Broadband

[Hipper]

I'm currently with Virgin Media and am coming to the end of my contract. All I want now is Broadband, their M125 service (132MB). I've been offered this for £44/month which is what I'm currently paying but included is TV (and landline telephone). New customers can of course get a better deal - £26.50 for M125. This pisses me off of course but it doesn't seem there's much I can do about it as where I live there is no fibre option.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has Virgin M125 Broadband and what they are paying.

Virgin's service is good, their customer service poor, and the so called contract is the same as many others - one sided. I have to commit to 18 months whilst they can increase the costs each year above inflation. So despite these increases why do they need to increase again as I renew the service? Of course they won't answer that question and again like all these providers, couldn't care less.

[Quickenthetempo]

I'm currently with Virgin Media and am coming to the end of my contract. All I want now is Broadband, their M125 service (132MB). I've been offered this for £44/month which is what I'm currently paying but included is TV (and landline telephone). New customers can of course get a better deal - £26.50 for M125. This pisses me off of course but it doesn't seem there's much I can do about it as where I live there is no fibre option.

I would be interested to know if anyone else has Virgin M125 Broadband and what they are paying.

Virgin's service is good, their customer service poor, and the so called contract is the same as many others - one sided. I have to commit to 18 months whilst they can increase the costs each year above inflation. So despite these increases why do they need to increase again as I renew the service? Of course they won't answer that question and again like all these providers, couldn't care less.

I pay 24 quid a month for either the M125 or next one up. Just keep negotiating/threaten to leave.

They offer high speeds not many can make use of, but there's plenty of offers out there with other providers. Just remind them while on the phone.

[claretburns]

I pay £40 a month for 1gb Internet from Virgin, I see from your post fibre isn't an option for you but seems a steep price £44 for 132mb.

[Fretters]

I pay £71 a month for M125 and Maxit TV.

You need to cancel your services and enter the notice period. They usually ring you before that ends with a a better deal (even better than the one they offer during the call to cancel).

[ClaretAL]

I was in the same situation and went with Brsk and the difference is massive £30 for 1gig if you use the link below we both get a treat but in all seriousness not had a problem and can highly recommended link or no link

https://brsk.uk/2FPL

[bfccrazy]

Sign up as a new customer in your partners name if they truly don't budge..... Or just tell the retfntion team you'll do it for the new customer offer.

They'll usually just match it for sake of saving the mess about.

If you do switch... Then do it through a cashback site as you usually get Bout £80/100 back for choosing the same deal you would be doing anyway.

[Leyland Claret]

I’ve got M250 with phone line and it’s £29 a month. If you ring VM and have a friendly chat you will get your monthly cost down.

[ClaretDiver]

Sign up as a new customer in your partners name if they truly don't budge..... Or just tell the retfntion team you'll do it for the new customer offer.

They'll usually just match it for sake of saving the mess about.

If you do switch... Then do it through a cashback site as you usually get Bout £80/100 back for choosing the same deal you would be doing anyway.

Genuine question, have you ever done that? I know at Sky you would end up with a period of no internet due to the crossover between services ending and new services being activated….

[bfccrazy]

Genuine question, have you ever done that? I know at Sky you would end up with a period of no internet due to the crossover between services ending and new services being activated….

Yes, I did it with last time I was out of the cheap period" - told them I'd accepted I'd lose Internet for a few days but would be signing back up and they just changed a few bits to get me back on the same package but in my name still.

It wasn't with Sky though - it was plusnet

[mikeS]

I'm in Burnley and Thinking of moving from Plusnet to BRSK
Will I get a better service in burnley do you think?
Currently on the lowest broadband speed of around 40Mbps and then on wi-fi it's slow. Their letter (Plusnet) said the fees going up to £47 from Jan - another £20 a month for the same slowest service.

Any recommendations welcome!

[TheOriginalLongsider]

For Virgin call and say you can’t afford it. Just stick with it. They may offer you a better deal but if not just give notice. If they don’t contact you nearer the end date with a better deal then you could just say that you want to stay. Nothing lost

For others it’s always worth comparing prices. Save the link to the cheapest one then call to ask for a better deal and let them have the link to show that you know what you can get elsewhere. They will usually match, unless it’s a very cheap deal that loses them money.

[Clovius Boofus]

I'm in Burnley and Thinking of moving from Plusnet to BRSK
Will I get a better service in burnley do you think?
Currently on the lowest broadband speed of around 40Mbps and then on wi-fi it's slow. Their letter (Plusnet) said the fees going up to £47 from Jan - another £20 a month for the same slowest service.

Any recommendations are welcome!

