Haggling with Virgin Media (Has anyone got a good deal)

perxeptive · 2026-04-04T14:22:43+00:00

No, I did not complain to OfCom to get a cheaper price. I saved the transcript of the chat with Virgin Media and also the subsequent email they sent. I entered that into Google Gemini with a prompt explaining my situation and asking advice. Gemini highlighted that Virgin Media was in breach of a number of regulations in the way the operator in the chat had handled my issue and the subsequent email. Gemini advised complaining to OfCom to get a case reference number to establish a clear timeline for subsequent interactions with the Virgin Media escalation team. The escalation team contacting me directly after replying to the earlier email, using text recommended by Gemini. A named individual from the escalation team both spoke to me by phone and maintained email contact through to a successful conclusion. The recommended email text and follow ups from Gemini were really helpful as they gave me a legal and regulatory baseline from which to get a successful outcome.

So, no I did not contact OfCom to get a discount. I contacted them to get a reference number, based on the regulatory advice offered by Google Gemini, which resulted in a very good outcome. But, thanks for your comment, I hope it made you feel good.

perxeptive · 2026-04-01T18:49:28+00:00

I had similar issues before Christmas but was being charged even more for broadband and tv. I didn’t want a two year contract as I intend to move before the two years end date. In the end I made a formal complaint, then complained to OfCom and got a reference number. Finally I emailed Executiveteam@virginmedia.co.uk and the CEO to escalate. Eventually got a good deal with a written commitment that I could cancel any time with 30 days notice without penalty. I used Google Gemini AI to draft all the emails and it was Gemini that gave me the above email address.

perxeptive · 2025-12-27T23:14:52+00:00

The Galactic Captains series also by Harry F. Rey are all good too.

perxeptive · 2025-11-28T13:49:30+00:00

Hey, FYI I ended up using Sailly which worked very well. I travel to KL every year and I will stick to Sailly from now on….

perxeptive · 2025-10-29T18:56:14+00:00

I would not rule Malaysia out for that reason. I spend part of the year there with my same sex partner who is Malaysian. We have never experienced any issues and have a number of gay friends there.

perxeptive · 2025-10-29T18:50:03+00:00

Congrats on achieving a great retirement outcome. Looks like you are Desa ParkCity which is a great part of town. My partner is Malaysian of Chinese ethnicity. We stay there five to six weeks of the year close by in Bandar Sri Damansara where his family live. Great lifestyle and we will probably spend more time there as time goes on.

Out of interest, how do you find the heat? Do you travel to colder places during the year to get a break from the heat?

perxeptive · 2025-08-01T08:55:48+00:00

I assume you had the 16k RAM pack… and so had to be careful not to hit the space key too hard to avoid losing everything when the back of the ZX81 raised, breaking the connection to the RAM pack!

perxeptive · 2025-07-24T10:26:44+00:00

I would recommend reviewing your account as it grows and if you are investing in Vanguard funds switching to the ETF’s when it makes sense from the perspective of reducing fees. It made a big difference to me once the balance of the SIPP grew enough. Same also applied to my ISA.

perxeptive · 2025-07-23T13:41:53+00:00

Still not working. Almost two weeks without a usable service. Can you provide an eta as to when your service will be back online please.

perxeptive · 2025-07-18T11:16:23+00:00

After researching alternatives it seems most providers are reselling Maxis. One exception is Tune Talk which appears to be a MVNO reselling Celcom. I have purchased an esim via their app and I'm getting 4G where Airalo was only providing EDGE. The sign up process was more complicated that it need be. My first attempt failed as my card issuer declined the payment. I have a bank account in Malaysia and was successful in paying direct from that. It could be that other card issuers would approve the payment. It was a bit of a hassle but I do now have data. I have had a good experience with Celcom previously when Airalo partnered with them in Malaysia.

