Re: TV price rises
 

Not l.

Re: TV price rises
 

Nope, nor us.

Re: TV price rises
 

That's cos they won't have emailed or written to everyone at the same time

Re: TV price rises
 

Get your facts right Arthur; VM are currently ahead of Sky on Technology.

I'm in no way defending the price increases, but if we are comparing services and the cost of them, then we should try to stick to what is real. Sky clearly beat VM on the number of channels, but lag far behind VM on everything else.


A few weeks ago, I was checking something on the Sky website and decided to check out the price Sky would charge for the exact same services that I get from VM. Sky would cost me £18 per month more than VM. For that, I would have got a vastly inferior set top box with only 2 tuners and no wishlist functionality, but only gained one channel of relevance to me, Sky Atlantic.

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How much is it going up buy? Also is it for every VM customer? I want to make my dad aware but need to know how much before i do

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How much it will go up by will depend on the services - all effected customers will be notified before it happens

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Thanks mate

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I have not seen an email yet , but I am seriously considering binning pay TV, I will asses further when I find out how much more VM want a month. Three rises in 10 months is a joke and still no new Hd channels. Whist Tv anywhere is a nice add on it is not a necessity.

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If this is true I will seriously have to consider my options, because we didn't really gain anything from last years price rise (I do not mean the Sky services price rise, which is on Sky not VM).
If I end up having to pay near £40pcm I will ditch the TV and go to Sky instead.
I would then gain other channels and the ability to record programmes without having to pay for the privilege.

I am a big fan of VM, but this is getting ridiculous.

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I only watch the BBC channels but pay for th VIP pack and will still carry on doing so as it is only money ( you come in to the world with nothing and leave with the same )

Re: TV price rises
 

Such words of poetic eloquence devil.

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Ben,

What prices are going up? Is it a single service or all services?

Re: TV price rises
 

Our bundle went up by £4.00 in April this year, I reckon it will be about the same in February too... then probably another increase before the end of 2013..

Though we managed to negotiate a further discount of £2.00 per month for the remainder of our contract, not sure they will be so happy to do so this time..

Re: TV price rises
 

passinbat., no disrespect to you, nut l think you are totally wrong, VM are on another planet compared to Sky.

The technology that Sky have is by far ahead of VM, you cannot compare the TiVo box superior to the Sky boxes, I have had so much trouble with TiVo compared with Sky, the last time l had trouble with the TiVo box it took two to three days to sort out, my mother - in law had to have an engineer call out THREE times.
With Sky they sort it over the phone - how simple is that.

You may say why don't you go over to Sky, well all l have to do is call them, l already have Sky here - but the wife wants VM-don't know why.

To me if you need an engineer call out for VM problems, then there technology isn't that good is it.

The last time l had a Sky engineer was two years ago. the last time l had a VM engineer well last month it was THRE times and they still couldn't solve.

I look on the logistic side - if l can solve the problem over the phone, then its sorts me out.

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Had a phone call last night asking if I was happy with my services - mainly because I'm out of contract. I left things as they are because I want more information about ESPN/Bt before I commit to anything - but this has seriously got me thinking now. Think I'll be spending the evening pricing up some different options. I'm just a bit disappointed that the two big things this year - speed doubling and the app - appear to be costing people who didn't need 60mb, and are quad play customers so don't have iphones when there is no communication about how they plan to address the potential loss of one of the biggest attractions to their pay TV offering.

Re: TV price rises
 

Seriously considering switching to freesat for TV now. Can anyone tell me how much M broadband is, both with a landline and without?

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M broadband no longer exists as a package for changes - minimum is now BB L

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I know Ben, just wanted to know how much I'll pay for my M broadband if I ditch the TV?

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Arthur - There was nothing wrong with your TiVo. You had a faulty splitter.

Just like on Sky if the dish was damaged, it would be nothing to do with the Sky box. (And they couldn't fix it on the phone)

VM do solve many problems on the phone.

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That's what I'm trying to tell you - they'd likely move you onto BB L if you removed services

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Thanks Ben, that sounds like an excuse to raise the price! I best give them a ring.

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This is done to spread out the extra calls that such correspondence generates to the call centres.

Same here.

