’t had Sky Tv or broadband for years. It is hosted by yahoo.

My sister has an @ ntlworld email address, from
before rhey were bought my virgin. Still works fine.

It hasn't been officially announced. I was looking for the User forums which they seemed to have stopped and someone told me about a group on Facebook. And that was the first post!

Its not been officially announced and am not sure if it is what are called the "legacy" email addresses ie from the various companies they have gobbled up over the years.

They wont be issuing any new email addresses.

I had thought without looking into it in much detail that the merger with O2 was meant to help them handle services better.

Or maybe a sign of the time. The end of emailing, and we all just text?

We’ve been with them for the last ten years - just phone up, say you’ll leave, then they ring you back with a sensible offer.

There can be a certain satisfaction when your email address is [email protected]

I mean you need a rare surname, admittedly. But if you have one, flaunt it.

In the words of the 70's TV program (the irony isn't lost on me) Why Don't You Just Switch Off Your Television Set And Go And Do Something Less Boring Instead?

Seriously, I didn't have a TV for several years, and it was the intended who became the wife who told encouraged me to get a TV again as she wanted to watch the sport. I am on the verge of giving it all up again.

Dont do it! Fucking nightmare company. Took me a year to leave.

They've had a massive fine for this:

www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/switching-provider/ofcom-fines-virgin-media-28m-for-repeatedly-preventing-customers-from-cancelling-contracts

From AI

Virgin Media is completely shutting down its own email service for all users, including both legacy and newer @virginmedia.com addresses. The company stopped offering new email accounts to customers a few years ago, and they are now completely exiting the email hosting business. 1, 2, 3, 4]
The closure will affect all addresses associated with Virgin Media, including: 1]

• @virginmedia.com
• @ntlworld.com
• @blueyonder.co.uk
• @virgin.net

What happens next?
Rather than just deleting everything, Virgin Media is transferring the ongoing management of these email addresses to a third-party specialist platform called Junara (owned by Atmail). 1, 2]
Affected users are being contacted directly and given a 45-day window to make a choice: 1]

1. Keep your address (Move to Junara): If you want to keep using your existing email address, you will need to migrate it to Junara. The service will be free for the first year, but it will become a paid subscription service after that.
2. Move to a new provider: You can choose to download your emails and documents and switch to a free alternative like Gmail or Outlook.
3. Close the account: You can choose to simply close down the inbox entirely. 1, 2, 3, 4]

If you rely on your Virgin Media email, it is highly recommended to start backing up important data or looking into a free alternative provider before your 45-day window closes. More details can be found on the Virgin Media Newsroom Announcement. 1, 2]

If you are happy to use AI eg via google, it can quickly provide an overview of existing email providers with price comparisons. (Makes google itself irrelevant)

But am starting to wonder if email is just going to be phased out, generally, not just VM!

I do with my sky email : [email protected]

Only problem most people cant spell surname correctly!!