[Harry Stottle[_3_]]

I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!. It
also says that I am to receive an upgrade to the 10Mb service, which I have
not requested, and do not require. By enforcing this price increase on the
majority of their customers, who probably like me do not want or require an
upgrade, they are effectively penalising us for wanting a basic service for
emails and web browsing, and this is not on. I shall be contacting customer
services to strongly complain about this extortion, and I hope others will
do the same.

[Clive George]

"Harry Stottle" wrote in message
...
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!.

They want to send you a bill electronically - costs them less. So they
charge you for paper, same as for many other places. Sign up for the
electronic one and you don't get that service charge.

[Harry Stottle[_3_]]

"Clive George" wrote in message
news

"Harry Stottle" wrote in message
...
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!.

They want to send you a bill electronically - costs them less. So they
charge you for paper, same as for many other places. Sign up for the
electronic one and you don't get that service charge.

An electronic bill is OK, until you get some debt collecting agency asking
you two years down the line for payment for a service you know that you have
already paid for, as has been happening to several viewers of Watchdog
recently. If you have an original paper receipt, it would be easy to produce
that in court as evidence of payment, but a computer printout is not the
same, and could be easily doctored, or lost due to a computer crash, and
yes, I do keep these type of receipts for at least 2 years.

[Clive George]

"Harry Stottle" wrote in message
...

"Clive George" wrote in message
news

"Harry Stottle" wrote in message
...
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!.

They want to send you a bill electronically - costs them less. So they
charge you for paper, same as for many other places. Sign up for the
electronic one and you don't get that service charge.

An electronic bill is OK, until you get some debt collecting agency asking
you two years down the line for payment for a service you know that you
have already paid for, as has been happening to several viewers of
Watchdog recently. If you have an original paper receipt, it would be easy
to produce that in court as evidence of payment, but a computer printout
is not the same, and could be easily doctored, or lost due to a computer
crash, and yes, I do keep these type of receipts for at least 2 years.

The bill isn't the original paper receipt. So it wouldn't help.

If you're worried about that sort of thing, yes, you get to pay a premium
for it. Your problem. But you don't actually need to if you take appropriate
care with the electronic equivalents.

[Phil the Farmer[_3_]]

Harry Stottle wrote:

"Clive George" wrote in message
news

"Harry Stottle" wrote in message
...
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!.

They want to send you a bill electronically - costs them less. So they
charge you for paper, same as for many other places. Sign up for the
electronic one and you don't get that service charge.

An electronic bill is OK, until you get some debt collecting agency
asking you two years down the line for payment for a service you know
that you have already paid for, as has been happening to several viewers
of Watchdog recently.


Bloody hell, do they send you a bill for viewing Watchdog now?

[Dave Liquorice[_2_]]

On Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:13:38 -0000, Harry Stottle wrote:

and yes, I do keep these type of receipts for at least 2 years.

Only two years? IIRC if HMR&C decided to have a good look at your accounts
(even as a employee on PAYE) they would expect to find records going back
6 years...

--
Cheers
Dave.

[kraftee]

"Phil the Farmer" wrote in
message
| Harry Stottle wrote:
|
| "Clive George" wrote in message
| news |
| "Harry Stottle" wrote in message
| ...
| I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia
| broadband M service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per
| month from May, which equates
| to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a
| £2.00 price increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending
| me a monthly bill!.
|
| They want to send you a bill electronically - costs them less.
| So they charge you for paper, same as for many other places.
| Sign up for the electronic one and you don't get that service
| charge.
|
| An electronic bill is OK, until you get some debt collecting
| agency asking you two years down the line for payment for a
| service you know that you have already paid for, as has been
| happening to several viewers of Watchdog recently.
|
|
| Bloody hell, do they send you a bill for viewing Watchdog now?

How else could old mother BBC afford it??

[Dave Liquorice[_2_]]

On Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:38:52 -0000, Clive George wrote:

The bill isn't the original paper receipt. So it wouldn't help.

This is true but the next bill normally shows any payments made between
the two billing dates. I'm on electronic billing for a few untlities, they
are stored away on the server that is automagically incrementally backed
up every night and a full backup every week with those (and the associated
incrementals) kept for a rolling 3 week period.

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Michael Chare]

"Harry Stottle" wrote in message
...
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!. It
also says that I am to receive an upgrade to the 10Mb service, which I
have
not requested, and do not require. By enforcing this price increase on the
majority of their customers, who probably like me do not want or require
an upgrade, they are effectively penalising us for wanting a basic service
for emails and web browsing, and this is not on. I shall be contacting
customer services to strongly complain about this extortion, and I hope
others will do the same.



The best strategy in this sort of situation is to ask to speak to the
cancellations department. Tyically staff in that department have more
authority to offer you a better deal.


