Virgin Media Discussion Thread

They’re still going to find ways to scam us.

Got my renewal email to say my deal for only M500 broadband is rising to £74 in May, but if I renew now it’ll be just £31 a month.

Bullcrap.

That’s just copying Tesco’s BS claims that a non-Clubcard price is £5, when I’ve been buying the item for 30 years and it’s never been anywhere near £5. Lying through their teeth.


£31 also just happens to be the price I can get Vodafone’s 900mb for - minus whatever gift card/cashback is available at the time.
 
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My discount was ending in April so I called them today got offered nothing so canceled.

Few hours later got a call told them i was moving to community fibre 1gbps and they offered me 1gpbs and netflix for £30 a month with no increase till 2027.

I was on 250mbs paying 30 anyway so took it.
 
Starting to hate our VM connection. 1 gig connection only used for work, so not stressed but way less reliable compared to the open reach fttp line we also have.

The OR zen line does all the hard miles and rock solid.

VM is up, but speeds are patchy, then drops out overnight every few weeks, very annoying.

Maybe will consolidate or get a 2nd OR connection. But was kinda the point to have diff networks for redundancy and backup option
 
f666 said:
Starting to hate our VM connection. 1 gig connection only used for work, so not stressed but way less reliable compared to the open reach fttp line we also have.

The OR zen line does all the hard miles and rock solid.

VM is up, but speeds are patchy, then drops out overnight every few weeks, very annoying.

Maybe will consolidate or get a 2nd OR connection. But was kinda the point to have diff networks for redundancy and backup option
Click to expand...
Getting dual OR connections wouldn't make a lot of sense. Maybe switch to OR as your primary for everything and leave VM solely as a backup line?
 
aaronyuri said:
Getting dual OR connections wouldn't make a lot of sense. Maybe switch to OR as your primary for everything and leave VM solely as a backup line?
Click to expand...
Yeah that was the original point, putting a server on the VM to balance things out, not hogging main line, not sure can justify not using at all. Lol.

Maybe I just need to put non essential elsewhere and reprioritise.

Doesn't look like other symmetrical services coming anytime soon.
 
Maybe a failover solution of some sort. Might contact zen to see if possible. Looks like A&A can offer it.
 
I was going to leave but retentions offered me landline, 1gig, Sky Sports & UHD for £58 a month. I don't think I'd have got that cheaper elsewhere. Also, VM internet is rock solid here whereas full fibre has only just rolled out in this area.
 
Has anyone managed to have the price rise increase removed in advance? I need to call up this week, but my main discount doesn't end until September.
 
sastusbulbas said:
I'm out of contract, my 1gb bill is going up to £80.

Not sure if I should get off my backside and look at an alternative.
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Just had the renewal through, BB only (M500 volt'd to 1G), £36.62 -> £77.39 :eek

I am starting to detest their insidious practices.. new customer rate s £24.99 for Gigabit, although technically I am on M500 volt'd to 1G due to having a rolling O2 contract, so like for like, M500 is £20.99 for new customers.

So £20.99 vs £77.39.. ridiculous..

They of course offered me 1G for £38 although that was actually M500 volt'd again, so with the sim it's £50pm.. I politely asked to just cancel and when pushed on why just said it was due to the insulting renewal price (relative to new customers).

In a stroke of luck, FTTP was rolled out in our street a few months ago and looks like I can get EE 1600mbps for effectively £34pm (topcashback/uswitch) and should probably switch to that, I have had very few issues with VM's actual product, but I want to make sure I have alternatives..

So if you have a renewal with VM, just cancel, they'll offer you something cheaper initially, if you want to stick it out, I've always gone ahead with the cancellation and always had them phone me a few times prior to disconnection and negotiated further discount (if you can be bothered).
 
It is a very draining process, I have been with VM for several years now and have to go through this circus to renew each time.
VM have the monopoly in our village as that is the only fibre provider.
Openreach are supposed to be installing fibre in the next 6-12 months, so the next renewal I will most probably leave for them.

