Who do I contact about arranging a better deal before I leave.

[StrangelySane]

My contract with Virgin expires in April.  My renewal will  be £51 / month for 100 mb/s broadband and a telly package I barely use, digital TV has so many channels these days and I barely watch those either, so it's virtually obsolete in my case.

I've been looking at Uswitch and have spotted some cracking deals well under half price of Virgin's renewal figure for (fairly) fast broadband.  I tried phoning 0345 454 1111 to see if I might negotiate a better price.  I think my call ended up in India - it was a poor connection and there was a terrible echo coming from their end that made talking very difficult.  In the end it transpired she could do nothing at her end about a better renewal price. 
So at this moment in time I'm fairly sure I'm going to leave by the 7th April.  I'm already notifying every business I deal with of a new email address in advance so I can switch without issues.
HOWEVER, is there a UK based contact number I can call to give Virgin another shot at bettering their renewal before I leave?  I don't have the energy for another fruitless international help line.

[StrangelySane]

I'm now with Vodafone and couldn't be happier.  After some fifteen years of unappreciated loyalty to Virgin I was stunned by Vodafone's genuine customer service. Every time I've needed to contact Vodafone it's been easy and with a person.  No scripts read from help desks farmed out abroad.  It's such a breath of fresh air.

I was constantly kept in the loop regarding my installation.  The engineer turned up on the day at the time promised. 
Unfortunately there was a residual fault on the landline to the house.   The engineer traced it and informed me that he couldn't fix that section but had placed a call to Outreach and it may take up to ten days.  Not so!  The Outreach chap turned up the next day and set to tracing the fault.  He fixed and had my internet up and running by noon.
Speed-wise I'm getting 70 Mbps on download and  18 Mbps on upload.  In practical terms I've not noticed the 'slower' speed in comparison to Virgin.
It's costing me £19 / month for a 24 month contract compared to the £51 rolling contract Virgin wanted me to settle for.  Or £44 if I haggled and agreed to an 18 month contract.
Vodafone say after the contract is up then the cost will rise to £26. Compared to Virgin's usual massive hike post contract that's still an amazingly good price.

I've cancelled my Virgin rolling contract.   In two year's time I might consider returning if they have something better to offer at a reasonable price for a new customer (which I will be by then).  But even if I do sign with Virgin some time hence I shan't renew after the contract has run its course. - I'll flip flop between ISPs as a new customer and constantly get a better deal at the cheapest price - instead of being taken for a mug for staying put.  I urge everyone to vote with their feet.

[Jodi_S]

Thanks for the update StrangelySane,

We are disappointed that you have decided to leave, however we fully understand your reasons why.

We wish you all the best for the future, and would welcome you back if you decided to return.

Kind regards Jodi. 

[StrangelySane]

I'm afraid, Jodi, that Virgin Media have since made that an unlikely prospect.
My reasoning for leaving was the massive price hike from £39 per month to £51.65 once my contract expired on 6th April. I duly notified my intention to leave Virgin via letter within the 30 days notice period. I was OK with paying the overlap of £51.65 for the month of April even though from the 8th April I was connected to the Internet with Vodafone. My Virgin equipment has been sitting in a box unused since then. I've had no reply to my letter nor been advised what to do with said equipment.

You can imagine my surprise when I received an email today notifying me that funds for an intended May bill will be collected from my bank account. Especially as the original notification of £51.65 for a roll on pay as you go service has now inexplicably become £64.25 - an increase of £12.60 on top of the intended price hike. In reality the price hike is .£25.25 over the £39 when my contract came to an end at the beginning of April. Virgin now literally want money for nothing plus a bit on top.
Obviously I shan't be paying that. My direct debit has been cancelled and a letter sent to my bank informing them that on no account should Virgin receive further funds. A letter via recorded delivery to that effect will be sent to Virgin too.

I have had heard horror stories about Virgin's pettiness and obstruction regarding customers wishing to leave but discounted them as the odd one-off clerical errors. Now I have first hand experience I'm minded to believe that Virgin will try it on with all exiting customers. If only a quarter of disgruntled customers are foolish enough to cough up exaggerated bills it's a win for Virgin.

