Calls costs increase in september!

[N00N00]

From 1st September there are going o be some "changes" :rolleyes: to call costs. Full details here:

http://www.virginmedia.com/customers/calling-costs.php

Basically internationall call costs are going up by 5p per min for all those not on Talk International.

Also 0845 numbers are going up to 7p per min!! and to really take the mick 0870 numbers will be a rather impressive 10p per min.

I strongly suggest that anyone reading this bookmarks the excellent site http://www.saynoto0870.com to find alternative to 0870/0845 numbers, otherwise you're gonna be in for a pretty big phone bill. :shocked:

[N00N00]

Well I posted this yesterday but someone censored it.

International, 0845, 0870 and 0871 numbers are going up in September.

I believe such increases are a disgrace (even though they won't affect me).

i suppose the only good thing is it means everyone can be under no illusions about whether or not 0845/0870 numbers are premium rate.

0845 numbers will be 7p per min (plus connection charge), 0870 will be 10p per min. That's a 60% increase for the 0845 numbers.

International calls going up by 5p per min unless you buy talk international.

:mad::mad:

[N00N00]

Sorry i managed to post this in the wrong forum - can someone move it to the non mobile one - thanks. :dunce:

[MovedGoalPosts]

Threads moved and merged.

[danielf]

For cheap international calls check here:

http://niftylist.co.uk/calls/

France and the USA are from 0.5p/min, compared to 3p/min on VM Talk International.

[Locky33]

I really hate these 0845/0870 exc i so happy i found the www.saynoto0870.com site saved me a fortune. Companies should not use these numbers should go on to an 03 number or they will lose customers specially in building trade which i am using a mobile to call an 0845 number cost even more.

[Bob]

Aren't OFCOM in the process of planning to 'force' companies over to a new prefix so calls would be geographic?

Regardless these prices are shocking.

If you are going to get rid of the 'time of day' tiers they should at least go for the middle price not the highest...but unfortunately that's not how things work :(

[i-Set]

do these price increases in call costs break the terms and conditions of the contract on which people signed before the announcement, therefore allowing them to leave vm?

[Locky33]

I do not think virgin media are totaly to blame for the high cost of these rip off 08 numbers it is the companies that run the rip off numbers before reaching who they want to call. Example non emergency police is an 0845 number the customer pays 7p for example even if they on virgin call unlimited whoever runs the 0845 number will take 4p for example one of many here
http://www.free0870numbers.co.uk/0845_numbers.htm

[m419]

To be honest, 0870 numbers are disappearing. Most people use Talk Anywhere,Talk International or a prepaid calling card for International calls and companies are begining to use 03 numbers instead of 0845 and 0871 numbers.

Furthermore, if you use Talk Anywhere you wont be effected by these price increases as the above numbers are included in your minutes!

Also anyone on here use British Gas??? Well they have introduced a 0800 for customers to use-according to my latest statement. So say goodbye to paying BG for customer service!

[Tiger33]

do these price increases in call costs break the terms and conditions of the contract on which people signed before the announcement, therefore allowing them to leave vm?
thats what i want to know too

UPDATE: ok you can change or cancel the contract if ANY PRICE increases - regardless of the terms


so i've cancelled my television service and im moving back to Sky - (they have good prices for the tv if you ask me) to get SKY HD is only £75 so i thought i would do it


all in all im very happy

i ge to keep the services with virgin which i think they do well (Telephone,broadband) and i also get to go back to sky with the television service.

[BenMcr]

Remember, you can't cancel once the price change comes into affect, as by not giving notice before the change you are agreeing to the changes.

So after Monday you can't cancel because of the Phone charges increase

[Ignitionnet]

Remember, you can't cancel once the price change comes into affect, as by not giving notice before the change you are agreeing to the changes.

So after Monday you can't cancel because of the Phone charges increase

Any idea Ben why they are taking the product that until recently has bled customers and decided to try and make it bleed some more through pricing it up?

I suspect it's due to them thinking that as people are tied into them with other products they'll be able to make a few more quid out of charging more for this. If that's what the whole triple play drive is about, throwing customers extra services for not much then ramping up the prices to pretty uncompetitive levels, it sucks :(

[m419]

Well as I said before, Talk Anywhere and Say no to 0870 combats these price increases.

Talk anywhere allows you to call 01,02,03,084,087,Mobiles and International numbers for the equivalent of just 4p per minute.

