Long time VM user, getting shafted on prices?

[eckuk]

I've been with Virgin Media since they took over NTL and Telewest. Not sure how long that is in years, but it is a long time.
Now I noticed a while back on their website their XL package advertised at £20 per month with an £11 phone line from them.
This is the package I currently have. The thing is, I pay £37 per month for the XL package, along with £11 for the phone line. This is because £37 is what the XL package cost back a while ago.
Now I emailed them, asking them why I pay £17 more than is advertised and they replied telling me that the £20 per month offer is for new customers, however I should check out their 'great' deals for existing customers.

Is there anything I can do about this? I feel I'm really getting shafted.
I was thinking of upgrading my package through their website, by changing my XL broadband to the XXL one, which is £28 with the phone line, plus my installation charges and the fee for them flicking the switch (shafted again).

Any ideas?

[darren.b]

First off, VM didn't take over anything. NTL/Telewest merged and rent the name from Virgin Group. New name, same monkeys running the zoo. Same lies and deception as before ;) Business as usual.

Now, my bill quotes £37 for XL too, but because I have TV and phone, I get discounts, which bring that £37 down to £20. It's a silly way of doing things but that's how they do it.

ie 37 + 5.50 + 11= £53.5

I should be paying £53.50. But I don't. I pay £18 less. £17 off the BB because I have the bundle discount and £1 off because I use e-billing.

Phone, Bband XL & TV Discount 11 March - 10 April £-17.00

37-17 is your magical £20.

They could take that £17 off any part of the bundle, but none of them are higher than £17 so it makes sense to take it off the broadband. They can't charge you -£6 for the landline for example, that would look silly. Discounts apply but only when you take a bundle. And a bundle must include a landline. Clear?

Same way they advertise their bundles, they bury the true cost of part of it in small print (the phone line). It's all there, you just have to be Einstein to work it out.

Do you have discounts?

BenMcr is the bills wizard here, so I'd recommend you wait for him to advise.

[eckuk]

If I was getting XL for £20 like you (£37 - £17) I don't get why they would email me saying simply that the £20 is for new customers, and not mention that I have it discounted. Besides, it doesn't say anywhere on the bill about any discount from the broadband, and when I add up the totals, it comes to the right amount they're charging me.
In short, I am certain they're charging me £37 for XL broadband.

I'm just curious if I can go through their website process of changing to XXL and get that for £28 plus the installation fees etc.

[darren.b]

The £28 is calculated the same way as I said. They charge you <whatever> and give you a discount of <whatever> providing you match the terms of the offer (landline usually) so the cost of the XXL is the price they advertise after discounts are applied.

:)

I don't get why they would email me saying simply that the £20 is for new customers, and not mention that I have it discounted.

Same monkeys, my friend don't be surprised. ;) Branson is not sailing this ship.

When I upgraded my BB, I initially went through the website but got cold feet and thought I'd be overcharged or something so phoned a sweet Indian lady who did it for me and spent 5 whole minutes explaining my new costs. She was gobsmacked when I thanked her for being so helpful and wished her a nice day :P

[eckuk]

Here's a little from the email:

"The standard package charge for Broadband XL package is £37.00 for all
our existing customers. The Broadband offer of £20.00 you've seen is for
the new customers."

Is this just BS? Why did they say everyone is charged £37 when that's not true? And I'm including long time customers like myself.
I've double checked one of my bills too and sure enough, I'm being charged £37 for XL broadband, no discounts or anything taken off.

[darren.b]

Existing customers can get new customer deals but only if they upgrade or add more services to their package. So I have read on here before.

A VM landline is a must if you want any sort of discount. You have that. Why not try to get the free TV from them, this is an upgrade to your account and satisfies the criteria. You will probably have to pay an install charge for the TV - but you will pay £31 a month instead of £48 so it'll pay for itself after a few months.

Or upgrade your landline to the next tier. You'll end up paying less as you can get the discount applied.

[eckuk]

Right now I have the TV. The 'M' TV package. I'm thinking of just paying for the installation and hardware for the 50Mb since from what I can tell, it's £28 per month with the phone line.

[darren.b]

Yeah. Ring 'em up and ask them. It should allow discounts to be given if you upgrade.

Let us know how it goes :tu:

[Fobic]

Right now I have the TV. The 'M' TV package. I'm thinking of just paying for the installation and hardware for the 50Mb since from what I can tell, it's £28 per month with the phone line.