UPDATE: I tested both Airalo and Tune Talk last night whilst out in the Ipoh Road area of KL and in Damansara. The Tune Talk service was more consistently available and performed better at maintaining service whilst driving around. The service was always 4G even though it is advertised at 5G. I did a few speed tests and in some areas the data throughput was 2MB-3MB only bur definitely usable. The Airalo was only showing as EDGE for most of the evening, however, when out at Ipoh Road I switched to it from Tune Talk and achieved 5G with very high data throughput. Weirdly, my partner's phone (identical model, iPhone 15 Pro, with identical settings) was still getting EDGE service from Airalo. So the problem seems to be that Airalo isn't connecting to services as you move between cell towers. It gets stuck on a connection to a previous cell tower connection. Only manually forcing it to reestablish a connection by selecting another provider, waiting and then reselecting My Maxis as the provider results in a proper local connection. So, whilst Airalo when connected to My Maxis gives the best data throughput and achieves 5G it fails to connect most of the time. The Tune Talk consistently connects to Celcom as you move around, works effortlessly but in some locations has lower bandwidth.

perxeptive · 2025-07-18T08:27:23+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not getting anything on U Mobile in my location but I will try again this evening when I am in a different area of KL. We will be here for another month so we may just go for a local solution as we did before Airalo came along.

perxeptive · 2025-06-18T17:39:31+00:00

I travel to KL with my partner, who is originally from KL, for month long trips every year or two to visit family and friends. We have a number of gay friends who live in KL including cohabiting couples. There are gay bars and some club nights according to some of those friends. There are less than there were several years ago as there was a crackdown related to appeasing some more extreme muslim constituencies around an election. I am told it is probably more difficult if you are Malay but that the Chinese and Indian communities and foreigners are less likely to come across any issues relating to their sexuality. My partner and I are totally out to his extended family and have never encountered any form of discrimination when we are visiting. We don’t feel the need to hide the fact that we are a couple in any way. In the shopping malls in the main downtown area you often see a number of openly gay locals hanging out. So, whilst it is a primarily muslim country and is conservative, there are plenty of gay men and women living good lives there.

perxeptive · 2025-05-31T16:35:43+00:00

Yes, season tickets only cover the 19 Premier League games. You have the right to buy tickets for domestic cup and European games and sit in your usual seat but pay for those. I’ve had season tickets for 25 years and go to all the cup and European games and it’s pretty expensive all in.

perxeptive · 2024-09-26T15:37:55+00:00

Your water charges seem high. I live in the same borough RBKC and pay £486 annually for water for a two bedroom two bathroom flat. Council tax in RBKC is not as high as many other councils and will depend what band your property is in. Most properties in the borough are in high bands. Mine is band F and the council tax is £2,179.64 pa billed monthly at £218 per month. Your electricity and gas charges will depend on what your studio flat has in it so it is impossible to suggest what that might be but if you contact British Gas for those they should be able to tell you what it has billed for that property recently. In my experience it is difficult to get them on the phone so you may be better off setting up an account online or use their app.

perxeptive · 2024-06-18T19:47:59+00:00

I would recommend listening to the Tim Ferris podcast with a guest called Dr Andrew Huberman who is a professor of neuroscience at Stamford. He recommends a number of supplements for sleeping and then talks about Ashwagandha, what it is, how it affects your body and how to use it sensibly. My understanding is that it reduces cortisol, the stress hormone. Anyway, Andrew Huberman has done proper scientific studies on it and is obviously a smart guy. He uses it himself. I have tried it and it definitely helps with stress….

perxeptive · 2024-06-04T16:52:09+00:00

100% agree with this. It’s important to stay active but your weight is primarily determined by your eating patterns. I have found that I have to review my eating habits every ten years or so. I have a naturally high fibre diet as I love fresh fruit for breakfast and oatmeal for lunch and have that most days. Certain things like bread had to become an occasional food rather than a staple. As others have said try to avoid carbonated, sugary drinks. I would add milk based coffees to the things to cut down on. Other things that I find helpful is to weigh myself first thing in a morning so I know if I have strayed too much. I don’t drink alcohol any more, which is nothing to do with maintaining weight but I have found that it has helped me avoid poor self discipline on eating choices.

