[Dean Ashton]

I don't think that the £7 charge is unreasonable, but I am concerned about the eroding of the VIP tiers value. So I sent this to the usual email address..

Hi there,

I've been following discussions on www.cableforum.co.uk regarding the apparently eroding status of the VIP tier, and the new £7 per-box surcharge that Sky are forcing you to pass on to your customers. From the responses people have posted up, it sounds like your office are keen to hear views from those who are on VIP.

So, based on that I thought I'd email. To be honest, I'm not sure the £7 per month surcharge is that much of a problem - but it has highlighted a trend in that the perceived benefits of the VIP tier are significantly less now when compared to the time that the package was created. At that time, the idea was that the package contained the top level of service for broadband, phone, and TV - effectively giving those who pay the most a discount of sorts.

Since then, the 20MB broadband has been topped by the new 50MB broadband, while the reduced prices for Sky channels mandated by OFCOM findings haven't been passed on to those on the VIP tier - with the reason being that this is simply normalising prices paid for those channels between VIP and other tiers.

Regardless, if Virgin Media could do something to make VIP a more compelling package to remain subscribed to, I would be extremely grateful

Finally, well done on getting carriage rights to Sky HD channels.. I can only assume that negotiations must have been difficult. And as a customer with a high interest in HD, seeing Virgin Media go from 1 HD channel not so long ago, to the large number now (with more to come).. Well, I'm very happy indeed.

For reference, my account number is *********, with my area reference being **.

It did sound like your office were trying to phone everyone up to discuss this - you really don't need to, as I think it's clear what you are trying to do right now. But if you do insist on discussing further, I can be reached on ***** ********.

Regards,
Dean