Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I'm toying with the idea of breaking my contract with VM.

Does anybody know what process VM follow?

I had a friend who had a phantom PPV film added to his bill, he called up and had it cancelled, but when it happened a second time, they refused.

As a result, he cancelled their services and received a final bill, which he fully intended paying.

Within a day or two, he was annoyed to find that they had passed the debt to a debt collection agency. He paid VM directly (including the PPV event that he never ordered!) and vowed to never use them again.

If I return the box, pay any monies owed and cancel the Direct Debit, what will VM do?

I'm assuming that they will raise a charge and, as above, pass it onto a debt collection agency.

I no longer need a clean credit report and baliffs will have all rights of implied access removed, not that they bother me.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Can't you cancel your contract due to the November price rises?

Bailiffs will be assigned to receive all monies due to the end of your contract plus they will add their own fees on top if you break your contract by stopping paying

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

.... as just said Richard, because of the price rises you can get out of the contract with no penalty. But you must know that already though with the amount of time you spend on this forum....????

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

My options are up in the air at the moment, one being to use the price rise to get out of my contract.

At this time i'm just trying to find out what happens in practice when a customer breaks the contract.

The legal firm that we use says that there's a good chance that the contract could be anulled due to the box being not fit for purpose, but that I'd have to give them chance to resolve the problems first.

Apparently, this usually involves bringing a new box that's no better and all recordings are lost, but I'd have to let them try this if I decided to go down this route.

---------- Post added at 18:14 ---------- Previous post was at 18:11 ----------

Is this the official VM policy?

If they were to send baliffs with the power to collect money or goods, wouldn't it have to go to court first?

VM probably wouldn't want the bad publicity if they took it this far.

Ordinary debt collectors would be barred from entering my land.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

What makes you think VM would care in the slightest ?
Besides which, if they have to resort to doing that then they are clearly being wronged by you (as decided by a court) so how would it be bad publicity anyway ?

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Cancel owing to the subscription increase or break your contract and have all the hassle that goes with it , can't believe anyone would even ask the question it's pretty simple to most.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

.....yes, but like me and many others on here, he doesn't know what to do and when.

Richard, the fees VM would charge you if you broke contract are listed here:

http://www.virginmedia.com/shop/the-...tion-fees.html

As they say on the page, the maximum they would charge is £240.

I share your frustration with the poor service and going by VM's quarterly figures, we are far from alone.... as VM keep hemorrhaging tv subscribers.

As said here or on another thread, wait for the new tivo and see if that improves things. Hopefully the timing should work out, assuming the new tivo is imminent and I believe it is. If things don't work out, you can then either break out of contract due to price rises or if you get the new tivo and don't like it, you can get out of the contract under that basis. If you get the new tivo, you'd get a new contract with that and get 28 days to cancel with no penalty.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

If it went to court I would argue that it was them that had breached the contract by providing a device that was not fit for purpose (I would have to let them go through the new box routine first though).

If they have any sense, they would consider the consequences of going after long term customers who only want to leave because the product is now so bad and unusable.

A form of the Streisland Effect if you like.

It's all hypothetical at this stage though; as far as I'm aware they just sell the debt onto a debt collection company, which I would bar from my land.

Phones are easy to put down, letters are easy to shred, but if this contact became excessive; I would sue for unlawful harrassment.

It is an offence to harrass a person for debts owed, regardless of whether it is accepted that the debt is owed or not.

---------- Post added at 21:09 ---------- Previous post was at 21:03 ----------

Thanks for the sensible advice; it would be cheaper to use the price rise to leave and lose the advance payment of line rental than pay £240 (if I were prepared to pay it).

If the new TiVo is out shortly, I can probably manage, but I really dislike this practice of using anything and everything to lock people into contracts to prevent them leaving.

I can understand this for new customers who receive discounts and cost resources in installation; but long term customers shouldn't be treated like this.

If their product, prices and service was good enough, they wouldn't have to resort to these measures.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

If they break the contract by raising the price too much i'd have thought you'd get the LRS back if you then cancel, or the portion of it?

