Virgin Media Deal

bk

rosmoke wrote: »

1. Emag is not a dodgy website is the biggest online shop in Central and Eastern Europe available in 4 countries, they just bought Agito.pl (the biggest online retail store in Poland).

And how is that of any use to anyone buying a laptop in Ireland?

rosmoke wrote: »

Look with the retina display I agree, but if you take out the 1tb hdd the windows pc has and put a 256gb ssd it should be less than 100e difference, if you swap those 4gb with 8gb it should be less than 70e difference. An 802.11ac card for a laptop is 19e. So with less than 200e you will have almost the same laptop, except the screen and a few other things like thunderbolt, etc.

And the retina display costs a few hundred extra. Plus the super hiqh quality and robust aluminium case (versus cheap plastic), plus the best trackpad you will ever get, plus a super solid, UNIX based operating system, plus the very convenient mag safe connector, plus vastly superior battery life, etc. etc.

It is like comparing a Ford Fiesta to a BMW 5 series. Sure both will get you from Cork to Dublin. But don't kid yourself, they aren't the same parts with just a different brand.

Yes, being a premium brand, Apple certainly does make more profit margin then most of the cheap Taiwanese companies. But don't kid yourself the they aren't just selling a €500 laptop for €1500 like you claimed!

If you pay €400 for a laptop you will get all budget, low end parts.

If you pay €600, it is still a low end budget machine. Most of the parts will be the same as the €400, but they will usually have to one or two parts that they will put in it for advertising purposes, usually a better screen, but in your example a better CPU/GPU. But all the other parts in the machine are still low end budget parts. Thus your original complaint why all windows PC's only seem to support 2.4GHz only.

You need to spend over €1000, windows or mac to get a laptop that is more balanced and all the components are equally high end.

I already linked you two windows laptops that had roughly the same specs as a 13" Macbook Pro and they actually cost more!

You claimed that you could get the same specs as a €1500 for €500, but you still haven't linked me to any laptop that is even close.

Here is the specs of a 13" Macbook Pro, now go link me to a laptop with the same specs for €500 and preferably in Ireland:

€1500
- 13" 2560x1600 IPS Screen
- 2.7GHz Core i5
- 8GB RAM
- 128GB SSD
- 10 hours Battery
- 802.11ac Wi‑Fi

Now I'm not saying that everyone needs to go buy a high end laptop. They certainly don't, most people will do just fine with a cheaper laptop. But that doesn't mean more expensive laptops don't also have their place.

Silver-Tiger

Just looking for broadband. New home.

Is there no first time buyer deals to be had?

bk

Silver-Tiger wrote: »

Just looking for broadband. New home.

Is there no first time buyer deals to be had?

There doesn't seem to be anything from UPC at the moment. I expect it is just a lull before they rebrand to Virgin Media and launch the new brand with some big deals. But that might not be of any use to you if you need to sign up urgently.

You could always call their sales department and ask. Say you are interested, but Sky is offering a better deal at the moment (Broadband + phone + TV for €50) I'd be surprised if they didn't match it.

Silver-Tiger

NOTHING to be had on Broadband only at the moment.

I almost feel ripped off paying full whack.

Seve OB

Silver-Tiger wrote: »

NOTHING to be had on Broadband only at the moment.

I almost feel ripped off paying full whack.

mine is free
paying for line rental though

tharmor

Fakman87 wrote:

Lads I signed up for the €25 a month offer but my first bill was €30. Just wondering is this a mistake from UPC or is this including VAT that isn't listed in the offer? Thanks.

Keep an eye on second bill also....i got both for 30 and 31...managed to et refund somehow....lets see what the third bill says...

yoshimitsu

Hi all, has anybody tried renegotiating with the "new" Virgin Media since the re-branding? I'm paying €90 a month now, up from €85 on my last UPC bill in Sept. WTF!?
We are heavy broadband user (need speed, low latency and no data caps) and do watch a bit of TV. are there alternatives?

groom

yoshimitsu wrote: »

Hi all, has anybody tried renegotiating with the "new" Virgin Media since the re-branding? I'm paying €90 a month now, up from €85 on my last UPC bill in Sept. WTF!?
We are heavy broadband user (need speed, low latency and no data caps) and do watch a bit of TV. are there alternatives?

Drop the TV portion. I pay €26pm for 120MB with low latency, no data caps and the lower phone option.

Lots of TV options. Sky worked out really cheap for me for a couple of years. Always paid less than €20pm by renegotiating and now I used the Sky box without a sub.

