20MB still costing £37/month?

[rjsetford]

I had to make four phone calls yesterday to get my TV package upgrade. Each time I called, I got a different price, a different offer, the run around, etc etc.

First real bad experience with VM I must say

[dazzy316]

I just phoned up again, this time I went to the "thinking of leaving us" option.. rather than the bills/account option. I told the guy I thought it was rather unfair I was getting charged £37 for the 20mb bb then £11 on top of that for a phone line as loads of others I know get it really cheaper.

The guy agreed with me & reduced my cost from £48.50 a month to £32.50 a month (I can get 1.25 knocked off that too if I choose paperless billing).
He also gave me some credit back, which was really nice of him as I never asked for that.

I really suprised & happy at how good I was treated today & the fair way I was treated.
I am a little bemused still at how different departments of VM are willing to help/listen whilst others arent.

Anybody else still paying £37 for 20mb just do what I did & call the thinking of leaving line (thankyou those that mentioned it before as Id never of tried it otherwise).

[Pepperdog]

Good result matey, I'm pleased they sorted it for you. That's how it should be (apart from the fact they were ripping you off in the first place.)

Originally Posted by dazzy316

I am a little bemused still at how different departments of VM are willing to help/listen whilst others arent.

Not only that, but the individual you get to speak to when you do get through to the 'right' department will influence the experience you get. Just like the pricing and what people are being charged, it's inconsistent.

[AndyCalling]

So, for the future, the approach is to keep calling Virgin with whatever issue you have until you get the answer you want, trying every option on the phone that seems even slightly relevant. They clearly give their staff a lot of negotiating room. It's nice to know the right approach, and this one's fine by me (so long as you have a Virgin line and get 150 for free). I'm just surprised that Virgin put up with this system as it will cost them a fortune in staff just to handle the masses of calls this must generate.

I bet they're getting at least three times the volume of calls with this 'haggle and bargain' method than they would get with the more usual 'company line' approach. Still, whatever their share holders want I suppose.

[djb61]

As a followup to the original post of mine that started this thread I decided rather than arguing with VM that I would take the opportunity to upgrade to 50mbit instead.

Using the bundle calculator on the website having 50mbit BB along with the XL TV and L phone I currently have would be £1 LESS a month than I currently pay. I rang them and asked what my monthly bill would be if I was to switch to 50mbit and was told it would reduce my bill by £1 a month (which they said without any indication that this seemed odd to them, but it was some hard to understand indian) exactly as the website suggested. So I placed the order for 50mbit which should be installed on the 11th. Upgrading to 50mbit is something I'd been considering anyway and with it actually reducing the monthly bill it seemed silly not to (installation charges aside).

To me though this really does illustrate the sheer ridiculous nature of VM's billing in that upgrading to a higher level service reduces the amount that it costs.

[Sephiroth]

@djb61

You gotta pray that you don't become one of the 50Mbps horror stories we're reading on here.

[freebeerz]

Hi,

Here is my experience with this, having just received a £37 bill for 20MB XL broadband with no other service (I was paying £28/month until now)

I called the VM customer service and explained that new customers pay £30 for XL broadband without a phone (£25 for the first 3 months) and that I couldn't see anywhere on their website a price of £37 for that same service.
The lady told me that it's all in the small print and these new customers would end up paying £37 too. Of course she couldn't tell me where this was explained on their website and she then tried to sell me the 50MB service for £38/month + £55 installation charge which I am not interested in.

I insisted for another 10 minutes that I didn't understand where this £37 charge came from and was eventually offered £29/month if I renewed my contract for another 12 months, which I accepted.

I think they treat their existing customers like crap, especially when lying outright about "hidden charges" in the small print when you point out that new customers end up paying less in the long term than loyal customers!

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by freebeerz

Hi,

Here is my experience with this, having just received a £37 bill for 20MB XL broadband with no other service (I was paying £28/month until now)

I called the VM customer service and explained that new customers pay £30 for XL broadband without a phone (£25 for the first 3 months) and that I couldn't see anywhere on their website a price of £37 for that same service.
The lady told me that it's all in the small print and these new customers would end up paying £37 too. Of course she couldn't tell me where this was explained on their website and she then tried to sell me the 50MB service for £38/month + £55 installation charge which I am not interested in.

I insisted for another 10 minutes that I didn't understand where this £37 charge came from and was eventually offered £29/month if I renewed my contract for another 12 months, which I accepted.

I think they treat their existing customers like crap, especially when lying outright about "hidden charges" in the small print when you point out that new customers end up paying less in the long term than loyal customers!

Their web site doesn't mention £37/month in the small print. Look at this link:

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/webs...uct.do?id=3246

Without a phone line 20 Mbps is £30/month. List price. So they're lying if they say £37/month is in the small print. Disgraceful.

Now, will the indefatigable BenMcr defend what you report?