Change broadband speed without new contract?

[Hamslay]

Hi,

I'm looking for confirmation from Virgin that it's not possible to increase my broadband speed without a new contract at full price.

I'm 12 months into an 18-month Ultimate Oomph contract. The price was £89 per month including unlimited SIM and M600 broadband, and I pay £79 due to a special deal on the day. I'd really like to switch to the Gig1 service but leave everything else unchanged. For this I am being quoted the full £135 per month Ultimate Volt cost plus a setup fee, and a new 18-month contract. So that's an extra £56 per month and new tie-in for the speed increase. Not going to happen.

BT are offering the Full Fibre 900 service for £50 per month, which would suit me fine as I use Chromecast and streaming for 99% of my viewing.

However, I really don't want to do a new service install. I'm OK to stay with Virgin, but the upgrade deal offered is crazy. Can someone confirm that as Ultimate Oomph customer mid-contract I can't change broadband speed without a new full-price contract for a totally different product?

Thanks!

[jbrennand]

Changing contract before the end of the 18 month contract speed will usually start a new contract.

Leaving the VM contract early to go to BT will incur an early disconnection fee - see below - to calculate what that will be for you.

Only chance is to call VM retentions free on 150 VM line - or 0345 454 1111 - use options 1,1,4,4 "thinking of leaving" and see what they can do for you. - you should get a better deal - but they may call your bluff. Depends on what agent you get and what they are allowed to offer on that day

See this re renegotiation and see Andrew's comments in message 6

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Community-Natter/New-contract/td-p/4888761

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https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/the-legal-stuff/terms-and-conditions-for-fibre-optic-services#end

https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/the-legal-stuff/terms-and-conditions-for-fibre-optic-services/early...

[Zach_R]

Hi @Hamslay,

Thank you for your post and welcome back to our community forums. We're here to help.

In most instances upgrading or downgrading any aspect of your package, including the connection speeds, would result in a renewed contract term. Along with this, as we don't offer Oomph bundles anymore, changing your package would by default take you out of Oomph meaning you've taken out a new package.

As we don't carry out package adjustments here, it'd be best to speak with our retentions department on 0345 454 1111 (or 150 from a Virgin Media landline) to discuss offers and options fully.

Thanks,
 

[Hamslay]

Thanks guys.

Not a problem. I had hoped that upgrading the speed within the existing package would be an option. It wasn't, and retentions wouldn't do anything, so BT Full Fibre 900 is being installed in a fortnight. The price of the BT package including an EE SIM came in lower than just the Gig1 price offered by retentions. And even better, BT cover any early contract cancellation charges up to £300 so cancelling VM was free too.