After all they've broken the contract.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Why were you talking about a 'friend' VM wouldn't pass the debt on that quickly. It would take a couple of months to even get debt collection letter.

Also talking about bailiffs is getting a bit ahead of yourself. Many people have told you to use the price rise to get you out of your contract.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

.....yes, but some of us are waiting for the new tivo while being totally dissatisfied with the current tv service and price rises.

It's difficult to know what to do. Get out now because of the price rises, or hope the new tivo comes along shortly and hope it works. A lot of hope there... If we wait for the new tivo and reports are that its bad, we may lose the window to cancel due to the price rises.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I called and cancelled everything and get Sky Q and Sky fibre in next week.

Only reason I stayed with VM so long was how good the BB is.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I'm the same, reluctant to leave Vm because of the broadband.

If you get a chance, can you post your experiences of Sky's bb and how it compares to your old vm bb service please?

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

You can cancel vm TV and retain the vm broadband. The Sky Q will work fine on vm broadband.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I'll try my best. Phone and BB get installed on Wednesday. Up to 38Mbps and should get that according to checker. Can see fibre cab from my home too.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

.... cheers.

Fixerman, I know. But if you take vm bb on its own, it's more expensive than taking it in a bundle. So the question for me is, who do I have the bundle with?

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I have Sky Fibre upto 38mb and it's been excellent , it really depends what you do on the Internet and how many use it in your house. If faster speeds are available at your address Sky Fibre Max offers upto 76mb for £15.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I would need at least enough speed for a couple of Netflix/Amazon streams on at least 2 tvs and internet/web browsing on 2 or 3 devices in the evening.

Nervous about if I can do that lot on a 38mb service.... and I'm looking to go HDR next year too once all the standards have been finalised.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

To be fair Netflix in HD tops out at less than 6mb , I've used Netflix UHD with someone else in the house streaming Netflix on an ipad and someone browsing without any issues hence my reluctance to pay anymore.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

...thanks, good to know.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

One word ,, 'Tool' :p::p:

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Reading on the Sky community forum most of the problems with Q connectivity comes from people with other BB providers ,BT and Virgin hubs being the most mentioned

---------- Post added at 07:07 ---------- Previous post was at 07:02 ----------

I have Sky Q on Sky's 38mb fibre and i stream Netflix in UHD ,download and stream Sky films in UHD ,1 son playing games through a wireless connection and the other son streaming and downloading through the Q mini box with no problems at all

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Apparently, it's in the terms & conditions :(

The correct sequence and timescale of events has already been fully explained to you.

Life isn't always as simple as you believe it to be.

Yup, that's my problem too, you've hit the nail on the head.

What happens if the new TiVo comes out after the window to cancel because of the price rise has expired??

What if it's too expensive or also suffers from performance issues??

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Don't worry too much Richard, at the rate VM are going there's a price rise every 4 to 6 months anyway so plenty of opportunities to leave your contract early if you wish

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Aye, that's true 😂😂😂

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Every cloud has a silver lining. :) Hopefully this will be the last price rise for a year except Sky premiums.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

The office of the CEO have now acknowledged that there is a "widespread problem" with the TiVo.

It is felt likely that the new TiVo will come out after the window to cancel has expired.

This can only strengthen any case that customers bring regarding the product not being fit for purpose.

I may ask Trading Standards for their view upon a product that broadly works, but not as well as reasonably expected.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Good grief if you are unhappy with the service VM is providing you can always leave and use another provider using the price rise as your reason instead or pointlessly banging on about bailiffs and not fit for purpose tivos ,get over yourself and ditch them or don't ditch them :rolleyes:

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

In the words of the former PM "for heavens sake just go"

Use the contract to get out, don't look back if you want to stay then accept it for what it is, you don't "have to have it" but same time the contract break is not an excuse to hold on to see if new one comes out these are two separate situation price rise and TiVo performance

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Where did you get the information that the CEO had acknowledged that there is a major problem with the TV service?

