Existing Customer deals

[GB4444]

Im paying £74/ month as an existing customer who has been with Virgin some 14 or more years.  Currently in the M200 Broadband and Home Phone package.

I have received an email from Rachel Barrass, Customer Services Director who advises I can get better deals from other service providers and also new customers can get the same deal for £40/month for 18months.

Called Virgin and after speaking with someone in India they couldn't or wouldn't offer me the same £40/month deal as a new customer.  This is absolutely wrong no matter how this is wrapped up by Virgin.  Virgin seem to have a monopoly for broadband in some areas therefore simply refuse to offer you the same deal as a new customer even when you have been a loyal customer for many years.

It would be nice to have an email address for this Rachel Barrass to hear direct from her why existing customers are treated so badly.  I asked on my call to customer services 7 times to be connected to someone in the UK and after he offered me a M500 package for a further £5, on top of my £74/month the operator simply said they would put me through to someone in the UK,  then disconnected and hung up.  Over the years, I have never had any good customer experience from Virgin, the support is extremely poor and they have no regard for existing customers.

Why do Virgin not make any effort to keep existing customers happy and offer them the same deal as a new customer or even something remotely closer to the price.

[Anonymous]

you are not a new customer. and if you will only stay for new customer deals you are not loyal

M200 and phone is £57 that is what you should be asking for

[GB4444]

Yes it should be but they won't give that price because Im not a new customer.  Our contract is well and truly out of contract so why should we not be offered the same deal for £40/month for 18 months then £57/month exactly like the new customers.

Virgin have a monopoly on Fibre Broadband and they know competitors cant provide the same speeds on old copper lines.  This is bordering in unreasonable trading standards, there is no other excuse.

[Anonymous]

because you are not a new customer.
Most companies lose money on new customer teams we get people to join as they know from research and most people don't leave after the first year and stay at the going rate.

The price you need to ask for as a NON new customer is the £57/month.

It has nothing to do with trading standards. iThey can charge what they want for a service. its upto you to decide if you want the VM service at the price or move somewhere else. They are a private company.

[GB4444]

There has recently been a case where a UK industry regulator has imposed large fines on a supplier because they were not treating existing customers the same as new customers stating it was not fair or reasonable to act or in such a way or discriminate its existing customers. It is only time for this to catch up with Virgin.  

When I last spoke with a customer advisor they were not interested in giving me a reduction but tried to force me to pay an extra £5 to have the top package even after I repeatedly told them I wasn't interested in paying more.  The other frustrating thing about customer service is you never get to speak with someone in the UK and when you ask to speak with an advisor in the UK they either keep you hanging on hold while they pretend to speak with an advisor then come back to ask you the same question again only to have to ask 7 or 8 times to be connected to a customer representative in the UK, only to then have your call terminated by them hanging up.

Virgin may not like this but their customer service is the worst I have experience with any provider, bar none.

[Anonymous]

VM does not create current customers any different.

The new customer contracts are the same price as you get. It's just that new customers get a discount for a fixed term. That is not breaking any of the rules.

The contract cost to new and current customers is the same. However the NEW CUSTOMER discount is only given once to new customers

[GB4444]

Will be interesting to see how the regulator views that?

In my opinion charging a new customer £40 to start contract for the initial months then even once the 18 month period comes to an end £50+ pounds compared to £74 for the same service for existing customer is clear discrimination to the existing customer.  

How can you justify charging the existing customer over £20 for the same service.  Nothing but a rip off..

[cje85]

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@GB4444 wrote:

There has recently been a case where a UK industry regulator has imposed large fines on a supplier because they were not treating existing customers the same as new customers stating it was not fair or reasonable to act or in such a way or discriminate its existing customers. It is only time for this to catch up with Virgin.  

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I've not heard of this case but there is now a voluntary Ofcom scheme where ISPs agree to offer new customer deals to all customers who are out of contract, so when your contract expires you can renew and take advantage of any new customer offers. 

Unfortunately Virgin is the only major ISP which has not agreed to take part.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/virgin-resists-ofcom-pressure-to-offer-loyal-customers-same-broad...

[GB4444]

Thanks for the reply, that sounds about right for Virgin. 

[jpeg1]

Let's be clear about the pricing.

If any supplier, of any service, scraps the introductory discount, that simply means what it says - new subscribers will pay the full rate straight away. End of.

It does NOT mean that long-term subscribers will pay less.  If there is no introductory rate then there is no lower rate for permanent customers to be reduced to.  The provider cannot afford to permanently reduce their prices to everyone because they would go out of business.  So as a permanent customer you pay the same.

But it is open to every customer to phone up and negotiate for a better deal.