I'll not be coming back to Virgin. Your customer services are deliberately difficult to access, you have no customer loyalty, and you treat them like mugs when they wish to leave.

[Carley_S]

Hi @StrangelySane
Thank you for taking the time to give detail of your disconnection issues and the further bill you were not expecting. If you would like to, please join me on private message so I can investigate this further. You can see your private messages at the top of the page in the envelope icon. I would like to get this matter fully resolved for you if you would allow me the time to look into this. 
 

[Carley_S]

Hi Guy, thank you very much, this passes account security. 

I can see that we received a partial disconnection request from you on 14th April. Partial disconnects would be a package change and unfortunately we are not able to process these through letter correspondence. Did you not hear back from us after this time either via letter, call or email that we would not be able to process the request?

[StrangelySane]

No, of course I didn't receive a reply from Virgin to my letter sent via recorded delivery.  Not a peep via email, phone, nor letter.
That'd be like, you know, customer service.  Virgin don't do that, it seems.  And anyway, that'd go against the Virgin playbook of 'pretending' they haven't heard from me so they can continue dipping into my bank account.

In any event you'll not be getting any more money.  I've cancelled my Direct Debit and given strict instructions to my bank not to entertain the idea of further payments.  If you want to play it fast and loose and continue to pretend I wanted a "partial disconnection" then I suggest you begin legal proceedings.  I always relish the opportunity to dust off my law degree - it's almost a hobby to me.

To anyone else reading this ... does the meaning of the following letter that I sent to Virgin seem at all ambiguous?
Take this example of the behaviour you'll be up against when you decide to go with another ISP.

"To Whom It May Concern,
My eighteen month broadband contract with Virgin Media expired on the 6th of April 2022.This letter serves as thirty days notice to cancel my Virgin Media internet package.
Please cancel my monthly direct debit payments. I shall consider my account closed on 12th May 2022.I have already disconnected the equipment supplied by Virgin Media, as my needs are now being met by Vodafone.
The Tivo box and hub are rather old now (I’ve been with Virgin since the NTL merger in 2006) what do you wish done with them? I have signed a contract with Vodafone to provide my internet connection for the next twenty-four months. This is a done deal, following two failed attempts with your retention department to negotiate a better renewal price. That ship has sailed.
Regards,
Guy XXXXXXX"

[newapollo]

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@StrangelySane wrote:

To anyone else reading this ... does the meaning of the following letter that I sent to Virgin seem at all ambiguous?

"To Whom It May Concern,
My eighteen month broadband contract with Virgin Media expired on the 6th of April 2022.This letter serves as thirty days notice to cancel my Virgin Media internet package.
.....
The Tivo box and hub are rather old now (I’ve been with Virgin since the NTL merger in 2006) what do you wish done with them? 

---

Hi @StrangelySane 

I'm afraid I do think your letter is ambiguous.

In your first post on this thread you state that you have a broadband and TV package, 'My contract with Virgin expires in April.  My renewal will  be £51 / month for 100 mb/s broadband and a telly package I barely use,' 

It does look like a partial disconnection request as in the quoted section at the top of your last post, number 16 in this thread you only asked for the internet package to be cancelled.

I'm not siding with VM, just answering the ambiguity question. in fact I am on your side, however you should have explicity stated you wanted the broadband and TV package cancelling.

With you asking, 'The Tivo box and hub are rather old now (I’ve been with Virgin since the NTL merger in 2006) what do you wish done with them?' I would have read between the lines as you wanting the full package cancelling. At this point I would have contacted your good self  to clarify if it was just the broadband you wanted cancelling or the full package. 

Best wishes for a succesful resolution.

[Carley_S]

Thank you for joining me on private message @StrangelySane

Hoping this is all resolved for you now. As advised any email address owned by Virgin will be removed from service 90 days after your disconnection date, as this free service is only available when you have an active Virgin Media broadband package.

You'll received a prepaid packaging 10days after your disconnection date, but if you wish, to you can print your own label here and drop it at your nearest collect plus point. Don't forget your receipt, this has your tracking number on it so you can track your parcel until it is delivered to us on the yodel tracking site. 

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns, we'll be here to help if needed. 

All the best,