Leaving VM and keeping Phone no

[9fingers]

I want to leave VM and plan to use the forthcoming price rise as a reason.

I read here that it is vital for number retention not to cancel the contract with VM but to let my new supplier do it.

However I also understand that I have only 30 days to withdraw from my VM contract (i'm on a fixed price package till july 22) from when I'm officially informed of the price rise (this has not happened yet)

Given I have to arrange for a new phone line to be installed by openreach as well as my new ISP to open the account, It all sounds like a bit of a catch 22. It is very important to me to retain my number.

How well does this work in practice? if the 30 days is missed, I'm in breach of contract with VM and that is very expensive!!

Thanks Bob

[Gareth_L]

HI 9fingers

Sorry to hear you are looking to leave 

From January 4th 2022, we will begin to notify impacted customers via email or letter of a forthcoming price change to their cable package. The price change will take effect from March 1st 2022 and will appear on their February bills as we bill customers a month in advance.

You have 30 days from the date of your price rise notification 

ou have 3 options to close an account. 1/ call us on 150/03454541111 (option 4 and 4 again) 2/ text us on 07533051809 or 3/Write to us at the address in our T&C - https://virg.in/legals 

Gareth_L

[9fingers]

Hi Gareth,

thanks for your reply. From reading here, it seems that if I inform VM formally then I risk a) losing my number and b) the new isp porting comes to a halt as they have to be the instigator of my transfer not me.

Have I got this wrong and is it safe to inform both parties in parallel?

Bob

[Gareth_L]

HI 9fingers

That's correct regarding the number 

The new provider contact us to bring ask for the number to be carried over 

The Broadband is different as its cable Broadband 

Gareth_L

[9fingers]

So you can see my problem.

Even if I react the day my price rise email arrives, the 30 day clock starts running and if either Openreach,my new ISP or VM drag their feet and the 30 days expires, I'm in breach of contract.

So what is the surefire way forward to ensure I keep my number??

[Beth_G]

Hi 9fingers,

I do appreciate what you're saying and can understand your concern. 

I'd firstly advise to let your new provider know that you wish to port you existing number out to them, so they can request the number from us as soon as possible. We usually advise a period of 14 - 21 days for a port to go through, however provided everything runs smoothly, the process should happen much quicker than this. Please also be sure to keep your landline service active with us to ensure that the port can complete successfully. You can request something called a 'port to full disconnect', meaning that once your number is ported out to another provider and your landline service with Virgin Media is terminated, all of your other cable services will disconnect at the same time.

I hope this helps

[9fingers]

Thanks Beth,

I've just spoken to a supplier and they only talk to virgin about porting the number and not the "port to full disconnect" They say I'm responsible for terminating my VM account.

I presume that once VM have been asked to port the number and my new service is live complete with ported phone no, then and only then can I talk to VM as I will have retained my number. Hopefully this will all be within the 30 days. Please can you confirm that this is the correct way to proceed?

[Beth_G]

Ah that's my fault - I wasn't clear. The port to full disconnect is something which we'd put in place rather than the other supplier. 🙂

It's essentially just a form we fill out to ensure that once you landline has ported out, your other services are disconnected at the same time.  I'll pop you over a PM now so I can take some details and get this arranged for you.

Thanks