My Virgin Story

[heartopp]

Ok - here is comunicating between myself and James, the manager at the CEO office at Virgin Media.

Now this is not the first time that they have messed up. For 6 month they were sending bills to Ms and i am one hell of a Mr!

This complaint relly got me with the first contact of some bloke in an indian call centre, whos english was comparable of a monkey! He insisted on calling me "MATE"

Monkey: Its ok mate, its all ok
Me: I am trying to complain to you about your wrong bills
Monkey: Its ok, its all sorted mate
Me: what have you done
Monkey: Mate, its ok
Me: Manager, NOW
Monkey: Erm, there is not one
Me: NOW

I then got passed to a nice english woman. Who, managed to deal with some of it, and if you look from the end of this up, you will see the story, and some of my comments....


James,

I have just spoken to someone from Virgin who, I quote, "well send me an email with some setting, and will call me back in 10 mins"

This was at 15.09

As you can see, the time is now 15.41

Again, customer service issues, and this is a valid complain against Virgin Media!

Heartopp
(Its now nearly 4pm, and the call was make at 10 past four, still no email, or call back - Customer Servis Issues?)

From: [EDIT - CONTACT DETAIL REMOVED]
Sent: Mon 14/07/2008 9:34 AM
To: HEARTOPP Heartopp
Subject: RE: Your account
Dear Mr Heartopp,

I have just received your email, I will look into your speed issues and come back to you later today

Regards James.

From: HEARTOPP
Sent: 12 July 2008 13:01
To: [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]
Cc: [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]
Subject: RE: Your account
Importance: High

Dear [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED],

As I am sure you are aware, I am current on the 20MB plan that is offered by Virgin Media. Please find attached a copy of the speeds that I have received over the past two day. As you can see, the maximum speed that I have achieved is

7/11/2008 6:21 AM GMT

82.12.208.69
4566 kb/s
596 kb/s
41 ms

Please explain why I am not receiving the speed that I am paying for!
I would like to draw your attention to the Sale of Goods act 1979 (as amended):
The Sale of Goods Act lays down several conditions that all goods sold by a trader must meet.
The goods must be:
· as described
· of satisfactory quality
· fit for purpose
(I have seen this on a few threads, so I thought i would use it, I mean, the law is there to protect customers)
As described refers to any advert or verbal description made by the trader.
Satisfactory quality covers minor and cosmetic defects as well as substantial problems. It also means that products must last a reasonable time. But it doesn't give you any rights if a fault was obvious or pointed out to you at point of sale.
Fit for purpose covers not only the obvious purpose of an item but any purpose you queried and were given assurances about by the trader.
As you can see, the service that I am receiving is not as described , nor of a satisfactory quality, i therefore request that you offer a suitable gesture of good will.

I would like to add that I am not trying to be vindictive with regards to this matter, but, you have failed me on more than one occasion with the customer service that has been provided (being called "mate" when trying to complain to one of your customer service agents), sending me incorrect invoices (billing me for 2 months due to your error in transferring my data from one system to your new system), charging me for non direct debit payments, (when you are not even able to invoice me correctly), why should I entrust you with my account details if you will take money "willy, nilly"?

Please also note, that I STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED any past invoices that I have requested (April, May and June), the first request was made on the 24th June 2008. It is now 19 days since this request was made - don't you think that its about time that you supplied what you should supply, and provide this customer with some customer service?!?

Regards

Heartopp


From: [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]
Sent: Thu 10/07/2008 2:56 PM
To: HEARTOPP Heartopp
Subject: RE: Your account
Mr Heartopp,

the waiver of the payment handling fee incorporates your claim for compensation. I understand your hesitation around having an active DD when you are not receiving bills and generally I would give a 2-3 month period of grace to ensure that you are satisfied your bills are correct. we have awarded you in this instance an extended period of 12 months and this was satisfactory to you prior to highlighting your second issue around Data Protection Act.

As I advised in our previous email the £60.00 has been applied to your account and is in full and final settlement of your complaint.

Regards [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]
(This email made me giggle "2/3 month grace period" - Well, was it my fault that they got everything wrong, anyway for 12 months I was not getting fined for paying by non direct debits)


From: HEARTOPP
Sent: 10 July 2008 13:53
To: [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]
Cc: [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]
Subject: RE: Your account
Dear [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]

Thank you for your email.

I am shocked and disappointed with the response that you have provided. I have been a customer of Virgin Media for one year now, and as I have mentioned below, I have had to complain on a number of occasions, and if you had taken the time to look at my account you would have seen that.

The £60.00 credit is due to me not willing to pay via Direct Debit, I do not see this as any compensation, because if Virgin Media sent me the invoices that you are required to do, and did not over charge me, I would not have any issue in paying via direct debit. The waver of the fee is just that, a waver. I do not accept this as compensation.