--
Michael Chare

[Lobster]

Harry Stottle wrote:
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!. It
also says that I am to receive an upgrade to the 10Mb service, which I have
not requested, and do not require. By enforcing this price increase on
the majority of their customers, who probably like me do not want or
require an upgrade, they are effectively penalising us for wanting a
basic service for emails and web browsing, and this is not on. I shall
be contacting customer services to strongly complain about this
extortion, and I hope others will do the same.

Hmm. I've just been advised that the TV component (we have the XL
package) is going up by a quid; but none of the other components of my
deal are affected. Except they are reducing by 2.75 GBP my 'loyalty
discount', which I negotiated a few months ago with the retentions
department. That seems a totally bizarre method of increasing the
overall amount they are charging me; you'd think almost designed to make
me see red and pull my account? And I might just do that...

David

[Lobster]

Clive George wrote:
"Harry Stottle" wrote in message
...
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!.

They want to send you a bill electronically - costs them less. So they
charge you for paper, same as for many other places. Sign up for the
electronic one and you don't get that service charge.

They've been giving a 1 GBP discount for customers with electronic
billing for some time now, so in reality nothing much has actually
changed; they've tried the carrot and now it's time for the stick!

David

[Stuart Noble]

Michael Chare wrote:
"Harry Stottle" wrote in message
...
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!. It
also says that I am to receive an upgrade to the 10Mb service, which I
have
not requested, and do not require. By enforcing this price increase on
the majority of their customers, who probably like me do not want or
require an upgrade, they are effectively penalising us for wanting a
basic service for emails and web browsing, and this is not on. I shall
be contacting customer services to strongly complain about this
extortion, and I hope others will do the same.



The best strategy in this sort of situation is to ask to speak to the
cancellations department. Tyically staff in that department have more
authority to offer you a better deal.



I think they're disbanding the 2Mb option. They actually rang me to say
that the speed was going up but the price was coming down (£27 a month
phone and bb). I really can't be arsed to shop around. On balance
they've been pretty good, the devil I know etc

[Paul Scott]

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.net...
On Sun, 22 Mar 2009 15:13:38 -0000, Harry Stottle wrote:

and yes, I do keep these type of receipts for at least 2 years.

Only two years? IIRC if HMR&C decided to have a good look at your accounts
(even as a employee on PAYE) they would expect to find records going back
6 years...

Some hope. Most employees on PAYE who have very straightforward tax affairs,
will never have been told about the record keeping requirement for
individuals, indeed they'll be lucky to even get a notice of coding if
nothing changes year on year. OTOH any number of people will have taken all
those identity theft warnings to heart and will be busy shredding everything
they get, and then the banks are also encouraging their customers not to
bother with hard copy statements...

Paul

[The Medway Handyman]

Harry Stottle wrote:
"Clive George" wrote in message
news

"Harry Stottle" wrote in message
...
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband
M service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May,
which equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00
price increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a
monthly bill!.

They want to send you a bill electronically - costs them less. So
they charge you for paper, same as for many other places. Sign up
for the electronic one and you don't get that service charge.

An electronic bill is OK, until you get some debt collecting agency
asking you two years down the line for payment for a service you know
that you have already paid for, as has been happening to several
viewers of Watchdog recently. If you have an original paper receipt,
it would be easy to produce that in court as evidence of payment, but
a computer printout is not the same, and could be easily doctored, or
lost due to a computer crash, and yes, I do keep these type of
receipts for at least 2 years.

But you would have the bank statements providing proof of payment?


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

[Harry Stottle[_3_]]

"The Medway Handyman" wrote in message
. ..
Harry Stottle wrote:
"Clive George" wrote in message
news

"Harry Stottle" wrote in message
...
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband
M service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May,
which equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00
price increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a
monthly bill!.

They want to send you a bill electronically - costs them less. So
they charge you for paper, same as for many other places. Sign up
for the electronic one and you don't get that service charge.

An electronic bill is OK, until you get some debt collecting agency
asking you two years down the line for payment for a service you know
that you have already paid for, as has been happening to several
viewers of Watchdog recently. If you have an original paper receipt,
it would be easy to produce that in court as evidence of payment, but
a computer printout is not the same, and could be easily doctored, or
lost due to a computer crash, and yes, I do keep these type of
receipts for at least 2 years.

But you would have the bank statements providing proof of payment?

The more proof the better if a debt collecting agency comes calling :-)

[altheim]

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
Harry Stottle wrote:
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!. It
also says that I am to receive an upgrade to the 10Mb service, which I
have
not requested, and do not require. By enforcing this price increase on
the majority of their customers, who probably like me do not want or
require an upgrade, they are effectively penalising us for wanting a
basic service for emails and web browsing, and this is not on. I shall be
contacting customer services to strongly complain about this extortion,
and I hope others will do the same.

