# UPC loyalty bonus running out - trying to renew it



## dub_nerd (1 Feb 2014)

dub_nerd said:


> They must be trying to give money away!
> 
> I mailed them a while back about the possibility of switching telephone packages. I wanted to switch from a package that gave free international calls (which I have on VoIP anyway) to one which give 100 minutes free mobile calls. I wasn't sure if I could get it at the same bundle price as I was currently on.
> 
> ...


 
Well, my UPC loyalty discount came to an end last month, so this month's bill is up by a tenner (and a further increase to come in March). I rang them and asked for the loyalty discount to continue, but they played hardball, and basically told me to get lost. I tried to play the "I'll be leaving for another provider" card, only to be told that I'm under contract until next October, having upgraded to Horizon a few months back. The only thing they offered was to reduce costs if I went for the capped internet product (which, at full bandwidth, would use up your monthly data allowance in 30 minutes -- eh, no thanks).

They claimed the loyalty discount was a once-off promotion that couldn't be repeated ("especially on the Horizon product", which I pointed out made no sense, since when I pressed them they said it couldn't be repeated regardless). I suggested that "customer loyalty discount" is a bit of a misnomer for a once-off promotion, and that I wasn't any less loyal this month than last month, but they were having none of it. I guess I can threaten to leave again in October (although I have to grudgingly admit I mostly like their service, and don't have any other comparable options).

Anyone else had a loyalty discount recently?


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## Delboy (1 Feb 2014)

Dub_nerd

are you affected by the recently announced price rises...if yes, then you've a month to cancel your current contract without penalty


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## Sue Ellen (2 Feb 2014)

dub_nerd said:


> Anyone else had a loyalty discount recently?



I find the answers can be different from one person to another in call centres and may depend on them playing hardball to reach their targets at a given time in the month.  If it were me I would give the loyalty section a call at their direct line number and see if you get anywhere with that.  Worth a try


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## JohnJay (2 Feb 2014)

dub_nerd said:


> ..... only to be told that I'm under contract until next October, having upgraded to Horizon a few months back.



The ball is in their court on this one. They know you cant do much about it at this stage. Phone them back in October!


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## Harry31 (13 Feb 2014)

Can anyone tell me where the uk soccer channels are now? I have sky sports with upc & husband says most weekend matches not on there anymore (I don't care I don't watch them!). I am paying €117 a month for 'fibre ultimate' package but am looking to reduce it. Suggestions please.


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## WindUp (13 Feb 2014)

setanta and sky share them now


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## Delboy (13 Feb 2014)

Harry31 said:


> Can anyone tell me where the uk soccer channels are now? I have sky sports with upc & husband says most weekend matches not on there anymore (I don't care I don't watch them!). I am paying €117 a month for 'fibre ultimate' package but am looking to reduce it. Suggestions please.



very good thread on boards about the latest price increase and how to get a better deal
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057131675
I got through to their loyalty dept and got a TV package upgrade and a €350 annual saving by telling them I was looking to cancel and go with eircom.
Well worth ringing up and refusing the 1st offer they put your way!


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## Mrs. Doyle (13 Feb 2014)

Delboy said:


> very good thread on boards about the latest price increase and how to get a better deal
> http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057131675
> I got through to their loyalty dept and got a TV package upgrade and a €350 annual saving by telling them I was looking to cancel and go with eircom.
> Well worth ringing up and refusing the 1st offer they put your way!



Have square eyes from reading 31 pages!

Did you have to haggle much to get the discount.  Note their half price year discounts appear to be for Horizon only which I'm not interested in.

How many times did you have to ring back?   How did you manage the €350 annual saving?

Not looking forward to ringing them as not good at haggling 

Thanks.


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## Delboy (13 Feb 2014)

I rang straight through to the loyalty dept 061 272190. Did'nt mention the discounts on Boards or the fact that I wanted a 50% cut like everyone else.
Just said this latest rise was the final straw and wanted to cancel. So the sales agent said she'd see what was the best she could do for me, and I said I'd rather just cancel but sure, go on...hit me with it!!!