To summarise, I had to call Virgin Media Customer Services no less than 8 times to have my name corrected from Ms to Mister, which I am sure you will agree is extremely poor service.

Please also find attached letters of complain that I have sent. So far, the service that have been provided is an utter disgrace.

I would like to point out that I am still waiting for copy invoices from April - June 2008 - however you are able to send me a "final demand" letter, for an account that was incorectly billed for.

I request that you review my account again, and offer a suitable offer of goodwill for the time that I have taken to complain, and the distress that this is causing, alternatively I will have no choice by to search for a new provider for my internet connection.

I would like to add, that in my honest oppinion, there was a breach of the act, as asking if i was Mr Heartopp, is not sufficant to prove my idenitity.

I look forward to your responce

Heartopp

From: [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]
Sent: Thu 10/07/2008 9:51 AM
To: HEARTOPP
Subject: RE: Your account
Dear Mr Heartopp,

Thank you for your email below, Ratna has passed this to me and as her manager I would like to respond on her behalf.

I confirm I have passed your comments to our Data Controller as you requested. I have also reviewed the apparent breach of Data Protection and confirm Ratna initiated a call to your personal mobile number which you supplied and is held on your Virgin Media account. When you answered Ratna immediately asked if she was speaking to Mr Heartopp, subsequently you responded yes to this question. Ratna continued to speak with you as you had identified yourself as the account holder, Ratna did confirm your account was £30.00 in credit.

In relation to this incident I do not believe that there has been any breach of Data Protection Act in respect of information being given to a 3rd party as the information was given to you, the account holder. I do however acknowledge that Ratna failed to adhere to our own internal policy's around identifying our customers through security checks. I can confirm this matter has been addressed with Ratna and the appropriate internal action taken.

Unfortunately I will not meet your request for a minimum of 6 months free broadband however I can confirm your original offer of £60.00 has been applied to your account and will be visible on your next statement.

I trust this clarifies our position

Regards

[EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED] Manager, Chief Executive Office
Virgin Media,PO Box 238, Wythenshawe, Manchester, M22 0WJ






From: HEARTOPP Heartopp
Sent: 09 July 2008 13:08
To:
Cc: [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]; notification@Information Commissioners Office.gsi.gov.uk
Subject: FW: Your account
Importance: High
Dear Mrs..

As requested, a copy of the emails that have been sent to me regarding my account.

I would also like to complain about your lack of understanding with regards to the Data Protection Act 1997. As I am sure you are aware that the act is there to protect, both the customer and business.

I am disgusted that you did not once confirm my identity, and a) advised that I was £30.00 in credit b) Told me what my home address is, you should have, by your own company policy, asked me to confirm my address, post code, and password.

Please ensure that this complaint is passed to your data controller, so that they can take appropate action, and I request that you confirm that this has been passed on. I have also C.c. The Information Commissioner's Office, so that they are aware of the breach that you made today.

I would also like to point out that I have had to complain to Virgin Media about 8/10 due to various errors on my account (incorrect name for 6 months), the compensation that has been offered below is now unacceptable, and I request that a more suitable offer is provided (min of free broadband for 6 months).

Kind regards

Heartopp


From:
Sent: Wed 09/07/2008 10:57 AM
To: HEARTOPP
Subject: RE: Your account
Heartopp

I am sorry to hear that you are still having problem with your bill and that you have not received copy bill I can confirm that I have spoke to a manager in customer services and April, May, June, and July bills are now on the way to you
I have agreed to credit your account with £60 to cover the charge for not paying by direct debit as the only reason you don't pay by direct debit is due to billing errors
made by virgin media

I hope all issues are now resolved,if you have any further queries you know how to reach me

kind regards
Caroline



From: HEARTOPP
Sent: 09 July 2008 09:46
To:
Cc: [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]
Subject: RE: Your account
Caroline,

I extreamly annoyed that I now need to contact you again with regards to the problem that I have had.

I have still not receaved any copy invoices that I have requested.

I have now had a tax invoice for £43.00

Please get this sorted.

Heartopp


From:
Sent: Tue 24/06/2008 2:40 PM
To: HEARTOPP
Subject: Your account
Hi Heartopp
Just to confirm that I have looked over your account and to date I have credited back £30 in late payment charges and non direct debit charges in addition to that you are due another refund of £30.83 as you have been charged advanced charges twice during changing your account over I have sent this to my manager to apply this leaves you with a balance of £74.77
To pay
I have arranged with customer services to send out a copy of your last 3 bills the credits that you were referring to had been applied to your April bill this was made up of 3 credits of £12.50
I have changed your monthly charges to £30 per month for next 6mths
I hope this is all ok you should receive copies of your bill in the next few days
Any problems or further quires then please don’t hesitate to drop me a mail
Incidentally regarding you feed back regarding the previous agents handling of your call I have sent feedback via there manager and this is picked up as a training issue
So that this is not repeated again, there is nothing more worse than someone treating you as there "best mate" when you have are having problems so please accept my apologises on behalf of Virgin Media regarding this and I hope that we have now resolved all of your issues
Kind regards

[heartopp]

Ok, now one of my complants was with regards to the customer service that I had been getting from Virgin Media, so I sent this:

[EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]

That is all very well that Peter was being held up with another customer, however, one of my complaints so far has been because of Virgin Media not doing as they said they would do, there customer service skills.