Hmm. I've just been advised that the TV component (we have the XL
package) is going up by a quid; but none of the other components of my
deal are affected. Except they are reducing by 2.75 GBP my 'loyalty
discount', which I negotiated a few months ago with the retentions
department. That seems a totally bizarre method of increasing the overall
amount they are charging me; you'd think almost designed to make me see
red and pull my account? And I might just do that...

From their pov, if the loyalty discount you negotiated is unprofitable
for them, allowing you to "pull the account" may be preferable to keeping
your custom. Letting a customer escape is not something that businesses
would normally do but the present financial climate is not normal and their
survival might be more important.

I hear that ITV, for that very same reason, are considering moving
some, or all, of their channels to Sky.

A couple of questions spring to mind: was a time period specified and
did you get the agreement in writing - on paper and not just email - or
was it just word of mouth?

--
altheim

[Arfa Daily]

"altheim" wrote in message
...

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
Harry Stottle wrote:
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!. It
also says that I am to receive an upgrade to the 10Mb service, which I
have
not requested, and do not require. By enforcing this price increase on
the majority of their customers, who probably like me do not want or
require an upgrade, they are effectively penalising us for wanting a
basic service for emails and web browsing, and this is not on. I shall
be contacting customer services to strongly complain about this
extortion, and I hope others will do the same.

Hmm. I've just been advised that the TV component (we have the XL
package) is going up by a quid; but none of the other components of my
deal are affected. Except they are reducing by 2.75 GBP my 'loyalty
discount', which I negotiated a few months ago with the retentions
department. That seems a totally bizarre method of increasing the
overall amount they are charging me; you'd think almost designed to make
me see red and pull my account? And I might just do that...

From their pov, if the loyalty discount you negotiated is unprofitable
for them, allowing you to "pull the account" may be preferable to keeping
your custom. Letting a customer escape is not something that businesses
would normally do but the present financial climate is not normal and
their
survival might be more important.




I have a broadband-only service from Virgin. It was originally taken out
with NTL. When they first started their broadband, it was not available as a
separate option. After a while, they got the idea that it would be better to
sell just broadband to people that wanted it that way, rather than not have
them as any kind of customer. Over the years, I have been pretty happy with
the level of service and automatic speed upgrades - which are *way* beyond
anything that competing technologies can offer - and have stuck with them.

When Virgin took over, it all changed. The prices for a broadband-only
service have crept up, and it is now possible to get a deal including TV and
phone, for less than I am paying for my fast broadband service. They are
forever writing to me and calling me to try to get me to convert. Thing is,
I don't want their TV or phone. If I had, I would have taken them, or
upgraded to a package with them, on my own.

I like the broadband service that I have with them, and don't want to
downgrade to a BT-level one. I suppose that I could convert to a package,
and just not use the additional services, but it is annoying that to get a
decent price, without having to get on the phone to their cancellations
department and have a rant and 'negotiate' a deal of dubious long-term
validity, I would have to change the simple service that I have, and have
always had ...

Arfa

[Bob Mannix]

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...

"altheim" wrote in message
...

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
Harry Stottle wrote:
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!.
It
also says that I am to receive an upgrade to the 10Mb service, which I
have
not requested, and do not require. By enforcing this price increase on
the majority of their customers, who probably like me do not want or
require an upgrade, they are effectively penalising us for wanting a
basic service for emails and web browsing, and this is not on. I shall
be contacting customer services to strongly complain about this
extortion, and I hope others will do the same.

Hmm. I've just been advised that the TV component (we have the XL
package) is going up by a quid; but none of the other components of my
deal are affected. Except they are reducing by 2.75 GBP my 'loyalty
discount', which I negotiated a few months ago with the retentions
department. That seems a totally bizarre method of increasing the
overall amount they are charging me; you'd think almost designed to make
me see red and pull my account? And I might just do that...

From their pov, if the loyalty discount you negotiated is unprofitable
for them, allowing you to "pull the account" may be preferable to keeping
your custom. Letting a customer escape is not something that businesses
would normally do but the present financial climate is not normal and
their
survival might be more important.




I have a broadband-only service from Virgin. It was originally taken out
with NTL. When they first started their broadband, it was not available as
a separate option. After a while, they got the idea that it would be
better to sell just broadband to people that wanted it that way, rather
than not have them as any kind of customer. Over the years, I have been
pretty happy with the level of service and automatic speed upgrades -
which are *way* beyond anything that competing technologies can offer -
and have stuck with them.

When Virgin took over, it all changed. The prices for a broadband-only
service have crept up, and it is now possible to get a deal including TV
and phone, for less than I am paying for my fast broadband service. They
are forever writing to me and calling me to try to get me to convert.
Thing is, I don't want their TV or phone. If I had, I would have taken
them, or upgraded to a package with them, on my own.

I like the broadband service that I have with them, and don't want to
downgrade to a BT-level one. I suppose that I could convert to a package,
and just not use the additional services, but it is annoying that to get a
decent price, without having to get on the phone to their cancellations
department and have a rant and 'negotiate' a deal of dubious long-term
validity, I would have to change the simple service that I have, and have
always had ...

