Exsisting customers being ripped off

[Enigma776]

Am I the only one who thinks existing customers are being ripped off?

I have the following services;

XL TV £24.50
XL Broadband £37
Phone line rental + Talk unlimited £19.95
Ultimate Triple -£21
Payment handling £5 (not sure why I pay this as it's all done online anyway)

Now the above comes in at £65 a month. If I did a recalculation based on new customer pricing I would get this;

TV XL (First 2 months free) then £23 a month with line rental
XXL Broadband (2 months free) Then £28 a month with line rental (£10 difference right there)
Phone line rental + Talk unlimited Same price as above.

Then you get the bundle discount the total price is £54 a month and that is for faster broadband as well, sure you got a one time fee of £20 but that will pay for it's self after the first 2 bills worth of savings.

I would like to know why us the existing customers are getting screwed on pricing or are offered deals like this. I have been with Virgin since it was known as bell cable media and then NTL and so on. It's the long term subscribers who have paid for the company expansions or network upgrades and yet we are the ones who are treated like crap.

I will be phoning VM at some point today and having it out with them as this kind of price model has to stop, it may even be worth getting watchdog involved or hell even trading standards.

they will most likely allow you to go onto a new contract with the new prices. As I have often said I hate VMs pricing structure

[AntiSilence]

Originally Posted by Enigma776

Am I the only one who thinks existing customers are being ripped off?

I have the following services;

XL TV £24.50
XL Broadband £37
Phone line rental + Talk unlimited £19.95
Ultimate Triple -£21
Payment handling £5 (not sure why I pay this as it's all done online anyway)

The payment handling fee is usually if you don't pay by Direct Debit.

[nomadking]

It looks like you haven't included this cost:-

*When you take a Virgin phone line for £11.99 a month

Originally Posted by nomadking

It looks like you haven't included this cost:-

he says
Phone line rental + Talk unlimited £19.95

[nomadking]

If you use the Bundle builder, BB XXL & TV XL & Phone XL, it comes to £54.01, which is where I assumed the £54 came from.

If you add this to the basket and proceed, it shows that the £11.99 is in addition to the future(after 2 months) price of £54.01.

[Markybb]

I agree with your main point, existing customers get screwed by virgin pricing FULL STOP!
Been with this crowd since telewest were using wet peices of string to cobble the network togther, if i left and rejoined (read get stuck in yet another 12mts contract) i could knock 30% off my bill,
I really think they should re-examing their pricing model and deliver a more robust and inviting loyality package without having to sign up again and again and again......

[Chrysalis]

I dont agree with the market, but VM are not alone doing this.

O2 cashback + discount for new customers.
BT discount for new customers.
sky discount for new customers.

ironically for mobile phones its the opposite way round, usually first contract been expensive as the operator takes a punt on you managing to complete the contract.

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by Enigma776

Then you get the bundle discount the total price is £54 a month and that is for faster broadband as well, sure you got a one time fee of £20 but that will pay for it's self after the first 2 bills worth of savings.

I know this is an old thread - but you went wrong here.

The prices on the website include any bundle discount - they are not before it.

So XL tv, XXL Broadband, XL phone works out to be £66. Add £5 for non-DD and its £71 a month - £6 more than you said you are paying

[nomadking]

I'm currently paying £25/month for L broadband, but the Selfcare upgrade screen says from £20 for XL and from £28 for XXL. How can I be sure what I will be charged for XL or XXL broadband before I receive the e-bill, as the prices say 'from' and would I get the wireless router if I chose XXL?

[BenMcr]

At present the best way to make sure you get what you should is to order through Customer Services.

Also as you have TV as well as the BB you should be getting a bundle discount, which means you probably aren't paying £25 for BB L

[nomadking]

I do get a bundle discount, but on the bill L broadband is listed as £25. If I used the selfcare upgrade without involving CS, what would I expect to appear on my next bill? £20? After all, I shouldn't have to contact CS to find out, otherwise what is the point of the selfcare upgrade option.

[BenMcr]

BB L always shows on the bill as £25 before discounts
BB XL always shows on the bill as £37 before discounts
BB XXL always shows on the bill as £45 before discounts

The prices on the sales website factor in any approriate bundle discount to give the price they quote e.g BB XL advertised at £20 when taken with a phone shows on the bill as £37 minus at least a £17 discount.

If you want the best price upgrade at present you have to speak to Customer Services.

[nexy33]

wouldn't it be nice if people just put the actual price you pay instead of read the small print for true price. Imagine how long your weekly grocery shop would take if every brand of goods employed this strategy...

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by nexy33

wouldn't it be nice if people just put the actual price you pay instead of read the small print for true price. Imagine how long your weekly grocery shop would take if every brand of goods employed this strategy...

Shops would probably be breaking the law if they did.

Any bundle/loyalty discount is applied to the whole bill, not just the broadband component. Anyone using the selfcare section to upgrade broadband speed could well be surprised when they receive their next bill as there is no mention of what the change in their bill is going to be. If any discount received is to be applied to the broadband charge only, then I must be only paying £6.75/month for L BB and would pay £18.75 for XL and £26.75 for XXL, which is less than stated in the selfcare section.

As I get a £18.25 loyalty + £1 e-bill discount, am I getting a better deal than those for new customers?