Comreg case against Virgin Media

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ClubMan

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Edit: this article may be paywalled - if/when I find one that's not I'll link to it.
www.irishexaminer.com

Virgin Media uses 'legal and practical obstacles' to discourage switching, court told

In its proceedings, Comreg says there is only one way Virgin Media customers are told they could cancel — by ringing the internet and TV service provider's 1908 number
www.irishexaminer.com www.irishexaminer.com
I'm all for service providers being obliged to make it easy for customers to cancel/switch, and reckon that VM could/should definitely improve matters in this area, but otherwise I'm not so sure that this Comreg case really has merit. So what if some customers haggle, get a better deal and stay with a provider instead of switching? Surely that's a good thing? My own recent experience of cancelling my VM broadband service after 12 month contract was pretty painless. Even if it was just so that I could sign back up with them as a new customer and get the new customer deal! :D They called me a couple of times in the month between me giving notice of cancellation and the service terminating, presumably to give me a sales pitch, but I just ignored the calls.
 
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My issue with VM is in order to get a deal is you have to cancel. Then go through this horse trading like something from a farmers market. Its not what I expect from an tech service provider in 2023. Try getting through to cancellations vs support line. You'll get cancellations much quicker in my experience.
 
AlbacoreA said:
My issue with VM is in order to get a deal is you have to cancel. Then go through this horse trading like something from a farmers market.
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Is that peculiar to VM though? I doubt it. I've only ever dealt with VM because, in spite of being 3-4km from The Spire, they're still the only fast/high bandwidth provider available in my area. I'd love it if Comreg could deal with that and ensure that a free/open/competitive market was available here...
 
I've never been able to haggle like that with technology company.

Used cars, insurances sure. School Xmas fair.
 
AlbacoreA said:
My issue with VM is in order to get a deal is you have to cancel. Then go through this horse trading like something from a farmers market. Its not what I expect from an tech service provider in 2023. Try getting through to cancellations vs support line. You'll get cancellations much quicker in my experience.
Click to expand...

No you don't. I've always threatened to cancel and always got a reduction when I ring up looking for a renewal. Never accept the first offer, or the 2nd offer and you'll always get a deal.
 
thedaddyman said:
No you don't. I've always threatened to cancel and always got a reduction when I ring up looking for a renewal. Never accept the first offer, or the 2nd offer and you'll always get a deal.
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Maybe it’s just me, but VM have never made a better offer beyond their initial one when I’ve threatened to leave. I haven’t got that hard a sell so I can’t really understand Comreg having a hissy fit.

As has been said, it’s probably a “look over there” attempt to distract from a failure to ensure a better and more widespread availability of broadband services generally.
 
I have a low opinion of comreg in general.

VM used to make you jump through hoops to leave, had to be a physical letter and 30+days ahead of the next billing.
But they'd only point out any issues in the cancellation, when you rang to wonder why a payment was taken for something you assumed had been cancelled. So I accept the argument if you can subscribe to their service by more convenient means, you should be able to leave it the same way.

I think it's just low hanging fruit by Comreg. They should really tackle the misleading monthly pricing. Make them quote the yearly price for the first 3 yrs of a subscription. Crack down on the use of "unlimited" and such terms.
 
I've got all sort of offers from VM. But I've had to haggle. Sometimes they won't give a discount. Very much random.
 
ClubMan said:
Edit: this article may be paywalled - if/when I find one that's not I'll link to it.
www.irishexaminer.com

Virgin Media uses 'legal and practical obstacles' to discourage switching, court told

In its proceedings, Comreg says there is only one way Virgin Media customers are told they could cancel — by ringing the internet and TV service provider's 1908 number
www.irishexaminer.com www.irishexaminer.com
I'm all for service providers being obliged to make it easy for customers to cancel/switch, and reckon that VM could/should definitely improve matters in this area, but otherwise I'm not so sure that this Comreg case really has merit. So what if some customers haggle, get a better deal and stay with a provider instead of switching? Surely that's a good thing? My own recent experience of cancelling my VM broadband service after 12 month contract was pretty painless. Even if it was just so that I could sign back up with them as a new customer and get the new customer deal! :D They called me a couple of times in the month between me giving notice of cancellation and the service terminating, presumably to give me a sales pitch, but I just ignored the calls.
Click to expand...
Just wondering when you cancelled did you sign up after the 30 days using your same name and address ? Was there a 90 day period post cancellation they made you wait before signing up as a new customer ? Did you have to send back your router and get a new one sent to you ?
 
I did this recently.

I cancelled online, paid the final bill also online when it was issued, dropped the router at a DPD depot in person and was able to sign up online again for €35/month as a new customer the same day the router was delivered to VM.

New router was delivered the following day.

Bonus: I got no annoying phone calls from anybody in VM to offer "discounts" if I stayed with them.
 
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iamaspinner said:
I did this recently.

I cancelled online, paid the final bill also online when it was issued, dropped the router at a DPD depot in person and was able to sign up online again for €35/month as a new customer the same day the router was delivered to VM.

New router was delivered the following day.

Bonus: I got no annoying phone call from anybody in VM to offer "discounts" if I stayed with them.
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Thanks - I cant see any option to cancel online. Says I either need to call 1908 or send a letter to Limerick.
 
Flybytheseat said:
Just wondering when you cancelled did you sign up after the 30 days using your same name and address ? Was there a 90 day period post cancellation they made you wait before signing up as a new customer ? Did you have to send back your router and get a new one sent to you ?
Click to expand...
As mentioned elsewhere I've done this a few times with VM and signed up as a new customer the day after my account was closed, the final bill issued, and my old service stopped working. I didn't have to wait 90 days or 30 days (I did have to give 30 days notice as normal). I also did get a new router and was told to stick the old one in the local WEEE recycling which is an awful waste.
 
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