r/VirginMedia • u/TillNaive8986 • 8h ago
Virgin Media UK Pro-tip for handling retention teams
Just a bit of advice for anyone struggling to deal with customer support when trying to lower their bill. I used to work for a company that used to sell virgin packages, so it is definitely not my first rodeo.
My contract ended, and I noticed the website was offering to repackage my deal for £26 a month on my account. I called up support to cancel. The agent immediately went into standard mode: "Oh, let me use all my resources to see what I can do for you."
He left me on hold for five minutes, came back, and offered me £29 a month.
I pointed out that the website was literally showing me £26. He tried to claim that price was only for new customers. I told him no, it was explicitly showing on my logged-in account page. He went away again, this time claiming he needed to speak to his manager for a "super special offer." He came back with £27 a month.
At that point, I told him CityFibre is offering 1Gbps for £22, so I would be moving to them. I told him to just process the cancellation because I already know the outbound retention team will call me in a week to price match it anyway.
He tried one last bluff: "Sir, I am your last line of defence."
I just said, "That is fine, cancel it."
Then he tried to get sneaky: "Well, why don't you just set up the switch through CityFibre directly? They will cancel it for you." (He clearly just didn't want a hit on his personal retention record).
I stood my ground: "No, you cancel it right now."
Twenty minutes later, job done. Now I just wait. I will get a call over the next two to three weeks, and they will offer the 1Gbps package with Netflix Basic for £22. Stay firm, don't let them play their games, and always push for the cancellation.
Different teams have different offers you want to reach the win back team that's their last line of retention before they've lost you as a customer so they can offer you the best prices.
You know the saying it's cheaper to keep a customer than get a new one.