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

no they haven't.

TiVo works, slow it may seem, but it still works and is perfectly fine for use.

That is not a major issue.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

No.

No, the price rise is the straw that broke the camel's back so they are related.

This post is very muddled.

From my own communications with them; also someone else posted this:

And how would you know one way or the other?

TiVo was so perfect that you went to Sky :dunce:

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I would know as I worked for VM for 10 years and was a TiVo alpha/ beta tester for over a year before the public release and for many of the updates and changes after that. Also I still speak to a few people within the company.

That's how I know.

It was mostly the price changes that prompted me to leave

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

The 3 tivo's i have all work fine, and like you i am thinking of using the price rise as a way to move out of my contract.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Clearly, things have changed since you worked there.

If yours works ok, why would you need to use the price rise as a way to get out of your contract? :confused:

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Because, in his opinion, the price is too much maybe?

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Sheesh, just do it.

Does it really need a three page public discussion. :rolleyes:

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Maybe, but I assumed he'd get the VM staff discount.

Many are finding it difficult to know what to do with the various factors at play.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

You answered your own question "price rise". I have had enough of them

---------- Post added at 06:18 ---------- Previous post was at 06:17 ----------

You got it :)

---------- Post added at 06:20 ---------- Previous post was at 06:18 ----------

I know i am not one of them, if i leave i know exactly why "Price rise"

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Who are these "many" :confused:

I've not seen anyone on this forum finding it difficult yet (well, except you :erm:).

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Maybe we need a poll to see how many people are finding it hard to work out if they cancel via the price rise or not ;)

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Perhaps many of us have more important life decisions to consider than whether or not to leave VM and pondering over whether the new box will be any good. It's only TV!

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

But this is Richard we are talking about. A whole different world.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I am not interested in the new box, i am interested in if i am getting value for money so i will make my decision at the weekend.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

There is life outside this forum you know...

Basically, the problem that people have (who are in contract) is that there is only a limited time window in which to cancel without penalty.

If they don't cancel and then find that the new TiVo is poorly performing too or is too expensive, they remain locked in a contract with a slow TiVo.

An additional problem for me is that I am loathe to do business with Sky and my satellite wiring needs to be replaced.

I like and want to keep TiVo, but I want one that works properly!

The latest details that VM CS staff are giving out is that the new box will be out in November, which is after the window to cancel has expired. Very convenient for VM...

---------- Post added at 16:59 ---------- Previous post was at 15:51 ----------

Well, if you're happy with the current box, you might as well stick with it.

It says something when even VM staff (if you still receive this) with the discounts that they receive are finding it too expensive!!!

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

There are many reasons as to why i am thinking of downgrading my TV to SKY and one of them is that i spend a fair bit of time in my caravan during the year. Having Sky means i can take the settop with me in the caravan and use my sat dish for reception. I would keep the broadband as there is no one that can provide the level of service i expect from my broadband except VM.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

You seem to be confused about the reason for the ability to cancel penalty free - it's purely to do with the price rise. It has nothing to do with the launch of V6 or the performance of your current TiVo.

If you are happy to pay the increased price - which I assume you are as you don't mention otherwise in your posts - then your minimum term will continue as agreed and in terms of your ability to cancel/ the V6 launch or whatever your beef is, you won't be any further disadvantaged than if prices weren't increasing.