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They increased Sky Sports package by £3.25 in August. I didn't expect more price rises to be on the way so soon :rolleyes: It's still just about okay at the moment but if it carries with this kind of frequency I may have to kiss the premium package goodbybe - or maybe only have it 6 months out of 12.

My TV package is M+ I don't get all the 24 HD channels do I?

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So has the position changed since the last price rise?

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Rupert? Is that you? :rolleyes:

---------- Post added at 19:52 ---------- Previous post was at 19:49 ----------

You know this for a fact, Arthur? You know this to be true for the forseeable future? No new channels at all in the next, say, year?

Yeah, okay :rolleyes:

---------- Post added at 19:53 ---------- Previous post was at 19:52 ----------

Well there goes most of Arthur's posts then :p:

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Steady on Carl you've only been on for the last ten minutes and you've rolled your eyes 6 times :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: :rolleyes::D

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Maybe his eyebrows need trimming.;):D

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Well you can if you want do be factually accurate :)

Never has Sky but I've also never had minutes bother with my Tivo either. And I suspect most other people are the same.

Wow! Sky can repair their boxes over the phone? Really? Bad luck if you're one of their engineers then. Guess you'd be looking for a new job now? :rolleyes:

Right. Because only VM technology ever goes wrong? :rolleyes:

And the last time I had a VM engineer out was when I had the install done 2007!

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Is that how long VM have had Tivo out :D:D:D:D

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I feared price rises happening and things may get worse.

I have already made these points elsewhere, but feel that they are relevant to this thread too.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) are trying to sue VM to obtain a significant amount of extra money for some former VM staff who were made redundant. All staff have received their redundancy payments and, following help from VM, all staff who wanted alternative employment secured new positions relatively quickly.

My point to them was that, if the CWU win the case, there simply isn't a pot of spare money for these extra payments. Virgin Media is heavily in debt and services would be affected and/or prices would increase with subscribers seeing nothing for it. This would see disgruntled customers leave VM and the downward spiral would continue, leading to even more staff losing their jobs.

When somebody from the CWU was asked how he felt about the effect that this could have on customers and former colleagues, he openly stated that he did not care.

Maybe VM are using these price increases to build up a slush fund in case they lose the case?

Maybe that's why no new decent channels have been forthcoming?

One thing that is for sure, is that any victory by the CWU will not be paid for by VM, but it's customers and/or remaining staff.

---------- Post added at 20:34 ---------- Previous post was at 20:32 ----------

Good point, as aren't all TiVo installations done by a VM engineer?

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That is nothing but pure speculation. VM have to declare business risks in their quarterly reports and I don't remember seeing anything about that at all in the last one.

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Indeed nothing was mentioned at all.

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Not sure about this at the moment?

http://community.nasdaq.com/News/201...4#.UKQCuuQyLm4

Re: TV price rises
 

<annoyed grunt> :o: You know what I meant :)

Re: TV price rises
 

That price increase was because Sky increased the prices they charge, nothing to do with VM.
VM's price rise was earlier this year.

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Yes, I believe so

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Their offshore CS also cause and create a lot of problems on-the-phone too.

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Yes I did but fun:p:

---------- Post added at 21:11 ---------- Previous post was at 21:06 ----------

Never had a problem with any call centre I have called.

Re: TV price rises
 

That's disappointing - I would imagine most customers would welcome more transparency in their billing, not less. Thanks for answer.

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The information customers get accurately reflects the changes they will get on their bill

Re: TV price rises
 

Ben,

Whilst most of us accept what you are saying regarding getting individual prices rises according to our packages, there must be a unit cost for each service within a collection and then a discount applied to give the collection price.

Therefore, similar to most other companies (and by law), VM must have a basic price list for each individual service and then in circumstances like this show what the price increase is for each service. It's gotta be there somewhere even if it's hidden away.

That is what people are after with transparency and people can then see what the price rises are in total even if their individual price rise may differ.

As an example, take gas and electric. My supplier provides me with a unit cost for each service and then applies a discount if I take both as a bundle. VM used to do this and still ought to do the same.

Superblade7

Re: TV price rises
 

Why would it be the law to list individual items in a bundle? If you buy a package holiday, it doesn't tell you this much for the travel, this much for the hotel etc?

And using the example of gas and electrics pricing as "transparent" almost made me spit my morning coffee.

Re: TV price rises
 

We have been over this many times before

You are right that they did indeed - when the 'unit price' reflected the individual cost of each service.