That's fine if you actually want BB XXL, but if you just want to pay what they are charging everyone else for your level of services, then give them a phone and ask them why they are overcharging you.


I found out last April that Virginmedia were similarly overcharging us for our services.

We had 20Mb XL broadband, XL TV and basic phone and were being charged about £72 a month. Reading on here, I noticed people were paying around £45 for a similar level of service.

I phoned up and chose the "thinking of leaving us" option, told them I wasn't actually thinking of leaving just yet, but was wondering why I was being overcharged and they put me on one of the bundle packages. Basically, the same 3 services but not charged for individually so somehow magically cheaper :erm:.

Ironically, BB XL is still shown as £37 a month on the bill but then they add in a discount that I suppose brings it down to the advertised £20 with phone line or equivalent.

The good news was we save about £20 a month. The bad news, though, was the new 12 month contract they made us take out just for changing from individual billing to bundle billing, but getting just the same level of services.


Have a look at their bundles page http://allyours.virginmedia.com/html/bundles/triple-builder.html
BB XL + M TV + M Phone is about £37 (£25.50 + 11.99 for the phone line).

Also note that the advertised price for 20Mb BB XL without phone line is £30 after introductory offers.
See http://allyours.virginmedia.com/websales/product.do?id=3246 near the bottom.

I think they had around 3.5 million broadband customers before they started the bundle scheme. Makes you wonder how many of them are being overcharged by still being billed for individual services. Particularly the elderly, like us.

Phone them up. Quote some of the prices they are advertising on their own webpages and see what they can do for you ;).

[eckuk]

Yeah I understand a lot of people's XL is showing up as £37 and then there's a discount on that, however my bill is actually just showing £37 for the XL, plus £11.99 for the line rental, and that is exactly what comes off my bank account every month.
I do however get the TV size M for free, although I was sure that is free anyway when you have the broadband and phone. This isn't the V+ television package, it's just the very bottom, bare minimum standard 'M' TV.

[dylanuk]

My Broadband XXL Shows up at 45.00 a month which is also over the odd's what annoys me is when you discuss prices they always talk about your discount why not just have prices at set prices rather then have a different quote every time you ring them.

So Virgin Please Sort out your rather messy Package Prices
You can see how all over the place they are if you have your welcome letter with the 12 month contract on it etc, they don't even separate one off fees or discounts from your monthly totals it requires a calculator and need to separate what you think are one off fees NO Totals lol

[jfknight]

My Broadband XXL Shows up at 45.00 a month
[...]


It's just taken me 4 attempts to get a response from them as to why they are charging me £45/month for XXL when they advertise the service at £28.

I finally got a "polite" response back saying this is only available to new customers, I don't qualify for this despite having been with Cabletel/NTL/Virgin since 1997 and I have a 12 month contract so am locked in. Loyalty? They obviously set no store by that.

Anyone had success negotiating a discount/rebate?

I'll be looking forward to the end of the 12 months when I phone up retentions :mad:

[Pauls9]

Yeah I understand a lot of people's XL is showing up as £37 and then there's a discount on that, however my bill is actually just showing £37 for the XL, plus £11.99 for the line rental, and that is exactly what comes off my bank account every month.
I do however get the TV size M for free, although I was sure that is free anyway when you have the broadband and phone. This isn't the V+ television package, it's just the very bottom, bare minimum standard 'M' TV.You should be getting a "triple loyalty pack" bonus. We've got TVM (free), BBS (£18) and phone (was £11) with a discount of £8 for taking all three.

[jfknight]

You should be getting a "triple loyalty pack" bonus. We've got TVM (free), BBS (£18) and phone (was £11) with a discount of £8 for taking all three.

Hmm. Here's what I'm seeing...
Line Rental 05 March - 04 April £11.00
Talk International 05 March - 04 April £1.50
Talk Unlimited 05 March - 04 April £7.95
Ultimate Double 1 05 March - 04 April £-5.95
Calldispl,Voicemail 05 March - 04 April £3.50
TV Size: X L 05 March - 04 April £23.00
1 Add Set Top Box(es) 05 March - 04 April £15.00
Add Set Box(es) Discount 05 March - 04 April £-10.00
XXL 50Mb Broadband 05 March - 04 April £45.00

The only discount is Ultimate Double 1 - 5.95 and the additional STB

WTF?