Arfa
Fortunately it coincided with a house move and sh*te Freeview for me so
changing from broadband only to broadband +TV (and then, on a subsequect
move) to B/band +TV + phone made sense - as you say, a competitive package!
I too have had excellent service from them. You could revisit whether you
want their phone or whatever, I guess - there's no point paying and *not*
using them, after all!


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

[Neil Williams]

On 22 Mar, 16:16, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

Only two years? IIRC if HMR&C decided to have a good look at your accounts
(even as a employee on PAYE) they would expect to find records going back
6 years...

If you're an employee on PAYE not working from home, your home
telephone/television bill will have precious little to do with your
tax affairs.

Neil

[Neil Williams]

On 22 Mar, 18:57, Lobster wrote:

*And I might just do that...

For those wanting an unlimited but lower speed broadband package for
not too much, Tesco offer one for about 18 quid (plus BT line rental,
obviously) for 512K. And I find Freeview more than adequate for
television.

Neil

[tony sayer]

In article , Stuart Noble
scribeth thus
Michael Chare wrote:
"Harry Stottle" wrote in message
...
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!. It
also says that I am to receive an upgrade to the 10Mb service, which I
have
not requested, and do not require. By enforcing this price increase on
the majority of their customers, who probably like me do not want or
require an upgrade, they are effectively penalising us for wanting a
basic service for emails and web browsing, and this is not on. I shall
be contacting customer services to strongly complain about this
extortion, and I hope others will do the same.



The best strategy in this sort of situation is to ask to speak to the
cancellations department. Tyically staff in that department have more
authority to offer you a better deal.



I think they're disbanding the 2Mb option. They actually rang me to say
that the speed was going up but the price was coming down (£27 a month
phone and bb). I really can't be arsed to shop around. On balance
they've been pretty good, the devil I know etc

Friend of mine had a go at them last week about the 45 quid he was being
charged for broadband and phone.

Was put through to cancellations and they didn't offer him anything in
the way of a reduction..

So the mobile is now the home phone and the 3G dongle is the new
broadband;!..

Goodbye Virgin after 12 years of being a customer;!..
--
Tony Sayer

[Rob[_10_]]

Bob Mannix wrote:
"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...
"altheim" wrote in message
...
"Lobster" wrote in message
...
Harry Stottle wrote:
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00 price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!.
It
also says that I am to receive an upgrade to the 10Mb service, which I
have
not requested, and do not require. By enforcing this price increase on
the majority of their customers, who probably like me do not want or
require an upgrade, they are effectively penalising us for wanting a
basic service for emails and web browsing, and this is not on. I shall
be contacting customer services to strongly complain about this
extortion, and I hope others will do the same.
Hmm. I've just been advised that the TV component (we have the XL
package) is going up by a quid; but none of the other components of my
deal are affected. Except they are reducing by 2.75 GBP my 'loyalty
discount', which I negotiated a few months ago with the retentions
department. That seems a totally bizarre method of increasing the
overall amount they are charging me; you'd think almost designed to make
me see red and pull my account? And I might just do that...
From their pov, if the loyalty discount you negotiated is unprofitable
for them, allowing you to "pull the account" may be preferable to keeping
your custom. Letting a customer escape is not something that businesses
would normally do but the present financial climate is not normal and
their
survival might be more important.



I have a broadband-only service from Virgin. It was originally taken out
with NTL. When they first started their broadband, it was not available as
a separate option. After a while, they got the idea that it would be
better to sell just broadband to people that wanted it that way, rather
than not have them as any kind of customer. Over the years, I have been
pretty happy with the level of service and automatic speed upgrades -
which are *way* beyond anything that competing technologies can offer -
and have stuck with them.

When Virgin took over, it all changed. The prices for a broadband-only
service have crept up, and it is now possible to get a deal including TV
and phone, for less than I am paying for my fast broadband service. They
are forever writing to me and calling me to try to get me to convert.
Thing is, I don't want their TV or phone. If I had, I would have taken
them, or upgraded to a package with them, on my own.

I like the broadband service that I have with them, and don't want to
downgrade to a BT-level one. I suppose that I could convert to a package,
and just not use the additional services, but it is annoying that to get a
decent price, without having to get on the phone to their cancellations
department and have a rant and 'negotiate' a deal of dubious long-term
validity, I would have to change the simple service that I have, and have
always had ...

Arfa
Fortunately it coincided with a house move and sh*te Freeview for me so
changing from broadband only to broadband +TV (and then, on a subsequect
move) to B/band +TV + phone made sense - as you say, a competitive package!
I too have had excellent service from them. You could revisit whether you
want their phone or whatever, I guess - there's no point paying and *not*
using them, after all!