That hasn't been the case for many years due to the reducing relative costs of the services, so putting the system 'unit price' on the bill would cause significant complaints - which is main the reason the bills were changed

For instance XL 60 broadband shows as a 'unit price' of over £37 on the system - however no one pays that price, it's never been sold and that price and never will be.

If it was shown, the first thing that someone will do (and used to do when they were broken down) when they see that on their bill is to phone up and complain that they are being overcharged

Re: TV price rises
 

Although I too preferred the older - itemised - bill, I have to back Ben up here and say (as I'm sure many will remember) that VM got just as many complaints back then about how confusing the billing system was and could it not be simplified. So they did.... and look what happened. Lovers of irony take note ;)

Indeed. But, as I said, I actually liked that as it showed me what discount I was actually getting.

Re: TV price rises
 

Agreed.

Re: TV price rises
 

I actually prefer the new bill, its a lot clearer to read

Re: TV price rises
 

Have a read of the Trading Standards guidance on pricing (http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/c...V1011-1111.txt).

Whilst VM can happily sell you services as bundles at a bundle charge, they should have a price list available for each product. I'll just add that I'm happy with the current billing system but should be able to obtain a price list if required.

The package holiday analogy isn't the same as the prices of each part can vary daily whereas VM's products have a standing charge with ocassional increases/discounts.

In respect of gas prices, you'll always get a contract with unit charges although the numerous tariffs available are what cause the confusion.

Re: TV price rises
 

A price rise great very amusing. Since the last tivo update i am regularly getting the hdmi not recognised, before the update I did not get this yet more amusement. My tivo no longer gets on with my Panasonic tv.

If anything its a price reduction I want.

I am now going to have to seriously consider my options I already feel Virgin is getting to expensive so i for one could after many years be about to jump ship.

Maybe Bt maybe talk talk or Sky if I can get a tree chopped down. It really does feel like Virgin are taking the mickey.

Just looked at the extra for nothing part of their excuses and whats coming soon I dont use the London underground so meh and as for tv anywhere I would not really use this granted some people will but not me.

Re: TV price rises
 

You may want to hold back on Talk Talk they are top of the we don,t care brigade :(

Re: TV price rises
 

A discount is only a discount when it's a reduction against the 'normal' price.

Most of the adjustments that used to be shown (and are still on the system) are to get the price to the current advertised price, so are not a discount

Re: TV price rises
 

Well that's what it was. It showed the 'normal' prices and then my "loyalty discount".

Re: TV price rises
 

But that's what I mean - the 'normal' prices wouldn't have been the advertised ones.

Part of the Loyalty Discount would actually be to get the price to the 'normal' one plus an additional amount to reduce the whole account to the 'Loyalty' price

So you may have seen a discount of, say £30, but £20 of that would have been an adjustment, and your actual discount would have been £10.

However because it says £30, that is what customers would read it as.

Now the focus is on the total bundle amount, so that's why (which is the original point) the letters give a total adjustment only

Re: TV price rises
 

But why such a crazy way of doing things? Price each service at it's correct price, and then show a discount for bundling several services together. Everyone knows exactly where they are then, and the savings advantages of buying bundles can be clearly seen along with any additional loyalty discount. At the moment, it appears to be a 'smoke and mirrors' situation which leads to distrust.

Re: TV price rises
 

Virgins billing system is horrendous, needs an overhaul I reckon if that's the way they need to make it 'normal prices'

Re: TV price rises
 

So to summarise all we know is that in February we will have yet another rise to add to April and August increases but we don't know which services are effected and we won't know details until we get an individual letter/email?

My question is can I use this announcement to cancel my contract now or do I need to wait until I get my email/letter? There is absolutely no way I will accept three increases in 12 months on top of gas and electricity increases etc.

My "free" broadband upgrade, I neither wanted nor need, is costing me a small fortune. I've only lasted this long on the thought of additional channels coming but The Africa Channel and 5+1 aren't sufficient to warrant stomaching another rise.

I will miss some of the benefits of the TIVO box but enough is enough!

Re: TV price rises
 

It used to be that a price increase gave you the right to cancel whichever service it was attached to.

If the new increase is not itemised and is just for the total bundle does this mean that you can now cancel your whole package without attracting a cancellation charge?

