Changing Broadband But Who To? Help Required

[Mossycat]

I'm an old Blueyonder then NTL now Virgin Media customer.

I'm on cable and since day 1 have paid £25 a month, back in the day I suppose £25 was an OK deal for my line speed and to be honest I have never had any technical problems.

I know that with most services it can sometimes be a good idea to switch because new customers get a better deal, but before I jump ship I wondered who to avoid and who to consider.

So any advice on connection issues, support, pricing (etc) would be really appreciated.

Also if there are any other Virgin (£25 month contract people) who tried to cancel did Virgin offer any deals to stay with them.

Thanks in advance

Mossy

[locutus]

One of your main problem will be the fact that the BT line to your property will probably be totally disconnected (If you have a BT socket, try plugging a phone into it and see if you get any sort of tone) normally BT charge £124.99 to connect this. BT do sometimes offer special deals, and some other companies connect your line for less or for free, so it's worth shopping around.

My sister in law got a deal when she asked to leave. She'd been with them for 2 years, and asked to stop all services as she didn't need broadband, didn't need a phone as she has a mobile and was going to get freeview. They gave her free TV if she kept her phone line, so there is room for negotiation.

Good luck mossy whatever you decide.

[Mossycat]

Hi

Thanks for that but I am on cable (not ADSL) so my phone line doesn't come into the equation.

Cheers

Mossy

[locutus]

I believe there is only virgin media providing over cable now(not 100% sure)

Try Samknows Broadband - Broadband Availability Checker to see what is available to you

[Mossycat]

OK it's Kudos to Virgin.

I rang their Customer Retention Dept and they listened to my concerns and then they asked me what it would take for me to stay with them. I told them a reduction in my line rental from £25 a month and a free wireless router.

Result - Wireless Router is on the way and my monthly line rental is £17 a month.

That's a thumbs up to Virgin from me because I've never had any major technical issues and I'm happy to stay with them (even more so because we are due for a fibre optic upgrade soon).

Mossy

[locutus]

Result! Nice one!

[BARBIE DOLL]

Hello
i have just read your thread reason been we have just recently taken a contract with sky ( wish we hadnt now but thats one big big other story). had i of read your thread before now i would of adviced you pretty much exactly how locutus did and said try to get a deal with virgin especially as you have not had any problems with them.

"so really pleased you got a better deal mossycat well done " and " well done to you locutus, great advice "

i just wanted to say for ref that the people who lved here before we did were also on cable and the bt socket that was in the wall was not connected so friends and family told us it could cost over £100 to get the bt line active so it put us off . but a couple of months ago we thought we would go ahead and get digital / broadband , when i rang bt to ask about the line been switched back on she told me to hld on while she checked if they needed to come out. she said because the line had been off for so long if engineer as to come out it would cost £125 if they could switch t on at the centre t would not cost anything. (i never get any luck and was ready with my card to make the £125 payment) someone must of liked me that day they were able to do it from the centre.i couldnt believe my luck for once.
anyway well done x

[johnharding]

I have just switched my ADSL from Eclipse (poor customer services, Phorm and others) to ADSL24 (reseller for EntaNET). I was considering UKFSN before I signed up to ADSL24 but they wouldnt accept my MAC code and no-one was answering the phone in Sales (which has got to be a first) so I went with ADSL24 instead.

I pay £20/mnth and get 30GB Peak (4pm-10pm IIRC) and 330GB offpeak (all other times)

Will let you know how I get on.

[Wilma Shoozfit]

I was on BT with eclipse as my service provider - I didn't a problem with either providers. But I was paying BT £20/PM + Eclipse £15/pm + £15/pm mobile PAYG (so I can have the unlimited O2 - O2 calls and texts to communicate with friend and familly) It was quite expensive. I found a Tiscali deal - Now for 15/pm (reduced to £10 for 3 months but with a £30 connection fee) I now get free phone line rental free weekend calls ( to Australia and some European countries as well!) and unlimited internet access/download so I've shaved £20/pm off my bill.
Oh and I got one of those wi-fi boxes all I need now is a wi-fi computer to go with it - That's on my list for Santa.
I've heard good and bad reports about Tiscali - but in the 2 months I've been with them the only problem I've had was my own fault and it was sorted in a couple of hours.
The technical blurb about speed download is beyond me. The package I'm using is up to 8 whatevers - but as my BT exchange will only support 2.5 there wasn't much point for going for anything faster.

[IdaInFife]

Just to add, if you have paid Bt the £124.99 for reconnection and if you sign up to sky as a new customer and take their broadband they give you the £124.99 back onto your sky account!!!!


Ida x