Same here. The only fly/ointment has been certain telephone calls -
probably to mobiles (I haven't paid that much attention). They bump up
the bill, but I seem to pay less for the entire package (10Mb, phone,
TV) than I paid just for a BT phone.

Rob

[Dave Liquorice[_2_]]

On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:57:40 -0700 (PDT), Neil Williams wrote:

Only two years? IIRC if HMR&C decided to have a good look at your
accounts (even as a employee on PAYE) they would expect to find records
going back 6 years...

If you're an employee on PAYE not working from home, your home
telephone/television bill will have precious little to do with your
tax affairs.

I said a "good look" maybe I should have said a "good look with a
microscope". If HMR&C decide to have an in deepth look at you they'll be
looking to account for virtually every last penny.

--
Cheers
Dave.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In article ,
altheim wrote:
I hear that ITV, for that very same reason, are considering moving
some, or all, of their channels to Sky.

They'd cease to be ITV, then, as the franchise has an obligation as
regards how it is transmitted.

--
*Plagiarism saves time *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

[DAVE]

Friend of mine had a go at them last week about the 45 quid he was being
charged for broadband and phone.

Was put through to cancellations and they didn't offer him anything in
the way of a reduction..


Ditto here, but with BT in my case.
Recently, BT suddenly, without warning, decided to add £45 to our last
quarterly bill. This was, apparently, for 3 months advanced rental !!!
When I tackled them they said that they had a new computer system and it
couldn't handle the anomaly.
I asked why this suddenly came about after being with BT/Post Office for
more than 45+ years !!! I was refered to previous answer !. (these drones
just trot out the same script every time).
I asked what the hell we would get for the £45?, they said the telephone and
B/Band rental, I replied that we were already paying for that and had been
for 45+years. The lastest bill came to £183.
They were adament they wanted the money. We stopped the service. I went
through cancellations who appeared totally indifferent. The amended bill
will now only go upto the end of March, instead of end of May. So, in the
end, they will NOT be getting their 'pound of flesh' after all.
So, for much less than the price BT were charging just for a landline and
the smallest Broadband service, we are now having Virgin Media's package of
;
1) Telephone pack Talk Anywhere200 including calls to mobiles, at anytime of
day/night,
2) 10Mb Broadband (minimum) AND
3) The XL TV package including the HD pack .....

Goodbye to BT after 45+ years.

In the end, the consumer WILL have the choice, and the last SAY in what they
buy.
Wavey Dave

[[email protected]]

Neil Williams wrote:
On 22 Mar, 18:57, Lobster wrote:

*And I might just do that...

For those wanting an unlimited but lower speed broadband package for
not too much, Tesco offer one for about 18 quid (plus BT line rental,
obviously) for 512K. And I find Freeview more than adequate for
television.

Neil

Virgin do 2/10M broadband, phone _and_ digital tv for less than
18+12.


NT

[Vernon]

I have a broadband-only service from Virgin. It was originally taken out
with NTL. When they first started their broadband, it was not available as
a separate option. After a while, they got the idea that it would be
better to sell just broadband to people that wanted it that way, rather
than not have them as any kind of customer. Over the years, I have been
pretty happy with the level of service and automatic speed upgrades -
which are *way* beyond anything that competing technologies can offer -
and have stuck with them.

When Virgin took over, it all changed. The prices for a broadband-only
service have crept up, and it is now possible to get a deal including TV
and phone, for less than I am paying for my fast broadband service. They
are forever writing to me and calling me to try to get me to convert.
Thing is, I don't want their TV or phone. If I had, I would have taken
them, or upgraded to a package with them, on my own.

I like the broadband service that I have with them, and don't want to
downgrade to a BT-level one. I suppose that I could convert to a package,
and just not use the additional services, but it is annoying that to get a
decent price, without having to get on the phone to their cancellations
department and have a rant and 'negotiate' a deal of dubious long-term
validity, I would have to change the simple service that I have, and have
always had ...

Arfa


We also had broadband only, then one day I had a call from Virgin offering a
phone line, "no thanks - got one from BT".

Well he insisted if I had a phone line I would save money each month, fair
enough, chap turned up, installed socket where i asked, next bill came and
indeed had a discount of IIRC £7 now well over a year later I am still
saving money, and I have never even plugged a phone into the socket!

[Michael Chare]

"Dave" wrote in message
...



Friend of mine had a go at them last week about the 45 quid he was being
charged for broadband and phone.

Was put through to cancellations and they didn't offer him anything in
the way of a reduction..


Ditto here, but with BT in my case.
Recently, BT suddenly, without warning, decided to add £45 to our last
quarterly bill. This was, apparently, for 3 months advanced rental !!!
When I tackled them they said that they had a new computer system and it
couldn't handle the anomaly.
I asked why this suddenly came about after being with BT/Post Office for
more than 45+ years !!! I was refered to previous answer !. (these drones
just trot out the same script every time).