Virgin are actually being generous by allowing all their customer to leave penalty free - Sky have it written into their contracts that they can increase prices by up to 10% per year without offering customers the ability to cancel penalty free.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I thought this thread was about your desire to cheat VM not other peoples satisfaction or lack thereof with price rises or Tivo performance

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I'm not sure why this needs so much discussion

If you are not happy with the current TIVO speed, Virgin have given you a get out of jail card by using the price rise as a way out

If you are not happy with the price rise, Virgin have given you the option to leave and get out of your contract

If you are unhappy with the current TIVO speed and are hoping that the new box will resolve all the speed issues, then you should use the price rise as a way out why take the risk and get stuck with another slow box. You are allowed to come back

Breaking contract and being happy to pay the remainder of your contract while getting no service is just foolish while Virgin give you the option of leaving because of the price rise

Good luck with trying to prove to trading standards that the TIVO box which records and plays TV is not fit for purpose

Most people who are downgrading or leaving on here are due to the price rises and the good deals they can get from Sky, not because the TIVO is a little slow at times

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Please, can we stop this now.��

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

This has all been pointed out to him but richard being richard thinks he has the right to cancel his contract because of his slow tivo and cheat vm by "forbidding" bailiffs from his land and denying VM money that is rightfully theirs

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Indeed the thread has gone way of topic. Time for me to unsubscribe from this thread i think

---------- Post added at 19:36 ---------- Previous post was at 19:36 ----------

If only it was so easy :)

Anyway i am out of this self gratification thread and on to more important things like who will win between Wakefield and Hull FC tonight in the super league :)

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

ooh that's a tuffy :D

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Wakefield - Hopefully. Living quite close to the ground it gives us something to listen to during the annoying silences while the TiVo is trying to open a menu or start playback :D

Cheers

Grim

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

and that's how to talk about football but stay on topic ....outstanding :D:D

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Never thought of doing that, what a good idea ;)

---------- Post added at 22:12 ---------- Previous post was at 22:06 ----------

Yes, I know. The two issues are relevant to my decision though as I have to either accept the price rise and not jump ship whilst I can and hope that the new TiVo works to an acceptable standard at a decent price or cancel during the permitted time.

If I don't cancel when I can and find that the new TiVo is not suitable (before or after installation), my only option is to break the contract.

I started this thread to try and ascertain what VM will try to do to recover the money.

---------- Post added at 22:17 ---------- Previous post was at 22:12 ----------

I care as much about VM as they care about their customers these days since the company was bought by Liberty Global.

Looks like the new owners of VM have a "like it or lump it" attitude towards their customers.

I have made no secret of my dislike of Sky, but Chads post has cast new light on an obviously changed situation.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Its Rugby :LOL:

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

you can tell my sporting knowledge is awsome :D:D

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I mentioned this to a friend who goes caravanning, he told me that he does this already.

Apparently, it's only the premium Sky channels that are tied to your box.

If you only have or want to watch the Sky basic channels, you could take a spare box to the caravan (or buy a second hand one cheaply).

It'll then be easier to slip the card in your wallet instead of lugging the whole box around ;)

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

RC, you seriously thinking of leaving VM. Don't worry abut the Baailiffs. My son used to be one.
Bailiffs will only come to your door IF. VM took out a Court Order. And for that to happen, VM would send you loads of unwanted letters demaning money.

And if you got demanding letters from Debt Recovery Companies - which are a pain in the backsides. Siply tell them that you will sue them for Harrasent, asd they are not allowed to do that.

I have dealt with plenty of them.

Just cll VM, and say you are NOT happen. and they will simply cancel your contract.

As IF you owe them any money. IF, you have a written contract - which l would doubt very much. As we never had one.

They have broken there side, by failing to provide yoou with a good service. And that is in breach of the contract.

I have dealt with contracts before - l always read the small print.

IF, VM give you any further grief. Contact a Scottish newspaper,( I think its called RAW DEAL in the paper) as they have a legal eagle. And we used them before. And they were brilliant.

Trust that works. I certainly wouldn't worry.

Baillifs work in the early hours of the morning. My son started at 4am knocking on doors.

And you do not have to let them in.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I don't want to go into my line of work, but I work off Scots Law which you'll know is different from English Law, but what your saying sounds fairly correct to me.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I think it would actually be Richard who's sending the bailiffs around. :D He explained earlier that he's paid his line rental until March 2017 so if he cancelled his contract with VM, it would be VM owing him money!

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

No, Line Rental Saver is non-refundable, under any circumstances, except death.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

The dying option is a bit drastic, though, don't you think?

