Why do We Get Ripped Off ??

[Lindsay_B81]

Just wondering why existing customers live myself who have been with Virgin media since the days of BlueYonder are getting there pants pulled down.

IM currently paying around £85 a month and yet when I look on the virgin site I can see deals down to as little as £30 for the first 6 months with a much much better package.

I honestly can't get over how customers who are with virgin and have been for a number of years don't get any sort of decent packages.

I don't use or have a house phone plugged in (Far too many cold callers)

I currently have No virgin TV in a room due to a box failure and can't get an engineer for a week

Yet im still paying silly amounts.
It boils my **bleep** and yes I could go else where but due to the internet which is needed for "working from home" I can't be jumping to sky or anyone else.

[carl_pearce]

If you aren't a new customer you can't get new customer deals.

Seems pretty clear cut to me.

Unfortunate but true.

[Lindsay_B81]

Yes but what about deals for loyal customers that have been with virgin since day one.
Deals for customers that have been with the company through all there changes, all there prices rises and everything else.

[carl_pearce]

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@Lindsay_B81 wrote:

Yes but what about deals for loyal customers that have been with virgin since day one.
Deals for customers that have been with the company through all there changes, all there prices rises and everything else.

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There aren't any.

There is no obligation to do so, so why would they?

Until fibre is available everywhere they have an advantage in many areas of the UK.

[Ginger_Overlord]

Hi Lindsay,

I ditched my Virgin TV package (and landline) because of this. Absolutely no loyalty whatsoever (I still have a blueyonder email address!). They increased my bill by £21+ per month so I cancelled - their loss! I only have an internet package with them now but I can still watch all the TV I want (and more) via streaming services free of charge.

*I find Carls reply (above) a bit bemusing, what a [MOD EDIT: Language] attitude!

Cheers.

[carl_pearce]

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@Ginger_Overlord wrote:

Hi Lindsay,

I ditched my Virgin TV package (and landline) because of this. Absolutely no loyalty whatsoever (I still have a blueyonder email address!). They increased my bill by £21+ per month so I cancelled - their loss! I only have an internet package with them now but I can still watch all the TV I want (and more) via streaming services free of charge.

*I find Carls reply (above) a bit bemusing, what a [MOD EDIT: Language] attitude!

Cheers.

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Just telling it like it is.

[Cardiffman282]

VM don't care about loyalty. They take a whatever-price-the-customer-can-bear approach. I'd suggest reviewing your actual requirements. Do you really need a TV package at all and if so could it be slimmed down? Would you really notice a speed downgrade? Do you have a phone line that you are paying for but not using? Once you have worked out your minimum requirements and bottom line re price call VM and select the thinking-of-leaving-us option (something like 1 1 4 4) and negotiate. VM benefit from inertia and will squeeze it as hard as it can for as long as we allow it too. 

[Adduxi]

VM have no need to give long standing customers anything.  They will always have churn of leavers.

 You always have the option of leaving for a few months and come back as a new customer if you really want to get a "bargain".  

[SCA1972]

As Martin Lewis says, corporations rely on customer apathy, none of them reward loyalty. Do you get rewarded for being loyal to an insurance company, energy provider or bank? I don’t and so I shop around and I haggle to get better deals. I don’t enjoy haggling, but it is more effective than complaining online about a lack of loyalty that doesn’t exist.

I have experienced benefits of being loyal to a local independent garage or shop, but never to a faceless corporation.

[japitts]

There's 2 bits in here, for me. Both are very much FAQs on here.

1: You aren't a new customer, and are comparing against new-customer deals.

2: More importantly - in pure commercial terms, "I'm a loyal customer" can equate to "I'll stay with you regardless" and often equates to not checking your package deal every 18months or so.

Assuming you're outside your minimum contractual term, price up your chosen combination of services from another supplier(s) and compare whatever pricing VM offers you, against that. Now go to VM retentions and see what they'll offer you as an alternative to you taking that other offer.

Plenty of past threads discussing the same.