If you have managed to have a BT line for 45 years without paying the line
rental in advance I think that is quite an achievement!

1) Telephone pack Talk Anywhere200 including calls to mobiles, at anytime
of day/night,
2) 10Mb Broadband (minimum) AND
3) The XL TV package including the HD pack .....

I assume that is some sort of cable service.


In the end, the consumer WILL have the choice, and the last SAY in what
they
buy.


Yes, but you can only (sensibly) buy what a seller is prepared to make
available.

Where I live, mobile phone networks are a good example of suppliers who are
prepared to take your money but not provide a viable service.

LLU Broadband ISPs just tell you that they can not provide a service.


--
Michael Chare

[tony sayer]

In article , Dave
scribeth thus



Friend of mine had a go at them last week about the 45 quid he was being
charged for broadband and phone.

Was put through to cancellations and they didn't offer him anything in
the way of a reduction..


Ditto here, but with BT in my case.
Recently, BT suddenly, without warning, decided to add £45 to our last
quarterly bill. This was, apparently, for 3 months advanced rental !!!
When I tackled them they said that they had a new computer system and it
couldn't handle the anomaly.
I asked why this suddenly came about after being with BT/Post Office for
more than 45+ years !!! I was refered to previous answer !. (these drones
just trot out the same script every time).
I asked what the hell we would get for the £45?, they said the telephone and
B/Band rental, I replied that we were already paying for that and had been
for 45+years. The lastest bill came to £183.
They were adament they wanted the money. We stopped the service. I went
through cancellations who appeared totally indifferent. The amended bill
will now only go upto the end of March, instead of end of May. So, in the
end, they will NOT be getting their 'pound of flesh' after all.
So, for much less than the price BT were charging just for a landline and
the smallest Broadband service, we are now having Virgin Media's package of
;
1) Telephone pack Talk Anywhere200 including calls to mobiles, at anytime of
day/night,
2) 10Mb Broadband (minimum) AND
3) The XL TV package including the HD pack .....

Goodbye to BT after 45+ years.

In the end, the consumer WILL have the choice, and the last SAY in what they
buy.
Wavey Dave



Not that the consumer has -that- much choice .. but as least there is
some..

Remember the good old days of the GPO ;!....
--
Tony Sayer

[Arfa Daily]

"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message
ll.net...
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 02:57:40 -0700 (PDT), Neil Williams wrote:

Only two years? IIRC if HMR&C decided to have a good look at your
accounts (even as a employee on PAYE) they would expect to find records
going back 6 years...

If you're an employee on PAYE not working from home, your home
telephone/television bill will have precious little to do with your
tax affairs.

I said a "good look" maybe I should have said a "good look with a
microscope". If HMR&C decide to have an in deepth look at you they'll be
looking to account for virtually every last penny.

--
Cheers
Dave.


Friend of mine in the building trade recently got 'looked at' by The
Revenue, and they even asked him how many haircuts he had per year, and how
much he had spent on his kids' Christmas presents ...

Arfa

[Lobster]

Vernon wrote:

I have a broadband-only service from Virgin. It was originally taken out
with NTL. When they first started their broadband, it was not
available as a separate option. After a while, they got the idea that
it would be better to sell just broadband to people that wanted it
that way, rather than not have them as any kind of customer. Over the
years, I have been pretty happy with the level of service and
automatic speed upgrades - which are *way* beyond anything that
competing technologies can offer - and have stuck with them.

When Virgin took over, it all changed. The prices for a broadband-only
service have crept up, and it is now possible to get a deal including
TV and phone, for less than I am paying for my fast broadband service.
They are forever writing to me and calling me to try to get me to
convert. Thing is, I don't want their TV or phone. If I had, I would
have taken them, or upgraded to a package with them, on my own.

I like the broadband service that I have with them, and don't want to
downgrade to a BT-level one. I suppose that I could convert to a
package, and just not use the additional services, but it is annoying
that to get a decent price, without having to get on the phone to
their cancellations department and have a rant and 'negotiate' a deal
of dubious long-term validity, I would have to change the simple
service that I have, and have always had ...

Arfa


We also had broadband only, then one day I had a call from Virgin
offering a phone line, "no thanks - got one from BT".

Well he insisted if I had a phone line I would save money each month,
fair enough, chap turned up, installed socket where i asked, next bill
came and indeed had a discount of IIRC £7 now well over a year later I
am still saving money, and I have never even plugged a phone into the
socket!

What, you mean you're still paying BT for their line??

David

[Arfa Daily]

"Bob Mannix" wrote in message
...

"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...

"altheim" wrote in message
...

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
Harry Stottle wrote:
I have just had an email informing me that my VirginMedia broadband M
service is going to cost me an extra £3.25 per month from May, which
equates
to approximately a 20% price increase. This is made up of a £2.00
price
increase, plus a £1.25 service charge for sending me a monthly bill!.
It
also says that I am to receive an upgrade to the 10Mb service, which I
have
not requested, and do not require. By enforcing this price increase on
the majority of their customers, who probably like me do not want or
require an upgrade, they are effectively penalising us for wanting a
basic service for emails and web browsing, and this is not on. I shall
be contacting customer services to strongly complain about this
extortion, and I hope others will do the same.

