Virgin packages - are they a good deal?

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by shawty

It took me 10 seconds to find this, surely you could of researched it before posting.

http://allyours.virginmedia.com/webs...ct.do?id=11029

You're right I was under the understanding that it would be TU weekends however my assertions are still true :

‡After 60 mins calls will be charged at 3p a min. Redial before 60 mins to avoid call charges. Excludes non-geographic (eg 0845, 0870 etc) mobile, international, premium and internet calls which are charged at standard rates.

After 60 min you're charged at a whopping 3ppm - you can't always redial if you're in the middle of a call.

0870, 0845 are excluded and charged at an expensive rate compared to 18185 et al.

International calls and mobiles are charged at a reduced rate compared to the normal tariff however alternative suppliers give you free calls to many destination or very low rate. I.E. if you make lots of calls, Vonage will supply you a line to hook up to your BB that will give you free local/national calls and calls to several countries for free too. Personally I get free calls to The States, Canada, and much of Europe for £7.99 a month. Much better than the Ntl line even with the discounts added.

It really is swings and round about - you need to look at YOUR calling patterns and find out who will be the cheapest and in most cases I'd bet it's not Ntl.

---------- Post added at 11:42 ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 ----------

Originally Posted by shawty

Jesus. how hard can it get. If your paying over £85 now why dont you just get the VIP standard package and just have the stuff you dont want. Why wouldnt you want faster broadband for cheaper? Why wouldnt you want a better phone package for cheaper? Your insane if you dont take the VIP package but hey its up to you, ring them or look on the website.

Are you on commission (or are you a financial planning manager for Abbey?)

Come off it the guy is trying to get his head around the best deal for him - you saying "Your insane if you don't take the VIP package" really isn't going to help, it is?

Originally Posted by Shaun

...snip .....
After 60 min you're charged at a whopping 3ppm - you can't always redial if you're in the middle of a call
....snip....

[shawty]

Originally Posted by Shaun

You're right I was under the understanding that it would be TU weekends however my assertions are still true :



After 60 min you're charged at a whopping 3ppm - you can't always redial if you're in the middle of a call.

0870, 0845 are excluded and charged at an expensive rate compared to 18185 et al.

International calls and mobiles are charged at a reduced rate compared to the normal tariff however alternative suppliers give you free calls to many destination or very low rate. I.E. if you make lots of calls, Vonage will supply you a line to hook up to your BB that will give you free local/national calls and calls to several countries for free too. Personally I get free calls to The States, Canada, and much of Europe for £7.99 a month. Much better than the Ntl line even with the discounts added.

It really is swings and round about - you need to look at YOUR calling patterns and find out who will be the cheapest and in most cases I'd bet it's not Ntl.

---------- Post added at 11:42 ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 ----------




Are you on commission (or are you a financial planning manager for Abbey?)

Come off it the guy is trying to get his head around the best deal for him - you saying "Your insane if you don't take the VIP package" really isn't going to help, it is?

The packages are there, black and white on the website, if he is paying over £85 then the VIP Standard package would be the best for him ( saving money and getting more ). There is no package available to get rid of some services and save a bit a money. The VIP package is the VIP package nothing less, nothing more. Ive told him what is best for him and if he does not want to take the VIP package to look on the website or phone them up on Monday. There is to much confusion over this Virgin Media rebrand when its so simple.

[Nikesh]

Originally Posted by shawty

The packages are there, black and white on the website, if he is paying over £85 then the VIP Standard package would be the best for him ( saving money and getting more ). There is to much confusion over this Virgin Media rebrand when its so simple.

Agree.

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by foreverwar

If you're on the phone to a company call centre then you can't just say "oh hang on I'll call you back" as you'd never get the same agent again.

---------- Post added at 14:09 ---------- Previous post was at 14:08 ----------

Originally Posted by shawty

The packages are there, black and white on the website, if he is paying over £85 then the VIP Standard package would be the best for him ( saving money and getting more ). There is no package available to get rid of some services and save a bit a money. The VIP package is the VIP package nothing less, nothing more. Ive told him what is best for him and if he does not want to take the VIP package to look on the website or phone them up on Monday. There is to much confusion over this Virgin Media rebrand when its so simple.

I'm talking about comparing all providers, not just Ntl.

you need to look at YOUR calling patterns and find out who will be the cheapest and in most cases I'd bet it's not Ntl.

Do you see this now?

[shawty]

Originally Posted by Shaun

If you're on the phone to a company call centre then you can't just say "oh hang on I'll call you back" as you'd never get the same agent again.

---------- Post added at 14:09 ---------- Previous post was at 14:08 ----------




I'm talking about comparing all providers, not just Ntl.



Do you see this now?

Same difference, the packages are there in black and white on the other companys website or phone them up to. At the end of the day he asked if they would offer the VIP package without some of the services at a reduced price, i said yes if you threaten to leave they might but thats not the right way of doing it. The VIP package is the VIP package, nothing more nothing less. All the information he needs is on the website or phoneline which i advised him to do if he didnt want all the services the VIP package offered, i dont see why you need to roll your eyes at me when i have given correct advice and the 2 bits of advice you had given one was incorrect.