I have had no issues with the VM network, a real shame they cannot sort out their pricing and customer service...
 
father-ted said:
It is a very draining process, I have been with VM for several years now and have to go through this circus to renew each time.
VM have the monopoly in our village as that is the only fibre provider.
Openreach are supposed to be installing fibre in the next 6-12 months, so the next renewal I will most probably leave for them.

I have had no issues with the VM network, a real shame they cannot sort out their pricing and customer service...
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Agreed!

I was floored last year when after many years of having registered my interest in FTTP via openreach I had an email pop through, I assumed in a VM cabled area they'd not bother..

Fingers crossed, booked in for the end of the month, a week or so before VM's service stops, as it's a new FTTP installation, I want some overlap incase they need more time to connect from the ducting on the property frontage to the house (its all gravel, so should be easy).
 
Demon said:
I was floored last year when after many years of having registered my interest in FTTP via openreach I had an email pop through, I assumed in a VM cabled area they'd not bother..
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VM being in an area has nothing to do with OR's approach to migrating it to FTTP, it's only alt-net's who sometimes choose to be more selective.
 
Avalon said:
VM being in an area has nothing to do with OR's approach to migrating it to FTTP, it's only alt-net's who sometimes choose to be more selective.
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Our village was a Virgin-only area and OR have ignored the area for years, then Lightspeed rocked up and within less than 3 months of going live, OR decided to make ours an area to be done within 12 months. Not sure if a coincidence or planned.
 
They don't tell people that elderly and disabled folks
on low incomes or others with certain criteria can qualify for the
community broadband tariff which is their lowest speed available by them in your area for £15 a month, they will not offer you this package
unless your contract is expired and you threaten to quit and ask to be put through to disconnections, and then refuse all the other packages they offer which do not include the community broadband tariff.

I was annoyed that even when I offered to pay they refused to
install full fibre from the cabinet to replace the copper coax,
and like many others we were stuck with Virgin for many years before at last open reach installed full fibre in our street.

When your package contract period comes to a close they ramp up the price to £64 a month, a disabled family member was paying something like £25 for their deal and they didn't do anything about it for 6 months after the contract ended, I bet this is not uncommon amongst the elderly, there should be some legislation to stop this by now
and compo. I think the price should not be able to go above £5 a month over the price adjusted for inflation for 12 months after the deal contract ends.

When I quit Virgin they hit me with a 1 month notice period and £21 disconnection fee, they tried a few times to retain me as a customer
with offers of deals right up until disconnection day.
 
Quad_Ch4nn3L said:
They don't tell people that elderly and disabled folks
on low incomes or others with certain criteria can qualify for the
community broadband tariff which is their lowest speed available by them in your area for £15 a month, they will not offer you this package
unless your contract is expired and you threaten to quit and ask to be put through to disconnections, and then refuse all the other packages they offer which do not include the community broadband tariff.
Click to expand...
They are available to anyone who can prove they meet the criteria and who asks about them, they aren't offered to as a retention tool to everyone because that's not what they are for, and were never intended to be used in such a manner. This is the criteria:

Social Tariff Broadband | Our Essential Packages – Virgin Media

Get online from £12.50 a month with our social tariff broadband offers. Available for those receiving Universal Credit, Pension Credit, and other state benefits.
www.virginmedia.com www.virginmedia.com

Our broadband on a social tariff is available to new and current Virgin Media customers. You’re eligible for our social tariff broadband deals if you’re the account holder and you’re receiving certain government benefits:
  • Universal Credit
  • Pension Credit
  • Income Support
  • Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance†
  • Income-based Employment Support Allowance†
† (Not contributory-based only. If both income and contributory-based, your income-based ESA or JSA must be higher.)