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Still an option

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

1Andrew1, thank you for clearing that up about Richard Coulter. I think the chances of getting a refund from VM is zero.

However, IF VM owe you money. And they refuse to pay it. YOU can contact RAW DEAL

I had a problem with Sky many years ago. When they took TWO month money out of my account by mistake. They told me they could not put money back into our account.

I sent an email to the CEO at the time. I got check about two weeks later

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

When you pay the line rental in advance at VM, it is part of the T&Cs that it is non-refundable.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

If a direct debit is taken in error then you can just call your bank and do a direct debit indemnity. The money goes straight back to your bank and can then srt out the correct payment with the company in question.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

That's the case now and it's publicised quite a lot...but this may not have been the case when Arthur had his problem with Sky.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I think it has always been there as part of the DD guarantee.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

It has, I have made use of it a few times over the last 35 years, including long before sky ever existed.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Still no word about the new TiVo, so decided to cancel as the deadline approaches.

When asked why I was cancelling, I said "what do you think?"

He said "because it's slow". I replied that this was the case as well as the price rise.

We went through the farce of "have you had an engineer out", so I explained that there was nothing that an engineer could do.

He then put it through, no attempt was made to persuade me to stay after 17 years, no offers were made to entice me to stay, just utter indifference.

They. Couldn't. Care. Less.

Does anybody know the best offer for Sky Q?

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Why should they care, you wanted to leave and they've let you. What's the problem?

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

You've just missed a great offer via MoneySavingExpert, but you can get 50% off TV for 12 months via this link http://www.sky.com/shop/offers/switch-to-sky

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Because they are in business to make money and customer retention is an important tool to achieve this.

I'll be speaking to a friend from my University days about this tomorrow at a charity function tomorrow (he's a manager at VM).

Thank you :)

Chad has had repeated deals from Sky since leaving VM and has now received an email saying that he can have 50% off for five years with no contract. He doesn't even have to call up to take the offer, they will assume he wants it unless he says otherwise.

What a stark contrast to my call to VM call earlier. I wasn't offered anything to reflect the unusable TiVo, no workarounds were offered and they didn't even mention that a new box was 'coming Soon'.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

But the customer has to be profitable - if the only way to keep a customer is to lose money on the transaction, that is not a sustainable business option.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

That's because you called Customer Services, not Faults. They are different teams that do different jobs.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

No problem. I always found retentons drove a much harder bargain during price rises compared to calling outside of the minimum term - probably a combination of the volume of calls meaning fewer deals around (staff have a limited number of 'credits' they can offer per month) and a consensus most customers will be happy to accept a six month discount to counter just the price rise.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I'm currently on XL triple play, so I'd assume that was profitable.

A reduced profit is better than receiving nothing and helps to reduce the churn rate.

Sky look to be happy to think long term and keep customers at any cost ie 50%, 60% off for up to five years!

Cheers, that could be it then.

I'll run it by my friend this evening as I'm not happy that after 17 years of business (and putting business their way in the properties that I control or have a say in) that their response was essentially "ok, fine, bye".

The member of staff was also slurring their words...

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I really don't understand your concern, Richard. If you changed your energy supplier, the existing provider would not offer you a 'special deal'. If you get some sort of deal out of VM to keep you, fine, but you almost make it sound as though they have a legal obligation!

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Your control over properties has nothing to do with it. You called about your account, not the others. They have nothing to do with your account

Did it also occur to you that the staff member may have had a speech impediment?

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

They don't have any legal obligation, but this does not make sound business sense.

At this rate, they won't have any customers left to sell their new box to!

Looking at Cableforum alone, there are members who have been VM customers for as long as 20 years who have had enough and gone to Sky.

If this attitude towards their service and customer retention continues, I can see more redundancies.

Its worth pointing out that VM are the only TV provider losing customers.

TV customers who leave will generally also cancel broadband & phone as it's more cost effective to take all services from the same supplier.