Hmm. I've just been advised that the TV component (we have the XL
package) is going up by a quid; but none of the other components of my
deal are affected. Except they are reducing by 2.75 GBP my 'loyalty
discount', which I negotiated a few months ago with the retentions
department. That seems a totally bizarre method of increasing the
overall amount they are charging me; you'd think almost designed to
make me see red and pull my account? And I might just do that...

From their pov, if the loyalty discount you negotiated is unprofitable
for them, allowing you to "pull the account" may be preferable to
keeping
your custom. Letting a customer escape is not something that businesses
would normally do but the present financial climate is not normal and
their
survival might be more important.




I have a broadband-only service from Virgin. It was originally taken out
with NTL. When they first started their broadband, it was not available
as a separate option. After a while, they got the idea that it would be
better to sell just broadband to people that wanted it that way, rather
than not have them as any kind of customer. Over the years, I have been
pretty happy with the level of service and automatic speed upgrades -
which are *way* beyond anything that competing technologies can offer -
and have stuck with them.

When Virgin took over, it all changed. The prices for a broadband-only
service have crept up, and it is now possible to get a deal including TV
and phone, for less than I am paying for my fast broadband service. They
are forever writing to me and calling me to try to get me to convert.
Thing is, I don't want their TV or phone. If I had, I would have taken
them, or upgraded to a package with them, on my own.

I like the broadband service that I have with them, and don't want to
downgrade to a BT-level one. I suppose that I could convert to a package,
and just not use the additional services, but it is annoying that to get
a decent price, without having to get on the phone to their cancellations
department and have a rant and 'negotiate' a deal of dubious long-term
validity, I would have to change the simple service that I have, and have
always had ...

Arfa
Fortunately it coincided with a house move and sh*te Freeview for me so
changing from broadband only to broadband +TV (and then, on a subsequect
move) to B/band +TV + phone made sense - as you say, a competitive
package! I too have had excellent service from them. You could revisit
whether you want their phone or whatever, I guess - there's no point
paying and *not* using them, after all!


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)


Thing is Bob, I get a good deal right now on my BT. A long time ago, when
they were trying to sell package deals, they rang me and said that for the
amount I was using the phone (a lot) they could do me a much better deal on
one of their 'include it all' packages, where you pay a fixed amount per
month, and then all calls are free any time of the day - mobiles excepted of
course. It was originally called Option 3 I think, and I'm not sure that
they even do it as a new product any more, but they continue to service my
account, on that basis. On top of the base cost, I then pay a few quid
(literally) for the extra services such as caller ID and alternate number /
different ring. I am very happy with my service, and have had the same
number forever, so I really have no need of Virgin's telephone service. For
my TV requirements, I use a mix of analogue off-air (until that's gone of
course), digital off-air, and satellite, with some internet on occasion as
well. It's a big house, and I've got all of this little lot tricked up into
a fairly elaborate trunk distribution system that allows anything to be
watched anywhere. This system would not lend itself to being fed by a Virgin
STB.

So that's the thing. I *really* don't need their other services.

Arfa

[Lobster]

wrote:
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:00:12 +0000, Lobster
wrote:


What, you mean you're still paying BT for their line??

I am in a similar situation I have a Virgin line which is never used
it came part of a package. Virgin charge a connection fee for every
call made ,I have the all calls option from BT which cost me 14.00 a
month including line rental and no connection charges .

So why not dump the BT line altogether and just take Virgin's Talk
Unlimited package (which AFAICS is equivalent your BT offering) at 8.00
per month?

David

[Arfa Daily]

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:00:12 +0000, Lobster
wrote:


What, you mean you're still paying BT for their line??

I am in a similar situation I have a Virgin line which is never used
it came part of a package. Virgin charge a connection fee for every
call made ,I have the all calls option from BT which cost me 14.00 a
month including line rental and no connection charges .

So why not dump the BT line altogether and just take Virgin's Talk
Unlimited package (which AFAICS is equivalent your BT offering) at 8.00
per month?

David

Do you happen to know if Virgin do BT number porting ? I get the feeling
that they don't, as all of the people I know who have a Virgin phone, seem
to have a completely different number from the series of BT numbers which
serve my village. Having had my BT number for 35 years - so everyone,
including all my business contacts, know it - I would not like to have to
change, so if I were to take a 'package' to save money on my (wanted)
broadband, by taking an unwanted phone, I think that my socket would
probably just sit there unused, as well ...

