I'm on basic broadband & TV and was paying £36 at the start of the contract last year. It ends in a couple of weeks so I rang retentions. First I was offered £48, then a final offer of £44 when I was put through to the UK office.That seems like a big increase (even taking annual increase into account) considering I've lost Eurosports which was one of the best features of TV. New customers are getting much bigger packages (e.g. Bigger Combo Bundle) for a lot less than £44.

They are charging more, because they want to use the money to build a fund to take over ALTNETS when they start to struggle. By nature, if you remove competition, you can then go back to your usual model. There are ALTNETS in areas that VM does not operate, and in areas where they have old coax. Longer contracts tie people into VM in the hope the ALTNETS struggle due to customers being held longer under minimum term contracts.

Thanks for joining me in a private message stannoo, it was a pleasure assisting you with your package. Should you need us in the future please do reach back out to us. Sabrina

Hi Regentroad5 👋Thank you for posting and welcoming you back onto our Community forum 😊We can't give a specific number of what it will increase or decrease to. This depends as prices are always changing. You can find out more and to your specific price point you can give our sales team a call on 👉0800 183 1234. Let us know how you get on.

The initial contract price would have been with discounts. These discounts should be clearly shown on your Contract, so the price would have been known in advance. This is normal for VM, as is the "new" customer pricing. If you want a better price, you need to deal with retentions and note any price given will be a one off offer valid only at that time. Otherwise be ready to leave for another ISP if you are not happy. I've left twice and returned when the price was right for me.

The last contract wasn't my first. I've been with VM and predecessors for many years, so it wasn't a "new customer" contract.My issue is I being asked more than 20% more for a smaller package (i.e. no Eurosport).

Big increase in new contract offer | Virgin Media Community

11 Replies

Mr_K
Knows their stuff
6 days ago
Vote with your feet. They lost over 51 400 customers in the last quarter. They therefore need to charge those that remain more and tie them down to longer contracts.
https://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/virgin-media-o2-sheds-51400-broadband-customers-in-last-quarter
- unisoft
  Super solver
  6 days ago
  They are charging more, because they want to use the money to build a fund to take over ALTNETS when they start to struggle. By nature, if you remove competition, you can then go back to your usual model. There are ALTNETS in areas that VM does not operate, and in areas where they have old coax. Longer contracts tie people into VM in the hope the ALTNETS struggle due to customers being held longer under minimum term contracts.
  - regentroad5
    Superfast
    4 days ago
    When I open the "openreach" site and type in my postcode and look at Full Fibre options I'm presented with loads of provider options.
    https://www.openreach.com/
    Does this increase, or not, the likelihood of an attractive offer from Virgin Media when my contract ends in a few months?
    Thank you.
Adduxi
Very Insightful Person
6 days ago
The initial contract price would have been with discounts. These discounts should be clearly shown on your Contract, so the price would have been known in advance. This is normal for VM, as is the "new" customer pricing. If you want a better price, you need to deal with retentions and note any price given will be a one off offer valid only at that time. Otherwise be ready to leave for another ISP if you are not happy. I've left twice and returned when the price was right for me.
- stannoo
  On our wavelength
  6 days ago
  The last contract wasn't my first. I've been with VM and predecessors for many years, so it wasn't a "new customer" contract.
  My issue is I being asked more than 20% more for a smaller package (i.e. no Eurosport).
  - japitts
    Very Insightful Person
    4 days ago
    My issue is I being asked more than 20% more for a smaller package (i.e. no Eurosport).
    In fairness, this isn't directly VM's fault but that of Warner Bros Discovery - the parent company of Eurosport & TNT.
    They've closed the budget sports brand in Eurosport, and shifted the content to their premium TNT suite of channels. Unfortunately, that has price implications for Joe Public.