I accept that the person I spoke to may not have the information to hand to take a holistic view which is something I aim to remedy tonight.

The person may indeed have a speech impediment, in which case they have nothing to worry about.

However, I had to keep telling them to slow down, speak clearly and repeat themselves. I am all for disabled people being given opportunities to do any job, as long as they are able to do the job to a satisfactory standard (even if they need extra support).

This does not appear to be the case here; but ultimately it will be up to VM management what action to take after hearing the recording.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I do not get this at all

You phone to cancel and now your upset that they are actioning what you requested!!!

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Me too. I'm sick and tired of people complaining that they have quickly had actioned what they requested.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Looks very like they wanted to send an engineer to see if there was a problem they could sort. It might not have worked but as you refused the offer of help what other option did you leave the person on the other end of the phone? For you to jump straight in to 'they didn't bend over backwards' complaints sound a bit harsh on VM.

As others have said you asked to cancel and they said yes (called your bluff). Seems pretty good customer service to me.

Cheers

Grim

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Well, let's leave it to VM management to decide.

If the new TiVo works properly I may consider going back if enough incentive is offered.

I guess if you can be bothered, it's more cost effective to flip flop between the two, but there again Sky appear to be doing all they can to keep their customers once you're with them.

I need my satellite wiring replacing anyway, so can get Sky to replace that for free, but I must remember to say that I want a hybrid LNB to future proof myself should I want Freesat in the future.

I dislike Sky with a passion, but I cannot argue that they are taking a sensible long term view with regards to customer attraction and retention.

I wasn't "calling their bluff", but did expect even a token attempt to retain my custom.

If the directors of VM aren't aware of what staff are doing, they need to be made aware, if staff are doing this as official company policy, they also need to be made aware of the short & long term consequences.

I think that the only good thing that I can take from this experience was that they didn't keep me on the phone for hours trying to persuade me to stay like Sky have been known to do.

That's going too far the other way!

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Leave what? You said you want to leave, they actioned it, end of.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

You are totally missing the point and wouldn't last five minutes in business with that attitude.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Retaining a customer that costs you money won't keep you in business either unless you have very big pockets and are looking very long term

I'm glad that VM have stood up to the small bunch of customers that expect a discount every year

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Personally, i've never received a discount by calling up every year.

As I said earlier, a reduced profit is better than nothing and losing the revenue from the BB & phone services.

They really don't appear to have a long or even short term strategy for their continuing loss of TV customers.

If they aren't going to be proactive in stemming the flow, they might as well pull out of pay TV altogether and only have the cost neutral channels along with the channels that provide an income stream such as the shopping channels etc available to record on the TiVo.

They could make money from commission by putting Now TV, Amazon etc apps onto the TiVo to allow their customers to continue to access pay TV channels.

No more carriage costs, any complaints about missing channels could be batted away to the app providers etc etc.

They did say that they were moving towards providing access to services as opposed to providing them themselves, so maybe this is the long term plan??

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I'm sorry, Richard, I cannot understand your annoyance. You are so impatient to leave Virgin Media that you can't wait a few weeks for the new eos box to come out (which should resolve your issues) and then you complain about not being offered a deal which you have no intention of accepting anyway.

Clearly, whoever you spoke to thought you were a lost cause and let you go. I say again, you have absolutely no right to be offered a deal when you threaten to leave and your reaction is well over the top.

Good luck with Sky :shocked::D

---------- Post added at 19:05 ---------- Previous post was at 19:01 ----------

But that's their concern rather than yours, Richard.

Maybe they are becoming concerned about their customers cottoning on to the fact that people are getting the message that threatening to leave will result in a discount.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Their "the new box will be coming soon" message is now tedious. It could & should have been out long before now.

If they had of offered me a deal to show their appreciation of my custom and to reflect the issues that I have experienced, I would certainly have considered it.

As I said earlier, I will be speaking to a VM manager later on tonight to see what he has to say about this.

