Virgin Media - NTL/Telewest Rebrand

Matt Charlton

Matt Charlton

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Don't know if any of you know about this but NTL and Telewest merged and then bought Virgin Mobile. Richard Branson bought a large share of the new company and its going to be rebranded to Virgin Media on Thursday.

Anyway, thats the backstory.

Now my backstory:

We currently get phone and internet from Telewest - I pay around £55 for 10mbit cable and basic phone rental including calls.

I also pay £43.50 a month to Sky for the full package including sports and movies with sky+.

So thats £98.50 total cost.

As part of the rebrand, Virgin Media are offering a HUGE package deal.

For £85 a month you get

Talk Unlimited (24 hour calling)
Talk International (cheap international calls)
Talk Mobile (Cheap mobile calls)
Broadband Size: XL (10Mb)
TV Size: XL (Family/Supreme Pack)
All Sky Sports (1,2,3,Extra)/Movies (1-9/10)
V+ HD Box (TV Drive)
Second standard STB

So that means I'm getting a second box which I can have upstairs, unlimited phone calls and cheap rates to mobile/international numbers and HD content for a saving of £14.50 a month. :cuckoo:

I cancelled Sky last night and phoned up Telewest to add this package to my current deal and get TV from them.

I'm getting it installed a week on Saturday but they had dates available from next Tuesday-Saturday.

They only carry BBC HD at the moment but there should be new HD content coming soon - plus all the PPV movies are HD.

Super :D

Just thought I'd share because I think its a great deal.
 
£85 a month? blimey. Not bad i suppose...
 
I already get phone, tv and broadband with NTL - just waiting to see if they change their prices now!
 
You have to phone up and ask them for this specific package if you want it Cheryl - its not been advertised as yet but its open to all customers, new and old.
 
Having got a new bill from ntl I phoned and cancelled down to the basic TV package and no phone. I'll keep the 4mb broadband but if they end my 50% off deal and put it back to £25 I'll be looking at adsl2 and 24M for £24.
 
£85 quid a month + yr tv license (another ~£12) = £97 * 12 = £1164 a year!

And you wonder why you can't buy Sue a proper lens for her birfday??
 
Don't forget that you might not be able to get 24MB - thats what the Sky bloke on the phone tried to fob me off with last night - "oh but you can get 16mbit with us" - "Yes, I said, depending on how far away I am from the local exchange".

They can't check it without you having a BT number either, I found a website earlier today for one of the other ISPs which told me I could have between 5.5mb and 8mb.

Cable is miles better than ADSL and will do well in the future with all of the Video on demand stuff that is coming out.

Apologies if you've already had them check that you can get 24MB Robert.
 
oldgit said:
£85 quid a month + yr tv license (another ~£12) = £97 * 12 = £1164 a year!

And you wonder why you can't buy Sue a proper lens for her birfday??
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It hardly amounts to a great deal when it covers phone, TV, internet and is cheaper than what I'm paying now does it?

I could quite easily buy Sue a proper lens for her birthday, thats in October :p
 
Ally said:
I've got the Tv Drive Matt, its awsome :thumbs: the HD is great.
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Good to hear that Ally, we've got Sky+ at the moment so having the ability to record 2 streams and watch another live will be very handy. Also looking forward to the HD stuff and upscaling on HDMI so I'll have a half decent looking picture on the new TV.
 
I've always had a BT line and the local exchange is adsl2. Putting my number into BeThere's web site says I'll be OK for unlimited 24 Meg.

If I can continue with ntl for £12.50 though i will.
 
Ahh I see. I've got a telewest line in so they can't tell me what I can get, if the website I checked out earlier is true though theres not much point.
 
I got a bill a few months back from NTL for 254 odd pounds. It was for when I was at university. Upon leaving I cancelled the connection which they failed to log. Line was open and the new tennants must of been using it. Luckily I had recorded date, time and name of whom I cancelled it with. I heard they passed the charge on to the new tennants. Unlucky. It was a struggle and I recieved many threateing letters about debt collectors, credit rating being effected etc,... Will never ever go back to using them. Shower of C's.

