I was on a package that suddenly went from £55pm to £100pm so I called to see what could be done. As expected, I was asked how I used my services so they could be optimised for my needs (if you believe that, you'll believe anything).
I said I didn't want to upgrade anything, I really just wanted broadband with nothing else, I was told it would be cheaper to keep the existing package than to just take one service and that the absolute lowest price possible was £72. I refused, got put through to retentions, and this time I was told that the lowest price possible was £63, which I rejected. It took 5 and a half hours to get this information and I was so angry and exhausted that I said I wasn't prepared to make a decision and that I was going to think about it.
When I called back, I was told that the cheapest possible price for my existing package was now £86pm, that this was still cheaper than broadband alone (!!!), and that I would be better off taking the Mega Volt package at £80pm. Once again, I refused and got put through to retentions who told me I could have the Mega Volt package for £75 and that this included an 18-month contract on O2 Unlimited. It took another 6 and a half hours to get to this point and I finally buckled and agreed to this. (The sales rep was unable to answer any of my questions about any of the products I was signing up to and was only willing to pass me over to the tech team if I agreed to a contract.)
Two days later, I got my Hub5 and my software upgrade to TV360, but no O2 sim and no information about it. I phoned Virgin who assured me that they had done their bit and that I needed to speak to O2. The sales rep at O2 must have been on her first day on the job because she had NO clue what I was talking about. She passed me to a senior colleague who said that Virgin should have provided details about the contract otherwise they could do nothing. I said I'd had enough so he transferred me back to Virgin who told me that I could have an O2 sim but that it would cost an additional £25pm!!!!!!!!!!!! Needless to say, I told them they could stuff that where the sun don't shine.
I was then pressurised into making a decision about how I wanted to proceed. I explained that I was so angry and upset that I couldn't think clearly, and I asked for the best available price on my old package. It was now offered at £47pm but my existing upgrade to 350Mbps was reduced to 250Mbps. I only agreed because I knew I would have a 14-day cooling off period to calm down. This farce took another 3 and a half hours of my life.
So here I am, worse off than before. All I wanted was to go from my existing basic package to a reasonably priced broadband service, but apparently that's not an option. Nor is there an option to talk to an informed sales representative who can actually help. I've been with Virgin for years and I've never experienced anything like this from them or any other company for that matter. I do not intend to put myself through this level of stress ever again. Time to 'cut the cord' and fly solo.
