New Customer Deals v Loyalty Customer Deals

[Marv95]

My Contract is finishing early August 2023. I have been with Virgin for 15 years.

There is a New Customer Deal (that offers the same package but better Broadband Speed) that I want to take out (which is significantly cheaper) but I am barred from taking it forcing me to leave Virgin for 1-3x months and re-join in the hope that I can get this New Customer deal.

As I understand it there is New Legislation coming out soon forcing Suppliers to offer deal to everyone not just enticing New Customers. So why if my Contract is ending why aren't I treated as a New Customer and have access to the better deals. It seems to me that it is ridiculous that I have to leave when I have all the equipment and I have the Service that I want.

Also, why does it always take 3hrs to get any where on a call with Virgin or in my case NOT get any where. I have requested a Manager contact me & they are never available. I am now waiting for the Retentions Team to contact me but it is highly likely they will not offer me the New Customer Deal so I will have to leave. I am looking at Toob at the moment. Virgin are infuriating!!!

[Jellybelly69]

Hello I am in the same boat , but also had issues, for the last 2 weeks with speed, now no picture , have other chat on here, no loyalty for existing customers at all sooner legislation changes the better. How long from leaving till re join us it 3 or 6 months 

[MAW70]

I've got exactly the same issue, I've been with Virgin Media for 15 years plus, and my contract is due to end in early August.  I spent 4 to 5 hours on the text messaging service trying to negotiate a new contract, I was told they couldn't offer the Bigger Bundle to me as I wasn't a new customer.  They tried initially to offer me a bundle with an O2 SIM that I wasn't interested in, then a downgrade in my tv package that again I was interested in.  I don't see why as loyal customers we aren't offered the packages that new customers get, plus, getting hold of retentions seems to be an absolute nightmare currently, I can't spend 3 hours on the phone waiting for someone to answer!

[Marv95]

I was told "a month" by an Operative but I hear that booking a slot to get reconnected is usually put back and takes time. I'm just going to wait for the Retentions Team to phone me and then Cancel. Toob are doing 900mbps with No Annual RPI/Inflation Blag Price Increase for £25 and No Installation Fee. 
I've already moved my Mobile from Vodafone to Smarty because of the Annual RPI BS Increase. I just need to find the same for Broadband.

[japitts]

This is a frequently discussed topic, but just play devil's advocate for a second, and see your position from a purely commercial perspective. You likely received a new customer discount when you first joined, and have remained for 15+ years - what commercial incentive is there, for you to be discounted again?

Sorry if that sounds harsh, but approach this from another angle - by looking at another provider, you're already halfway there. You need to price up your combination of services from alternate supplier(s) and goto VM with those prices - prepared to give your disconnection notice, but hoping not to have to. If VM retentions believe you are serious about cancelling, can you see the situation from their side?

[Marv95]

Agreed - I think the New Legislation will force their hand but I'm not sure when it is coming into effect.

I can't believe we have to leave in order to access the Big Bundle Deal. It doesn't make Business Sense at all.

Every Call I have made to Virgin takes 3hrs... Ive had to contact them every month as they kept on charging me £20 more for my Bill from the agreed Price. Thankfully I have the agreed price set in stone and have emails stating the fact,

An Operative did tell me something though (which might work for you). You can get the "New Customer Deals" if you can put another persons name on the Contract. If you live with someone/married you can put your partner or another person who lives at the address as the New Customer this then gives you access to the New Customer Deals. I live by myself so I have no option but to leave. Im sure it's Fraudulent but you could ask.

[cje85]

What new legislation is this? The only one I can think of applies to the insurance industry and so won't affect broadband/TV providers etc.

Most ISPs like BT and Sky will offer existing customers the chance to re-contract on new customer prices, but have greatly reduced the new customer offers as a result, there is usually only a £5/month difference. This is a voluntary scheme and VM haven't signed up to it. 

[Marv95]

No I can't see it from their side at all... as far as I'm concerned we should all get the same deal. If your contract is over you need a "New Contract" and you should be treated as a "New Customer".
Im sure after 15yrs Virgin have taken as much profit out of me as they can. They are profiteering, money grabbing barstewards. 

[goslow]

This is discussed regularly on here. For every person who thinks discounted new customer pricing is a terrible idea there will be another who thinks it is fantastic because it allows them to move around between suppliers at each renewal and get the best possible pricing.

It is regularly stated on here that the new customer deals are loss-leaders for VM as a means of simply bringing customers in. VM's pricing structure regularly bundles additional services at signup which the customer may not want (such as landline) in the hope that the customer fails to renegotiate a new contract after 18 months and ends up paying full price for a bigger bundle of services.

If you want new customer pricing, you need to leave VM and come back as a new customer. You are likely to benefit from new customer pricing elsewhere with a new supplier while also trying out a different service to VM.

Once you have cancelled VM, you might get a call back from VM retentions with a much-improved offer but that is not guaranteed and it is mentioned on here to have marketing preferences on to allow such a call to take place. After that it is all a game of bluff and brinksmanship with VM as to what deal you end up with. With that in mind you need a good idea of what other providers are offering to know if any revised VM deal is any good or not so have some research at hand for when/if you do get a VM retentions call.

I moved from VM to BT FTTP just over a year ago (and somewhat reluctantly) because VM didn't come up with a competitive offer. The BT connection is far superior to the one I had with VM and I'd be struggling to think of a reason to go back to VM now (esp. considering how dire VM's customer service has become in recent times).

[goslow]

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@cje85 wrote:

What new legislation is this? The only one I can think of applies to the insurance industry and so won't affect broadband/TV providers etc.

Most ISPs like BT and Sky will offer existing customers the chance to re-contract on new customer prices, but have greatly reduced the new customer offers as a result, there is usually only a £5/month difference. This is a voluntary scheme and VM haven't signed up to it. 

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https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2022/11/consumer-pricing-bill-might-ban-discounts-for-new-uk-b...