New customer offers VS Existing customer offers are ridiculous

[manemzjum]

So I'm out-with my 12 month contract and I have had a look at Virgins website they are currently offering the VIP package for £79 for 12 months.

I contacted them about this offer but as usual this is for new customers only. Their counter offer was the same package only with 200mb broadband instead of the 350mb you get with the VIP package and I could get this for a great price of £105 EH NO THANKS.

As I am outwit my 12 month contract I can cancel my account at anytime so I'm just going to cancel my account give them the 30 days notice then I'm told I have to wait another 30 days I can then open a new account and get the 12 month contract for £79 or get my wife to open an account in her name sooner. 

Saving myself £312

TRY LOOKING AFTER YOUR EXISTING CUSTOMERS RATHER THAN SELLING US OUT FOR NEW ONES. 

1. Hello sir you have been with us loyally for 15 years we are prepared to offer you a saving of £10 per month as a good will gesture how does that sound.

2. Oh hello new customer who has never paid us a penny come join us we will give you our very top package at a saving of £52 per month we will just put the prices up on our existing customers to balance out our shortcomings. 

[Kippies]

Yeah you'll likely not qualify for new customer offers after 30 days. lowest guestimate Ive seen working is 90 days, from personal experience it can be up to a year.

Not trying to be a smart*** just pointing out the situation is even more dire than outlined above.

Theres a wrinkle in the system you can exploit if you look around

For the record the fault mainly  lies with OFCOM and our idiot lords and masters- the regulator has been told to incentivise switching because apparently that is the only definition of choice.

[nodrogd]

Welcome to the world of utility pricing, which all revolves around encouraging competition & not around what the customer actually wants - stability.

It might not seem fair, but this is Great Britain PLC, & operators in these regulated markets are actively encouraged to compete with each other to get people switching provider, which makes it look to the powers in charge that competition is working.

[Kaz_A]

Hi manemzjum

I do appreciate what you are saying and I understand where you are coming from as a customer.

We have a standard offer price and that is clearly listed on the offer you take out once the original deal ends.

The standard offer prices are what we base our services on.

The discounted price as an ongoing pricing structure would see us out of business as a company in a very short while should we change process and begin to offer this to prospective leavers.

What you want is not sustainable for the customer masses because if it was we would be pricing ourselves out of business and then you'd have no Virgin Media at all to chose from as an option.

It's great to have new customer offers but it's also great to have this company as an option to chose from. The standard offer prices are what sustain us as a company and have been prices to enable us to support the business the customers and continue to grow as a company.

Thanks again for your post and take care.

[manemzjum]

So your saying you will loose money by offering me the exact same deal you are offering new customers. 

So what you are basically saying is you are charging loyal customers more to compensate for the low price you offer new customers doing a great job looking after your customers there. 

As I say what I am going to do is cancel my account and wait 30 days and open a new account. At which point you will loose 1 months payment from me and I will then be on the new customer offer saving me £400 per year and I will just continue to do the same every 12 months. 

[Kaz_A]

HI manemzjum

I understand what you want and I appreciate both sides.

I understand why the business cannot sustain this on a continuous basis and I appreciate customers will look around at offers and that is entirely their right of course.

I cannot change the fact we are not going to offer a new customer deal to an existing customer. Even if this means they decide to switch providers.

Kind regards.

Karen

[manemzjum]

I'm not going to switch providers I'm a staying with Virgin I'm just going to cancel my account and wait 30 days and open a new account with a new customer deal saving myself £400.

I understand you're hands are tied.

What I don't understand is if the company would be unsustainable offering these services at this rate why do it in the first place? Just to get unsuspecting customers to sign up I've been with virgin for 15 years and my bills have increased time after time. Only to find that all new customers are being offer incredibly reduced rates while mine are increasing continuously.

I have now contacted the cancelation team and advised them of my 30 days notice period after which I will wait a further 30 days after disconnection and apply for a new account with a lovely introductory offer.

Happy Days 🙂

[nodrogd]

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@manemzjum wrote:


I have now contacted the cancelation team and advised them of my 30 days notice period after which I will wait a further 30 days after disconnection and apply for a new account with a lovely introductory offer.

Happy Days 🙂

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You won't get any introductory offer after 30 days. The absolute minimum to get new customer deals is 3 MONTHS. Even then you are classed as a "returning customer" & may not get them. Sky & BT operate the same policy when existing customers leave, as when you switch you inevitably end up on a new 12 month contract with the new provider they can weed out genuine leavers.

[manemzjum]

New account will be in my wife's name who won't be a returning customer she will be a new customer.

problem solved 🙂

[nodrogd]

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@manemzjum wrote:
New account will be in my wife's name who won't be a returning customer she will be a new customer.

problem solved 🙂

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& you think that's not been tried before ?

Best of luck to you.