Exact Bill (Broadband/Phone/TV)

[LesterRam]

This isn't specific to any specific company but I will comment on my current provider Virgin Media, now my package comes in at £55 per month (according to my contract) and this is with unlimited phone calls, TV and line rental, now my bills rise every month starting at £55 when the contract was started, the next bill was then £75, now 18 months later I have bills in excess of £220 per month, every single bill was more than the previous.

now when you contact Virgin you have the bill halved and a apology from customer service, thank you so much Peter from the philippines and you go away feeling like you have achieved something, so your next bill has had the unlimited phone calls removed which I didn't ask for, so your following bill is £250.

my question is how many people actually pay only the actual contract value, i:e the £55 you signed up to and do they make money from there mistakes?

[Mostyn6]

I think my sky bill was £26pm when I signed up in 2007. I now pay about £105pm, AND about £25pm for BT Sport!

[Srg]

I pay about £55ish for Sky TV and standard broadband/phones (don't even have a landline phone), but that's half price. No idea what I'm going to do when it's up in the next month or so.

[Day]

£47 BT Infinity

£36 Sky for 6 months, that's with Family bundle, Sky Sports and Multiroom

£41 Sky after 6 months will cancel Sky Sports for the summer.

Was paying £47 with Virgin for 100mb, M+ TV, 2nd V+ box and phone line. Never had any problems with bill going up randomly although as I've just moved to an area they don't service and was still under contract having to pay £240 to cancel the contract. 2 weeks after moving in Virgin are now in the area installing cables the ******** 

[LesterRam]

I think my sky bill was £26pm when I signed up in 2007. I now pay about £105pm, AND about £25pm for BT Sport!

is your contract still the same ? never been updated..

[LesterRam]

£47 BT Infinity

£36 Sky for 6 months, that's with Family bundle, Sky Sports and Multiroom

£41 Sky after 6 months will cancel Sky Sports for the summer.

Was paying £47 with Virgin for 100mb, M+ TV, 2nd V+ box and phone line. Never had any problems with bill going up randomly although as I've just moved to an area they don't service and was still under contract having to pay £240 to cancel the contract. 2 weeks after moving in Virgin are now in the area installing cables the ******** 

When did you take the contract out ?

What if your provider has hiked its prices?

Naturally, when you sign up to a fixed-term contract you expect to pay the monthly bill quoted to you. But, sadly, in some cases providers don't play by the rules.

Your mobile or broadband contract can actually go up at any point during your payment term, meaning that, until now, customers have been stuck with little option but to shell out for the extra cost each month until the end of the deal.

The additional monthly charge is rarely more than £2 or so, but costs can quickly mount up considering most contracts last between 12 and 24 months.

Fortunately, new Ofcom rules mean you can now end your contract early if you are not happy with a bill increase.

This could potentially save hundreds of pounds, as previously customers that wanted to leave early in these circumstances would still have to pay for the remainder of their contract.

What the new rules mean

Telecoms providers now have to give a notice time of one month if they want to raise the price of a contract.

But the real win for consumers is that the new Ofcom rules mean that even if a bill payer's contract ties them in for a certain amount of time - usually between 12 to 24 months, they can exit the contract without penalty if prices do rise unexpectedly.

Companies must inform you that you are able to leave at the same time as the bill hike as well as warn if they intend to increase the costs at any time during the contract, before you commit to the contract in the first place.

The Ofcom website states that: 'Price terms must be sufficiently prominent and transparent that the subscriber can properly be said to have agreed on an informed basis, at the point of sale, to the relevant prices.'

Unfortunately, this only applies to contracts signed since the new rules took effect on January 23, so those already locked into a contract are trapped, even if the costs rise.

It is also important to remember that this does not include any changes to your bill if you have gone over your usage limit.

 

[Stive Pesley]

My VirginMedia bill has been creeping up by a few pounds every coupel of months. I need to ring them and downgrade my TV package, as they are justifying the increases by adding the odd channel that I have no interest in.

For me the big con is that you still have to take a landline. But I don't want one. Tough - you have to have one or you can't get the package. £17 a month line rental for a phone i NEVER use. How is that ethical?

 

[Mostyn6]

is your contract still the same ? never been updated..

I now have Fibre optic broadband and phone with Sky (used to be with BT at £28pm for 2mb), I also have HD. But I always had ALL Movies and Sports etc.

[eddie]

Mine's £114-50 on Virgin Media - unlimited phone, XL tv package and 60 Mb broadband.

It's crept up by about £20 in the last 2 years.

[Wolfie]

My Virgin Media bill is around £75 per month for 152mb broadband, top TV package (but no SKY extras), Line rental and unlimited all-day calls. When I signed up 15 months ago, I think it started at about £65.

To be honest, they probably have told me about price increases but I don't normally pay much attention and if the bill total on the email looks about right, I don't look into it any further.

