Better price ISP ..?

Hi All,

We currently have Virgin Medias basic package , 100Mb fibre broadband, tv ,land phone but with the latest price rise and soon to end 'loyalty' discount its going to be a very costly service.

Seems the likes of BT and Vodafone have offers now and then for as little as £20 for something like 34MB fibre broadband and a land phone ( we only use mobiles now )

While we have got used to the now default VM 100Mb, seem to remember little noticeable speed difference from 30Mb upwards, though we do not download lots of videos and tv etc, just the two of us oldies !

We know ISPs services are get very mixed reviews, but wondered what others think or have done in changing over to a cheaper simpler service and getting our own Humax recorder ?

We know it means changing every year to get the discounts but for our use it seems worth it ?
We would not cancel the VM cable / fibre service until we were sure the new package was running ok on the Open Reach telephone wires.

Seems the new 2019 regulations mean we can cancel the service without charge if they do not deliver the specified speed ..?

 

I'm with Virgin Mediocre as well,keep meaning to get things sorted phone line wise so I can shop around, but probably mean a day off work at least to get it done.

Haven't got a clue how it all works these days
Do I have to get BT to reconnect the phone line.

Sorry cant help Ricky, its all a mystery to me.

 

I was with virgin for years and their service was excellent. I would tell them that you are thinking of leaving and ask for a better price from them

 

Last time I tried that one I was told there was nothing they could do.

And often these days they dont even bother answering the phone.

 

Hi,

We cannot complain about VMs FTTC fibre to the cabinet service, its been really good for some years, its just the cost which seems so high against what they and others can offer to new buyers or is it us oldies loosing our take on modern prices !

Is it worth switching providers every 12 to 18 months to get those introductory prices...?

@andrews - yes we do haggle the price each time with their Retentions dept, but still seems very high, perhaps we should try harder and not accept the first or second offer ?!

@pete - while in the past they have been good, we recently found our land line answer service had stopped, but basically they would not fix it unless we renewed our contract, though we have a loyalty discount still running for a few more months,

 

Of course its worth changing if you want to save some money . It quite simple to change now just ring up your chosen supplier and they sort it all out for you. You've got to watch for being stuck in a contract with your previous supplier, they like to do a rolling contact and they try and take you to the cleaners if you try and cancel.

Told my dad for years to change from BT they ripping you off, I think his quarterly bill were about £180-190 for Fibre internet upto 50mb or similar plus phone line and calls. He change to Vodafone last year his bill now is about £27 - 32 including phone line per month pending on how many calls he makes broadband internet upto 35mb which can be upgraded for a higher spec for a few quid extra .
I have noticed a difference downloading updates on the PS4 compared to the BT internet, I stream a lot of football from NOW TV to my PS4 and it fine. Unless your a serious gamer or download films to watch very soon or have lots of people using wifi all at once it not worth paying extra for 100mb, anything below 50mb is way more than what you really need.

I wouldn't stop with the telecom giants - gas / electric all of them with take you for fool if you let them.

 

We saved a fortune moving to bulb for gas and electric. OK, you pay up-front for your energy but I'd rather save money than have it sat in the bank earning nothing in interest

 

@shiney When we speak to VM retentions dept can we transfer the call to you to negotiate a better deal

 

Long time since I was down in the East End, think it was around the mid sixties, we stayed in a friends Uncles cafe, seems ok , apart from 8am when the Juke box was un-plugged because a group of 4 big fellas called the Cat Men came in and it was all quiet - yes sir, three bags full etc.

Never found out what they were really into but certainly nothing to do with pussy cats !!