Forum Discussion

KentDistressed's avatar
KentDistressed
Tuning in
1 month ago
Solved

Renewal notifications 6 months in advance!

Since December 2025, I have been receiving emails advising my current contract is, 'coming to an end soon'. It actually expires on 11th May 2026.

Today, I have received the 'last chance' email, so I looked to see what great offers Virgin Media were offering me.

If I renew today, I can keep the same package for an extra £5.16/mth, with the added bonus that in April, it will increase by an extra £9.16/mth more than it currently is!

I can also reduce my broadband speed, and in April, I will be saving 80p/mth from what I am paying now.

Wow Virgin! You're really looking after your valued customers! Thank you!

I thought I'd try the 'Live Chat', but that isn't working at all. In case it was my browser, I tried Firefox, Chrome and Edge - none of them fire up a live chat window.

All I want to do is converse with Virgin Media to understand why my great options aren't so great.

  • unisoft's avatar
    unisoft
    1 month ago

    No VM are doing this as normal practice now. My contract is up in June, so far they want an extra £11.70 a month just for broadband as a renewal deal, citing it will be more expensive out of contract to then negotiate. This is on the app front page and web portal.

    Firstly, 24 months is too long (18 months was bad enough) and price increases at £4 every year as not my old contract terms after renewal. Those prices are frankly ridiculous for asymmetric coax, and I will be giving notice.  Last time I left over being messed around with retentions people and price. I could have re-joined after 90 days, but I waited 8 months for a good Black Friday deal + Work Perks discount as it was the pricing at the time.

    Things are different this time, and I won't be the losing party. VM were too slow with full fibre and doesn't look like Nexfibre now upgrading my area as per Nexfibre roll out document, after VMO2's strategic review and will be left to Project Mustang (renamed now). I could have had an ONT with GiffGaff and 1gbps symmetric for £35. No modem mode on Hub 5x with VM as the full fibre provider would be a red line that is non-negotiable and is more expensive than the wholesale GifGaff pricing. 5 months left before I depart forever...

7 Replies

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  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    1 month ago

    Why do you need to think about your renewal 6 months before your current minimum term ends? Is your present package/price causing you a problem and prompting a need to change?

    VM is simply chancing its luck and trying to hook you in to a refresh on a new 24 month minimum term whilst at the same time, no doubt, trying to upsell you more product.

    You have greatest leverage over VM in the last 30 days of your minimum term when you are most likely to get a 'great' offer from VM to retain you as a customer.

    • unisoft's avatar
      unisoft
      Super solver
      1 month ago

      No VM are doing this as normal practice now. My contract is up in June, so far they want an extra £11.70 a month just for broadband as a renewal deal, citing it will be more expensive out of contract to then negotiate. This is on the app front page and web portal.

      Firstly, 24 months is too long (18 months was bad enough) and price increases at £4 every year as not my old contract terms after renewal. Those prices are frankly ridiculous for asymmetric coax, and I will be giving notice.  Last time I left over being messed around with retentions people and price. I could have re-joined after 90 days, but I waited 8 months for a good Black Friday deal + Work Perks discount as it was the pricing at the time.

      Things are different this time, and I won't be the losing party. VM were too slow with full fibre and doesn't look like Nexfibre now upgrading my area as per Nexfibre roll out document, after VMO2's strategic review and will be left to Project Mustang (renamed now). I could have had an ONT with GiffGaff and 1gbps symmetric for £35. No modem mode on Hub 5x with VM as the full fibre provider would be a red line that is non-negotiable and is more expensive than the wholesale GifGaff pricing. 5 months left before I depart forever...

  • Mr_K's avatar
    Mr_K
    Knows their stuff
    1 month ago

    Dont do anything until your till your last 30 days. The 'deals' will get better, and you are in a better position to knock the price down even further, should you want to stay. 

    • unisoft's avatar
      unisoft
      Super solver
      1 month ago

      Last time I cancelled, VM left until 48 hours when away from home to text an offer for £17 per month. That actually would have kept me at the time, but when I rang in, nobody could apply it. Originally I was looking at £32 when I spoke to retentions to give an idea (BB Only).

      Throughout the years, retentions normally did a deal, and sometimes I took extra services like TV or Stream. Things changed by 2024, and VM were being more bullish about renewals, and I didn't get a ringback despite marketing options enabled. An offer by SMS with 2 days before actual termination came, which went ahead anyway as their own staff couldn't even apply the offer. I already had another provider booked to supply anyway so had no loss of service.

  • roy247's avatar
    roy247
    Hero
    1 month ago

    Just wait until the last month, make screenshots of anything you accept in case the contract you accept doesn't happen and you roll over on to your non discounted price. Last time this happened to me one of the forum team kept the same package for less than I was paying previously or the new contract price I accepted which I thought wasn't that bad.

    I can't say that will happen for you but I couldn't see why I would want to move to a more expensive contract than I was paying when I got the first contract renewal offer. 🤔

     

  • Steven_L's avatar
    Steven_L
    Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
    1 month ago

    Hello KentDistressed,

    Welcome back to the Community, and thanks for taking the time to post. I’m sorry to hear of the issues that you’re experiencing with the new deal emails that you've been recieving. We don't have any known issues with our live chat system and have been able to access it from here just now. As newapollo advised, do you have any pop-up blockers in place on your browsers?

    To have your package reviewed, please call our team on 150 from a Virgin Media landline or 0345 454 1111. Select options 1, 4, and then 4 again to reach the contracts team, who’ll be happy to look into this further for you. 

    Kind Regards,

    Steven_L