# Old analogue connection. Is it easy to get one room disconnected to save on outlay.



## Odea (1 Jan 2016)

I still have the old analogue TV from UPC/Virgin.  It is feeding 3 x TV'S in my house. My renewal for this for 2016 is €469. Included in this price is €109 for two extra connections.
I notice that I have not been using one of these connections in our bedroom. Maybe a few hours of TV per year. A total waste of money.

*I want to have this TV point disconnected and save c€54 per annum.* Bringing my costs down to €415. *Is it simply a matter of phoning UPC/Virgin and having them call to disconnect. Do they charge for this?*

I am aware that I can upgrade to a digital package for €420 per annum (edit) and get lots of extra channels but I am not interested. If I were to do this the extra box in my second room would add an additional €132 to my annual bill, making a total of €552 per annum for the upgrade, compared to my new reduced bill of €415.


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## Phoenix3 (1 Jan 2016)

Perhaps you might give us some sort of breakdown of you bill.A typical monthly bill for such a pack would be €80 yet you mention a MONTHLY package of €420 for digital.Are you showing TV in a commercial premises or something.Nothing adds up here for me.


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## Annie51 (1 Jan 2016)

Phoenix3 said:


> Perhaps you might give us some sort of breakdown of you bill.A typical monthly bill for such a pack would be €80 yet you mention a MONTHLY package of €420 for digital.Are you showing TV in a commercial premises or something.Nothing adds up here for me.


€420 per year not per month.


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## theresa1 (2 Jan 2016)

An itemised breakdown with the actual wording from the bill would help immensely for us to give you some advice.


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## Odea (2 Jan 2016)

O.K. This is really the question. I have an extra connection in my bedroom that I no longer need. It's the old *analogue* type connection. 

Do UPC/Virgin charge a call out fee to disconnect this? Anyone ever get this done?


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## JohnJay (3 Jan 2016)

How long has it been connected? Ive a feeling that they wont be too bothered about disconnecting it. 

You should phone them and ask to be put through to their loyalty dept. Tell them that you are thinking about leaving them for Free-to-Air/FreeSat. See what sort of a deal they will offer you.


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## Odea (3 Jan 2016)

JohnJay said:


> How long has it been connected? Ive a feeling that they wont be too bothered about disconnecting it.


Thanks for responding. It has been there for 20 years. Other people that I have spoken to have said that the system is so old that they probably don't even know it exists. This product is no longer available. I am just automatically billed every year.

Others have said that even if it is disconnected that the signal still comes down the "wiring" system and they can't shut it off for individual houses like they can for the up to date boxes. Someone has to call and cut or cap the cables coming in to my house. In my house I have no set top box just a wire leading from my TV to a socket in the wall.

As I only wanted to have one room disconnected I wanted to know what the procedure was.


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## theresa1 (3 Jan 2016)

Each Tv should have it's own outlet box in each room which is connected with a 'drop cable' to what's called a 'Tap' outside the house. Some Tap's have 4 ports and some have 8 ports.

The cable from the outlet box to the tv or set top box is called a 'fly lead'.

Sometimes 'drop cables' are split and run to more tv's which can cause interference.

Give them a call -it cost's them money to call out to your house (or may want to charge you a call out fee) -they might remove a charge for you. Eventually all tv will go Digital (virgin media analogue switch off) and then you will need a set top box for each tv to work with Virgin Media.


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## Odea (4 Jan 2016)

I phoned Virgin. Put through to Technical. I was told by Technical that I should be talking to accounts. 

I spoke to accounts in Manilla who didn't understand what analogue was and couldn't help nor adjust my current bill, due today. She said that next years bill could be adjusted. I was told I should be talking to customer loyalty.

 I was the put through to customer loyalty also Manilla, who didn't understand what I wanted to do and wanted me to go back to accounts because I was not terminating my contract. Each time I had to give my account details. 45 minutes on the phone and I kept being dumped to a different department. Nobody could help me!


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## elcato (4 Jan 2016)

Pay the bill minus the €54 and put a cover letter stating that you no longer use the connection.


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## Odea (4 Jan 2016)

elcato said:


> Pay the bill minus the €54 and put a cover letter stating that you no longer use the connection.


 Yes. That is what I intend to do. I will refer back to my attempts to apply for a disconnection and as all calls are recorded they can listen back if the want.
Unfortunately I do not expect that Virgin will be able to deal with this and I would be expecting an "arrears" notice for €54 to be issued.


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## theresa1 (4 Jan 2016)

Go to boards.ie and contact them that way. You may have to set up a new thread. You could include a link back to here. I think those staff are Ireland based. Virgin Media have a section on boards.ie


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## Sol28 (5 Jan 2016)

They do have to physically disconnect the wire. In my dad's house we switched to SKY for the main room and cancelled UPC/Virgin. But its still being piped into the house. They haven't disconnected the wires. In my house we have UPC/Virgin digital in the main room - but the old UPC connection points in the bedroom are still receiving analogue. Im not paying any extra for that.


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