VM locking customers into TWO YEAR contracts

[Cardiffman282]

With competition and cost pressures heating up it seems VM are quietly and gradually bumping up contract lengths from the more familiar 18 months to a marathon two years (BT, bless their soles, routinely use two year contracts now).

I will monitor this on a monthly basis but current examples include both M250 and Gig1 packages for new customers with just the first quarter of the contract discounted.

The two year contracts are, of course, now also fully locked in under the new and more onerous Ts and Cs so that (a) you can no longer just cancel without penalty if you don't like the mid contract price hike every February and (b) that mid contract price hike is the highest of all of the major providers as it uses the higher RPI measure of inflation and is RPI plus 3.9%.

It seems the Essentials, Student (and of course rolling) contracts will continue to be special cases in this respect.

I am also not aware, at time of posting, that renewing customers are being hit by this trend either but am very open to hearing about your experience upon negotiating a new deal re length of contract being demanded by VM please. 

This thread would benefit from observations from other VM forum users please who spot new two year contractual lock ins.

Let's see where VM choose to go with it and shine some more light on it together. 

[Tudor]

Have you read a two year contract yet? Best wait until you have before making assumptions about the T&Cs, although you may be right.

[Cardiffman282]

The new Ts and Cs (1 May 2023) in the preamble already embrace two year contract lengths.

But, as indicated, I am open to contributions from everyone affected by two year contracts to share their experiences and circumstances so that we can all get a better sense of where VM are going with this. 

[Cardiffman282]

Browsing through forum posts I have now found evidence of existing customers being presented with 24 month contracts here (as an option upon renewal negotiation) and here (after moving house). 

[newapollo]

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@Cardiffman282 wrote:

(a) you can no longer just cancel without penalty if you don't like the mid contract price hike every February and (b) that mid contract price hike is the highest of all of the major providers as it uses the higher RPI measure of inflation and is RPI plus 3.9%.

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Hi @Cardiffman282 

The annual price increase (3.9% plus RPI rate) is from April onwards, not February.  

VM use the RPI rate announced in February.

[Cardiffman282]

Point taken ta but the wider point still stands. 

[MrHalfAsleep]

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband/product/9363/?sourceList=Share 

If this were available for existing customers, I wouldn't say no if they offered it for 2 years.  Cheaper (via telegraph pole) is available elsewhere, the speed is much lower than what I'm already getting.  My nephew and his friends would be happy too, and I'm fairly easy going if they need access to the innernets.  Folk should always read the blurbs first to see if they approve of what they're saying yes to.

[Client62]

A two year contract is fine provided we can strike a price and stick to it for two years.

[Cardiffman282]

I have just reviewed this trend towards two year lock ins and the number has doubled since my first post on this thread.

Currently the following are now offered to prospective new customers on two year terms:

M125 with a 6 month discount

M250 with a 6 month discount

M350 with a 6 month discount

Gig1 with a 6 month discount. 

I will keep this thread under review but it seems increasingly clear that VM regards longer contracts combined with uncapped early disconnection fees as one answer to growing FTTP competition. 

[Cardiffman282]

And just to confound my theory I did my occasional sampling of new customer offers using the same test address and lo and behold not a single two year contract in sight. All deals at time of posting are 18 month ones.