V+ : Help needed. Virgin TV. Where are these prices coming from?

[Chad]

My parents are currently away on holiday and I'm looking after their house. I found their latest Virgin Media bill in their kitchen drawer and was shocked. It's been a good few year since I was a Virgin TV customer so I'm struggling to get my head around the breakdown of their subscription cost.

My parents have the XL package, V+ and SKY Sports. No additional box, no phoneline and no internet. Purely TV. Their monthly bill is £77.83:

TV Size XL & V+ HD monthly fee = £44.08
SKY Sports = £33.75

I've just priced up the same package on the Virgin website with 500Gb TiVo and it's coming out at £64.50 per month.

I thought SKY Sports in SD is supposed to cost £31.75 per month. Can't understand why they're being billed £2.00 extra for it.

If anyone understands these prices I'd appreciate some assistance.

[BenMcr]

Core reason is it's because they're on a legacy bundle.

I'd expect they've not spoken to Virgin Media for a while about their price, and the single service prices do tend to vary the most depending when the deal was agreed.

If they can get a lower price by swapping to TiVo then you should find a way of suggesting that they do.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by BenMcr

Core reason is it's because they're on a legacy bundle.

I'd expect they've not spoken to Virgin Media for a while about their price, and the single service prices do tend to vary the most depending when the deal was agreed.

If they can get a lower price by swapping to TiVo then you should find a way of suggesting that they do.

I'll have a chat with them when they're back. They're about to get a free TiVo upgrade soon. I've got authority on their account. I'll speak with Virgin about getting them down to the same price as the website. My parents have been with Virgin for sometime. Might ask if there's any loyalty discount, even if just a few pounds, if my parents take a new 12 month deal.

Cheers

[Bananaman_007]

You should be able to save them more than the web price. Just ask to cancel, they will say they are sending a jiffy bag out to send the box back (this wont happen) and you will get a call form the retention team where the fun begins. Just keep talking about skys 50% off for new customers should be enough to get that package down to around the £55 mark. Make sure you say you are happy with VM and its purely a price issue

[BenMcr]

If they've only got TV it's unlikely they'll get a deep discount as most deals whether for new customers or existing are based on multiple services.

[Bananaman_007]

Up until the last price rise i was paying just over £50 a month for Phone line, evening and weekend calls, 150MB broadband, and XL TV (1 TIVO and 1 V+HD). I have been hounded several times a week for months to take Sky Movies or Sports or both at various rates. The cheapest being £18 a month for 3 months for both which would have been £70. I don't think £55 for the TV is too much to ask when you have things like NOW TV and extremely low Sky prices for new customers now is a good time to barter with Virgin.

[jb66]

If they only have tv and no broadband or landline moving to sky or moving all there services to virgin seem the best options

[Chad]

Just got around to trying to sort this out. I know it's been a while but my parents are old school. They didn't want to rock the boat or cause me hassle etc.... Their package has gone up to £46.07 for XL Full House with V+HD plus £33.75 for SKY Sports = £79.82 per month.

Called Virgin Media today about this with 2 things in mind. 1. Can I get the package price down to match todays prices and 2. A proper explanation as to whether they've been overpaying and if so why.

First person I spoke with advised he'd apply a discount on the account for 9 months bringing the cost down to £68.70 per month. He advised after 9 months the price will go back up. He suggested he was applying this as a loyalty discount. I was not impressed as this is still £4.70MORE than the Full House TV & Sports Pack currently costs plus in 9 months my parents package would go back up to £79.82 per month. I told him I was not happy with this as it doesn't address the issue in regards to what appears to be overcharging and getting the price down to where it should be (in my opinion). He couldn't help me further. I asked to be put through to VM complaints but he told me there isn't a complaints team and I don't have anything to complain about!

I managed to keep my cool but could feel myself shaking. I told him I'll decide if I have a complaint not him. He put me on hold for a while and came back advising he'll get a manager to call me back within 15 mins.

