Tv only for vulnerable person

[Palacekev66]

just visited my dad to find he is paying £99.49 for full house tv plus sky sports. NO PHONE NO BROADBAND. 

This is what I was offered, how the hell is this right?

Option 1:
TV Solus Bundle + TiVo Box - Sky Sports Collection
£94.74 good for new 18-month contract.

Option 2:
TV Solus Bundle - Sky Sports Collection
£83.24 good for new 18-month contract.

[nodrogd · Accepted solution]

TV only is no longer an option on VM. The current TiVO 500Gb boxes are being retired, which were the only ones that allowed you to do this.

All TV connections now require you to have Virgin Broadband, as the newer TV boxes are no longer fitted with internal modems. IP delivered content over VMs network now requires more powerful kit, & as they already have a Broadband hub capable of doing this there is no point in spending money duplicating this equipment inside their TV boxes.

The prices you were offered include Broadband. That is why they are higher than you would expect.

[Palacekev66]

Thanks for the reply, I just wanted to get his price down. He is 85 doesn’t need broadband and has a £10 a month sim only phone for emergencies. I have thought about getting him off VM but I don’t want to confuse him. I live too far away to sort out things if they go wrong and he is happy usingVM, I just think they are ripping him off, and he has had cable for over 30 years under their different names. 

[nodrogd]

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@Palacekev66 wrote:

Thanks for the reply, I just wanted to get his price down. He is 85 doesn’t need broadband and has a £10 a month sim only phone for emergencies. I have thought about getting him off VM but I don’t want to confuse him. I live too far away to sort out things if they go wrong and he is happy usingVM, I just think they are ripping him off, and he has had cable for over 30 years under their different names. 

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There is not a lot you can do. This is the way TV is progressing in the modern age, with broadcast methods giving way to internet based ones. Even if you went with VMs biggest competitor Sky, any subscription TV service would now require a Broadband connection with them or another provider.

[newapollo]

Hi @Palacekev66 

It would be a good idea to check which channels he actually watches. That way it may be possible to change package (or even provider) to something more fitting.

It might be worthwhile him dropping his current VM TV and phoneline, taking out the M50 (£38 a month) or M125 broadband (£44 a month) package

Then add a Stream box which has a £35 activation fee and shows the majority of freeview channels for free, plus Sky Sports Racing. There's also an offer at the moment with that where he can add Sky Sports HD for £18.75 extra a month, ot BT Sports for £10 extra a month

The Stream box can't be used with any other VM TV box so as indicated above  he would have to cancel his current TV package with VM.  The STream box doessn't need the coaxial lead as it's delivered over the internet, so he could move the box from room to room.

EDIT - The Stream box includes the major apps for catchup such as BBC iPlayer, ITVX, All 4 and My5

https://www.virginmedia.com/tv/stream  Note the broadband, and broadband and phone pricing shown on that page are for new customers only, but it''s possible to negotaite the pricing with  the retentions (thinking of leaving us team)

I would also look at pricing for sims. There are lot's of cheaper options available for less than a tenner a month. You could use a pac code to port his mobile number to a new provider.

[nodrogd]

Just to add to the very well informed post above. If recording of TV is still important then Stream does not do this. Free alternatives like Freeview & Freesat offer recording boxes, which can be used without an internet connection. However, these do not carry any subscription content, so things like Sky Sports will be missing.

[Roger_Gooner]

If he wants Sky Sports but isn't too bothered about most other channels then a switch to a cheaper ISP with Freeview or Freesat plus a streaming device such as a Fire TV Stick 4K Max might work well. I've got this device and it has all the apps which I cannot get from my V6 and, for Sky Sports, he can subscribe to the Now Sports membership (giving all 11 Sky Sports channels) which costs £33.99 a month.

[SpacePhoenix]

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@nodrogd wrote:

TV only is no longer an option on VM. The current TiVO 500Gb boxes are being retired, which were the only ones that allowed you to do this.

All TV connections now require you to have Virgin Broadband, as the newer TV boxes are no longer fitted with internal modems. IP delivered content over VMs network now requires more powerful kit, & as they already have a Broadband hub capable of doing this there is no point in spending money duplicating this equipment inside their TV boxes.

The prices you were offered include Broadband. That is why they are higher than you would expect.

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Just to add to that, traditional landlines which use copper cable are starting to be replaced with VoIP phones which will require broadband. It'll be a few years before Virgin and others have migrated all their customers over to VoIP

[nodrogd]

The OP stated in their first post that their father only has TV. He has no Broadband or Landline.

Therefore the choice is simple.

Go with Free TV services like Freesat & Freeview with no subscription services, or take a Broadband service in order to retain their subscription TV services.

[Carley_S]

Hi @Palacekev66

Welcome to the community forum. 

Sorry to hear that you're unhappy with your father's package price and the deals that were available. 

The full house package is quite an old package that no longer exists, and would appear that your father is paying for the 30 day rolling contract price of the package without any discounts, which is why it is more expensive. 

The Full House package is equivalate to MAXIT TV except no longer has the kids channels available. You can see here the complete guide of our packages and what channels are available on each here to see if you believe MAXIT is the best TV package for him. 

If you would like to discuss his package and the available offers further please do consider giving us a call on 0345 454 1111 / 150 or via SMS 0753 305 1809 and WhatsApp on 07305 327 112 our team will be more than happy to perform a package review  and will ensure that he's on the best possible deal for his package.