30M : Upgrade? I think not.

[nashmills]

I've checked the online cost for new customers for the following package:

Broadband XL
TV M+ with 500 Tivo
Phone M

It comes to £41.90 per month with no setup fees.

Two months ago I ordered M+ TV with 500 Tivo, paid just under £50 activation plus £15.50 per month ongoing.

I would now like to add the services mentioned in the first package I listed above. For this, I have been quoted £41.90 per month plus just under £80 in setup fees.

This means I would have been charged a total of almost £130 fees more than a new customer joining now. To add salt into the wound, I have an engineer coming to me next week to fix their faulty Tivo box - so they are coming anyway!

I think I will stick with O2 for my phone and Internet if that's how VM treat existing customers.

P.S. Apologies if this is has been posted in the wrong place.

[nashmills]

Thank you for the suggestions HD Boy but it would mean me paying over £54 per month rather than the £41.90 I feel I should be charged.

Oops! We seem to have overlapped. How do you get to the lower figure?

[HD Boy]

Switch to a Virgin Phone line for £13.90 a month and get unlimited calls to UK landlines and Virgin mobiles, free for 6 months, with our Phone XL package.

Unlimited anytime calls to UK landlines and Virgin
mobiles
No need to pay BT or anyone else for line rental
Free for the first 6 months, £8 a month after that

.
http://shop.virginmedia.com/existing...e-phonexl.html
Just make sure you downgrade Phone XL to phone M after 6 months

Add broadband now and pay no extra for the first three months.

Broadband XXL
Up to 50Mb

Free installation


£25 a month
added to current bill

http://shop.virginmedia.com/existing...r-package.html

In total it would come to £ 23.40 per month for the first 3 months and no set up fees for adding 50MB broadband and just make sure you downgrade to 30Mb broadband after 3 months. You will pay £41.90 per month after 3 months.

[nashmills]

This is what the website says a new customer would pay for my proposed package:

Monthly cost
Your bundle
£25.00
Virgin phone line
£13.90
Your extras
£3.00
Total
£41.90
One-off cost
£0.00
You save £49.95
£49.95
Your services
TV M+
Phone M
Broadband XL
Virgin phone line
Broadband extras
Virgin Media Super Hub
Spotify Premium - Free for 6 months
TV extras
TiVo Service
Fees
Standard engineer installation
eBill for cable services

---------- Post added at 19:39 ---------- Previous post was at 19:35 ----------

I'm sorry but I read it as £25 on top of my current £15.50 bill + £13.90 line rental (£8 XL charge waived for 6 months). Total £54.40.

I will try phoning them again tomorrow and see if they will accept your reasoning.

[HD Boy]

Originally Posted by nashmills

I'm sorry but I read it as £25 on top of my current £15.50 bill + £13.90 line rental (£8 XL charge waived for 6 months). Total £54.40.

but if you add a phone line you will pay £9.50 for TV M+ and Tivo. instead of £15.50 you currently pay

£9.50+£13.90= £23.40

and i read that as 3 months free broadband.

[nashmills]

Oh I see now. Thank you very much for that. I think they should have pointed that out to me when I called rather leave me to look elsewhere.

[HD Boy]

Originally Posted by nashmills

Oh I see now. Thank you very much for that. I think they should have pointed that out to me when I called rather leave me to look elsewhere.

Make sure you have a phone line before getting the 50mb broadband free installation offer.

Free installation: 18-month minimum term contract applies. Offer available to new or existing customers taking broadband XL or XXL with a phone line; or broadband XL or XXL and M+TV at a minimum with a phone line.

http://shop.virginmedia.com/existing...r-package.html

[nashmills]

Do you think if I phoned on Monday and ordered the phone and then again on Wednesday to order the 50MB they could be installed together or is it best to wait till after the phone is installed before ordering the BB?

I understand you won't know what install slots are available but I'm thinking about qualification for the figures you've kindly worked out for me.

I was hoping it could all be done when the engineer comes next Saturday as I have no more leave this year.

[HD Boy]

Originally Posted by nashmills

Do you think if I phoned on Monday and ordered the phone and then again on Wednesday to order the 50MB they could be installed together ?

I would think so.

Just make sure you downgrade Phone XL to phone M after 6 months and just make sure you downgrade to 30Mb broadband after 3 months

[Nopanic]

Vm are a business they make reductions to get people signed up for the long term profits. It's standard business practice and not about treating people badly.

[kwikbreaks]

Originally Posted by Nopanic

..not about treating people badly.

No - they do that by not automatically reducing existing charges for existing customers when new prices are reduced. That's why you have to ring retentions every once in a while to avoid being ripped off.

[nashmills]

Originally Posted by Nopanic

Vm are a business they make reductions to get people signed up for the long term profits. It's standard business practice and not about treating people badly.

I wanted to practically triple what I am paying them. Is it good business practice to encourage me to go elsewhere where I can get free installation for the extra services?

[nashmills]

Looks like I'll be sticking with O2. Just phoned to order the 2 extra services only to be told there are no offers for existing customers. They expired at the end of October. Thanks for all the advice given in this thread but VM obviously don't want my custom.

[thenry]

october there must be something about to appear before xmas surely?