So I have sky sports, broadband 50mb and was on Select Extra HD TV package....bill was about to rise to over €90 excl discounts(I already had about €10 in discounts from my last negotiation in 2013).

And I was offered within 1 minute of ringing:
12 months TV/broadband package at half price = €39 (incl an optional €4 for HD)
20% off sky sports for 12 months and can be cancelled during the summer with no penalty (= about €30 per month new rate)
Telephone minutes now thrown in but will never use them (had to take this as part of the new package, 'complete' it's called)
Select Extra HD now upgraded to Max TV HD package (had no interest in getting Horizon)
Sky sports and movies free for the 1st 2 months
Disney kids channels now included also at no extra cost as part of the package

So it works out at about 350 for me over the year, and thats not counting the fact that I'll cancel sky sports for about 4 to 5 months from late April (until the GAA season finishes and the prem lg is properly under way) but I'd have done that on the old package anyway.

Point to note- I've being with them for the past 10 years and have had sky sports for the past 3. So that may make me a more 'valued' customer for them to discount more to keep


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## kojak (14 Feb 2014)

I rang them last week, I am currently paying €83 a month, my loyalty ran out from paying €62 for 12months, for the €62 I was getting all channels (excluding sky and paid channels etc) inc HD and also a box in one of the bedrooms, phone line with 100 international minutes and landlines at weekends/evenings (never used the phone just have it in case emergency), and then 30mg unlimited broadband, this same service automatically went up to €83 after loyalty ran out.

Anyway I rang up to complain about not being happy with paying €83 a month and was put through to loyalty, he told me he could take away any free minutes on the phone if wasn't using them, take away the box in bedroom (saorview would be good enough there) and do away with the HD in living room, also the broadband would go up to 50meg a month (all UPC will soon be 120meg standard so this doesn't really matter so he said) 
Or if I just wanted the broadband (at 120meg and the basic phone would be €40 per month)

Does this sound like a good deal to you or could I cut a better deal here ?  Want to find out before I call them back as would be another 12 month contract.

Tks


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## sulo (14 Feb 2014)

Thanks for this thread!  I had not received any notification of an increase to my bill.  I just rang the loyalty dept direct and they advised my bill would be going up by €7.00.  We currently pay 56.00 for our TV/Broadband p.m. and this also includes an additional point upstairs. 

We now have increased b/b and extra entertainment channels for 51.00, and the 7.00 has been dropped.   The other offer was same existing package for 49.00. 

Point to note, *it includes a 12 month contract.*  Which I am happy to take on board, as have no intension of moving to Sky.  V. happy with TV/BB from UPC.


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## Delboy (14 Feb 2014)

kojak said:


> I rang them last week, I am currently paying €83 a month, my loyalty ran out from paying €62 for 12months, for the €62 I was getting all channels (excluding sky and paid channels etc) inc HD and also a box in one of the bedrooms, phone line with 100 international minutes and landlines at weekends/evenings (never used the phone just have it in case emergency), and then 30mg unlimited broadband, this same service automatically went up to €83 after loyalty ran out.
> 
> Anyway I rang up to complain about not being happy with paying €83 a month and was put through to loyalty, he told me he could take away any free minutes on the phone if wasn't using them, take away the box in bedroom (saorview would be good enough there) and do away with the HD in living room, also the broadband would go up to 50meg a month (all UPC will soon be 120meg standard so this doesn't really matter so he said)
> Or if I just wanted the broadband (at 120meg and the basic phone would be €40 per month)
> ...



I don't think it is to be honest, especially losing the HD. Your the 1st I've heard of that they are taking stuff away from in order to lower the monthly bill


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## AlbacoreA (14 Feb 2014)

Most seem to be getting a good reduction. Even if they drop some services like phone to take up a better TV option, like a new box.


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## Mrs. Doyle (14 Feb 2014)

Delboy said:


> I don't think it is to be honest, especially losing the HD. Your the 1st I've heard of that they are taking stuff away from in order to lower the monthly bill



Would have to agree.  It seems from reading the thread on boards mentioned above that the half price year long discounts are for Horizon which seems to have a lot of problems so I won't touch it with a barge pole.

