Forum Discussion

Cozzy's avatar
Cozzy
Tuning in
11 months ago

Bill Increase ludacris

So i have been a VM customer for 20+ years (back when it was NTL) and i was paying for 3 Tivo boxes/350 BB/phone line/sky sports/movies/TNT sports and the bill was around £78 a month. Now my contract has run out the price was hiked to over £150 a month. 

I have called retentions to discuss the bill/package and it has been a nightmare, insanely expensive and just generally unhelpful. I discussed removing a box, sky sports, tnt, movies, lowering the internet speed and removing the landline and i still got quoted £94 a month, insane. 

So after many years a virgin media customer I am forced to change provider, I have cancelled everything and it will all go off March 1st. I even tried just keeping the internet so that i wouldnt have to change my email for everything but, even lowering it to 125meg they want £54 a month why do loyal customers get bent over so bad? its 27/month online for new customers. shocking!

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    11 months ago

    You might think that you are a loyal customer. But to VM the only loyal customer is one that just pays without question when the bill goes up every year.  Fortunately as other providers are busy putting in FTTP there are now other choices,

    • Cozzy's avatar
      Cozzy
      Tuning in
      11 months ago

      Ye true. It's pretty frustrating though, I've been using my ntlworld email for years and the thought of changing everything to a new email is rather annoying but looks like I'm being forced to, unfortunately. 

      • CantStandVM's avatar
        CantStandVM
        On our wavelength
        10 months ago

        Although it doesn't help, you should sign up with another provider but don't use any email service they provide, there are lots of independent email providers out there and when your contract comes to an end and they hike the prices, as all providers generally do, it's much easier to make the switch to another provider. 

  • Matthew_ML's avatar
    Matthew_ML
    Forum Team
    11 months ago

    Hey Cozzy, thank you for reaching out and I am sorry to hear you will be leaving us.

    We understand this is frustrating and this is something I can for sure feed back for you.

    However before you do leave us, I would check out this link you may find a great deal there. Cheers 

    • Cozzy's avatar
      Cozzy
      Tuning in
      11 months ago

      Hi that link takes me to a page that says "We're sorry we couldn't help you" and asks me to chat to an agent or call you. No 'great deals' 😕 

  • Alby41's avatar
    Alby41
    Up to speed
    11 months ago

    Another 90 days from cancellation in effect ... you can be a new customer again ... get a discounted price with VM .. crazy aint it .....😎  happy days ...just sayin

    • Matthew_ML's avatar
      Matthew_ML
      Forum Team
      11 months ago

      Hey Alby41, thank you for reaching out and I am sorry to hear this.

      I can feed this back for you sure, is there anything else you need some support with?

  • neil100's avatar
    neil100
    On our wavelength
    10 months ago

    Same here I was with ntl , my contract is finished and they want £87 for 125 meg , I rang them 3 times they said they could knock another £2 off . so im going to look now for another provider. Loyal customers do not mean anything now only new ones .

    • unisoft's avatar
      unisoft
      Knows their stuff
      10 months ago

      Indeed. Record long term customers leaving over past few months on this forum, including me.

      Be interesting to see the churn rate reported in the figures.

      Prices completely out of control. VM gotta get a grip on this, BT FTTP 500mbps often on offer via Openreach providers for around £30, and around £10 more out of contract. With VM they wanted £75.07 off me which the list price out of contract for new customers was £73!

      Customers are sick of playing the hokey cokey with retentions every 18 months. A new customer deal should be like £5-£10 cheaper than an existing customer at most, and get rid of the £200 bill credits and free tvs. Then everyone can have sensible out of contract prices and reduce customers having to go through retentions. If the overall pricing and out of contact prices are much cheaper than today then the retention offers could be more sensible like a few £ off. Also saves VM on refurbishing returned kit and people coming back as new customers again to get the free gifts, topcashback/quidco cashback and new kit sent again.

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    10 months ago

    Everything you say is correct, and yet they persist with this stupid hotch-potch of pricing. I can only assume it works for them because there is a base of 'loyal' customers who don't realise how much they are paying by just letting their contracts run year after year. 

    I can guess how much I might argue off the bill when my contract expires in a few months. Comparing that with the quote I have from a reputable Openreach supplier with UK support lines, I would be foolish to stay.