Go online and look up the latest deals on a comparison site. Then phone Plusnet and tell them you want to match it. They might not be bang on, but they will come close. I recently negotiated, without any hassle whatsoever, a two-year contract for £22.99 for 80mb. Obviously, the £22.99 does rise annually with RPI.

[Jjjack]

I've just had some issues with my TalkTalk internet, basically pushed my into leaving and I've started a contract with BT a higher minimum DL speed but also at a bit more cost cause I'm just sick of TalkTalk support. Told them I would leave if they couldn't do 3 months free and £20 a month for an 18 month contract and they said no, then they said they could do 2 months free and £23 a month 18 months contract. Just haggle with them and they'll drop the price, if it isn't what you want then just leave. I'm not debating whether to cancel my new BT in favour of TalkTalk again.

[ClaretDiver]

Yes, I did it with last time I was out of the cheap period" - told them I'd accepted I'd lose Internet for a few days but would be signing back up and they just changed a few bits to get me back on the same package but in my name still.

It wasn't with Sky though - it was plusnet

But that’s not the same, in the end they ‘budged’ and just continued on with your service in your name, if you change the name on the service in order to get a better deal as a new customer then you will lose service for a period of time,

[aggi]

With Virgin I was offered 350Mbps broadband, the Maxit TV package, Sky & TNT sports for £55 a month so £44 seems steep.

I got that by saying I was leaving and sticking with it through a few phone calls. Customer service was so dreadful though that I decided not to go with it and instead got 1Gbps Community Fibre for £25 a month.

[Hipper]

Thanks everyone.

BRSK and others not available to me as no fibre connections in my area. According to this site it will happen in 'the next 12 months':

https://www.openreach.com/fibre-broadba ... -broadband

See map about half way down the page where you can check on your availability.

Because there is no fibre based alternative, the other deals are down the phone line - Open Reach - and a lot slower. It may be 'a lot slower' would be OK for me as I don't do much downloading. However it is possible 'down the road' that I might want to use Freeview Play to use catch up. I'm not sure yet.

Ending the service and re-starting as a new customer. In Virgin's case they say the new deal (£26.50/month) is only available if you haven't been a customer for one year.

The cheapest deal (using Money Supermarket) is with a company called Pop Telecom - £16/month for 11MB. Never heard of them!

When I've rung Virgin, twice, I couldn't get an answer out of them. It seems like some foreign call centre. I also used their Chat Bot and got the quotes I mentioned from one their team. When I argued about the new customer price I just got told that I had benefited from a 'new customer price' in the past! I'll ring them again and cancel and see what happens.

[aggi]

...
When I've rung Virgin, twice, I couldn't get an answer out of them. It seems like some foreign call centre. I also used their Chat Bot and got the quotes I mentioned from one their team. When I argued about the new customer price I just got told that I had benefited from a 'new customer price' in the past! I'll ring them again and cancel and see what happens.

You won't get any decent offers until you start the leaving process.

[Foshiznik]

I was in the same situation and went with Brsk and the difference is massive £30 for 1gig if you use the link below we both get a treat but in all seriousness not had a problem and can highly recommended link or no link

https://brsk.uk/2FPL

I've been considering them ever since moving up here just under a year ago. Definitely recommend? What router do they provide?

[Hipper]

I've just been on the phone to the 'thinking of leaving us' department (their call centre seems to be located in Porto, Portugal, so they said).

The summary is that if I do nothing after my contract ends I get a cheaper deal (for TV, Landline and M125 Broadband - £44.25) then if I arranged a new contract for M125 Broadband only (£49)! I find this hard to believe but my Account page on Virgin Media online says what I will be charged per month (£44.25) from 2nd January so I assume that they will need to give me a month's notice if they increase the price (if I agreed a new eighteen month contact for M125, TV and Landline it would be, depending on who you speak to, £79, £74 or £69!!! I'm sure they know what they are doing but they seem to be plucking figures out of the air).

[ClaretAL]

I've been considering them ever since moving up here just under a year ago. Definitely recommend? What router do they provide?

They provide a technovision or something cant remember the exact name, as we only used it for the original set up which to be fair it was fine and I was getting 1 gig lan speeds and 700m wifi. I already had an Asus AX9 mesh system so just run everything through that and keep the Brsk router just for back up.

Highly recommend and had no issues since installation.

[GavlarClaret]

I was with BT 6 months ago - would generally pull about 60-80meg DL speeds and was paying £33 per month. A friend had signed up with BRSK and raved about the speeds - I was needing to increase my speeds at the time so looked into it. I've been paying £16 pm but it will go to £32 shortly for the remaining 18 months of my 2 yr contract. DL speeds around 400-600 and UL speed (if you need it) will be similar. Customer service and installation was brilliant throughout, even after us having to re-book it because they arrived and I hadn't told them I have a flat roof which they needed to access. It was re-booked there and then on the phone (at 7.30am!) with customer services and another engineer came and installed - this one trained for flat roofs.