Quad_Ch4nn3L said:
I was annoyed that even when I offered to pay they refused to
install full fibre from the cabinet to replace the copper coax,
and like many others we were stuck with Virgin for many years before at last open reach installed full fibre in our street.
Click to expand...
Yea, that's not happening, it's not just pulling fiber to your property, it's the whole street cab/pits that need additional hardware to run RFoG, you're not paying for that. It's also being done over the next few years For everyone.

Quad_Ch4nn3L said:
When your package contract period comes to a close they ramp up the price to £64 a month, a disabled family member was paying something like £25 for their deal and they didn't do anything about it for 6 months after the contract ended, I bet this is not uncommon amongst the elderly, there should be some legislation to stop this by now
and compo. I think the price should not be able to go above £5 a month over the price adjusted for inflation for 12 months after the deal contract ends.

When I quit Virgin they hit me with a 1 month notice period and £21 disconnection fee, they tried a few times to retain me as a customer
with offers of deals right up until disconnection day.
Click to expand...
Forgive me, but was any of this in some way a surprise to you?

A company offers you a service that retails for £64, but they discount to £25 for the period of the fixed term contract, when the contract ends, the deal ends, you get warnings on the bill and usually by email, people choose to ignore them, either they don't care, may have plans to move in a few months or are waiting to jump to a different provider, but the existing provider has the right to charge retail prices if you want to run on 30 day terms. As to being billed a fee, what you presumably missed out is you either chose not to give 30 days notice out of contract, or you chose to end your services before the end of the minimum contract term, therefore you were billed for the difference.
 
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Avalon said:
They are available to anyone who can prove they meet the criteria and who asks about them, they aren't offered to as a retention tool to everyone because that's not what they are for, and were never intended to be used in such a manner. This is the criteria:

Social Tariff Broadband | Our Essential Packages – Virgin Media

Get online from £12.50 a month with our social tariff broadband offers. Available for those receiving Universal Credit, Pension Credit, and other state benefits.
www.virginmedia.com www.virginmedia.com

Our broadband on a social tariff is available to new and current Virgin Media customers. You’re eligible for our social tariff broadband deals if you’re the account holder and you’re receiving certain government benefits:
  • Universal Credit
  • Pension Credit
  • Income Support
  • Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance†
  • Income-based Employment Support Allowance†
† (Not contributory-based only. If both income and contributory-based, your income-based ESA or JSA must be higher.)



Yea, that's not happening, it's not just pulling fiber to your property, it's the whole street cab/pits that need additional hardware to run RFoG, you're not paying for that. It's also being done over the next few years For everyone.


Forgive me, but was any of this in some way a surprise to you?

A company offers you a service that retails for £64, but they discount to £25 for the period of the fixed term contract, when the contract ends, the deal ends, you get warnings on the bill and usually by email, people choose to ignore them, either they don't care, may have plans to move in a few months or are waiting to jump to a different provider, but the existing provider has the right to charge retail prices if you want to run on 30 day terms. As to being billed a fee, what you presumably missed out is you either chose not to give 30 days notice out of contract, or you chose to end your services before the end of the minimum contract term, therefore you were billed for the difference.
Click to expand...
When your mobile contract is up with ID mobile the prices goes from £8 to £10 a month until you rearrange a new contract not £25 to £64 a month, and this is just the basic broadband and house phone package no TV.

Virgin Media's out-of-contract price ramp-up is one of the most aggressive in the industry,

Virgin Media has ~5.69 million UK broadband customers (Q4 2025 figure).

Ofcom reports 8.8 million UK broadband customers are currently out-of-contract and paying higher "standard" rates.

Virgin holds ~20% market share → roughly 1.7–1.8 million Virgin customers are likely on these inflated out-of-contract rates at any time.

Conservative estimate for Virgin:

  • Extra revenue per passive customer ≈ £25/month (£300/year)
  • Total extra annual revenue from do-nothing customers ≈ £450–£540 million
  • Hundreds of millions of pounds in extra annual revenue often from vulnerable elderly customers or those with learning difficulties or mental health problems.
You seem to know a lot about how this works, do you work for Virgin Media?.
 
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