Virgin Media offers an existing customer €30 per month discount out of the blue

Hello Duke,

Have a look at the offers from Sky and Eir (particularly for TV and landline).

With the call centre service that Eir are not providing these days anyone who moves to them wants their head examined. My OAP neighbours have been to hell and back with them hence their move to elsewhere.
 
I got on to VM this morning. I asked for a straight comparison with what a new customer would pay and what I would pay with my loyalty discount. The difference is €25 per month. I asked her why that was. She said I was once a new customer and got those discounts, I was now an existing customer. I said that I could become a new customer. She said they would then remove the boxes from me and I would have to sign up with someone else. Ok, she wasn't quite so blunt but that was the gist. I told her that people in blogoland seem to be able to get the new customer offer if they squeaked loud enough. She said absolutely not. In the end she wore me down. Bad taste in my mouth but I'm stuck with the loyalty offer.:(
I had to tell em I would change and to cancel...and finally.... after discussing with a supervisor, they relented. It probably helped that I had my mobile with them as well. It really is bad public relations on their behalf treat existing customers as less valuable. Truth is, existing customers are CHEAPER to service and EASIER to hold onto. New customers necessarily involve more costs. This penny never seems to drop with service providers.
 
I was on simple broadband €56 per month, best I could get is €5 'loyalty discount'.
I went with that but mentioned to the support agent that I could easily cancel and get my wife to sign up and get €40 per month rates. They would have to collect my old equipment, and post me a new one. They are fast too, I would get new equipment next day. Or can drive to a VM shop and pick it up there. Such waste...

Funnily the agent said , 'that would be fraud'. I might do it next year :)
It would be entertaining to see how they would present a case!
 
With the call centre service that Eir are not providing these days anyone who moves to them wants their head examined. My OAP neighbours have been to hell and back with them hence their move to elsewhere.
yeah, I’m happy enuff with VM service. I just wish they hadn’t rattled my cage. I hate feeling like a mug.
 
nobody really needs 360mb/s at home - even if everyone in the house was streaming 4k netflix you wouldn't go much over 100. We had the 360mb service and I downgraded to 240 to save a few quid.
 
Truth is, existing customers are CHEAPER to service and EASIER to hold onto. New customers necessarily involve more costs. This penny never seems to drop with service providers.

Hi Declan

The sad reality is that most people don't switch and don't care about overpaying.

Although it's expensive for them to get a new customer, that customer will probably end up paying a lot more.

Brendan
 
Hi Declan

The sad reality is that most people don't switch and don't care about overpaying.

Although it's expensive for them to get a new customer, that customer will probably end up paying a lot more.

Brendan

Don't I know Brendan. And companies rely on inertia to make money. And Duke, stay in the long grass for VM ;):D:D. Don't get me wrong, I like their service. It's streets ahead of some I know. But I keep them on their toes and earning every buck they get from me.

On principle, I keep a note of the date I change suppliers so I always know when contracts are due. I have zilch loyalty to any supplier coz I know they view me in the same light. Every year, around now, I get onto bonkers.ie & switcher.ie and do an analysis of what's on offer. I estimate this year I'll save €200 on gas and lecky bills. That's me car tax sorted!
 
I was a VM cust for 15 years, price had gone from 48 to 70 in 2 years for legacy 50mb bb & Basic tv, their best offer was to reduce it by 10e for 6 months, then increase it by 20e to 79 after that on higher speed, so i left & went to vodafone for 25e for first 6 months, then 60 after that. I was a bit surprised they didnt do more to keep me, i didnt particularly want to move as their product is so reliable.
 
I was a VM cust for 15 years, price had gone from 48 to 70 in 2 years for legacy 50mb bb & Basic tv, their best offer was to reduce it by 10e for 6 months, then increase it by 20e to 79 after that on higher speed, so i left & went to vodafone for 25e for first 6 months, then 60 after that. I was a bit surprised they didnt do more to keep me, i didnt particularly want to move as their product is so reliable.
As a matter of interest, how are Vodafone? I've heard mixed reviews.
 
nobody really needs 360mb/s at home - even if everyone in the house was streaming 4k netflix you wouldn't go much over 100. We had the 360mb service and I downgraded to 240 to save a few quid.
Absolutely. I've got a pc on permanently as a server, stream to 2 tvs (Netflix and "other" methods) , my missus and myself use laptops, phones and tablets (not all simultaneously) and we've never had an issue with 240mb per second. It's the first thing they try to get us off whenever I ring. I just did a test now . My missus is watching Netflix downstairs and my tablet is reporting 210mb/sec here.
 
