Virgin Media Retentions Discussion- Part 3

Sounds like my experience, they don’t seem to want to keep existing customers anymore
I didn’t get a call back ( so far ) when I cancelled on the 19th of last month
iI intend to just keep broadband ( for now ) the best I could get was 100m for £32 a month, and that was after raising a complaint having been told different things every time I rang
not impressed with them at all
 
Just cancelled this evening after being put through to retentions. My bill went up to £78 for 100mb, full house tv and weekend calls. For new customers that budle is currently on offer for £45. Said the best they could do me was £71. Daft.

Interested to see when i get a call, or if i get a call. The lad on the phone was awful. Zero help, sounded like he couldn't be bothered at all and didn't want to be there.

@fcz

I'm on the same package as you. Was £56 with discount but now gone up to £78. First line support said they couldn't offer anything better, second line support (UK Based one) offered me it for £60 fixed for 18 months. I'm tempted but new customers are paying £45 at the moment on a 12 month deal.

Not sure what to do, going to sleep on it. This was from normal second line support, not through me cancelling.
 
@fcz

I'm on the same package as you. Was £56 with discount but now gone up to £78. First line support said they couldn't offer anything better, second line support (UK Based one) offered me it for £60 fixed for 18 months. I'm tempted but new customers are paying £45 at the moment on a 12 month deal.

Not sure what to do, going to sleep on it. This was from normal second line support, not through me cancelling.
Literally had a phone call approximately one hour ago. English bloke. Asked why I was cancelling. So I basically said I was going through my finances, noticed my bill had increased quite a bit, checked the website and saw that new customers were getting my exact package for a highly reduced price. Which obviously I didn't think was fair. The operators I spoke to wouldn't offer me discount so I thought it would be silly to pay an inflated price as a customer over over 16 years.

Straight away he offered me the exact package I was on for £49. Then added that he would double the broadband speed to 200. 12 month contract.

This I happily accepted.

A totally different experience to the operators I spoke to last night who seriously couldn't be bothered.

Play the game and cancel.
 
Cool. Let’s roll the dice then.
 
im about to roll that dice, SKY at £39 looks better than Virgin at £83! and i've been there since TELEWEST!
 
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I’ve now, this morning been disconnected (tv and phone ) keeping the broadband for now , had to fight and raise complaints to get 100mb for £32 a month , not really a brilliant price, but better than the £37 for 50mb they originally wanted, why I didn’t get a retentions call with an offer I could accept I’ve no idea ?
was just tired of the whole process ( being told a different thing every time I spoke to someone )
been with them 30 years , they don’t seem interested !
 
Cool. Let’s roll the dice then.

Took about 3 days for phone call. I was away on holidays so didn't take the daily calls initially.

I was on Full House TV with BT Sport, 100mb Broadband and Weekend Calls. Was paying £56 which went up to £78 - best I had been offered was £60 a month for 18 months.

Retentions phoned today. Offered same package but upgraded broadband to 200mb - £49 a month 12 months price. They also threw in 12 months Amazon Prime membership.

I accepted -_-
 
Took about 3 days for phone call. I was away on holidays so didn't take the daily calls initially.

I was on Full House TV with BT Sport, 100mb Broadband and Weekend Calls. Was paying £56 which went up to £78 - best I had been offered was £60 a month for 18 months.

Retentions phoned today. Offered same package but upgraded broadband to 200mb - £49 a month 12 months price. They also threw in 12 months Amazon Prime membership.

I accepted -_-

just got off the phone , they offered me your Old £56 Package

I said no thanks, lets see if they come back with something better
 
Paying around £70 for 350 BB, Lowest TV tier and talk anytime.

If do the cancel thing how long do I get before I'm cut off?

Also I want to keep the package I have, is it possible to get offered a better price on the same package or do they try to offer a lower tier package to get the better prices.

We have been with VM since ntlworld days so quite some time, we have tried to negotiate prices a few times, maybe getting a few pounds off or a free TV service such as movies/sport for 12 months but never have we said we will cancel.

I gather you can phone back if they don't ring you as well, as obviously we don't really want to cancel.

Thanks
 
Paying around £70 for 350 BB, Lowest TV tier and talk anytime.

If do the cancel thing how long do I get before I'm cut off?

Also I want to keep the package I have, is it possible to get offered a better price on the same package or do they try to offer a lower tier package to get the better prices.

We have been with VM since ntlworld days so quite some time, we have tried to negotiate prices a few times, maybe getting a few pounds off or a free TV service such as movies/sport for 12 months but never have we said we will cancel.

I gather you can phone back if they don't ring you as well, as obviously we don't really want to cancel.