Allowing long term customers to leave with a shrug of the shoulders when Sky is offering 60% off for five years with no contract is a recipe for disaster.

Don't forget that the more customers who leave pushes up costs for VM and reduces their economies of scale.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

But you have no right to a discount, Richard. If Sky decide to give prospective leavers a 60% discount, that's a matter for them. VM do not have to follow their lead.

As far as the date of the launch of the V6 is concerned, Virgin have been saying for months that the new box will be out before Christmas. Nothing has changed.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

If it was ready it would have been out by now. It's not out, so clearly not ready :rolleyes:

If he/she has any sense about them, then they will inform you that the agents hands are tied in what deals are available to give

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

For Richard ....

I broke my contract with Virgin for one reason only - I moved to a non enabled Virgin area. The recent rate increase allowed me to cancel without penalty.

Prior to this I was happy with Virgin, and before that, NTL, and before that, Cable & Wireless.

Since I cancelled, I received two calls from them effectively offering to reduce my bill by almost half if I stayed.

Deals are there, but I never asked for it. Whenever the offer was made because I was a very long term customer or not, I don't know.

Truthfully the costs associated with moving has emptied my wallet - so I still dont have broadband (yet) - I am only using freeview at present, but will look to freesat when funds are available.

They may call you back with an offer Richard - all I can advise is to be polite at all times. Going in all guns blazing will not solve anything.

Good luck

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I have already reported on this thread that when I phoned to cancel because of the price rise I was immediately offered a reduction in my minimum 3 services to 35 pounds a month including remaining on 70 broadband which is written into my new 12 month contract.

I wonder if this is because in my 15 or so years with ntl and VM my records show I have probably contacted them no more than once a year. I wonder if it is because I am polite but firm with a reasonable request based on their prices advertised on their website. I wonder if it is because I am grateful for any discount rather than demand it as my right. I wonder if it is because I don't threaten to go above the head of the person I am talking to as I don't have friends in high places. Or perhaps I am just fortunate with whom I get through to on my infrequent calls to retentions.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

I have never had any issues with Virgin Media Customer Services. On the few occasions I've needed to ring them, it is they who suggest a check is made to see if I am getting value for money, and I have been very pleased with the result.

I think that quite a lot depends on your attitude and whether you are constantly ringing up to complain about very little.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Its clearly not ready, that's the point. It should have been commissioned long ago.

Thanks. I was polite to the person and went with the flow, so we'll see what happens.

I have probably contacted them on average less than once a year. I was polite and wasn't firm. I am not grateful to suppliers as a paying customer, did not request a discount (via a demand or otherwise) and did not threaten to go above their head.

Its VM who should be grateful to have the chance to supply cable services to us; this business opportunity is a privilege under franchise.

If they aren't going to help the market by competing with their rivals, they are effectively giving Sky a monopoly which helps nobody and should have their right to supply us challenged.

You can stop "wondering" now.

Maybe, but it shouldn't be like that. Not that I constantly contact them, but it shouldn't be down to the whim of some individual in a call centre.

I spoke to my friend last night before the event began (and am still recovering after a heavy night of Grey Goose!)

He didn't seem too happy about the way that I have been treated and after telling him that if they aren't bothered about keeping customers, I might as well start having VM taken out of the other properties as the contracts lapse, he said he'd speak to someone to get it sorted out for me and that I should expect a phone call sometime this week.

He's going to listen to the tape where the employee slurred their words and deal with this internally.

I did ask for you all, but he has no idea when the new box will be out.

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

Well, here's hoping that call was taped (calls MAY be recorded for quality control purposes).

Re: Breaking your contract with VM.
 

True, but I guess that they will have their own internal ways of monitoring their employees.

My intention is to go with Sky for one year and get them to replace my faulty satellite wiring, but they do have a habit of enticing customers to stay with offers that are very difficult to turn down. Even though I dislike them, I can't argue that this is sound business practice.

VM on the other hand appear happy to let long term customers go, it's being badly run since LG took over to a jaw dropping level.