What isnt included:

Pagers 076 numbers
07744 and 07755 Call forward advertised services
118 Directory Enquiry lines. Try and use 118500.com or yell.com instead
Incomming Reverse charge calls
Shortcode: 179 for Dial up Internet access
0845 dial up internet access lines

Your minutes will not be deducted on calls made to:

0500
0800
0808
00800
Free paging numbers
Outgoing calls to 0800-REVERSE
1478 and 1479 Anonymous call baring set up lines
1571 and 1570 Voicemail access
150,151,173 Shortcode customer service lines
101 non emergency services

You will be charged seperately for calls to the following numbers:

Most 0871
All 09 numbers*
0844 Multimedia services-Some 0844 numbers are barred.
0820 Internet access lines

This is what you will pay from September after all your minutes have been used:

Local and National calls to 01,02 and 03 numbers including calls to local cable lines:

Daytime 4p per minute
Evening 4p per minute
Weekend 4p per minute

Daytime Calls to 0845 numbers: 7p per minute
Evening Calls to 0845 numbers: 7p per minute
Weekend calls to 0845 numbers: 7p per minute

Daytime Calls to 0870 numbers: 10p per minute
Evening Calls to 0870 numbers: 10p per minute
Weekend Calls to 0870 numbers: 10p per minute

These are the Call connection fees across all tariffs:

All calls to landlines and mobiles incurr a call connection fee of 7p.
All calls to 0844 numbers cost 12p to connect.
All calls to 0871 numbers cost 10p to connect.
Most 090 numbers cost between 10p and 50p to connect.

Whilst you have minutes remaining, you will never pay connection charge fees upon qualifying calls.

You can check your Talk Anywhere minute allowances by dialing 150, pressing 1 and then 2. You will need to be calling from the line you are enquiring about.

Talk Anywhere packages:

200 Minutes: £20 including line rental
400 Minutes: £27 Including line rental
800 Minutes: £36 to £40 depending on what you are given by retentions. Including line rental

All prices include telephone line rental and VAT.

Hope that helps!

[BenMcr]

Any idea Ben why they are taking the product that until recently has bled customers and decided to try and make it bleed some more through pricing it up?
Haven't got a clue to be honest. I can usually understand what Virgin do, I may not agree with it, but I can understand it.

This - no

[m419]

Well the phone service is only really there to boost revenue, in some streets especially in the Videotron franchise, they dont even have phone lines! They only have BT lines.

Virgin Media mainly focus on Broadband internet and Digital TV as well interactive TV

[arcamalpha2004]

thats what i want to know too

UPDATE: ok you can change or cancel the contract if ANY PRICE increases - regardless of the terms


so i've cancelled my television service and im moving back to Sky - (they have good prices for the tv if you ask me) to get SKY HD is only £75 so i thought i would do it


all in all im very happy

i ge to keep the services with virgin which i think they do well (Telephone,broadband) and i also get to go back to sky with the television service.


Tiger, is it the case that you can only cancel the product that the increase relates to?
So the topic is about telephone call increases, you have cancelled your tv, but youre keeping the telephone.
Just that I thought they would have only accepted cancellation of your telephone service ? could I be wrong?

[BenMcr]

It should only be the service that is changing. I think, however, that as the telephone affects more than just itself (i.e. you can't can any of the standard bundles without it) that removing it changes the price of the remaining services enough to allow their cancellation as well.

If you tried to cancel you services because of the £1 Sky Sports increase from 1st October, unless you are on the VIP bundle, you wouldn't able to do it. All Virgin would do if offer to remove the Sky Sports i.e. 'to cancel the affected service without penalty'

[BexTech]

Virgin Media / Cable hasn't been interested in offering a competitive phone service for 6 or so years.

They aren't interested in the fact they lost thousands of phone customers over the years, just interested in fleecing the existing ones, though they do try and make the phone service headline rate look good by offering a discount when taking it with another package.

One of best solutions is to not use these talk anywhere packages as for the vast majority of people you lose out on them, get a weekend or evening and weekend package, use SayNoTo0870 to find real numbers for 0870, 0845 etc numbers, if you can't find them, then use Call 18185 to call 0845 and 0870 numbers and don't call the rest, for international calls and calls to mobiles use Call 18185 maybe VM when they are cheaper. Call 18185 for the odd daytime landline call if you don't make enough of them to make 24/7 inclusive calls worthwhile.

VM should be looking at offering evening and weekend calls package their base package as you can get evening and weekend calls from other providers at no extra cost.

VM really do need to look at their phone service, so as to gain back customers they lost when they became so greedy. VM has lost the plot when it comes to the phone service.

[brimurray]

I use 18185 for calls. It costs about 4p connection then 1p a minute to 01/02/03 numbers and is also much cheaper for non geographic and international.
http://www.18185.co.uk/customerservice/customerservice_answer.php?id=39&question_type=Algemeen

I have set up 2 presets for most numbers in my landline phone. The first is the normal number with the name tag (WE) for use at weekend as a free call. The second is prefixed with the 0808 access number enabling a cheap call without the requirement for dialing 0808 1 703 703 then waiting for a voice prompt every call. This works just fine and puts all call charges onto a simple 18185 e bill each month!