50M Avoiding installation fee for a new customer - Page 3

Kushan · 08-09-2014, 16:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kursk

Well, you haven't

I guess that point went over your head. When you start dismissing people's point of view just because you don't agree with it, then it makes you wonder why people should pay any attention to yours. Why is your point of view more important, more valid and more correct than anyone else's? That's a rhetorical question by the way - because it's not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kursk

Business is indeed business and customer-focussed business practice is crucial in a competitive market. That's why this is an issue: students in their hundreds of thousands will want to know what they are paying for especially if it's been paid for before. This kind of thing travels like wildfire on facebook and twitter so grateful to you for keeping its legs;

Except it's not an issue. This isn't some new policy, this is how it has been working for years. If there was a sliver of truth in what you're saying, then where is the social media outcry? Where are the damning posts on Facebook?

Apparently you're so shortsighted, you can't seem to understand how a business like this works. You can't usually cover all of your costs after the first month. By the time you've paid for the insall engineer, the equipment, the CS agents who set up the account, etc. it usually takes months for a customer to return profit. As others have stated, Virgin simply puts an upfront cost rather than charging more per month. It minimises their risk and allows them to offer these shorter contracts. Otherwise, why on earth would they bother having 12 or 18 month contracts at all?
Perhaps their only real crime is calling it an "installation fee". If it had been called an account administration fee, you wouldn't have the "but it has already been installed!" argument.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kursk

ah, I notice you're an ex-vm employee

So you can read. You don't have to have worked for a company to get basic and simple business sense. You just have to have a bit of common sense. More often than not, markets dictate business trends. If a business can get away with charging more because they offer a better service, they usually will. In fact, if they don't, shareholders can often take legal action as the company has promised to make them money.

For the record, yes I used to work for VM over 3 years ago. I hold no warm and fuzzy feelings for the company. They didn't treat me particularly well, they certainly didn't pay me very much and they treated a lot of my friends who also worked there even worse than me. I still have an ongoing grievance with them regarding a personal matter that will almost never get resolved as well, so rest assured when I defend them for something, it's not willingly.

Kursk · 08-09-2014, 23:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kushan

I guess that point went over your head.

Apparently you're so shortsighted

So you can read.

May I ask if you're capable of an adult discussion without prefixing your paragraphs with some kind of barb or insult?

It might well be one of the things that makes you less attractive as an employee.

**Maggy** · 09-09-2014, 01:05

Please return to the topic.I suggest that if some of you cannot deal with each other civilly then you put each other on ignore.Any further off topic postings are likely to be removed..

Kushan · 09-09-2014, 10:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kursk

May I ask if you're capable of an adult discussion without prefixing your paragraphs with some kind of barb or insult?

It might well be one of the things that makes you less attractive as an employee.

Well done on trying to avoid addressing any points I've made.

qasdfdsaq · 09-09-2014, 11:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kushan

This isn't some new policy, this is how it has been working for years.

Also, install fees used to be higher, and they've been around since before student offers existed. And the alternative is to pay BT £150 installation if you want anything shorter than a 12 month contract, for an engineer to come plug in something that's already been plugged in before... Plus get this, BT also charge a ~£60 (IIRC) disconnection fee, even after the end of your contract.

Kursk · 09-09-2014, 12:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Also, install fees used to be higher, and they've been around since before student offers existed. And the alternative is to pay BT £150 installation if you want anything shorter than a 12 month contract, for an engineer to come plug in something that's already been plugged in before... Plus get this, BT also charge a ~£60 (IIRC) disconnection fee, even after the end of your contract.

BT are not the discussion here and we have been reminded to stay on topic.
That instal fees used to be higher and have been around since before student offers existed is not really the point. Again, it's best to stay on topic.

rhyds · 09-09-2014, 12:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Also, install fees used to be higher, and they've been around since before student offers existed. And the alternative is to pay BT £150 installation if you want anything shorter than a 12 month contract, for an engineer to come plug in something that's already been plugged in before... Plus get this, BT also charge a ~£60 (IIRC) disconnection fee, even after the end of your contract.

BT charge £30 if you cancel a broadband service rather than migrate your broadband to another provider. Their justification is that they have to send someone out to disconnected the line from the DSLAM

Kushan · 09-09-2014, 12:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kursk

BT are not the discussion here and we have been reminded to stay on topic.
That instal fees used to be higher and have been around since before student offers existed is not really the point. Again, it's best to stay on topic.

