Leaving advice please

[ewhitey]

Hi all - Looking for some advice on how to leave Virgin in the smoothest possible way as that seems difficult going by lots of posts on the forum.

I am on a rolling contract with my next bill due on 13th September and intending to go with Vodafone Pro11. As my circumstances have changed, I can no longer afford and also no longer need, some of my package (on Oomph) so require internet only. From what I've been told Virgin will offer me over the odds price for the broadband only and in any event Vodafone are still cheaper with that in mind...Any advice greatly appreciated 😉 

[goslow]

Did you contact VM to find out an actual price they would offer you as per your previous topic on the same subject?

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Managing-Your-Account-Cable/Keeping-Broadband-Only-Question/td-...

If you just wish to leave with no further discussion with VM, one of the methods which seems to be more successful, as reported on here, is simply sending them a letter to give your 30 days notice to cancel

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/cancel-virgin-media

Use a first-class signed-for delivery service for proof of delivery.

A written instruction giving 30 days notice to cancel your services carries a certain legal weight and the proof of delivery provides an evidence trail which is hard for VM to wriggle out of.

No guarantees VM won't mess it up, of course, but if you don't want any further dealings with VM then it does not involve hanging on the phone/chat/SMS for hours on end.

[ewhitey]

Hi there and thanks again for ypur time.

Haven't called up yet but rather just "setting" things up before that call. I will still call them but was wondering if I have to leave VM before I sign up (if I do) with Vodafone? I have chosen Vodafone as I game a lot and reports suggest they have a low ping/latency? My latency with VM is just OK - around 25ms but Vodafone is ?lower? 

[goslow · Accepted solution]

Unless you have actually spoken to VM, any discussion about what you might pay for BB only is nothing more than speculation. This is because VM likes to haggle an individual price with each and every customer. For this reason, prices can vary wildly for the same service(s) depending on a whole range of criteria (inculding your own negotiating skills and how likely VM thinks it is you will really leave).

One POV often mentioned on here would actually be to overlap your existing VM service with the new Vodafone service for a short period of time.

When you place your order for Vodafone, you are relying on them installing on time as per their schedule. Nothing to guarantee that Vodafone will do that and you might possibly encounter a delay in installing the new service. In addition, you will have a 14 day cooling off period with Vodafone to try the new service. If you find it doesn't suit you, you could always fall back on your VM connection without interruption if it is still running normally. Doing this though assumes it is practical/achievable from a financial POV.

Depending on what your haggling/negotiating skills are like, you might like to have a read of this past advice from Andrew-G at the bottom of this topic on the business of renegotiating or cancelling

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Managing-Your-Account-Cable/Why-oh-why-does-loyalty-get-punishe...

[ewhitey]

"One POV often mentioned on here would actually be to overlap your existing VM service with the new Vodafone service for a short period of time."

I didn't know you could have both at the samwe time - Is that because vigin is FTTC and Vodafone is FTTP? So I can test both against each other?

Great info from Andrew G thanks and I'm not the best haggler!!!

[goslow]

VM uses its own network/cables to customers' homes. Mainly these are coaxial cables in older installations and increasingly fibre to the home in newer installations.

LHS wall box outside in the pic linked below is for a coax cable connection. Larger RHS box is for a fibre connection to the home. The larger box outside houses the fibre converter which converts the fibre outside to coax inside to the VM hub

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/QuickStart-set-up-and/How-do-I-know-if-I-can-get-virgin-FTTP/m-...

In some of the newest VM trial installations the fibre is brought into the home.

Vodafone will work from the Openreach network.

If you are getting a FTTP connection from Vodafone you will have an Openreach box on the outside of your home for the fibre joint to an internal ONT from Openreach.

https://www.openreach.com/help-and-support/full-fibre-broadband-installation-checklist

you will connect your Vodafone router to the ONT with an ethernet cable.

As the two providers work on different infrastructure, you can have both VM and Vodafone running at the same time.

[ChrisFleming]

I had to help my younger brother with a situation like this, but first of all I 'd contact Virgin Media to find out just how much it actually is to change/downgrade your package to just the elements you want to keep, & let them know it's mainly a price issue, I've been a customer for TV phone & broadband for 6+ years now, and I still only pay £40 per month, as every time the price is to rise, I simply call & ask to either end my contract or get a cheaper price, & they always reduce it back to £40(though i do have to do this Every 6 months).

With my brother, he needed to end his contract fully, we called up, made sure to let them know he wished to terminate(they then offered a number of pricing options), and then we went into his My Virgin Media app, & removed his direct debit information, just to be sure there wouldn't be any mishaps or unexpected charges going through, after a week or two, beyond his end date, we then logged in & paid his remaining balance, & that was him done.

[ewhitey]

Thanks to all above and some real cracking replies goslow - many thanks indeed and ALL helpful answers lol...I'll update and let you know how I get on 😉

[Oldfogi]

If the other methods above do not work, it may be worth considering that from 12th September, you will be able to switch boroadband providers with "one touch" - just by telling your new provider.  They sort everything else out with your current ISP, including disconnectio and final bill.  The One Touch Switching Company is the company handling the work, under the guidance of Ofcom.

I have been having problems with VM for many months as they are incapable of providing me with a decent landline service, despite many requests/visits/complaints/promises, and me been moved over to VOIP.  I may try again, but if not, I have pencilled in the date!