Hope it all works out for you.

King.
 
I've heard plenty of people complain about NTL but I've been with Telewest since they were Yorkshire Cable and we had broadband at my mum and dads pretty much as soon as they brought it out. Never had a problem with them at all. :shrugs:
 
Got 10meg telewest at work £35/month and it's fantastic, a million times better than ADSL and you get the full speed all the time not all this UP TO 8meg crap. 10meg all the time
 
Yeah mate I know NTL have got a crappy rep when it comes to service and customer service -Telewest have got an exemplary record though. If it was going to continue in the same way as NTL ran things then Branson wouldn't have allowed them to put his brand name to it.

I'll let you know how it all goes anyway :)
 
King_Boru said:
*snip* Will never ever go back to using them. Shower of C's.

Hope it all works out for you.

King.
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Been with them for years and only had minor problems ....... but my brother...


On the day that he + wife/kids were moving house he phoned them up and said " as per warning / moving house etc please cancel from the end of this phone call ".

They refused " the account is in your wifes name :rules: "

He replied something along the lines of "don't be **** stupid , she's 30 miles away in the new house with no phone"

They refused again " the account is in your wifes name :rules: "

He pointed out that somebody was just about to move in and he was not going to leave an active line in his name in the house

They refused again " the account is in your wifes name :rules: "

So he explained to the ever so helpfull person "don't bother , I'll just cut the cables coming into the property " . He then hung up & cut the wires ....


Never heard another word from NTL :thinking:
 
Matt Charlton said:
Yeah mate I know NTL have got a crappy rep when it comes to service and customer service -Telewest have got an exemplary record though. If it was going to continue in the same way as NTL ran things then Branson wouldn't have allowed them to put his brand name to it.

I'll let you know how it all goes anyway :)
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Fair play Matt - Good luck to you, I hope Virgin rescues the brand....
 
I have every sympathy with the "Account in wife's name" person. BT have been told multiple times that our phone bill should be in joint names - foor goodness sake it was ME that called to set it up - but still they send everything addressed just to Ben! :bang:
 
any links to where this deal is???

or just phone customer services??
 
Just phone customer services up on either 150 or 0800 953 5353 mate.

Tell them you want to sign up to the Virgin VIP deal and they'll sort it out for you. Theres no massive rush because its not a limited time deal, its here to stay and its going to stay at the same price they said.
 
Ally said:
Hi Matt, Do you know anything about more HD channels coming? theirs only bbc HD at the moment but I would think they will have a few more coming?
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No idea as yet mate.

This is something I'm a little weary about too but when they rebranded the EPG to virgin, HD has its own section and BBC is on its own in there - it seems a little silly to have a section for one channel. With the virgin brand behind it I'm pretty sure that more will appear soon.

I'm more looking forward to having the normal channels upscaled slightly so they look half decent on the new TV. Through SKY+ at the moment they look absymal.
 
Matt Charlton said:
Just phone customer services up on either 150 or 0800 953 5353 mate.

Tell them you want to sign up to the Virgin VIP deal and they'll sort it out for you. Theres no massive rush because its not a limited time deal, its here to stay and its going to stay at the same price they said.
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ta mate for the info :thumbs:
 
No amount of rebranding will change the fact that

NTL customer service + Telewest customer service = hugely disgruntled customers wishing they hadn't cancelled the copper line to the house.

With cable they have you by the nadgers and most customers are reluctant to move. With a copper line, customers have far far more choice. And the suppliers know this and provide a better service.
 
phoned up this morning, got through after 10 seconds and I am now upgraded to 10mbs at the flick of a switch, my new tv package arrives next week and I will be saving money from my old package.

Well done Dickie.
 
Well when i phoned up i was told i had to wait for the TV package and BB etc to be activated when the Box arrives and other box moved else i would be charged standard rate for them.

Also i have to wait a month as there is now a queue for this :(
 
I see they've rebranded the blueyonder photo service too :) 40 free prints as well, so that's not bad!
 
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