General : If you drop your VM TV package...

[Paranoimia]

If you drop your VM TV package entirely, do they take the boxes back, or can you continue to use them as freeview boxes for BBC, ITV, etc?

We have everything from VM - TV, phone, and broadband - but due to some very unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances, we need to cut right back on our bills for now until finances are sorted out. We've dropped from the XL to M, but it's still £50-odd quid a month for a package of TV channels we never watch.

We need to keep the phone and broadband, but not the TV. Getting a Freeview box isn't an ideal solution, as the area is in a 'natural bowl' and even the digital signal is patchy at best.

[geordiechris]

If you cancel the tv they will switch your set top box off and send you a prepaid bag for you to place the box in and send back. These bags don't always arrive for you to do that though, I'm still waiting for mine from a few months back. The boxes are useless though once you cancel your tv service

[Kabaal]

The M TV package is free, are you sure you don't mean they've dropped you to M+? If so ask them to change it to M, they used to let you do that ages ago but i don't know about now.

[jb66]

Why not downgrade to m tv package which is free with a phoneline

[Paranoimia]

Thanks, I shall look into it.

[Taf]

Several friends in the Welsh Valleys have opted for Freesat, and now they get all the freeview channels (which are not normally sent into their neck of the woods).

[passingbat]

30 meg BB with a phone line is £15.50 + £15.99 line rental

http://store.virginmedia.com/broadba...band/30mb.html


30 meg BB with a phone and M TV and Tivo is £20 + £15.99 line rental (Starter collection)

http://store.virginmedia.com/bundles...llections.html

Before Tivo, if you wanted to record the free (M) TV included with the phone line, it was an extra £5 to have a V+ box.

I have been considering the same thing regarding TV (The OTT February price rise caused me to examine how I watch TV in these days of on line services).

Not sure if anyone knows this, but as M TV is free with a phone line, and I got Tivo when it was first released, and the charge was £3 per account, If I dropped to the 30 meg BB plus phone line at £15.50 + £15.99 line rental could I keep one Tivo and have M TV for an extra £3? I know that's only £1.50 difference below the cost of the starter package, but I figure I may as well have it rather than VM!

And this year, 30 meg BB goes up to 50 meg.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by geordiechris

If you cancel the tv they will switch your set top box off and send you a prepaid bag for you to place the box in and send back. These bags don't always arrive for you to do that though, I'm still waiting for mine from a few months back. The boxes are useless though once you cancel your tv service

If the TV subscription is terminated, only the FTA channels will remain eg channels 1-5, ITV2+1 ITV3+1 ITV4+1, all radio stations etc. To see what you woukd get, si p,y take your card out of the box.

My friend used this to watch TV for years, of course, there is always the risk that VM will ask for their box back or use your connection in the cabinet for a future paying customer.

Originally Posted by jb66

Why not downgrade to m tv package which is free with a phoneline

Yup, a better idea as more channels are available, you can use Catch Up TV and don't run the risk of being cut off at any time