2 hours later I got a call back from someone advising they can reduce the price to £68.70 per month if my Mum takes a new 12 month contract with TiVo. He said he'd try and waive the £14.99 connection fee. I asked him if they have been overpaying and if so can he explain why. He confirmed they have not been overpaying but couldn't fully explain why they are paying their current amount. I thanked him for calling back but confirmed by Mum didn't want to enter into a new contract until we get a proper explanation about her current billing structure. I confirmed I will be raising the issue as a complaint.

Here's the think. I'm not a complainer by any stretch of the imagination. I like to try and get matters resolved amicably without conflict or for the need to raise complaint however I found it almost impossible to get a straight answer to my questions today.

All I'm looking for is Virgin to get my parents package down to match the current £64.00 a month for Full House TV & Sports Pack. If they need to take a new 12 month contract with TiVo my Mum has no issue with this. Ideally I'm looking for Virgin to waive the £14.99 activation fee seeing they wrote to my Mum a few months back confirming she is entitled to a free TiVo upgrade. From there I'm looking for a clear and understandable answer as to why my parents appear to have been paying more for their package for many years. If it's a legacy package issue then fine, explain that to me and how it works.

I'm not looking for money back or anything but if Virgin can't reasonably explain why my parents bill appears to be higher than expected I'd be looking for them to apply a loyalty discount to my parents bill, even if it's just a couple of pounds each month, to smooth things over.

Can someone point me in the direction of Virgins terms and conditions? Also is there a facility for me to log a complaint online? Finally do Virgin have a code of conduct that is accessible to customers?

Any additional info would be a great help.

Originally Posted by Bananaman_007

[snip]
they will say they are sending a jiffy bag out to send the box back (this wont happen) and you will get a call form the retention team where the fun begins.
[snip]

Yes they will
No they won't
Mine's long gone

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by Chad

Just got around to trying to sort this out. I know it's been a while but my parents are old school. They didn't want to rock the boat or cause me hassle etc.... Their package has gone up to £46.07 for XL Full House with V+HD plus £33.75 for SKY Sports = £79.82 per month.

Called Virgin Media today about this with 2 things in mind. 1. Can I get the package price down to match todays prices and 2. A proper explanation as to whether they've been overpaying and if so why.

First person I spoke with advised he'd apply a discount on the account for 9 months bringing the cost down to £68.70 per month. He advised after 9 months the price will go back up. He suggested he was applying this as a loyalty discount. I was not impressed as this is still £4.70MORE than the Full House TV & Sports Pack currently costs plus in 9 months my parents package would go back up to £79.82 per month. I told him I was not happy with this as it doesn't address the issue in regards to what appears to be overcharging and getting the price down to where it should be (in my opinion). He couldn't help me further. I asked to be put through to VM complaints but he told me there isn't a complaints team and I don't have anything to complain about!

I managed to keep my cool but could feel myself shaking. I told him I'll decide if I have a complaint not him. He put me on hold for a while and came back advising he'll get a manager to call me back within 15 mins.

2 hours later I got a call back from someone advising they can reduce the price to £68.70 per month if my Mum takes a new 12 month contract with TiVo. He said he'd try and waive the £14.99 connection fee. I asked him if they have been overpaying and if so can he explain why. He confirmed they have not been overpaying but couldn't fully explain why they are paying their current amount. I thanked him for calling back but confirmed by Mum didn't want to enter into a new contract until we get a proper explanation about her current billing structure. I confirmed I will be raising the issue as a complaint.

Here's the think. I'm not a complainer by any stretch of the imagination. I like to try and get matters resolved amicably without conflict or for the need to raise complaint however I found it almost impossible to get a straight answer to my questions today.

All I'm looking for is Virgin to get my parents package down to match the current £64.00 a month for Full House TV & Sports Pack. If they need to take a new 12 month contract with TiVo my Mum has no issue with this. Ideally I'm looking for Virgin to waive the £14.99 activation fee seeing they wrote to my Mum a few months back confirming she is entitled to a free TiVo upgrade. From there I'm looking for a clear and understandable answer as to why my parents appear to have been paying more for their package for many years. If it's a legacy package issue then fine, explain that to me and how it works.

