price rise 2023

[wayne1956]

Hi all just had a e/mail from VM saying my package is going up by £21.50 per month i am paying £49.12 per month for m250bb / maxi tv with sports / home phone so phone CR i got a massive reduction to 24.00 per month for 6 months my contract ends July 12  2023 so i think it is best to wait & see what they offer me then . 

[fulabeer]

First off, Virgin are rising their prices by RPI+3.9%.

All other providers are using the CPI+3.9%, which is the lower rate. So even in these hard times Virgin are taking advantage.

So being with this company since the Cable & Wireless times, it's time to say goodbye. (I have 500mb + £6 O2 sim Volt to 1gb offer)

However, it isn't because of the recent price rise (as such). No it is down to the most awful customer service that any company could offer.

I mean it is absolutely the worse i have ever dealt with. The robot chat is bad, the robotic real humans can be even worse.

You repeatedly explain the problem, only for them to answer from a script. Even sorting out a new contact is difficult.

Me: "my bills are too high and i cannot afford them". "Ok Sir, let me have a look"

Them "Ok Sir, i can upgrade you to faster broadband, all the channels plus BT sports and i will add on a sim deal"

Them, "You can have this just for an extra £50 per month (on top of your current deal) how does this sound?" ???????

And this is if you can get to a real person in the first place. I wanted to break contract with the price rise "get out" loophole. Which they are closing next year!

I phoned first and got nowhere. It was suggested to use the chat. The chat suggested i use WhatsApp.

So i started the on WhatsApp. Well it has taken me 8 days before a real person responded. In those 8 days i have had to constantly confirm i still want help. Then complete the security questions again and again. Then 8pm arrives and it goes silent. Rinse and repeat for 8 days!

Finally somebody responded and offered to cancel the price rise until the end of my contract. NOPE! Cut me off.

My new provider from Openreach's new pure fibre to the house 900mb service starts on the March 28th (£7 cheaper and no need for the Volt Sim). Virgin cut me off 5 April.

They had me by the "whatsits" for years as they knew nobody else offered better. Not the case since last month in my street (brilliant timing)

I will never ever return. Which is a shame because i had no issues with the actual service, just the (lack of) customer service over the years.

[wayne1956]

Hi yes totally agree thay do work to a script . the service good but i find that i don't get the speed that is on my package m250 i have been doing speed tests the most i get is about 90meg at best . thay offed me a discount i was paying £49.12 now i am paying £24.00 so i accepted it until the end of my contract in July then see what the offer is & if i go for a new contract then i will insist on no price rise for the entire 18 months if not then i am off .

[jbrennand · Accepted solution]

A speed of ~90 is always suspicious of a failed ethernet cable, a PC network card set to 100 and not 1GB, QoS/antiviral software on the PC, or if on wifi connecting on the slower 2.4 GHz band - so can you test this way...
___________________________

Forget the wifi speeds for the time being. As you expect >100Mbps then connect a 1GB enabled computer/laptop (check its network card is set to 1GB) , with up to date drivers, via a NEW and working Cat5e/6a ethernet cable, directly to the Hub which you have put into “modem mode” (https://www.virginmedia.com/help/virgin-media-hub-modem-mode ).
Or go into the Hub settings and turn off/disable the wifi and also disconnect all ethernet cables from the Hub. This ensures that NO other devices are connected

Test speeds at https://speedtest.samknows.com/ - or https://www.speedtest.net/ - try on 2 different browsers - as Chrome sometimes gives odd results.

If they are still low – boot your device into Windows safe+networking mode - to disable any potentially interfering software - and try again.

There are many posts on here (I have a list of ~30!) where QoS software, anti-virus, unknown/flaky software, old network card drivers, corrupted browsers, bad cables or other connected devices are limiting speeds on tests.

Report back what that gets. For examples of why... see message 7 in the first thread and 9 in in the second and 3 in the third

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Speed/HUB-5-and-IGB-wifi/td-p/5088163

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Networking-and-WiFi/Slow-Ethernet-Speed/m-p/5060946#M484321

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Speed/Upgrade-from-M600-to-Gig1-no-speed-change-with-Hub-4/td-p...

[wayne1956]

Hi just done a speed test download is 91.4 upload is 18.00 use a ethernet cable from the my hifi net radio box so i know it works ok connected to modem so i don't know i am not too tech minded i will delve in to this more . thanks 

[carl_pearce]

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@wayne1956 wrote:

Hi just done a speed test download is 91.4 upload is 18.00 use a ethernet cable from the my hifi net radio box so i know it works ok connected to modem so i don't know i am not too tech minded i will delve in to this more . thanks 

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Using what device for the speed test?

[jbrennand]

Use a laptop or computer.

What "Cat" number is the ethernet cable you are using and how old is it ?

Does the "radio box" have a 1GB ethernet port or is it a 100/10 one - if the latter - the max you will get is ~100 mbps

[PBou]

WOW I'm charged a massive £82.75 for M350, basic Mixtv, phone,
when I asked to reduce my broadband to M125 I am told by virgin my bill will go UP!!
when I ask to cancel my basic TV they tell me no reduction to pricing.
Virgin are treating existing customers with disrespect and acting as if we are "Cash Cows"