TheyCallMeTJ
Distinguished Member
I have had my few quibbles with virginmedia over the years (I think I've been with them for about fifteen years now), especially when my bills suddenly go up without any courtesy warning, or the odd few downtimes, or the suspect "super" hub performance and limitations...but I never had any real huge major frustrations with them. And I always talk to them politely - after all, they are all just doing their job and likely working hard for their commissions . Overall, they are a good provider methinks with unquestionable fast broadband speed ranges and even though I feel I might be paying more than I should, I appreciate what I am getting...especially in this lockdown, its a bloody saviour!
But today, they unexpectedly gave me a huge lift in spirits. A few days ago, I rang them up to remove my landline. I was paying £46.50 for a 100mbs fibre plus landline (I used to have the highest speed for many years but realise it was overkill for me, 100mbs is more than enough). So that dropped my bill to £38 which will rise to £42 in August when the new tariff is introduced, from what I have been told is the standard rate for the 100mbs broadband. They didn't try to make me any offers or put me through to retentions (which I thought would be the norm for this sort of thing) so I just accepted the new billing (perhaps foolishly). Maybe because of the limited scope of the call centres during lockdown, they didn't have retentions staff!
But then this morning a strange mobile number called my phone and didnt leave any message. I never answer calls that I cannot identify. After searching the "who called me" website, it was an O2 number and somewhere in Leeds whom I have no connection to. So I left it at that. The same number persisted through the day though, and I kept ignoring it and I was even thinking about barring it...but then finally, a voicemail was left...and of course as you can guess, it was a virgin rep from retentions (you probably guessing this whole story but let me roll with it, lol). So this guy left a message that he heard I was dropping my landline and can do a deal that will be a lot cheaper than what I am currently paying without a landline. Naturally I called back, interest piqued.
And yes as I am sure you expected, he offered me landline with m100 broadband package for a much lower rate of £29 per month. And naturally, I said...Let me sleep on...no i didnt, I said YEAH OK!! like an excited puppy about to be given a doggy biscuit. But there had to be a catch. Why the hell would they make so much effort to reach me and get me to pay less and add back my landline to boot. Well he actually told me why, although I didn't quite get it as the details washed over my head but the company somehow profits more by the units sold in a package than what the actual package cost. So my reducing one unit (ie the landline), raised alarm bells and they rather have their customer pay a lot less for two units than what they pay for one unit. Perhaps one of you, who knows how this business works can enlighten me because as I said, that just went over my head when he explained it.
So, that just really made my day...lucky I didn't bar the number! Oh and btw, this person was calling from his own home and using his own mobile which ironically was not a Virgin, it was an O2 mobile which the website did reveal. Because of the lockdown, call centre staff are calling from their own mobiles. As he did not ask me for any security information or payment info (which I would not have offered), I felt safe enough he was genuine. But one has to be on alert with this sort of thing. I also recorded the whole conversation as I always do with my calls.
He never actually told me how long the contract will roll for. I will get an email within 48 hours giving more details so I will see and update here if any of you interested...but even if it is just for a year, that's a heck of a saving that I didn't even pursue.
So, did I get a good deal? You guys, paying less or more? Do you value your landline? It is actually recommended to always keep your landline connected as it is the most reliable phone connection for a home, especially for emergency calls and just having a landline number serves a purpose in some cases, such as a self employment business for instance. I just don't ever use it and don't feel the price I was paying worth it. I have 5 devices in the home that has calling features, two payg on different networks, two skype using the virgin wifi, and my own contract mobile phone. I never need the landline...but who knows, maybe a certain kind of emergency, that landline might prove a saviour.
But today, they unexpectedly gave me a huge lift in spirits. A few days ago, I rang them up to remove my landline. I was paying £46.50 for a 100mbs fibre plus landline (I used to have the highest speed for many years but realise it was overkill for me, 100mbs is more than enough). So that dropped my bill to £38 which will rise to £42 in August when the new tariff is introduced, from what I have been told is the standard rate for the 100mbs broadband. They didn't try to make me any offers or put me through to retentions (which I thought would be the norm for this sort of thing) so I just accepted the new billing (perhaps foolishly). Maybe because of the limited scope of the call centres during lockdown, they didn't have retentions staff!
But then this morning a strange mobile number called my phone and didnt leave any message. I never answer calls that I cannot identify. After searching the "who called me" website, it was an O2 number and somewhere in Leeds whom I have no connection to. So I left it at that. The same number persisted through the day though, and I kept ignoring it and I was even thinking about barring it...but then finally, a voicemail was left...and of course as you can guess, it was a virgin rep from retentions (you probably guessing this whole story but let me roll with it, lol). So this guy left a message that he heard I was dropping my landline and can do a deal that will be a lot cheaper than what I am currently paying without a landline. Naturally I called back, interest piqued.
And yes as I am sure you expected, he offered me landline with m100 broadband package for a much lower rate of £29 per month. And naturally, I said...Let me sleep on...no i didnt, I said YEAH OK!! like an excited puppy about to be given a doggy biscuit. But there had to be a catch. Why the hell would they make so much effort to reach me and get me to pay less and add back my landline to boot. Well he actually told me why, although I didn't quite get it as the details washed over my head but the company somehow profits more by the units sold in a package than what the actual package cost. So my reducing one unit (ie the landline), raised alarm bells and they rather have their customer pay a lot less for two units than what they pay for one unit. Perhaps one of you, who knows how this business works can enlighten me because as I said, that just went over my head when he explained it.
So, that just really made my day...lucky I didn't bar the number! Oh and btw, this person was calling from his own home and using his own mobile which ironically was not a Virgin, it was an O2 mobile which the website did reveal. Because of the lockdown, call centre staff are calling from their own mobiles. As he did not ask me for any security information or payment info (which I would not have offered), I felt safe enough he was genuine. But one has to be on alert with this sort of thing. I also recorded the whole conversation as I always do with my calls.
He never actually told me how long the contract will roll for. I will get an email within 48 hours giving more details so I will see and update here if any of you interested...but even if it is just for a year, that's a heck of a saving that I didn't even pursue.
So, did I get a good deal? You guys, paying less or more? Do you value your landline? It is actually recommended to always keep your landline connected as it is the most reliable phone connection for a home, especially for emergency calls and just having a landline number serves a purpose in some cases, such as a self employment business for instance. I just don't ever use it and don't feel the price I was paying worth it. I have 5 devices in the home that has calling features, two payg on different networks, two skype using the virgin wifi, and my own contract mobile phone. I never need the landline...but who knows, maybe a certain kind of emergency, that landline might prove a saviour.