Re: TV price rises
 

Unfortunately it's down in part to historical differences between constituent companies, billing structure, previous pricing schemes and bundles and other factors.

---------- Post added at 16:11 ---------- Previous post was at 16:09 ----------

It does now seem to be a simplified statement at www.virginmedia.com/contact

Re: TV price rises
 

So sorry to repeat myself Ben but its a maze within a maze within a maze to most of us.:)

Re: TV price rises
 

Right, but unfortunately there isn't a simple or easy way to fix it 'behind the scenes', especially whilst so many customers are on the number of different bundles that they are.

The simplified bills and communications were a way to reduce the number of bill complaints in a way that worked - I would point out that the bill format was tested with customers before it was rolled out nationally, and those customers were then surveyed as to whether they liked it.

It would not have been changed if the response to the current bill layout was worse than the previous one

I'd also point out that we had this discussion last April too, and when the new bill format came in. Some people preferred the old one, more people (as confirmed by customer feedback to VM) prefer the new one.

Re: TV price rises
 

I have been reading on here that VM have increased there prices three times this year is that correct

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Yes with the Sky sports and Movies price rise you are correct.

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Technically, and more accurately, it's two of their own. The third was forced on them by Sky :)

(It's still two too many but there you go ;))

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Well thats not Skys fault, they increase there prices ONCE a year, and l know that as l am a customers of there's also.

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What's not Sky's fault? You think VM should just swallow any price increases forced on them by other suppliers? :confused:

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Wrong and getting sick of this load

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You will make a wonderful politician Mr Waring.;)

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Was all of the £3.25 down to Sky?

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Of course not! Virgin make 10% profit on what they charge.

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So technically VM will have put their prices up three times in one year.

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And where have VM stated that? As far as I'm aware they make no money on the Sky Premiums at all

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No, twice. (Sky forced the third.)

---------- Post added at 17:03 ---------- Previous post was at 17:02 ----------

Source?

Re: TV price rises
 

It was posted on one of the boards here at CF. Can't remember which one now though

Re: TV price rises
 

I didn't pay a great deal of attention at the time because I don't subscribe to Sports or movies, but am I correct in thinking that VM put the price up more than Sky did when these prices went up just a while ago?

If that is the case, why the difference in price rises between sky and VM if VM make no profit on Sky premiums?

Re: TV price rises
 

Sky Sports increased £1.00 on Sky
On VM it went from £22.50 to £25.75 or an increase of £3.25

Re: TV price rises
 

So the question is where did the £2.25 go?.

Re: TV price rises
 

Well if you ask BenMcr he'll maintain that Sky's wholesale price to VM was dearer than the £1 increase that Sky gave to their own customers.

Re: TV price rises
 

By the time February comes around, some virgin customers will indeed have seen the price of their package increase 3 times in 10 months.

Re: TV price rises
 

Well Ben lovely man he is will only go by what he is told or knows by those in the higher echelons of VM.

Re: TV price rises
 

Or tell us what he's been told to tell us although the truth maybe somewhat different :erm:

Re: TV price rises
 

I’ve just seen a post elsewhere on the site by a member with the Premier Collection. His increase is £4.09!

I'd love to know what the total increase for people on this site has been over the past 10months.

April 2012 increase: £
+ SKY Sports increase: £
+ February 2013 increase: £
= £

I bet there are people who have seen an increase of over £10.00! The highest is the winner… no wait the highest is clearly the loser!

Re: TV price rises
 

If I bin my Collection package via the price rise clause, is there any easy migration path for my phone number? Its originally a BT number migrated over to VM, which I remember seeing somewhere makes a port back potentially available.

Whats the procedure for this?

Re: TV price rises
 

"We wanted to let you know that, from 1st February 2013*, the price of your Virgin Media services will increase by £4.59 a month. It's never nice when prices go up but it means we can continue to give you the best home entertainment and services".

My November bill is £114.

It's starting to get very expensive now. Time to look at other options I guess.

Re: TV price rises
 

WOW! That is a scary increase. Did you also get a rise back in April, and the SKY Sports increase too?

Re: TV price rises
 

Yes Chad. I've been with Virgin (Telewest) since 2001

Re: TV price rises
 

With your £4.59 in February, the SKY Sports increase of £3.25 and your April increase you must be pushing £10.00 in total. £120.00 annually, that is disgusting.

