Virgin packages - are they a good deal?

[Martyn H]

Could someone please advise me whether these 2 for £20 etc deals are any good as I sometimes find it difficult to spot the pitfalls amongst the hype.

The only package I'm likely to be interested in would be the 2Mb broadband plus phone.

Thanks

Martyn

[King Of Fools]

Well the 2 for £20 broadband plus phone package gives you the two services that would cost £29 separately for £20. Other than the £9 saving there is no difference.

[Martyn H]

Thanks for the reply. I'm thinking about downgrading from 4Mb to 2Mb broadband which will cost £18 on its own, so that will mean paying £2, but I'll get the line rental included.

[volpes]

Originally Posted by Martyn H

Could someone please advise me whether these 2 for £20 etc deals are any good as I sometimes find it difficult to spot the pitfalls amongst the hype.

The only package I'm likely to be interested in would be the 2Mb broadband plus phone.

Thanks

Martyn

You can actually get:
Phone Line rental
2 MB Broadband
Talk Unlimited 24
(+ a few other things)
all for £19.95
if you tell their retentions department that this is what you can get from talktalk.

I am not sure if this is available to new customers.

[daggman]

NTL use to offer free basic tv with a phone, if they still do that offer u would could also request to have free basic tv as well making it 3 for 20 pounds.

Free tv with phone might have ended thou since virgin.

worth inquiring about.

mike
edit:

just checked vigin products under tv package sized M is free when u take a virgin phone.

[prawncocktail]

Originally Posted by daggman

NTL use to offer free basic tv with a phone, if they still do that offer u would could also request to have free basic tv as well making it 3 for 20 pounds.

Free tv with phone might have ended thou since virgin.

worth inquiring about.

mike
edit:

just checked vigin products under tv package sized M is free when u take a virgin phone.

the tv size m is indeed free when taken with a phone line but then you would not be elgible for any offer bundles so you would pay full price and not get the 2 for 20

shaun

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Martyn H

Could someone please advise me whether these 2 for £20 etc deals are any good as I sometimes find it difficult to spot the pitfalls amongst the hype.

The only package I'm likely to be interested in would be the 2Mb broadband plus phone.

Thanks

Martyn

It depends - now things have got more complicated you really need to sit down and look a the figures yourself and decide what you think is good value.

If you just want phone line and 2 Meg then it's not bad - except if you actually use the phone line - then it gets expensive. The talk weekend package (which is the basic one you'll be on) is extortionate compared to using 18185 on a BT line.

If you actually want to use the phone line then I'd recommend a BT line with an account from 18185 and then get 8Meg BB from one of the cheaper suppliers (Plus.net do it for about £15.00)

Alternatively if you want any TV with it Sky suddleny come into it. If you take TV from sky at £15 you'll get 2Mbit BB* free.

You'd then need to take your phone line from BT (calls from 18185) (or Ntl if you don't mind paying over the odds) at £11.00 a month plus call charges.


To summarise-

-----------------------------------------------------

BT/18185 (cheapest calls around): £11 + call charges

Plusnet 8Mbit BB: £15.00

Total £26

-----------------------------------------------------

Ntl: 2Mbit BB + Telephone (calls expencive) £20 + call charges

Total £20

------------------------------------------------------

Sky: TV (2 mixes) and 2 Mbit BB** £15

BT/18185 (cheapest calls around): £11 + call charges

Total £26

------------------------------------------------------

Sky + BT look more expensive at first but when you compare the calling charges they'll probably still beat Ntl and you'll get TV in the package.

You could probably work it a different way with the use of Vonage and BB from Ntl - However you do it if you get a phone line from Ntl you'll be ripped off on phone calls.

Like I said it's a mine field - you really need to look at the figures yourself.

*assuming you're in their area

** 2GB limit a month - upgrade for£5 a month to 8Mbit with 40GB limit

[Martyn H]

Shaun

That's what I call a comprehensive reply!

Many thanks to all who posted.

Martyn

[lauzjp]

I'm confused.... I presently have sky sports and family pack and 2mb bb, normal phone service. how much should this cost under the new Virgin packages? I don't like the new m l xl thing - why is xl tv only available as a package if you take the extortionate vip packages?! not everyone has got £85 a month to spare for entertainment purposes..

[highlandlassie]

Can anyone suggest a package for me. Its confusing me as well, just tried to phone, and the systems are down

At present I have...........

4MB BB
phone
full TV package

thats around £71+ a month, plus phone calls, which don't amount to more than £5.

I also have a virgin mobile pay as you go, which is seperate from the above

thanks in advance

[Nikesh]

Originally Posted by highlandlassie

Can anyone suggest a package for me. Its confusing me as well, just tried to phone, and the systems are down

At present I have...........

4MB BB
phone
full TV package

thats around £71+ a month, plus phone calls, which don't amount to more than £5.

I also have a virgin mobile pay as you go, which is seperate from the above

thanks in advance

The VIP package is probably your best bet.

[DES_1001]

Originally Posted by volpes

You can actually get:
Phone Line rental
2 MB Broadband
Talk Unlimited 24
(+ a few other things)
all for £19.95
if you tell their retentions department that this is what you can get from talktalk.

I am not sure if this is available to new customers.

You can get what's called Bundle 3

Talk Unlimited (24 hour calling)
Talk International (cheap international calls)
Talk Mobile (Cheap mobile calls)
line rental
Broadband Size: M (2Mb)
= £19.95 a month fixed with no need to keep calling back each month.I phoned Friday and got this

[highlandlassie]

Thanks Nikesh

[valor]

What is the VIP package...?Hmm... must have missed something somewhere

[savvychels]

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/bundles/vip.html

£85/month without mobile and £125 with. As we have mobile for much less with another provider, we chose the £85 one which is only £12 more than we are paying at the moment for TONS more services.