VM broadband only rates

[Andrew3651]

Not sure if this is the right board but hey-ho.

I'm being charged £45.50pcm for 100Mbps broadband only, following an 8+% hike. That's a 90% premium on the newbie rate and, frankly a oke in the eye for someone who has been with the network since Nynex days. It also seems out of sync with the wider market given BT are rolling out faster services at pace - I'm just a couple of weeks away with cables going down as I type.

Currently BT offers 28-36Mb for circa £25 (yeah, newbie rate but I don't think BT punishes loyalty?) and it looks like 67+ will be available soon from around £30.

I've already dropped from 150Mb to 100Mb without noticing a thing. So would dropping to 67Mb really hurt? . I'm kind of sick of being treated like something you've trodden in by VM, albeit not by the people on this forum.

[-tony-]

as you are out of contract then its easy ring and give 30 days notice and sit back - the chances are that they will ring you with an offer that they hope you will not refuse - i would hazard a guess if they do it will be well below what you are paying now - its usually a one time offer - take it or leave it - if you refuse or want to think about it you lose the offer as only outbound can do it and you cannot contact them

so do your homework - decide what is acceptable and what others are offering and go from there - worst case is you let your 30 days run and you are gone

[BatletUK]

Indeed, I phoned to cancel having every intention of switching to EE or BT and outbound called back with an offer that simply would have been stupid to refuse. Depends on reasons for considering leaving though, of course.

[Andrew3651]

They'd have to go sub £30 to keep me. Even then I'm not sure; i don't see why I should need jump through hoops simply not to get ripped off as a customer of decaes standing. Been with VM since before VM existed, from when the Nynex cables first went down. They certainly know how to p*** me off.

[DissapointedVM]

100% agree mate, I've been with VM for 15 years, and now they're charging me £55 for 350mb?!?!?! Competition do 500mb and twice the upload at £40, spoke to retention and it's like they don't care and admitted they can't compete?! VM's customer service has become rubbish over the last few years, now they've lost the speed race it's like they've given up and are not bothered about keeping customers?

The best deal I was offered was £44 for 350mb which is still rubbish compared to competition and a slap in the face for being with them so long considering they offer better deals to new customers.

VM isn't going to be around for long at this rate!

[Andrew3651]

Yep. Notoriously poor CS coupled with bewildering management and pricing that's increasingly out of sync with the rest of the market is a recipe for disaster.

[DissapointedVM]

It's a sorry state of affairs, I used to sing VMs praises, but now they're a shadow of what they used to be. Retention used to have some clout, but now they say they can't do anything or are not willing to try to keep you? I can't understand why at the least they can't price match, just greed I guess?

[gary_dexter]

What’s wrong with businesses trying to make money? Why do you HAVE to be given a retention offer?

[Andrew3651]

I don't HAVE to be given a retention offer but, you know, a 90% premium for being a customer of 25 years standing over a newbie does feel like a poke in the eye. So does an 8.33% rate hike which, despite their protestations, is unjustifiable. So VM don't need offer me anything. I'll just bugger off eleswhere as will I'm sure many others.

The point is if VM keep being so uncompetitive - the pricing is way out - continue to be so contemptuous of their customers and offer such poor CS, they will stop making profit. 

[nodrogd]

VM now have some serious competition in our area, with Fibre distribution boxes now going up on all the poles. 1GB upgrade is hastily being rolled out all over town. Had a knock on the door twice from one company offering 1GB FTTP free for 6 months. Not that we are thinking of changing anytime soon, being heavy Virgin TV users & having no need of that kind of speed anyway.

If this starts to happen in a lot of places VM may have to up their game to keep customers. Dropping the non fault callout fee to £25 was a good start, but looking at renewal pricing should be high on the agenda.

[Andrew3651]

BT just offered me 150Mb average download speed (30 up), £29.99 pcm, 24 month contract.

So at 50% cheaper - best part of £200 a year - I'm off.