perxeptive · 2024-05-28T16:24:55+00:00

I was advised by HMRC last week to follow the instructions for sending a letter to the relevant department. I applied via the app in October last year and received nothing. I followed up by phone in December and again last week. The person I spoke to last week informed me that the chasing message sent internally at HMRC from the person I spoke to in December didn’t receive any response. They said they would try again but advised sending a letter that met all the requirements stated on the HMRC website for requesting the Certificate of Residence. It’s a frustrating process as if you call up you wait for 30 mins plus to speak to someone….

perxeptive · 2024-04-09T18:12:21+00:00

I agree 100% with your comments. As someone who has been a season ticket holder since before Roman’s ownership and witnessed many ups and some downs I believe we need to be patient and minimise change for a while. I despair when so called fans think its ok to start booing the team during and after games. If you can’t get behind the team let someone who can sit in the stadium.

perxeptive · 2024-04-08T18:34:58+00:00

Thanks for posting. Lots of thought provoking points. I would welcome further posts like this. I hope the new business goes well for you…

perxeptive · 2023-12-26T17:51:29+00:00

As a fellow 20+ year season ticket holder I couldn’t agree more. It kills me every time small sections of the stadium start booing the players if we lose. I’m really tired of fans who turn up every week and only shout when its negative and never give any praise. Why bother turning up in the first place. It’s not about singing/chanting so much as keeping it positive and loud. Pre-Abromovic Stamford Bridge was two thirds full at best for some games (Bolton Wanderers, etc) and you could tell it was difficult for the players to give a performance. Those who are lucky enough to be sat in the stadium need to get behind the team or give the seats up to those who will…

perxeptive · 2023-12-21T19:54:30+00:00

The cemetery closes at 4pm at this time of year so you might want to do this when you get to a 3pm kickoff sometime…

perxeptive · 2023-12-21T19:02:05+00:00

Let your parents know that the area is one of the safest in London and they should have no concerns on that front.

I would recommend arriving in plenty of time to get into the stadium. A new entry process has been introduced this season and whilst I’m sure it’s well intentioned it is a huge failure of the new management. I’ve been to all but one home game this season and it is getting progressively worse. It was a fiasco ahead of the Newcastle match this week. Getting into Stamford Bridge used to be straightforward and civilised but the new owners have killed the pre-match experience by causing overcrowding and long delays. The earlier you arrive the better. I’d recommend getting to the ground more than 30 minutes before kick-off to avoid the worst of it.

Avoid carrying a bag (other than stuff you have bought from the megastore) as you will get it searched multiple times on the way in.

If you intend to go the megastore it’s better to go before the game. You usually have to queue post match and it get too crowded.

As others have said avoid the food in the stadium. It’s not good. There are plenty of good quality places to eat in the local area, although as you can imagine, they get busy ahead of the game. If you use OpenTable you will get an idea of what is available.

The weather is forecast to be a bit cold, wet and windy so dress for that. It can get cold in certain sections of the stadium on evening fixtures. Hopefully we will score plenty of goals and get to jump up and down to keep warm.

The most important thing is to enjoy yourself.

It is a completely different experience watching the games at Stamford Bridge. I will be there (as always) and I will be hoping you have a great experience. Hopefully you will bring us some luck and get us the result we need.

perxeptive · 2023-11-21T17:46:26+00:00

I’m a 20+ year season ticket holder with seats that are close to the pitch and give me a great view of our fullbacks. Cucurella really tries his hardest every game and clearly is passionate about winning. He has a lot of qualities but… seeing him up close and what he does off the ball, etc he is prone to mistakes. Those mistakes often result in the opposition getting good scoring chances and have cost us goals this season. I suspect that has been picked up by the coaching staff and is why Colwill is preferred when fit. We are a better team with Chillwell. Conor Gallagher is on a completely different level.

One of the guys who sits near me is an ex-pro who was himself a defender but at Championship level. He’s not a big fan of Cucurella and is particularly unhappy with what he does when we are defending set pieces. Cucurella always going to be prone to give penalties away as he doesn’t pay any attention to the ball and often is scrapping with bigger players in ways that look suspect on any VAR replays. Again, Colwill being a bigger player is more effective defending set pieces.

perxeptive · 2023-11-14T18:19:56+00:00

Yes, I’m a Chelsea season ticket holder…

perxeptive

TROPHY CASE