Virgin Media Community

[Ganda1f]

Why am I paying £49 a month when a new customer get the same deal (M200) for £28 a month for 18 months?

[goslow]

If you are out of contract and no longer getting new customer pricing, have you phoned VM to renegotiate your package/price?

[japitts]

This is one of those "if I had a pound for every time" type questions, and a search of this forum will find dozens of threads on a similar theme.

The short answer is that you're not a new customer, but by using various tactics you can often get a reasonable discount on the standard pricing in exchange for a new 18month contract.

[Ganda1f]

I did yes, I got offered a loyalty discount, which was great until I found others can get the same as me for £21 a month less, this is discrimination against current customers and is simply unacceptable. If Virgin can provide the service for £28 a month for 18 months, why aren’t we all getting the same price?

[Ganda1f]

So the question is “Why do you need to keep answering this question”? Surely if it comes up that often they should rectify the situation, it’s little more than poor customer service

[goslow · Accepted solution]

For the reasons about new customer vs existing customer pricing, have a read through past topics, as suggested by @japitts, where it has been discussed many times over.

VM really is not too bothered about retaining customers, especially those on lower tier packages or broadband-only type of deals, for example. VM want to sell you full bundles of services at higher cost per month.

As regards getting a better price ...

In the past, you could ring up VM to renew and usually get a bit of a discount and that was a fairly reliable certainty.

Now VM's discounts/offers seem to be dynamic and ever-changing (even through a single day) so depending when and who you speak to, you may get different offers and deals. The offer you get at one time may not be there if you want to think about it and call back.

Follow the two links here

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Managing-Your-Account-Cable/Shocked/m-p/4882213#M169835

for some excellent advice from @Andrew-G, one of the forum VIPs, on renegotiating.

Success (or not) in getting a better price from VM will depend on having done some research on other alternatives available to you, as well as having a serious intention to walk away and move from VM if they do not provide a competitive offer. Some reports on here suggest you might possibly get a call back from VM with a good offer only when you actually put your notice in to leave but that call back is not guaranteed at all.

If you are a broadband-only customer, and you have an acceptable speed available to you from other providers, then you will almost certainly get better pricing as a new customer elsewhere (which kind of comes full circle back to your original point because other providers also offer new customer discounts!).

[japitts]

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@Ganda1f wrote:

I did yes, I got offered a loyalty discount, which was great

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It seems to me that, as alluded to by goslow, you've done things the wrong way around.

You need to do your research into pricing before calling VM retentions, not afterwards. Know what your chosen combination of services will cost from both VM and a couple of alternative suppliers - and go into a call with VM armed with the relevant facts & figures. If you're happy with the deal you're offered, then accept it and enjoy your new bundle. If you're not, then make a decision whether to give your 30days cancellation notice and proceed with an alternative supplier.

Deals & offers change all the time, and are often individual to particular customers. I'm afraid that's a fact of life, and VM's discounting process especially

[Ganda1f]

Thank you, it seems I’ll be calling tomorrow and potentially switching soon after.

Thank you for your help.

[goslow]

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@Ganda1f wrote:

Thank you, it seems I’ll be calling tomorrow and potentially switching soon after.

Thank you for your help.

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Good luck with the renegotiation. I hope VM come back with something acceptable.

A final point worth considering if you do decide to switch, you may want to consider overlapping the end of your VM service with the beginning of any new one until you are happy the new one fits your requirements and works well during any cooling off period.

Might cost you a month or so of paying for two services but should avoid you being without broadband if the new service gets delayed for any reason and your VM service has finished.

[Tudor]

Deals change from day to day even hour to hour or different reps. If you get a good deal maybe accept it, it’s like roulette, win some lose some.