Sky or Virgin -

[lawros left foot]

I'd be concerned about the reliability of Virgin TV, I mean it's very very very rare that the satellite dish doesn't pick up a signal. Slightly less rare that one has a blip in the cable signal.

For those who regularly change, is it not a complete ars* with cables etc? All of my boxes and stuff are hidden under the stairs would be a right pain.

I found the opposite, every time it was a bit windy outside Sky was all over the place, I don't think I have ever had a bad piicture from Virgin. The Sky people just didn't want to know really, when I asked for them to improve my reception.

Anyone thinking of changing from Sky to Virgin bear in mind that Virgin doesn't charge for faults with the boxes, and as far as I know, Sky do, as you own the box with Sky, you only rent it with Virgin. When I had Sky I payed about £8 breakdown insurance a month

 

[rudolf hucker]

Just changed from Sky to Vermin as the broadband was really poor. I have to say the Tv side of it just doesn't match Sky. So many menus and very very slow. Broadband is excellent though. Reckon I will take the TV back to Sky at the end of the contract and leave the broadband as it is.

 

[Max Paper]

So I am paying £108 per month to Sky (Sports, Internet, Phone Line and 1xMulti Room) Seems to be getting more and more. What is Virgin like for similar Package? Cant believe it is as much?

It's all about the talk. Ring them up, play it cool. I have 100mb Virgin broadband for £27.50pm and full sky hd pack with sky sports and 3d pack plus multi room for £34pm. That's less than £62pm in total!

 

[Max Paper]

That's using both Sky and Virgin, play them off each other to get the best deal you can!

 

[matski_98]

To all these people saying SKY will give you this and that, it's not always a given!

Was on top package (except Movies) for 10+ years plus Broadband. Called up to cancel and bloke offered 10% discount for 6 months. Told him to do one (not literally!).

Said he was sorry to lose me as a customer and that was that!

It boils down to how much they value you as a customer. How long you've been a customer counts for nothing, its all down to how much you spend now.

In their eyes they have 4 tiers of customer. The bottom one is a TV only with no add ons and a premium customer has all the channels, phone and broadband. They also take into account your history (if you phone every year to haggle thats a minus 1 point). When you phone to cancel (and if they value you as a customer) they then have 4 offers they can give you. If you *really* haggle you may get to the 4th offer but you really have to push hard for this and they may well turn round and tell you to sod off if they don't think its worth it. What level of offer you get can also depend on the targets for the month and how close they are to the end of financial year they are.

 

[DarrenFreemansPerm]

Virgin do seem to put their prices up every 6 months, I have cut back my package and just have the basic TV, Phone and Internet, comes in at £46

That's the package I was on, I played the game and said I was switching to BT. 4 days before the switch they gave me a 1TB TiVo, phone, XL tv including BT Sports for £38pm.

 

[Westdene Wonder]

Have just moved from Sky to Virgin after 18yrs,I followed instructions to receive catch up without success,on phoning Sky they informed me that I needed an HD box which cost £10 per month,no way to pick up the odd program.
Noted from a Virgin mailing that they have a choice of an additional HD box viewing only, for £6.50, my package for 70 channels plus Sky sports 1&2 totalled £45,as the Tivo box allows 3 programs this suited me fine, I am with TalkTalk for Broadband and Phone.
Sky made various offers for 6 months etc but after that period i would have still been worse off.

 

[Spicy]

Virgin do seem to put their prices up every 6 months, I have cut back my package and just have the basic TV, Phone and Internet, comes in at £46

That is interesting. Wanted to keep the sports channels but ditch the film and other channels and told by Virgin that it would still cost as much - over £100 a month. They have recently increased their prices. Had no TV or internet for a week recently and they promised a reduction but had to ring up and have a massive rant at them before they let us have some money off and then only £11.00.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Virgin all the way for me. I gave up on Sky after yet another argument about trying to charge me to come out and fix THEIR service. The VM internet is great - started with 30mb and got a free upgrade to 60mb. Recently got a free upgrade to 100mb ( admittedly it's only in the low 70's but I certainly not going to complain ).

 

[drew]

Isn't it shocking how much premier league players get paid, i wonder where the money comes from!

 

[Coldeanseagull]

I have to vote for Virgin. Wind, rain, hail, snow, no loss of signal like with the dish. Also, any fault with the equipment and they repair or replace next day unlike sky as you own the box. Virgin broadband is a necessity here in Coldean as a BT line is really affected by distance from the exchange(apparently).
It's the same with all suppliers, phone them up every so often and barter for a deal. I save over 30 quid a month compared to when I used sky even after the six months half price deal ended.
My only complaint is the tivo remote tends to roll off the table at the slightest touch because of the 'ergonomic' design

 

[The Rattler]

Advice please good people... Currently have BT Vision which found is very lacking for On Demand. Those with Virgin, is their On Demand TV any good? Presumably its free (included)?

 

[Rambo]

Ditch it completely and get out more. You won't miss it.

 

[Marty___Mcfly]

Have had Sky for about 3 months, freeview before then. Sky called me and offered me all channels inc movies and sport for £15 p/m. The Sky interface and guide is a bit clunky but channels and on demand services are great. I have my phone and broadband with BT (infinity)..

 

[dingodan]

I remember when my total package was £25 per month. When it went up to £35 I was horrified. How it has managed to now be £75 I don't understand.

They are getting like the energy companies, could do with some competition imo.

 

[Fat Langers]

I'm with Virgin because I can't have a dish on the block of low rise flats I live in. Must admit, I don't really have many problems with Virgin. My old tv box did blow up once about 2 years ago. It was over 4 years old. They came out within 24 hours and replaced it. But the picture wasn't as clear. So I complained. They came out again and replaced it for a HD box. This was all free of charge. From what my dad used to say, Sky would charge for a replacement one if over a certain age. Is that true??

 

[Ernest]

I'm with Virgin because I can't have a dish on the block of low rise flats I live in. Must admit, I don't really have many problems with Virgin. My old tv box did blow up once about 2 years ago. It was over 4 years old. They came out within 24 hours and replaced it. But the picture wasn't as clear. So I complained. They came out again and replaced it for a HD box. This was all free of charge. From what my dad used to say, Sky would charge for a replacement one if over a certain age. Is that true??

Depends on how long you've been a SKY customer and if you threaten to leave, my Mums system packed up as it was ancient and after a bit of to and fro they came and replaced the dish, cabling, box etc for FREE.

 

[Fat Langers]

Depends on how long you've been a SKY customer and if you threaten to leave, my Mums system packed up as it was ancient and after a bit of to and fro they came and replaced the dish, cabling, box etc for FREE.

Nice one!! Gotta love a freebie!!

 

[TonyW]

We've tried ntl, as it was, SKY and Virgin.
Always found SKY to be the best by far, so sticking with them now.

Virgin's customer (dis)service is soooooooooo bad it's almost unbelievable.
SKY's isn't great mind you.

 

[Braggfan]

I have broadband, tv, sports, landline and mobile with Virgin and one thing I'd say is that they are terrible for honouring a contract, they put my bill up regularly. However the best thing about having all your business with them is when they do put my bill up by £1 a month, I phone them and say if you don't that off I'll take all my business elsewhere, for that extra £12 a year you'll lose over £1000 a year. So far they've always agreed to knock the money off again.