Getting a better deal from Virgin Media

Over the New Year I decided to tackle Virgin Media and get a better deal for the telephone and broadband package that we have. I was paying around £41 a month plus a few extra pounds for calls that weren't covered by the plan, averaging around £46 per month in total.
Checking out the deals for new customers revealed that I should really be paying about £10 less AND be furnished with a new Wi-Fi router.....so... having already been told that the only way I could get the router was to 'upgrade' for another £8 per month, I decided to grit my teeth call them up and push for a better deal.
Sadly, with Virgin, you HAVE to push them to the point of leaving before you get what you want. the first task is to get beyond the first customer representative and get put onto the section that deals with people that are threatening to take their business elsewhere - this is where it pays to have done some research.
The first time I called it was a relatively short call (I hadn't done my research) and I was basically fobbed off with 'there's nothing we can do'. The next time I was prepared with the following: I am paying £41 per month, if I joined as a new customer I would get the same deal (with 'bigger' broadband) AND a free Wi-Fi router for £10 less per month (ignoring short-term deals). If I switched to Tesco broadband, I could get it for £15 less - why am I paying £41 a month?? - this became my much-repeated mantra 'why am I paying so much more than I need to?'.
We went through the same role-play, she telling me I could upgrade for £8 a month and me explaining that £8 a month is even MORE that the £10 a month I am ALREADY paying over the odds.... Eventually I began to break her down, and she started saying, well of course if you leave, you can't re-join for 6 months... well, I can save myself nearly £100 in 6 months by switching to Tesco, so let's see what the disconnections department can do for me shall we? I am put on hold...eventually I speak to a young gent who listens to my tale:
Him - what is it I would like?
Me - I would like the free router please
Him - OK, it will be with you in 3-5 days
Me - OK that's great
Him - is there anything else I can do?
Me - Yes, you can reduce my bill to closer to £30 a month please
Him - after a bit of mumbling about 'applying the discounts' promises a new monthly bill of £32 a month
Sorted - or is it??
11 days pass and no sign of a router... I ring once more and get put through to a young man who is surprised at the offer I was given as he has notes that reflect a very different conversation that I was supposed to have had 11 days previously. His records show that I was offered an £8 upgrade and a £50 installation fee (at no point has anyone mentioned this £50 fee) - and there was no indication of me being sent a router or having a reduction in my bill... I am now pretty shocked to hear this and do my best to convey this without completely losing my rag... I get put through to 'Customer Service' which makes me think 'who was I talking to then if it wasn't customer service??'. Customer Service gets a quick appraisal of exactly how upset I am about the whole scenario - I am at pains to point out that I am really not very happy, which is in complete contrast to how I felt 11 days previously after my supposed triumphant negotiations... To be honest the new guy on the end of the phone doesn't sound anywhere near as shocked as I would hope him to sound and proceeds to go through the process again. I am becoming 'difficult' as I really want him to acknowledge how badly I feel let down - he ploughs on and I realise he is going to try to put things right, so I calm down a bit and we go through my bills step-by-step and eventually after a bit of tweaking 'products' and 'discounts', we eventually come up with a new monthly bill of £33, and a free router. The router duly arrived three days later as agreed, and so far has been fine although I did need to ring technical support to get it up and running as initially it didn't want to connect to the internet.
Martin Lewis of MoneysavingExpert says you have to negotiate tough with Virgin Media and he is right - know what you want, and know what the price would be if you went to a competitor and you should (eventually) get what you want...