Re: TV price rises
 

Sky could, if they wanted to, go entirely ad-free on all their channels and still make a huge profit. So yes, what Ben said is, IMO, entirely plausible.

Re: TV price rises
 

The point is this - in the last year my bill has gone up by just over £5. When I last rang to query it I was told that in the same period I'd had free multiroom and free speed doubling. The cs rep used the word free, not me. When I suggested that using services you label as free to justify price increases wasn't logical the rep didn't understand!

Now, I'm not saying I want Virgin to sit still, quite the reverse, I want them to invest in improving the service they provide me with. What's more I understand that I'll have to pay for it. What I object to is being told I'm getting something for nothing when I'm not. Further, I want Virgin to understand that some things - for example speed doubling - aren't important to people, especially in the current climate. I really don't need 60mb broadband. In truth, if I'd needed 60mb I'd already be paying for it! Speed doubling has happened in part so that Virgin can continue to advertise the UK's fastest broadband. Fine, but I should have had the option of remaining on 30mb and not being hit with whatever proportion of the price rise related to the internet, shouldn't i?

---------- Post added at 18:25 ---------- Previous post was at 18:24 ----------

I just swore out loud when I read that - that is a big rise.

Re: TV price rises
 

£4 in the last year for me.

Re: TV price rises
 

£4.59?

So we know the phone line rental is going up £1.09.

Someone has posted there package is going up £4.09.

BeeVee's package is going up £4.59


Anyone want to hazard a guess of what the BB/TV bundle increase split is?

Re: TV price rises
 

Actually, that is pretty good:)

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I seem to recall, from a past conversation with someone at VM, that you get a bigger discount off BB than TV.

Re: TV price rises
 

Yes, that is correct Chad. Customers may not know and probably don't care that one was a supplier related increase. We all complain when our energy prices increase, despite being told that it is a result of wholesale price increases.

VM should factor in future price increases to reduce the incidents of price changes.

Indeed.

...and wasn't presented as anything else.

VM are adamant that the union will lose and that they won't take a chunk of money out of the business- leaving them free to limit price increases, whilst investing in technology, services and staff.

The CWU union, on the other hand, appear to be celebrating their victory before the case has even been heard- some members have been reported as "spending" the money already.

Let's just wait and see.

---------- Post added at 18:45 ---------- Previous post was at 18:35 ----------

Don't they just! I refuse to speak to them and have constantly argued for call centres to be UK based.

My argument has been significantly weakened by the efforts of the CWU to extract more money from the company for former employees now in new jobs. Unfortunately, this behaviour has led to VM taking steps to de-recognise the union.

Re: TV price rises
 

tv up £4-09p on 1st feb 2013

Re: TV price rises
 

I believe if you go with Sky you take a chance when the strong winds come & you have to pay £100 if they have to go up on your roof to fix it. Better with peace of mind.

Re: TV price rises
 

Some of these are worse than people feared.

I've yet to receive my notification.

Can someone who understand the terms and conditions clarify something?

In J3 it states:

"you may cancel those services affected without penalty by giving us and/or Virgin Media Payments (as applicable) at least 30 days' notice. Such notice must be given within 30 days of the increase in charges or changes to the services or this agreement being notified to you."

Do people only have 30 days from receiving these e-mails to cancel their services? If so, people will need to act fast it they don't accept the increase.

---------- Post added at 19:01 ---------- Previous post was at 18:59 ----------

Thanks for the tip. If I ever join SKY, I'll tell them not to put the dish on the roof.

Re: TV price rises
 

The latest someone can cancel is 30 days from the bill that had the changes on it - that's always been the case

Re: TV price rises
 

Sky Tv are a business not a charity for VM cheapskates.

Big problem is that VM won't pay moneys for channels and customers wont pay increase subs, you cannot have it both ways.

Re: TV price rises
 

tell us who else got the sky channels that VM is missing sheshhhhhhhhhhh answer NO ONE sky withholding them but you would never ever answer that would you and since when is only sky allowed to be a business VM is a business don't be foolish eh

Re: TV price rises
 

i take it the rise in 2013 is merited,what with s4c,africa channel,5+1.WOWEE

Re: TV price rises
 

Yes but no-one other than Sky & VM charge so much.