Contract ending please help

[ewhitey]

To Mods: This is a duplicate post as I added my question to another thread with an "Answer" so may not be seen? Hope this is OK 😉

Hi there

My 18 month Oomph contract finishes in two days (23/02/23) and not sure how things work. I do not want my whole package now as I can't afford it BUT may also want to leave altogether.

The email I received advising of the contract end date is rather bland so can I ask:

1. What happens if I do NOT contact VM at all before/after 23/02/23?
2. Will VM contact me or automatically put me onto another 18 month contract?
3. Will VM contact me or put me onto a 30 day rolling contract with a 14 day cooling off period or/and 30
day option to cancel?
4. Is ther anything else I need to know?

Many thanks in advance 🙂

[Andrew-G]

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@ewhitey wrote:

To Mods: This is a duplicate post as I added my question to another thread with an "Answer" so may not be seen? Hope this is OK 😉

Hi there

My 18 month Oomph contract finishes in two days (23/02/23) and not sure how things work. I do not want my whole package now as I can't afford it BUT may also want to leave altogether.

The email I received advising of the contract end date is rather bland so can I ask:  Your contract is not ending, it is just the time limited minimum term and discount are ending; You are still in your original contract

1. What happens if I do NOT contact VM at all before/after 23/02/23?  Your point 3 applies - your terms become an undiscounted tariff with 30 day notice

2. Will VM contact me or automatically put me onto another 18 month contract?  They won't contact you, or put you on a new fixed term/discounted deal unless you contact them.  If you issue notice of cancellation, then they'll try and phone you repeatedly during your notice period with increasingly generous offers that are linked to a new minimum term of 18 months.  If doing this, research VM's new customer offers before you cancel and make a note of them, tell the agent that you'll stay only if they give you that.  Initially they'll say no, it's likely they'll cave in on the last few days of your notice period.  Although consider what you'd do if they didn't phone you.

3. Will VM contact me or put me onto a 30 day rolling contract with a 14 day cooling off period or/and 30
day option to cancel?  No, still no outbound contact with you, but yes, 30 days notice.

4. Is ther anything else I need to know?  Yes, check out the revised T&Cs if you stay.  Next year VM have announced they will put prices up by RPI + 4%, so for a planning number assume 10%.  Importantly, they apply this to the undiscounted contract.  That means if you're on heavily discounted new customer pricing, then next April you'd see your bill go up by perhaps 18-23%, but under those same revised terms you won't be able to renegotiate or leave for a further five months or so until the end of your minimum term.  Agents may tell you that there's no price increase this year for new contracts - that should be true, but only applies to the first 12 months of any new 18 month contract. 

Many thanks in advance 🙂

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[John_GS]

Hi @ewhitey 

Thanks for posting and welcome back to the community. Thanks for making your own thread 🙂 I have closed the duplicate one.

• If your contract expires and you don't contact us to renew/cancel, it goes on a rolling thirty day contract. This will be at the full price of the agreement, you should have been notified about this in the End of Contract Notification.
• We do have an Outbound sales team but no guarantee they will contact you. No you do not go on another 18 month contract without renegotiation. It would be a rolling contract. 

Kind regards,

[ewhitey]

I'm confused...Is it ending or not - Are you saying the contract continues until I cancel but until then, automatically renews every 30 days?

The email says this: 

Like many of our customers, your contract with us will come to an end, and for you that will be on 23/02/2023. After that date, your price will be £123.99 a month.

What’s changing: Your package until 23/02/2023: £123.99 a month    Your package from 24/02/2023: £123.99 a month

You may get a better introductory offer with another provider, and you might also get a better deal if you bundle all your services together from a single supplier. If you decide to switch, you’ll need to give us 30 days’ notice by calling 0345 454 1111, but if you cancel after your contract ends on 23/02/2023 you won’t have any early termination fees to pay.

You could move to a brilliant new bundle with us  Now that Virgin Media and O2 have joined forces we’re able to offer you Volt bundles that combine brilliant products and services from us both. You can choose not to switch to an O2 SIM and simply continue to get the Virgin Mobile services you have now.  Bundle: £156.00 a month

[Andrew-G]

I'm confused...Is it ending or not - Are you saying the contract continues until I cancel but until then, automatically renews every 30 days?

No, your contract is not ending - the contract you agreed to when you joined remains in force continuously as long as you remain a customer of VM, unless you actively cancel it (or in certain rare circumstances VM can cancel).  Some contract terms can be varied if VM change their general terms and conditions, and variable prices and minimum terms are also aspects that can be varied without changing the fact that that original contract still applies.   If you look up VM's T&Cs there a reasonably clear explanation under the headings "The minimum period", and under "What happens after the minimum period".  To cut a long story short, when the minimum period ("fixed term") ends, the contract continues indefinitely unless you agree a new minimum term.  if you don't agree a new price and new minimum term, then you can at any time issue 30 days notice of cancellation.  Although common shorthand is "30 day monthly rolling contract", there's no monthly renewal here - it remains that original contract. 

The email says this: 

Like many of our customers, your contract with us will come to an end, and for you that will be on 23/02/2023. After that date, your price will be £123.99 a month.

Unfortunately VM themselves are using incorrect terminology.  Your minimum term and your previously agreed discount are coming to an end, your contract certainly is not.  That is VERY sloppy wording by the wax crayon scribblers of VM's marketing department.  It is certainly common shorthand to describe a minimum term as a fixed term contract, but the reality is that as per the linked T&Cs, an 18 month minimum term is a variable one part of perpetual contract.

[ewhitey]

Thanks again 😉 So as they say the price will remain as £123.99 after the rolling periods of the contract start - Why are they mentioning about the £156 bundle ?

[Andrew-G]

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@ewhitey wrote:
Thanks again 😉 So as they say the price will remain as £123.99 after the rolling periods of the contract start - Why are they mentioning about the £156 bundle ?

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I'll leave that to VM staff to explain!

[japitts]

Each of your monthly bills and your contract, will show the standard price for your services together with all your time-limited discounts and the date of expiry.

[ewhitey]

Actually it doesn't as the £156 is a completely different package - it's also an 02 Volt one - I am on Oomph (I know it's changed). Also, it says that my contract will remain as £123.99 AFTER the agreement ends and my "Notification of Contract Ending" on myvirginmedia bills says the same - so I remain confused?

Ultimate Oomph bundle  £123.99                      Volt Bundle £156.00 a month.
                                                                                   18 month contract. Price may rise during contract.

This includes:                                                                                              This includes:
Talk More Anytime                                                                                       Anytime chatter

Maxit TV                                                                                                      Maxit TV

Oomph Unlimited Data SIM                                                                        O2 Unlimited data SIM (£25pm)

Virgin TV 360 Box

Virgin TV 360 Mini Box

Gig1 Fibre Broadband                                                                                 Gig1 Fibre Broadband

1 Additional TV Box

Line Rental

Sky Sports HD Pack                                                                                    Sky Sport HD

Sky Sports and Cinema Collection                                                               Sky Sport SD  Sky Cinema

Kids Pick                                                                                                       Kids Pick

Viaplay (Premier) Sports                                                                               BT Sport 

[japitts]

Perhaps post a picture of what you've been sent, to this forum - with all your personal details blacked out.

Then we can see what you can see.