That sounds pretty on topic for me. The topic is Installation fees for a new customer, the debate you've raised is that the fees are an outrage and that we should be blanketing social media in protest or something. What the competition does is highly relevant.

rhyds · 09-09-2014, 12:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kursk

BT are not the discussion here and we have been reminded to stay on topic.
That instal fees used to be higher and have been around since before student offers existed is not really the point. Again, it's best to stay on topic.

With all due respect, BT (and other suppliers) are part of the discussion. If Virgin Media were charging extra for short term contracts and other suppliers not then you would have a legitimate grievance.

Sephiroth · 09-09-2014, 12:36

[QUOTE=rhyds;35727631]With all due respect, BT (and other suppliers) are part of the discussion. If Virgin Media were charging extra for short term contracts and other suppliers not then you would have a legitimate grievance.[/QUOTE]

Would there be grounds for grievance? You can always choose a different supplier. And if VM have an advantage by having better broadband in your area, then they can exploit that advantage.

The OP and Kursk think that is wrong on VM's part and some others disagree.

So where's this topic going? Nowhere, I suspect.

Kursk · 09-09-2014, 12:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kushan

That sounds pretty on topic for me. The topic is Installation fees for a new customer, the debate you've raised is that the fees are an outrage and that we should be blanketing social media in protest or something. What the competition does is highly relevant.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhyds

With all due respect, BT (and other suppliers) are part of the discussion. If Virgin Media were charging extra for short term contracts and other suppliers not then you would have a legitimate grievance.

Whenever a moderator asks that we stay on topic, I re-read the OP. The OP is about VM installation fees. It is not about BT.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

So where's this topic going? Nowhere, I suspect.

Probably true. But with VM reading in the shape of BenMcr, who knows - maybe a review of policy is due?

Sephiroth · 09-09-2014, 12:52

I got the sense from reading Ben's reply that VM regard themselves to be in a comfortable place for now and don't have to compete in that area to any greater degree than now.

Kushan · 09-09-2014, 12:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kursk

Whenever a moderator asks that we stay on topic, I re-read the OP. The OP is about VM installation fees. It is not about BT.

How do you know when something is expensive or not? By looking at the rest of the market. If I said to you "This object costs £100", is that expensive? It might be, but what if that object was a brand new road legal car? Then suddenly £100 is very cheap. So yes, BT is relevant to the discussion because they provide a direct comparison to the cost of the product.

Debating what is and is not on-topic is probably not on-topic. Feel free to stop replying if you feel it's not relevant.

Kursk · 09-09-2014, 13:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

I got the sense from reading Ben's reply that VM regard themselves to be in a comfortable place for now and don't have to compete in that area to any greater degree than now.

I agree but it is better for VM to know this is a point that irks students.

Look, I am a VM customer of many many years standing. I like VM and I like their service and I want them to move with the times to stay competitive. VM make £bns in profits and small adaptations for a lucrative and huge part of their client base will, imho, keep VM competitive...and that is good for all its customers.

Y'know, I don't have to care about paying for installation or monthly fees, I can afford it. But students...well, a little bit of help for kids who are up to their eyes in debt before they even get into the workplace would be nice.

VM will still be quids in. And young minds have long memories.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kushan

Feel free to stop replying if you feel it's not relevant.

Thanks. I will not be debating BT. OP=VM; that's the bit that interests me.

qasdfdsaq · 09-09-2014, 13:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhyds

BT charge £30 if you cancel a broadband service rather than migrate your broadband to another provider. Their justification is that they have to send someone out to disconnected the line from the DSLAM

Ah. Misremembered. I got a £60 charge and a £30 charge and had to appeal one of the two...

---------- Post added at 12:13 ---------- Previous post was at 12:09 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kursk

I agree but it is better for VM to know this is a point that irks students.

Perhaps it irks you but you do not speak for the entire student population. Students are quite capable of positing their own outrage over the smallest of issues as it is, we don't need to encourage yet more protests over first-world problems.

I'm sure having to pay for anything at all irks some students. After all they're renowned for being perpetually broke. Doesn't change the fact it's a deregulated their is fair competition for the most part so business get to charge whatever they feel like, and the fact that people are willing to pay it means they're doing just fine.