[bcnram]

£105 for Sky TV, phone line (not used!!) and Fibre Optic broadband. That is after dumping the film package because I never watched them.

[Wolfie]

This isn't specific to any specific company but I will comment on my current provider Virgin Media, now my package comes in at £55 per month (according to my contract) and this is with unlimited phone calls, TV and line rental, now my bills rise every month starting at £55 when the contract was started, the next bill was then £75, now 18 months later I have bills in excess of £220 per month, every single bill was more than the previous.

now when you contact Virgin you have the bill halved and a apology from customer service, thank you so much Peter from the philippines and you go away feeling like you have achieved something, so your next bill has had the unlimited phone calls removed which I didn't ask for, so your following bill is £250.

my question is how many people actually pay only the actual contract value, i:e the £55 you signed up to and do they make money from there mistakes?

Have you tried complaining via the Virgin Media online support forum?. I've found they are quite efficient and much easier to deal with than the notoriuosly bad VM call-centres.

I've recently had an issue with my Tivo freezing on playback of recordings and was failing to get anywhere with the call centre. I posted online and the next day started a PM conversation with one of the VM people and less than a week later, had an engineer round and a new Tivo installed. I would never bother trying to deal with them on the phone again.

[Mostyn6]

£105 for Sky TV, phone line (not used!!) and Fibre Optic broadband. That is after dumping the film package because I never watched them.

I tend to find that anytime I have tried to cut back on the package, it ends up more expensive so you're better off getting everything and getting the discount. The only way of saving money is by dumping the Sports package.

[bcnram]

I tend to find that anytime I have tried to cut back on the package, it ends up more expensive so you're better off getting everything and getting the discount. The only way of saving money is by dumping the Sports package.

About 80% of what I watch is on the Sports channels. I just look on it as a necessary evil.

[CornwallRam]

The trick with all telecoms companies is as soon as your initial contract is up, ring them and say you want to leave. You will then be transferred to retentions. They will tell you how good they are and say that the most that they can do is give you a small  loyalty bonus. Don't give in though - if you let the cancellation stand they will be in touch again with a much better offer. You'll have to agree to a new contract, but you'll save a lot over the years.

[Mostyn6]

The trick with all telecoms companies is as soon as your initial contract is up, ring them and say you want to leave. You will then be transferred to retentions. They will tell you how good they are and say that the most that they can do is give you a small  loyalty bonus. Don't give in though - if you let the cancellation stand they will be in touch again with a much better offer. You'll have to agree to a new contract, but you'll save a lot over the years.

bloke who sits near me, let his contract expire, cancelled it, during the call they made him an offer, he declined saying he wanted half price for six months, a new box and credit, they responded saying they'd never give him that. About 2 weeks later, they rang him again and he asked for the same thing, and they gave in. He had to survive without it for 2-3 weeks though. 

My contract is up at Christmas, so I'll have to tough it out over the festive period to make sure I get a good deal.

The annoying thing for me is, I got my HD box off my gran, not off Sky, so they never provided me with the gear. When I asked for one, they told me to do one!

[LesterRam]

I don't mind paying for a decent service but I don't like the random phone calls that come through offering you a better deal that never materialises, you ask about what was said during the recorded conversation and they deny it was recorded, so I am now paying more for my package than I do for my leased car ???

the problems arise because they hide behind a phillipines call centre, they can speak perfect English unfortunately they don't understand the English language.

[Wolfie]

I don't mind paying for a decent service but I don't like the random phone calls that come through offering you a better deal that never materialises, you ask about what was said during the recorded conversation and they deny it was recorded, so I am now paying more for my package than I do for my leased car ???

the problems arise because they hide behind a phillipines call centre, they can speak perfect English unfortunately they don't understand the English language.

But the £250 bills have got to be wrong haven't they?. Looks like I have the same package as you and pay £75 (ish). For everything except for SKY Sports etc, you shouldn't be paying any more than me.

[LesterRam]

But the £250 bills have got to be wrong haven't they?. Looks like I have the same package as you and pay £75 (ish). For everything except for SKY Sports etc, you shouldn't be paying any more than me.

oh yeah, I was charged for telephone calls because they removed inclusive calls, when I contacted them they returned a percentage, so even with the returned funds they are still making money on top of my package, the conversation had with the customer service rep that removed my inclusive calls was not recorded. on a separate note I was charged for a unlimited mobile phone package and my daughter ran up a £175 monthly bill, when I contacted them about this gaff they returned half the amount £90ish so I was again left frustrated and out of pocket...

[CornwallRam]

But the £250 bills have got to be wrong haven't they?. Looks like I have the same package as you and pay £75 (ish). For everything except for SKY Sports etc, you shouldn't be paying any more than me.

I don't know...subscribing to those 'specialist' channels can soon mount up :-)