It really is bad public relations on their behalf treat existing customers as less valuable. Truth is, existing customers are CHEAPER to service and EASIER to hold onto. New customers necessarily involve more costs. This penny never seems to drop with service providers.
The answer to this is simple - the vast majority of customers simply do not switch providers. They will complain about it but do nothing about it. Same applies to banks, mobile companies, utilities etc - although utilities are probably the easier and most frequently switched as there is no downtime or customer impact.
Yes existing customers are cheaper to maintain, but less likely to leave.

I read somewhere in the UK that people who switch utilities save 300 pounds a year, but if everyone switched the savings would be around 70 pounds. Its those on 'standard rates' that subsidise the margins for the others !
 
even if everyone in the house was streaming 4k netflix you wouldn't go much over 100.
4K is about 25-30MB on a single stream ....
I agree, the chances of anyone needing >100MB is low enough. The new eir 1GB FTTH will be interesting to see what the take-up is. It is probably too fast & expensive for most people.
 
But I keep them on their toes and earning every buck they get from me.
The only challenge there is the more times you avail of loyalty discounts, the harder it is to get them off them. I managed to get another half price one for 6 months off them, but it was hard fought

And companies rely on inertia to make money.
Absolutely agree here - but those who pay the higher fees by not moving allow the rest of us to get discounts when we contact them


One big advantage of being on the openeir network as opposed to VM is that you can switch between eir, voda and others with no impact on internal wiring etc. If you move away from VM there is someone out to go drilling in the house etc !
 
4K is about 25-30MB on a single stream ....
I agree, the chances of anyone needing >100MB is low enough. The new eir 1GB FTTH will be interesting to see what the take-up is. It is probably too fast & expensive for most people.

You are making a common mistake between MB and Mb, with MB being approx. 10 time more data than Mb inc. of stop bits and error checking etc. 4K streaming does not need anwhere near 25-30 MBs and is also dependant on compression system utilised. I have seen 12Mbs DSL streaming 4K movies perfectly. As long as the BB is stable and does not suffer from high pings or latency then lower speeds are generally perfectly OK.

MB = Mega Bytes
Mb = Mega Bits
 
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8 bits = 1 Byte

Couldn't agree more @Leo, always was and I suppose always will be..........:)

But I said "data" which includes, relevant information (usually 7bits, but doesn't have to be), sync bits, error checking, stop bits, redundancy checks, etc..
 
Couldn't agree more @Leo, always was and I suppose always will be..........:)

But I said "data" which includes, relevant information (usually 7bits, but doesn't have to be), sync bits, error checking, stop bits, redundancy checks, etc..

Now you talking my language :D Next, kilobytes Vs kibibytes
 
Ah here,

Can we not just keep it simple for the likes of me, and have "slow" and "fast", or "big" and "small" please ?

....well, we might also need "crazy fast" (to cater for Virgin's 360mbs service) ? :D




As an aside, I hope you all like the way I got the thread back on topic again too ;):p


.
 
You are making a common mistake between MB and Mb
Apologies - on the phone at the time and stubby fingers.
Yes agree fundamental difference between the two

I have seen 12Mbs DSL streaming 4K movies perfectly.
As long as it is stable it is probably ok to stream this, but depends on the line really.
If you look at various service providers for streaming they will give recommendations. Most will quote around the 15Mbs for 4K, but some go a little higher.

My point (at a very high level) was 360Mb BB is more than 99% of the population needs. 6 people streaming 4K at a point in time is likely to require 100Mbs line - 150Mbs pushing it..

Apologies for any confusion caused.
 
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Got my new box today. Seems to have fixed my coverage problems. Still a bit sore about paying €25 a month more than a new customer, but I have been worn down by the bitcoin debate and haven't the stamina to fight for justice from VM. Thanks for the many helpful contributions.
 
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