HumpyGossy

Drop the TV portion?

Is this with UPC?

Cheapest I can see for Broadband alone is €40 per month?

scamalert

Hi all, has anybody tried renegotiating with the "new" Virgin Media since the re-branding? I'm paying €90 a month now, up from €85 on my last UPC bill in Sept. WTF!?
We are heavy broadband user (need speed, low latency and no data caps) and do watch a bit of TV. are there alternatives?

call them ask wtf,probably if you speak to right person might get put on some promotion and fork the extra euros off,otherwise ask to cancel since id believe that is a breach of contract to increase price,thus no penalty with going to someone else.there seems a lot of issues appearing since Vm joined and many are unhappy,if it continues that merger soon will go down the drain.
they spend moeny on stupid adds and promoting,and yet instead putting all that cash to better the service,provide better boxes/routers speeds they do opposite :cool:

JohnnyRoyal

yoshimitsu wrote: »

Hi all, has anybody tried renegotiating with the "new" Virgin Media since the re-branding? I'm paying €90 a month now, up from €85 on my last UPC bill in Sept. WTF!?
We are heavy broadband user (need speed, low latency and no data caps) and do watch a bit of TV. are there alternatives?

Hey, FYI my contract was up this month. Was already on combo package (tv broadband and phone) but didn't want to move to Horizon box last time I renewed contract (as wife hated the user interface) but was told I could move in future at no charge if I wanted. Rang Virgin Media (now) and rep said I could now move but 60 eur charge to now get Horizon box even though I was virtually paying for it already. Nothing they could do for me, couldn't waive it or anything. Also didn't then transfer me to customer loyalty as would have done in past after complaining and saying need to look elsewhere. However on here found number for customer loyalty direct. Rang them direct and complained there about the charge for box. That was wiped v easily , then pushed little further about bills , mentioned a competitors name etc and got 5 eur off each service for 6months, hmmm'ed and hawed/rejected that and got 4 months half price, took that (I know others in this thread have got better deals in past but not sure how much they are giving out now) but I think def worth ringing customer loyalty directly if not happy. Still think their broadband TV and phone as service is excellent so happy with outcome. Direct Customer loyalty number is 061272190

groom

HumpyGossy wrote: »

Drop the TV portion?

Is this with UPC?

Cheapest I can see for Broadband alone is €40 per month?

Well I have been with them a while and I think broadband plus phone is cheaper than just broadband.

Point remains that the TV portion seems like the most expensive and the easiest replaced.

Amouar

groom wrote: »

Drop the TV portion. I pay €26pm for 120MB with low latency, no data caps and the lower phone option.

Lots of TV options. Sky worked out really cheap for me for a couple of years. Always paid less than €20pm by renegotiating and now I used the Sky box without a sub.

Are you sure it €26pm ? It used be to be €26pm for me 2 years ago but now it's €29.98pm due to the recent increases.

scamalert

might of jumped a gun, but is price increase is breach of contract in general ?
as thinking rationally it would be,but given all small scripts not guaranteed speed,not responsible etc guess there might be some cover in there to justify their reasons.

Since remember early this year had simillar story with bb going up 5-7 e,but they ran promotion for new members and just mentioning that got almost 10e drop in price.

Fr_Dougal

Amouar wrote: »

Are you sure it €26pm ? It used be to be €26pm for me 2 years ago but now it's €29.98pm due to the recent increases.

I'm paying €35 p/m for 240mb bb and HD TV, years contract.

beauf

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

I'm paying €35 p/m for 240mb bb and HD TV, years contract.

Is that a recent contract and the horrorbox?

Fr_Dougal

beauf wrote: »

Is that a recent contract and the horrorbox?

Yes, signed up during the summer. Had heard bad reviews regarding the Horizon box and was fully prepared to cancel within the 14 day cooling off period, but the box hasn't given me any problems. Interface isn't as good as Sky, but once you get used to it, it's grand.

jay0109

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

I'm paying €35 p/m for 240mb bb and HD TV, years contract.

I got €44 half price for 6 months, €88 full price for 6 months. Last March.
Looks like a terrible deal now

Can't wait for it to finish

groom

Amouar wrote: »

Are you sure it €26pm ? It used be to be €26pm for me 2 years ago but now it's €29.98pm due to the recent increases.

