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julieroot's avatar
julieroot
Joining in
2 years ago

Want to swap to basic broadband for telephone landline for dementia mother

Has anybody else had the same problem as I'm having.

My 93yr old dementia mum only has broadband because of the digital switch on her landline. 18 months ago I agreed a TV package at a reduced rate of £33 as at the time I didn't want to change the look of her TV stations and start confusing her. During this time we added in broadband to keep the phone working.  However, since last August my mum has developed serious dementia and no longer watches TV as her concentration has gone. She doesn't make phone calls, but occasionally receives calls from distant relatives. We have added a moving picture frame so she can see photos of her past and the children in the hope that it stimulates her memory.

Since April her VM bill has shot up to £84 due to costs ! I've had a nightmare talking to several VM customer service people trying with all my might to get her bill back down to something sensible. I'm happy to cancel the TV, reduce broadband speed to slow. But all I get is, no can't reduce the package but can reduce the cost to £54, which I feel is still rather unfair.

She doesn't have much money just her pension although not quite pension credit. She has a lot of care costs now and we're trying to just use her money wisely.

I've noticed VM offer Essential Broadband, but she doesn't qualify and I can't seem to get a sensibly priced package. On VM website they advertise £28 for phone & broadband, but I'm not being offered this. Does anyone else have experience of how to reach a successful outcome.

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  • Alex_RM's avatar
    Alex_RM
    Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
    2 years ago

    Hi julieroot,

    Thanks for posting and welcome to our community 😊

    We're sorry to hear of the situation, package changes aren't something we do via this forum. However so I can get a few more details from you, I've popped you over a private message.

    Alex_Rm

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    2 years ago

    In the past, for customer landlines with no broadband service, VM has provided a VM hub which is set up only to provide a phone connection from the phone socket on the back (no broadband provision). AIUI, I think the most recent versions of VM's TV hardware requires a broadband connection to get the channel info. If you now want landline only for your mother that should (theoretically/technically, at least) be possible using a hub set up as described above (phone only, no broadband).

    Unfortunately the VM sales agents on the phone will relentlessly try to upsell you a bundle package which may well bring discounts on the bundle (compared to landline only) for the duration of the minimum term.

    If you really just want a landline only for your mother then you may struggle to get VM to provide that. If there are discount deals on landline only for senior customers, I doubt these will be willingly presented/offered to you by VM's sales agents.

    One of the VM forum team might be able to steer you in the right direction for what you want (if it exists).

    Failing that, you could always try and move the landline number to a new provider and go landline only with another supplier (although I think you might possibly run into similar issues elsewhere). Have you made some parallel enquiries with BT to see what they can offer for landline only for elderly customers?