[Shaun]

To give you an idea - If you took a similar package from Sky, BT and 18185 you'd get :

Landline (BT): 11.00
BB (upto 16Mbit) : 10.00
TV (all mixes and sports + movies): 43.50
Sky talk (including free calls to 10 international destinations): 5.00

Total:£69.50

If you wanted Sky+ there is a £99.00 charge which is an extra £8.25 a month for the first 12 months.

So it'd be £79.75 for the first year then 69.50 after that.

If you took the same but with 18185 it'd be £5 a month less but you'd get landline calls of an unlimited length for 4p each. This may benefit those who make few landline calls or no internationals.

There is again the other option of taking BB from Ntl, getting a Vonage line for your calls (saving £8 a month over Sky talk and BT) and then TV from whoever has the best deal.

It's not as clear cut as some would like us to believe.

---------- Post added at 14:27 ---------- Previous post was at 14:21 ----------

Originally Posted by shawty

Same difference, the packages are there in black and white on the other companys website or phone them up to.

And my comment was sugesting the OP and the other posters do this to determine if the VIP package is the best package for them - this is the point ot the thread isn't it?

At the end of the day he asked if they would offer the VIP package without some of the services at a reduced price,

He did and you answered that point - I was trying to answer other questions too.

i said yes if you threaten to leave they might but thats not the right way of doing it. The VIP package is the VIP package, nothing more nothing less. All the information he needs is on the website or phoneline which i advised him to do if he didnt want all the services the VIP package offered, i dont see why you need to roll your eyes at me when i have given correct advice

Because from your posts your just telling him to take the package and be done with it - I think this is bad advice - people should compare all that is available to them not just one supplier.

and the 2 bits of advice you had given one was incorrect.

I was wrong about the package but correct in the assertion that there are cheaper packages available even if the package is different:

"You're right I was under the understanding that it would be TU weekends however my assertions are still true :"

Post #31

At the end of the day I'm sure we agree the customer should always go for the package (from what ever provider) that provides them with the best features and benefits they can get/use.

After all the thread title is "Virgin packages - are they a good deal?" How on earth can you tell without comparing them to other providers?

[shawty]

Originally Posted by Shaun

<snip>

Yes and now that doesnt give him the V+ box he wanted does it. Sky+ is not Sky HD. At the end of the day he asked about Virgin Media and i gave him an answer for Virgin Media, there is no need to jump and pounce on me because i told him about Virgin Media.

[Shaun]

Look I'm not here for an argument but you've blatantly jumped over the issues of price and at no point did wwe say that he specifically wanted a V+ box for HD.

You're making assumptions about the posters requirements which is bad news as it means you give bad advice.

This is why I did several comparisons so the poster (and other readers) could see if "Virgin packages - are they a good deal?"

[MovedGoalPosts]

A number of posts have been edited or deleted due to flaming and insults which had moved away from discussion of the merits of the packages on offer. Remember that whilst all in package bundles can be good value, equally for specific users with specific use patterns the bundle might become costly. There is no need to fall out with each other when pointing out these differences.

Remember the aim here is to offer constructive advice. Bickering amongst each other will achieve nothing, except attention from the CF team, and we all know where that will end.

[savvychels]

Originally Posted by Shaun

If you're on the phone to a company call centre then you can't just say "oh hang on I'll call you back" as you'd never get the same agent again.

Um - if you're on to a company call centre you're already most likely on an 0870 number so you're paying for the call anyway.

[daggman]

shaun

What services do you have from Virgin Media?

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by savvychels

Um - if you're on to a company call centre you're already most likely on an 0870 number so you're paying for the call anyway.

www.saynoto0870.com

Not is you want to do it for free

---------- Post added at 21:08 ---------- Previous post was at 21:07 ----------

Originally Posted by daggman

shaun

What services do you have from Virgin Media?

None, they're too expensive and when we did they didn't work. How is this relevant?

[daggman]

well that was the answer i was expecting after reading your comments.

I have Ntl Bundle and it is good value , the 2 for 20 bundle is also good, there is nothing to stop the customer adding say Local unlimited for just a few pounds.

The original poster did not even say if he was a big phone user, maybe even talk weekends would be ok for him.

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by daggman

well that was the answer i was expecting after reading your comments.

I have Ntl Bundle and it is good value , the 2 for 20 bundle is also good, there is nothing to stop the customer adding say Local unlimited for just a few pounds.

The original poster did not even say if he was a big phone user, maybe even talk weekends would be ok for him.

Which is why I provided several comparisons and said:

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.

Don't try and paint me as someone with an axe to grind - I haven't, I'm just providing my opinion on the thread title. Incidentally I'm actually the only one in the whole thread to bring figures to the table to back up what I'm saying.