Oh and I got a £75 referral for signing up, have had one more off a friend a few months ago and currently have 2 more in the process of their installation!!

I think the referral link takes you to checking if its available in your area and then you can browse current packages

Thanks in advance to anyone who uses it!
https://brsk.uk/U26U

[IanMcL]

Lots of variants. My Scottish home is off road and I could not get a landline. I have a mobile broadband from 3. I pay £12 a month for unlimited data. Also, £10 a month for an unlimited data/calls/texts sim for my mobile. Worth getting 3 to give you their offers, for bartering purposes. My mobile broadband gives me 60-80 mps speeds (through thick walls)

[bfccrazy]

But that’s not the same, in the end they ‘budged’ and just continued on with your service in your name, if you change the name on the service in order to get a better deal as a new customer then you will lose service for a period of time,

Which is what I said in that reply..... That I'd accept I'd lose service for a few days.

[BurnleyMickSouth]

Hi Fellow Clarets, just to throw a spanner in the works ?, i have been with SKY, broadband, internet, sky mobile, Now as well as TNT, & landline but never use it for calls out, i have been with them for the past 23 yrs, Im not up on all this tech stuff to be honest, my contract runs out with them in Jan, i pay at present £110 per month, they sent me a new e-mail saying its going up to £116 in Feb if i renew with them, any suggestions at all i am happy to hear from any clarets with advice on what i should do, its costing me a fortune to watch the footy, any help out there ? thank you. I live in Surrey if that helps ??. I dont have Sky Cinema or Disney+ either. I feel that im being taken for a fool by staying with them, also SKY VIP what a load of codswallop that is iv had one free movie since it started, waste of space, thank you.

[TheOriginalLongsider]

Hi Mick. Go to a comparison site like Uswitch and it will give you all your options for your address. You can then just transfer the lot or go to Sky saying that you’ve found a better deal. They are likely to give you a better deal if you’ve shown that you know what price you can get elsewhere. Also consider what you really need. Do you need a landline? Do any of the people who call you not have a mobile phone and worried about the cost of calling a mobile. If you decide to switch then do use a cash back site as they can give you a lot of their commission back to you (sometimes hundreds).
Maybe also check out broadband advice on moneysavingexpert.com. My link for a cash back site is here if you’re interested (we would both get some cash) but you can go directly if you’d prefer. https://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/stark ... OS-TAFPage

[BurnleyMickSouth]

Thanks for that advice Longsider, i will do what you have said and hopefully get you some cash for doing this for me, im not due to renew till 18th of Jan thats when my contract with SKY ends, thanks again for the link and advice, UTC.

[Raconteur]

Hi Fellow Clarets, just to throw a spanner in the works ?, i have been with SKY, broadband, internet, sky mobile, Now as well as TNT, & landline but never use it for calls out, i have been with them for the past 23 yrs, Im not up on all this tech stuff to be honest, my contract runs out with them in Jan, i pay at present £110 per month, they sent me a new e-mail saying its going up to £116 in Feb if i renew with them, any suggestions at all i am happy to hear from any clarets with advice on what i should do, its costing me a fortune to watch the footy, any help out there ? thank you. I live in Surrey if that helps ??. I dont have Sky Cinema or Disney+ either. I feel that im being taken for a fool by staying with them, also SKY VIP what a load of codswallop that is iv had one free movie since it started, waste of space, thank you.

From looking at the above, i bet you are paying £30 at least, just for TNT

[Hipper]

Virgin Media told me that they have deals every so often with a limited number of uptakes. Once the number is reached the deal closes. Whether this is true or not I don't know but that is what their complaints department told me. Therefore, they said, sign up for notification of these deals. I had already done so but never had any e-mails on the subject. In other words, if I contact them another time to agree a contract the prices might be different.

My guess is Sky, BT and the rest operate a similar business model. They clearly don't care about customers and just play games with us. Of course it's the same for utilities, insurance etc.. What a life!

[pompeyclaret]

Got broadband and phone with virgin, was meant to go to over £50/ month, they offered £30 on a deal. I asked if they could improve, and got to £28, which I said wasn't great, but guess easier than moving.

Then they said £21 a month, which is cheaper than I'm paying now! Realistically doesn't cost them anything so anything you pay is money for them

[TheOriginalLongsider]

It’s expensive for these companies to lose customers. They call it “churn”. When I worked at NTL the business claimed that each customer lost costs them £800. So always try and get a better deal