SD : TV price rises

[colin25]

Originally Posted by Itshim

I doubt it but not sure. The guy is a bit of a teccy the TV was a big B&O flat screen & the wired in sound system is Bose. Even went out and brought a touch screen PC - why !

My comment was as suggested just about the length & number of ads on TV in general. Do not think I could cope with the lack of not being able to record 3 channels if needed. Can be worked around but why bother
Sorry was so nearly temped to switch but the price difference if there is one at all. Says no not a hope . The wife was looking that night for something she fancied to watch. 10 minutes later ( it felt like hours) she said "what a load of rubbish channels are on Sky" Looks like I will be with Virgin for the present time. O Yes when we were looking Sky Atlantic was offering Star trek in one form or another

You sound happy with Virgin..i suspect they appreciate all the support you give.

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Good grief, you make it sound dreadful! It is tons better than the V+ box, which was certainly slow and clunky. For most people, I'm sure that the TIVO box is as quick as you could expect it to be, given the functionality of it.

I haven't found the Sky+HD box much better, and it froze for me for about two minutes last time I used one!

I didn't mean too - my point was that it's slower than Sky, but not to the point where it's a deal breaker. I love TiVo - I'm not sure if I've made that clear enough!

[eljay]

[QUOTE=Qtx;35513748]Is there extra interference from Airport related stuff? My sister lived quite close to a police station which had powerful transmitters of all kinds on its roof and had problems getting a normal tv reception. Most people in that area had Sky as it was almost out in the sticks but the reception of channels got better the further away from the station you got.

Between Gatwick and Heathrow myself. Had no problems with picture quality at all since Sky was installed last week. Wondered if there would be any picture degradation during a storm but the one we did have had no effect.

The distance from the exchange can often be a deciding factor. Personally I would have switched years ago if the exchange was closer. Infinity came along here recently and let me escape from the poorly performing broadband.

In one of these threads is a post saying that old customers have been offered a 75% discount to return to Sky.[COLOR="Silver"]

Have lived in two properties at the now Terminal 5 end of the airport. These properties were only two miles apart and at either end of the perimeter road. The problems were identical during the winter months and during the summer the property I live in now suffered picture degragation during the summer as well. We are sheltered on two sides by a reservoir and another complex on the third side including two telecommunication facilities. Anyway despite two engineer visits neither resulted in any improvement with one engineer reckoning we didn't have a chance where we were sited.


Not a chance of infinity at my place according to a friend who works for BT Openreach. Apparently we have three things against us - Exchange is other side of the M25 which results in extra long runs and high installation costs partly due to permissions and licenses required - area is VM enabled with already high take up so limiting potential customer base - other local areas are more attractive comercially and served by other exchanges,

I was offered a fixed sum reduction by a customer service agent who lost interest once I confirmed I was not interested in broadband and phone. Seems its not just VM who have somewhat moody CS staff. Probably falling behind on his upsale target

[Qtx]

Does sound like you have the same type of interference there as my sister had. Good job you have the cable option available then, you would be stuck on adsl for broadband too otherwise.

No excuse for rudeness from CS staff, even if they are on commission. Got a feeling as pressures get worse in call centres its only going to get worse.

[MrB]

Originally Posted by MrB

I am probably going to get the usual "Mates Rates is not available to everyone" points raised by people, but would welcome your advice please as this seems the most appropriate forum to ask as it relates to the price rise and this thread includes some very helpful people.

Is it true that Mates Rates is the cheapest deal you can get on Virgin please? I phoned to query our price rise (£5.45 a month on top of £45) and was told this was the cheapest deal available on Virgin as it was half normal price. I know it isn't half price (it was originally), but how much should XL Phone (plus unused Talk Mobile/Talk International), XL BB, XL TV, 2xTivo 500gb and 1xV+ cost please, as you cannot work this out on their website as it only now lets you add one additional box and no V+ option. I should probably add at this point that this was the normal Mates Rates deal at the end of last year (£38.01) enhanced with swapping out the VHD box for a Tivo, moving the V+ to another room and adding another Tivo (as the deal was on at the time, if you remember, with one Tivo fee no matter how many boxes and free moving/keeping the V+).

I know that I had/have a fairly good deal for the package (though not as good as others who joined Mates Rates before me), but the combined rise from April and next February is close to 20% in a year and therefore is still a hefty rise and is causing me to re-evaluate just how good a deal it really is and whether we need it all. Could we, for example, remove the Talk Mobile and Talk International to bring down the price a bit without affecting the Mates Rates discount? And could we use the £120 line rental advance payment?

I received the letter towards the end of last month and queried when I need to give notice if I wish to leave - I was told 16th January (as she went away to check on the system) - this is clearly not 30 days from a date at the end of November when I received the letter? As someone mentioned earlier that all letters would be out by 17th December as they sare posting out letters/emails in batches and letters don't have the date on (mine just said November 2012), is the same notification date being set for everyone?

