so when we moved into this flat a year and a half ago, we decided to finally get cable – mostly because it came as part of a cheap internet and phone bundle. it was billed as “3 services for £30″.

then, we decided to add on the north american sport network – at that point in time, it was an extra £5/month.

at some point, ntl got bought out by virgin media, but our bill remained the same.

then they changed it so it n.a.s.n. was part of the “setanta sports package”, for £15/mo… but our bill stayed the same.

then in november, i requested an upgrade of our internet service… but our bill remained the same. i assumed the upgrade was never processed.

cut to the other day, when our virgin media bill arrives. imagine my surprise when i see a total of £80.

so i ring up to find out what’s going on, irate at this unexpected bill. the customer service rep says, “oh, we’ve changed our billing, so where before your internet was billed separately, now it’s all on one bill. and in the switchover, we didn’t charge a full month last month, so that’s the additional £20.”

huh? i’ve never paid a separate internet bill.

“oh, it’s been sent to your email account.”

huh? i don’t have a virgin media email, and i’ve only ever paid *one* bill.

“oh it’s been direct debited from the same account as your other bill.”

huh? i check my account and direct debits religiously, and we’ve only ever paid one bill.

“well, it shows here it’s been direct debited separately.”

so… okay, setting that aside for now. why is my internet suddenly £25?

“when your 3-for-£30 package ended after a year, your internet bill was £18. then when you upgraded it, it went up to £25.”

um, okay, but i’ve had this service for 18 months, and never paid a separate internet bill. and i don’t want to pay £25 month for internet.

“oh, let’s see what kind of packages we have available that might suit your needs. we have a package now for £42, which gives you the same 10mb speed internet, the same setanta sports package, more free call minutes, and 100 extra channels. or you could downgrade your current package elements and still pay £50 a month instead of £58.”

i do some mental arithmetic, realise that through some miracle of modern billing systems, we’ve essentially had free internet and sports channels for 6 months, and this package still puts us ahead savings-wise.

sold. damn, that customer service rep is good. not only has she got me paying an extra £12/month, but being happy about it too.

and you know, even with 100 extra channels, there’s *still* nothing on television.

the weakerthans – relative surplus value

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Like this post

Unlike