I would like to point out again I HAVE STILL NOT RECEIVED THE INVOICES THAT I HAVE BEEN TOLD HAVE BEEN SENT OUT!!!

Also that I was being called "Mate" by one of your "customer support" staff

It took 50 minuets to receive the email and phone call.

I have now for a few years been someone who prides themselves on excellent customer service, I have qualifications in customer services, and so far, only one member of staff who has been any help with you, and that was Caroline.

Not once have you apologised for myself being called mate, and the lack of customer service I had received up to that point. I would guess with you job title as a "Manager of the CEO Office", you have some power, if I was you, I would have first apologised, after reading the whole email. To me, personally, that's would have gone a long way.

I am sure that your focus is NOT on the customer, (which is me in this case), but more on Profits, which I can understand, as I do understand business, but both do go hand in hand. I have seen a number of forum threads, and the main problem people have with your service: IS LACK OF CUSTOMER SERVICE.

Food for Thought!




From: [EDIT - DETAILS REMOVED]
Sent: Mon 14/07/2008 3:49 PM
To: Heartopp
Subject: RE: Your account

Mr Heartopp,

Peter is collating the email now for you, he has been speaking with another customer which has tied him up.

(This is what I would have put: Sorry for the delay, I will make sure its done now)
Regards James Mitchell

[heartopp]

This Saturday morning is the only time I am free




From:
Sent: Mon 14/07/2008 4:38 PM
To:
Subject: RE: Broadband Settings Optimisation

I can't see any clear problems in your local area, so we would really need access to your property to cover all variables. If you could advise when you are free, then I'll try as much as possible to fit around your schedule.

Regards,
Peter

From:
Sent: 14 July 2008 16:34
To:
Subject: RE: Broadband Settings Optimisation

Peter,

Sadly the test was done through the modem, and before the test I restarted the modem and computer.

With regards to the visit; I only have a modem inside, do they need to access the property.

Luke




From: Taylor
Sent: Mon 14/07/2008 4:32 PM
To:
Subject: RE: Broadband Settings Optimisation

Thank you for this.

One thing I should have confirmed is if you are using a Broadband router etc., as these can be the cause for speed issues. There doesn't seem to be any obvious problems from this end, so could I ask if you have the computer plugged directly into the modem? If not, please could you try the test again plugged directly into the modem?

If we receive similar results, or you already had the computer plugged directly into the modem, I would like to have an engineer attend your property. Would this be possible?

Kind regards,



From:
Sent: 14 July 2008 16:20
To:
Subject: RE: Broadband Settings Optimisation

As requested:

16.14 56.8kb/sec
16.15 54.2kb/sec
16.16 52.9kb/sec
16.18 53.2kb/sec
16.19 52.9kb/sec




From:
Sent: Mon 14/07/2008 3:51 PM
To:
Subject: Broadband Settings Optimisation


Dear ,
Further to our phone conversation, may I ask you to read the document at the following link and if possible, make the changes it suggests?
http://www.virginmedia.com/help/20mb-broadband-optimisation.php
We believe that, in order to receive the optimum level of service, these changes are desirable. I must point out that, however small the risk might be, Virgin Media cannot be held liable if you were to inadvertently to cause any loss of data – we’d always recommend backing up any important data before making any changes.
Please notice the section regarding the “TCP Optimizer” at the end of the document. This section does not apply to Windows Vista and should be omitted.
After making these changes (if any are necessary - it's possible they're already at their optimum), please download the following file:
http://ubuntu.virginmedia.com/releases/kubuntu/gutsy/kubuntu-7.10-desktop-i386.iso
After beginning the download, please leave it for a minute or two (until the speed / transfer rate stabilises), and then record the transfer rate and the time at which it was recorded. The transfer rate will normally be displayed in KB/s or MB/s (kilo bytes per second and mega bytes per second, which should be confused with kilo-bits or mega-bits, which is what we sell our service in). You don’t need to complete the entire download, and can delete the file when you have finished.
Please let me know the results, as this will help me in knowing where we should proceed.
Kind regards,
Peter

[heartopp]

Yay, I have someone out betweek 8am - 12pm - I wait with baited breath! lol

[Conniff]

Well that's not what I expected it to be about

[heartopp]

Originally Posted by Conniff

Well that's not what I expected it to be about

Conniff - I do hope there was no smutt involved there!