I am disappointed that the "free" upgrade to 60MB has not happened despite it originally being announced it would be here in July and that multi-room is there but unusuable for the content that we have recorded due to licensing, plus although Tivo is good, I am not sure we are getting the value out of it as we tend to still use it like the V+.

Many thanks

MrB

It seems this thread seemed to go completely off topic .

Just as an update, I spoke to someone about my situation (on Mates Rates, not happy about the price rise but happy with services, is there any other discount I could get) and was told in a word no (and because of how the system works, I was given a list of the "discounts" that I apparently receive - which aren't really discounts as I know it is just the way that the VM billing system works it out and I really only have the Mates Rates discount of around £33 which apparently used to be half price but is clearly no longer the case).

Anyway, I don't want to mess up the Mates Rates discount on my account and don't wish to move, but £49 from next month is not cheap (no matter how many discounts I supposedly have)! So has anyone on Mates Rates secured any other discounts to wipe out the price rise please?

I asked whether I could pay £120 pay in advance for line rental, as explicitly mentioned in my price rise letter, but was told this is not possible as I am on Mates Rates and adding it would remove my Mates Rates discount? If it isn't possible, why mention it in my letter? Has anyone on Mates Rates managed to get the £120 advance line rental please?

Many thanks

MrB

[jb66]

you could downgrade to the classic collection and pay full price

[nstokes]

Originally Posted by MrB

If it isn't possible, why mention it in my letter? Has anyone on Mates Rates managed to get the £120 advance line rental please?

It will be a generic letter thats why

[MrB]

Originally Posted by nstokes

It will be a generic letter thats why

A generic letter that was addressed specifically to me with my account details, gave me my specific price rise, told me not to worry because I am still apparently on a great deal and this was another way they could help me to keep my bill to a minimum?

I appreciate that they use templates but as their system is clever enough to put in the specific price rise based on individual packages it should also be able to insert/delete appropriate options and not advise you that you can apply for something if you can't.

I appreciate I could drop all my services to bring my price down but I am happy with the package, just not happy paying 15%+ more for the privilege!

Many thanks

MrB

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by MrB

I asked whether I could pay £120 pay in advance for line rental, as explicitly mentioned in my price rise letter, but was told this is not possible as I am on Mates Rates and adding it would remove my Mates Rates discount? If it isn't possible, why mention it in my letter? Has anyone on Mates Rates managed to get the £120 advance line rental please?

I've just checked with some colleagues and you can get Line Rental Saver when you have Mates Rates

[MrB]

Originally Posted by BenMcr

I've just checked with some colleagues and you can get Line Rental Saver when you have Mates Rates

Thank you BenMcr, I thought it odd that it would be included in the letter if not available, but as nstokes noted, it could have been a generic template for most of the letter.

It is unfortunate that the people I spoke to said no - who would be best to call if I wanted the Line Rental Saver adding? They said it wasn't possible (the Thinking of Leaving team) and if they did add it, it would remove the Mates Rates/additional box discount .

I am conscious that the Mates Rates is a good deal, and like the services I have, but like everyone am having to look at what I spend and the £5 price rise to £49 is pushing it to the limit . I am also conscious that any changes to my account could mess up the Mates Rates discount and they may not be able to change it back . However, if I did give notice to leave, would I be able to reverse/cancel this decision before the 30 days was up and effectively be back to where I am now (theerfore no worse off)? Or would giving notice change all the settings on my account at that point, never to return?

Yes this is partly a ploy to hopefully speak to outbound retentions as they seem to be able to do better deals than CS or the Thinking of Leaving team, but I am not sure if this has the same effect if on Mates Rates (and I don't want to mess up Mates Rates if I then don't find a better deal over the next month with VM or Sky/another provider).

Many thanks

MrB

[Superblade7]

Mr B,

Just give retentions a call and explain the situation that you aren't happy with the price rise and see if they can review your services if you've not done this in a while as they may be able to give you a better deal. It might be that you are already on the best deal possible (from what you state in your earlier post this does sound like a good deal) with the 'mates rates' that you get or they might be able to offer you something better?

Either way you'll then know where you stand with VM and can weigh up your options against other providers.

[denphone]

l just received our price rise this morning of £1.50 but l ain't complaining as we now have BT Sports to show for it plus there is the promise of more channels coming to us in the Autumn.

[gizuk]

Originally Posted by denphone

l just received our price rise this morning of £1.50 but l ain't complaining as we now have BT Sports to show for it plus there is the promise of more channels coming to us in the Autumn.

The price rise is purely for Sky Sports and will be passed straight to Sky.

[nstokes]

I think it's ether £1 or £1.50 for us

[denphone]

Originally Posted by nstokes

I think it's ether £1 or £1.50 for us

One must expect these Sports and Movies price rises now and again but they must also realise there is a limit to what many can spend each month as well.