I'm not looking for money back or anything but if Virgin can't reasonably explain why my parents bill appears to be higher than expected I'd be looking for them to apply a loyalty discount to my parents bill, even if it's just a couple of pounds each month, to smooth things over.

Can someone point me in the direction of Virgins terms and conditions? Also is there a facility for me to log a complaint online? Finally do Virgin have a code of conduct that is accessible to customers?

Any additional info would be a great help.

Unfortunately you have no grounds for a complaint. They don't even have a contract with VM as such as they have been on a 30 day rolling contract since the original 12 month one ran out. Each time a price increase came along there was the opportunity to cancel or enter into a new contract.

Your parents never did. Much as I agree with you there's nothing you can do but hope you get a good deal for them now.

[bubblegun]

Originally Posted by pip08456

Unfortunately you have no grounds for a complaint. They don't even have a contract with VM as such as they have been on a 30 day rolling contract since the original 12 month one ran out. Each time a price increase came along there was the opportunity to cancel or enter into a new contract.

Your parents never did. Much as I agree with you there's nothing you can do but hope you get a good deal for them now.

They could go to Sky. The out of contract price for Sky Boxsets and SD Sports is £65.50 per month for the same things.

Currently they have 12mhp Sports so would be £51.75 per month for 12m or £56 per month for 12m with Sports and Movies.
With all these deals they get a 1Tb Sky Q box for £15 setup.

I can get top bundle for £30 per month for 12m if they want it.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by pip08456

Unfortunately you have no grounds for a complaint. They don't even have a contract with VM as such as they have been on a 30 day rolling contract since the original 12 month one ran out. Each time a price increase came along there was the opportunity to cancel or enter into a new contract.

Your parents never did. Much as I agree with you there's nothing you can do but hope you get a good deal for them now.

I understand what your saying but I feel I need to complain to raise the issue. I spoke with 2 people at length who couldn't explain why my Mum is paying what she is. That's not acceptable. If your charging for a service you should be able to explain to the customer why your charging this amount. I also don't understand why, if they recontract to a new deal, their new monthly amount was working out more that the advertised price for Full House XL with SKY Sports.

Are these prices only for new customers?



I can't see anything to suggest it is.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Bananaman_007

You should be able to save them more than the web price. Just ask to cancel, they will say they are sending a jiffy bag out to send the box back (this wont happen) and you will get a call form the retention team where the fun begins. Just keep talking about skys 50% off for new customers should be enough to get that package down to around the £55 mark. Make sure you say you are happy with VM and its purely a price issue

Originally Posted by OhReally

Yes they will
No they won't
Mine's long gone

Yep, I received a jiffy bag within days of putting in my cancellation (despite saying that they would have to come to me to pick up their equipment). I had to take things further up the food chain to circumvent the indifferent attitude of the call handler that I initially dealt with.

[Chad]

Spoke with a girl from Virgin Media about this earlier tonight. She was brilliant. I was on the phone for a while whilst she tried to get the package down in price. In the end she got it down from £79.82 per month to £51.70. A saving of £28.12 per month! Plus my parents account is being credited with £45.00 and they are getting their TiVo box with the £14.99 charge waived.

She has restored my faith in Virgin Media. She couldn't be more helpful. She was very understanding and gave me time and space to share my opinion.

[Martin_D]

Originally Posted by Chad

Spoke with a girl from Virgin Media about this earlier tonight. She was brilliant. I was on the phone for a while whilst she tried to get the package down in price. In the end she got it down from £79.82 per month to £51.70. A saving of £28.12 per month! Plus my parents account is being credited with £45.00 and they are getting their TiVo box with the £14.99 charge waived.

She has restored my faith in Virgin Media. She couldn't be more helpful. She was very understanding and gave me time and space to share my opinion.

Fantastic news happy you got it sorted