Arfa

[Lobster]

Arfa Daily wrote:
"Lobster" wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:00:12 +0000, Lobster
wrote:


What, you mean you're still paying BT for their line??
I am in a similar situation I have a Virgin line which is never used
it came part of a package. Virgin charge a connection fee for every
call made ,I have the all calls option from BT which cost me 14.00 a
month including line rental and no connection charges .
So why not dump the BT line altogether and just take Virgin's Talk
Unlimited package (which AFAICS is equivalent your BT offering) at 8.00
per month?

Do you happen to know if Virgin do BT number porting ?

Yes, they do for sure.

David

[Adrian Stott]

On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:52:33 -0000, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:

Friend of mine in the building trade recently got 'looked at' by The
Revenue, and they even asked him how many haircuts he had per year, and how
much he had spent on his kids' Christmas presents ...

I think this is standard, as a few years ago a freelancer I know
received the same treatment (aimed at finding out how much he was
actually spending, so that could be compared to his declared income).
He said it was fairly terrifying, and the process ended with his
writing a large cheque.

HMRC and its predecessors have had a lo-ong time to hone these
techniques.

On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:19:34 GMT, Rob
wrote:

The only fly/ointment has been certain telephone calls -
probably to mobiles (I haven't paid that much attention).

Perhaps you don't know about the Money Saving Expert? A page on that
site lists all the ways to get lower-price phone calls, and is updated
daily. For calls to mobiles, it lists several 0870 numbers you can
call, and then enter the mobile number you want. The best current
deal there for calls to mobiles is 7p/minute. It's been as low as 3p.

http://callchecker.moneysavingexpert...cker/index.php

A very useful site all round.

On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:24:20 -0000, "Dave"
wrote:

I asked why this suddenly came about after being with BT/Post Office for
more than 45+ years !!! I was refered to previous answer !. (these drones
just trot out the same script every time).

A technique I have found helpful in such situations is to tell the
drone you want to speak to his supervisor. They all have one, and
will usually transfer you pronto. The supervisor usually has more
discretion with respect to problem solving.

Adrian
..

Adrian Stott

[tony sayer]

In article , Arfa Daily
scribeth thus

"Lobster" wrote in message
...
wrote:
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:00:12 +0000, Lobster
wrote:


What, you mean you're still paying BT for their line??

I am in a similar situation I have a Virgin line which is never used
it came part of a package. Virgin charge a connection fee for every
call made ,I have the all calls option from BT which cost me 14.00 a
month including line rental and no connection charges .

So why not dump the BT line altogether and just take Virgin's Talk
Unlimited package (which AFAICS is equivalent your BT offering) at 8.00
per month?

David

Do you happen to know if Virgin do BT number porting ? I get the feeling
that they don't, as all of the people I know who have a Virgin phone, seem
to have a completely different number from the series of BT numbers which
serve my village. Having had my BT number for 35 years - so everyone,
including all my business contacts, know it - I would not like to have to
change, so if I were to take a 'package' to save money on my (wanted)
broadband, by taking an unwanted phone, I think that my socket would
probably just sit there unused, as well ...

Arfa



We did that sometime ago from ntl to BT so I presume it still can be
done..
--
Tony Sayer

[DAVE]

Do you happen to know if Virgin do BT number porting ? I get the feeling
that they don't, as all of the people I know who have a Virgin phone, seem
to have a completely different number from the series of BT numbers which
serve my village.


Yes, you can transfer your BT number to Virgin, just tell Virgin that you
want to do that and they will do all the leg work.
One word of warning though, DON'T cancel yout BT account before arranging
the new account with Virgin.
If you do, you will loose your BT number.
Just contact Virgin and they will transfer the number for you AND they will
cancel your BT account at the same time.
I'm going through exactly that situation right now, and we've been with BT
for more than 45 years.

Wavey Dave

[tony sayer]

In article ,
scribeth thus
On Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:25:42 +0000, Lobster
wrote:

wrote:
On Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:00:12 +0000, Lobster
wrote:


What, you mean you're still paying BT for their line??

I am in a similar situation I have a Virgin line which is never used
it came part of a package. Virgin charge a connection fee for every
call made ,I have the all calls option from BT which cost me 14.00 a
month including line rental and no connection charges .

So why not dump the BT line altogether and just take Virgin's Talk
Unlimited package (which AFAICS is equivalent your BT offering) at 8.00
per month?

Because in my opinion BT and GPO before them have always provided me
with good service never tried to over charge me bills have always been
correct and have never in the last fifty+ years have I picked up the
phone and found it not to be working .
Has people say if something is working don't try to fix it if BT are
ever able to provide the Internet speeds that Virgin provide then it
will be Virgin that gets dumped not BT .

Someone there who deals with telecoms very infrequently...

... A lucky person indeed....

BTW if Virgin we're not around do you think that BT would have been
bothered to improve anything other then what Ofcom might want them to
do?..
--
Tony Sayer

[Fastmoggy]

wrote in message
...
Is there another kat lurking on here?

meow?