Forum Discussion

NeilJP's avatar
NeilJP
On our wavelength
2 days ago

Contract Renewal Online

Like many I have a renewal offer for my contract which ends next month. The renewal states: “choose this deal and keep your current Virgin Media plan without losing anything”.

So, this deal should mean absolutely NO changes to anything I currently have and it is for £2 less per month than I’m currently paying. It states there will be a price increase next April of about £4 and the contract is again for 18 months. If that is the case then I’ll likely go for it but……

Before I click the renewal, can a Virgin Rep please confirm that my current Netflix Standard (without Ads) will remain that way? If not then I’m sorry but Virgin are attempting to mis-sell, a problem I’ve encountered before, hence my question. I did try contacting online chat but they couldn’t access the deal to confirm but did say that if I accepted it, then found anything had changed - including a NetFlix downgrade, then yes, that would be mis-selling and I would (again) have grounds for this to be corrected and compensated by Virgin.

Sorry to be so negative, but something always seems to goes wrong at renewal!

Thanks,

Neil

billing
netflix
renewal problems

10 Replies

  • NeilJP's avatar
    NeilJP
    On our wavelength
    2 days ago

    Exactly! And I asked because I’ve been bitten twice before. Last year I agreed to renew keeping my exact same package for the exact same price and they removed TNT sports! Worse, they tried to tell me TNT was a priced (£18) add on when in fact I had it included for free in my sports package which until a couple of years ago Virgin didn’t even offer to split. After a lot of pain & grief I did get it reinstated.

    The previous renewal I agreed to a price only to find they’d removed my Sports HD channels! something I certainly had not agreed to. Again they apologised and reinstated them and even offered a slightly better price, but what a dreadful way to run a company…!

    I hate contract renewal time. You either feel ripped off or something gets removed from your package that you didn’t agree to.

    Most customers just want a fair price for the services used. It should be clear and simple what is included and what is not so that customers can compare suppliers and make an informed decision but that seems to be getting harder each year.

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    2 days ago

    Your contract is with VM, the retailer. If VM has a pricing problem with their supplier that is for them to deal with.

    If VM want to pass the price increase on to you they can do so. But they have got to make that clear, and not avoid it by a hidden downgrade in the service. That really is devious. 

  • NeilJP's avatar
    NeilJP
    On our wavelength
    2 days ago

    Ok, so it’s a bit of a con then as it clearly states …”without losing anything” which isn’t correct.
    Today I have Netflix standard with no ads yet if I sign up to renew, from next month I’ll actually get a downgrade of Netflix.
    Poor show again Virgin. I’d rather you had been honest up front and made this clear or better still increased the price slightly to cover the now required upgrade rather than lie to me as a customer saying “without losing anything”.

     

    • Kath_P's avatar
      Kath_P
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
      16 hours ago

      Hi NeilJP, 

      We understand the frustration. The services themselves wouldn't change, so the tier of broadband, TV and phone. However you should check the pre-contract documents for any add on's you have. This will confirm what tier of Netflix will be included. 

      We would always recommend reading over the pre-contract documents before accepting any deal as this will tell you exactly what the renewed package will include. 

      Many thanks, 

      • NeilJP's avatar
        NeilJP
        On our wavelength
        11 hours ago

        Hi, I checked the pre-contract paperwork when it came through but NetFlix is not mentioned or noted anywhere. It is allegedly within “Mega TV 3” but no breakdown of channels/content are given on the contract pages. I googled the issue and found others had same problem in that having signed what is supposed to be an identical contract they found they had been effectively mis-sold a down-grade to NetFlix. Virgin’s lack of transparency regarding this is very poor and it’s more than just a frustration to expect me to now pay to remove the NetFlix ad content, something I already had for free..!

        Sorry but I will be raising an official complaint about this as yet again I feel I’ve been duped by VM’s less than honest sales tactics.

  • Vikki_M's avatar
    Vikki_M
    Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
    2 days ago

    Hi Neil,

    We offer the most basic Netflix package with our inclusive bundles so that won't change. You would still be on the basic inclusive Netflix tier. However, Netflix has introduced a new basic tier now which is Netflix with ads. 

    Therefore, you will still be put on the basic package, however Netflix have changed this so you'd  be on the Netflix with ads. You can however upgrade this if you wish.

    We don't do package changes here on the forums, however if you would like discuss any possible deals, we'd recommend please contacting the team on one of the below channels. 

    Call: 150 (free of charge) from a Virgin Media landline or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone
    WhatsApp: +44 7803 089 684