Yeah you're right. sneaky ****ers

Italiancheese

BE WARNED : Virgin Media are impossible to deal with in their new call centre in the Philippines. I got a new contract recently same as last year with half price for 6 months and then I got my Bill and was being charged for mobile calls on my landline which I assumed were included in my package!!! Called them and have wasted so much time being switched between sales and customer loyalty. They claim that I asked to downgrade my package and want me to pay for all the mobile calls.

RainyDay

Italiancheese wrote: »

BE WARNED : Virgin Media are impossible to deal with in their new call centre in the Philippines. I got a new contract recently same as last year with half price for 6 months and then I got my Bill and was being charged for mobile calls on my landline which I assumed were included in my package!!! Called them and have wasted so much time being switched between sales and customer loyalty. They claim that I asked to downgrade my package and want me to pay for all the mobile calls.

I found it very hard to deal with the Filipino folks when I was renewing my contract. I genuinely couldn't understand half of what they were saying, and I'm pretty used to working in multi-cultural environments. After giving my account number five times, I gave up and rang the Irish 061- loyalty team.

Sarn

The service they offer is great, but if something goes wrong they are a nightmare to deal with. I got a special offer during the summer but they unilaterally changed the deal after a month. Trying to explain it to their non-local billing department was an exercise in futility. In the end I was told by their loyalty department that they couldn't give me the deal so had to go with another deal. Three months in a row I've had an incorrect bill with all the related calls and emails. I don't hold out much hope for next month.

Allyall

I tried to cancel 3 months ago. No bill last 2 months.
The last time I spoke to them, I told them I had cancelled and was stopping my direct debit.

Today I received a bill for BB and TV for 3 months.
I don't have/never had TV with them.

They never cut off the broadband, in fairness I used it, so I probably don't have a leg to stand on, on that side of things. But I won't be ringing them to sort it out. They can ring me.

Dempsey

I was thinking of ringing them for a new deal as my contract is up after this month, I'm afraid to now!!

Aidan No1

"I gave up and rang the Irish 061- loyalty team"

Have you got the rest of the numbers that go with 061. I tried ringing the Philippines customer loyalty team and she ended up shouting down the phone at me because I could not understand her. I could not understand her shouting either so I just hung up. The 061 number might be the answer as long as I don't get put through the a call centre in Kerry, if I do I will have to stick with the Philippines

fdevine

Aidan No1 wrote: »

"I gave up and rang the Irish 061- loyalty team"

Have you got the rest of the numbers that go with 061. I tried ringing the Philippines customer loyalty team and she ended up shouting down the phone at me because I could not understand her. I could not understand her shouting either so I just hung up. The 061 number might be the answer as long as I don't get put through the a call centre in Kerry, if I do I will have to stick with the Philippines

Last time I rang the direct dial Customer Loyalty number (061) which was prior to the re-branding I'm certain I was patched through to a foreign call centre.

Similarly I had difficulty understanding the operator, which wasn't helped by the noticeable background chatter from umpteen other reps.

Looks like we are screwed.

Number is 061 272190 if you want to give it a try. Keep us posted

scamalert

Sarn wrote: »

The service they offer is great, but if something goes wrong they are a nightmare to deal with. I got a special offer during the summer but they unilaterally changed the deal after a month. Trying to explain it to their non-local billing department was an exercise in futility. In the end I was told by their loyalty department that they couldn't give me the deal so had to go with another deal. Three months in a row I've had an incorrect bill with all the related calls and emails. I don't hold out much hope for next month.

did you get you bill with one deal and afterwards they changed it or was it done on the phone and you got billed extra when receiving bill.

Since all calls are recorded,i dont see how they would be able to back out,or you refusing to pay afterwards.
So far myself never had any bad experiences only drops in cost when calling and landing when they do promotions.like during summer new customers were getting huge discount,just rang and got price down where weeks before it was meant to go up,and even cash back on difference,thou with that came 2y contract.

James Delaney

Kavrocks wrote: »

Says 6 months here and 12 months here!

I'd be more inclined to say it's 6 months. I can't imagine UPC ringing somebody up to offer them more services for a smaller price.

Either can I. Haggled with them big time in Sept - gave me 1/2 price for 9mths & €90 for 3 mths - a fairly good deal I thought..

Anybody in Dublin 3 area have an alternative to UPC to inc TV & Broadband.

deepsilent

omg the new call centre is terrible, i got a modem replacement on friday evening. the mac address is not activated yet and explaining this to them was impossible, hours lost and no solution not to mention that the treat was awful. I'll have to wait to monday and talk with the representatives in the forum...

dodzy

Despite previous reply indicating that it is an irish operator, customer loyalty is now picked up in Manilla