Thanks
i think you have to bite the bullet and cancel with 30 days notice these days, the original 150 bunch didn't offer me anything except to say he was Disheartened i was cancelling which made me laugh
the second bunch UK based offered me the deal as i stated and when i mentioned other deals i'd seen, like the fella who got what am currently on for £49 plus Amazon Prime he said a 3rd bunch Retentions may call me

so i think you just have to style it out, personally Sky and BB for £39 is looking pretty good and maybe go back in a year if they don't improve their deal

they always bang on about how fast the broadband is but honestly i haven't noticed any real world change since it when over 50mb
 
Just posted my virgin tv box back in the packaging they sent to me
no chance of a deal now , must say in a funny way I’m glad to be done with it
 
Full house tv phone ( weekends ) and 100mb Internet £58 , would’ve gone up to a ridiculous £78 a month had I not cancelled
( no movies but BT sport ,which I didn’t want )
 
Full house tv phone ( weekends ) and 100mb Internet £58 , would’ve gone up to a ridiculous £78 a month had I not cancelled
( no movies but BT sport ,which I didn’t want )
they offered me that before retentions for £56 ..i still have a week to accept it if they dont offer me anything else or i cant be bothered to change ,,but if i dump BT sport i can get sky for £40
 
Sky usually charge extra for HD make sure it’s included
 
I've had really mixed experience with the retentions teams, a mixed bag as has been reported by other people. Seems to be a lottery as to who you speak to, some operators will bend over backwards to help, others don't seem to care if you leave or not. The lessons I've learnt over the years are:

1. If you have any kind of fault (slow or intermittent broadband, losing channels etc) always report it. I know it's a hassle ringing them up, but they log every time you ring tech support, so the more you ring them the more leverage you have if you later say you're leaving because of poor service

2. If someone offers you a deal on the phone, always get their name and the full details of the deal, and make sure it's logged on their system. I spoke to one guy who offered me the same package with a £20 discount, then I rang back the next day and spoke to someone else who offered me a £10 discount and denied all knowledge of any other offer. Don't assume you'll always get the same or better deal if you wait

3. Don't assume you'll get a call-back. It doesn't always work to call their bluff, as they no longer seem as concerned about losing customers as they once did (although it's obviously patchy depending on who you speak to).

4. Always have the full details of other packages to hand so you can quote them, it doesn't mean they'll always match them on the spot, but they're more likely to take you seriously if you've done your research about other offers which are out there.
 
Did all of the above ( also note the time and day of the call ) they tried to deny a price I was offered , and I accepted 100mb bb for £32 , told them to listen to the call recording ( had the exact time )
 
Did all of the above ( also note the time and day of the call ) they tried to deny a price I was offered , and I accepted 100mb bb for £32 , told them to listen to the call recording ( had the exact time )

All I can think is that the different customer service teams are being run almost in isolation, under totally different leadership styles and instructions. Working in a large organisation I can attest to the fact that two different teams, purportedly delivering the same service can vary hugely in the quality of that service, depending on the direction and leadership they get. It sounds like a lottery these days, and if I hadn't got a decent deal I would have jumped ship, and I doubt I'll stay with Virgin after my current contract is up because I only want a broadband deal, and Virgin charge you more to just have broadband than to roll everything in - plus they don't offer guaranteed coverage across the home like other providers now do.
 
Just had the call back, was offered and accepted the £49 a month deal I was on for £55 so a result. Offered sky cinema at £5 a month said I'd think about it.
Phew
 
All I can think is that the different customer service teams are being run almost in isolation, under totally different leadership styles and instructions.

As far as I'm aware, the Virgin Media call centres that we get put through to in India/Philippines are actually outsourced to Accenture. I'm in this business, so know that they will have tight Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to stick to, with financial penalties if they are breached. In most cases, the offshore/outsourced teams will be very limited as to what they can offer.

The way outsourcing contracts are done nowadays, they are more likely measured by how much discount/free upgrades they are able to avoid giving away (which gets reported to Virgin as Profit improvement) rather than by how many customers they have helped to retain or keep happy by handing out incentives. There is likely to be some Artificial Intelligence software running that provides the call centre agent with a "profile" of the customer they are speaking with, which will suggest what might be acceptable to them & rate their propensity to actually leave rather than just threaten to leave.

Just bear in mind that most of the offshore call centres are staffed by very low end resources, with high levels of attrition, and that they generally have a strict script to stick to, that they will be unable to move away from. It's not their fault, it's the way the contracts are written & enforced.

Some, if not all, of the UK based contact centres on the other hand are still Virgin staff & they have a much wider ability to offer things and go off-script. There will still be guiding principles that they have to work within & I'm sure that individual manager's styles will influence some of the variation there seems to be when talking with different teams.

Personally I always try to speak with either a Scottish or Welsh based representative when it comes to negotiating a new deal. I've been with Virgin/ntl since 2000 & have always managed to get a new deal that I'm happy with, without having to threaten to leave. I just "emphasise" what their competition are offering. I've just started with this years negotiations, so will let you know how I get on.

Currently I'm paying £89 for VIP bundle with 350MB BB, unlimited calls, Full House TV + Sky Sports & Movies, 2x V6 boxes... A Philippines based agent "offered" me the Ultimate Oomph package for £133 last night, which I "politely" declined.

I'm expecting a call back this morning from a different team.

My aim is to get the Ultimate Oomph package for as close to the £79 it's being offered to new clients for, although I'll accept if they keep it at £89. Also aiming for a 12 month contract with pricing fixed for 18 months, just so I don't have to go through the same rigmorole in a year's time.
 

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