The main thing is to use the Loyalty Department no 061 272190 as Delboy recommends above.  Much quicker route.

This guy summarises a lot of the info on the Boards thread  http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=88986204&postcount=443

I rang this morning and girl was very helpful and did confirm that the discounts are less for non-Horizon but we could get a tenner off per month straight off or slightly more if we drop some of the TV channels.

For existing customers think its very important to retain Anytime World (free calls during day) as they appear to be trying to do away with this for new customers and giving only free calls in evening, think that's Freetime.  The current 400 minutes a month for calls abroad is great.

It seems if they agree to switch you to 50 broadband speed now it will automatically upgrade to 120 on 1st March so if possible insist on that as its no big deal for them.  If you are on 30 now it will stay at that.

All of the above will entail new 12 month contract.  They are open to 9 tonight and 10-6 tomorrow Sat.


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## venice (14 Feb 2014)

> Horizon which seems to have a lot of problems so I won't touch it with a barge pole



No need to, it comes with a fancy remote control  

But seriously, its not a bad product and its improving all the time..


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## Harry31 (14 Feb 2014)

Hi just spoke to upc customer service in Limerick - thanks for the number - have tv, phone & broadband package including sky sports - got rid of sky sports got Setanta instead kept everything else & got Horizon (will give it a try anyway) & cost went down from €117 to €94 a month.  I know there has been a lot of criticism but any time I contacted them they have been very helpful, polite & sorted the problem right away. I'm delighted with the outcome!


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## Delboy (14 Feb 2014)

Harry31 said:


> Hi just spoke to upc customer service in Limerick - thanks for the number - have tv, phone & broadband package including sky sports - got rid of sky sports got Setanta instead kept everything else & got Horizon (will give it a try anyway) & cost went down from €117 to €94 a month.  I know there has been a lot of criticism but any time I contacted them they have been very helpful, polite & sorted the problem right away. I'm delighted with the outcome!



Sounds high Harry compared to what I got myself and the deals that feature on the Boards thread


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## Harry31 (15 Feb 2014)

I could have pushed more I suppose, but it find the phone deal especially good as we ring abroad a lot & at least I made some saving. As I said I've been happy with the service, but good luck to anyone who gets a better deal.


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## kojak (15 Feb 2014)

Oops I do apologise... I seem to have missed out a very important detail to my message above, for that service I listed when they took away the phone minutes and took away HD and also the box in bedroom the new price they were giving me was €53 with a 12 month contract.
It seems to me that a lot if packages are tweaked differently and there does not seem to be a bottom price it seems random from person to person.
In simple terms I'd love to know... Bottom price for most service!
I think if everyone could just post what service they are getting and the total cost it would be easier for people to see and then ring back Upc knowing that they can get bottom line for their service.

My offer :
Telephone (no minutes included)+broadband 50mg+basic tv (digital value,no HD) €53


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## Delboy (15 Feb 2014)

'Complete' package:
Max TV incl HD + 50mb bb + Telephone (150 free w/e mins) for 12 months= 39pm
Sky sports incl 20% discount for 12 months = 29pm
Sky sports + sky movies thrown in free for the 1st 2 months


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## kojak (17 Feb 2014)

I just rang back UPC there to renegotiate my deal..

My new offer :
Max tv including HD + 50mg broadband unlimited + telephone with 150 anytime minutes + 1 extra box in bedroom 

€45 for 12 month contract

So my exact same package that I am currently paying €83 has now been brought down to €45, was worth the call.
He tried to offer me horizon first but wasn't interested in it yet it's too glitchy at the minute I think


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## amgd28 (12 Mar 2014)

Had been on TV/Broadband/Phone and bills were around 81 per month.
Thanks to this thread I contacted Loyalty Dept and now down to 43 per month for next 12 months. Also included in this is upgrade to horizon  for main box (have multiroom). (interestingly I had to ask for this as was not suggested)

Pretty chuffed with that - original offer was reduction to 71 but held my ground and said that sky was 36 (without multiroom or phone). Cue "talk to my supervisor" and they came back with that deal


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