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Yet another rip off by Virginmedia,they are now expecting you to pay £1.25 for a paper bill,forcing you to pay online and penalising you if you don't, is this a means to finance the move to sponsor Brawn GP. You are already penalised for paying "cash" at a paypoint now it is to cost an extra £1.25 to recieve that paper bill in order to do this, is there ever going to be an end to these penalty charges they think up. At the same time you are inundated with unrequested,unwanted junk mail from them, who pays for that. So much for the Credit Crunch.
Not here. The bill cost was included in the service char. £1 was added for call itemisation if requested.
That said, I think they're 'doing a Ryanair' - they're pushing the system to see how far they can get away with it. Who would have thought non DD customers would be made to pay £60pa just because they don;lt trust VM with their access to a bank account?
OFCOM have still to rule on this after their consultation late last year, so there might be good news on that front. But since you cannot reasonably be expected to know what your bill is (clairvoyance?) charging you additionally to receive it is nonsensical. What we need is the courts to reject debt collection action for VM claims because no bills were sent.
Yet again they are forcing people to jump through their hoops by pretending to offer a reasonable choice: Pay by DD, save £5! Get your bills online, save £1.25! And my particular favourite: Don't d/l anything over the "reasonable" limit we have set for you without telling you what that limit is since we advertise unlimited access and we won't throttle you!
Next on the list: don't use the phone and we won't charge you for the calls.
I've noticed some providers already putting restrictions on web telephony, I wondered how long it would take for them to cotton on.
What I'm really interested in is in seeing if the regulator/courts will uphold an assertion that a customer can be defaulted if they are unwilling to pay for the bill they are supposed to pay for services received.
For my money, this is a step that crosses the line into a ludicrous situation that needs to be ruled on before consumers take the risk of challenging it in the courts.
Imagine a bank claiming additional charges, because you hadn't paid them to receive a statement and were now overdrawn? I'm awaiting VM to formally tell me of the charge, and as I see this to be a material change will tell VM I wish to break my contract (I have 8 months still of my minimum term). Or will they do what Retentions did... provide me with a £3.50pm credit to counterbalance the £5pm they charge me for NOT paying by DD?
What I don't understand about VM and these companies in general is that they seem to be able to change their charges anytime they feel like it. I know that in their T&C there's something that basically states they can do so, but my argument is if I sign up for something that costs me £19 per month for a contractural period of 12 months, then why should they be allowed to increase that? I signed up for something that costs me £19 per month, so why shouldn't I legally be allowed to break the contract if they change this amount without being penalised? Their T&C might as well state 'We do what we want and you pay for it and like it'.
Imagine a bank claiming additional charges, because you hadn't paid them to receive a statement and were now overdrawn?
Well, that's interesting you should say that... Ok, so they don't charge for statements, but listen to this:
When I was in Venice last month, I went to the ATM. Now the ATMs there are very basic, you can't check your balance, basically you put your PIN in and if you have enough money, it gives you it, if you don't it doesn't. I got money out, great.
On return to the UK, I found out that actually, the withdrawal had taken me over my limit and Barclays, them of the Reserve fees, had charged me £22 for the privilege.
My argument is very much on the lines of what you are saying: Imagine them saying that I agreed to pay this charge by going overdrawn when I had no way of knowing that I was doing so in the first place.
I don't believe foreign bank ATMs have the ability to display balances (initially a technology issue, but lately security). Since you are only asking for funds in Euros, you have no idea of the 'bottom line' figure that is going to be debited until it hits, so I've sympathy with both viewpoints. On my trips I take the PO Debit card denominated in Euros, and it was ideal. (Ooops, kinda off topic).
why should they be allowed to increase that? I signed up for something that costs me £19 per month, so why shouldn't I legally be allowed to break the contract if they change this amount without being penalised?
You can! If it is a material change to the agreed terms, you can break and walk, simply by writing to them and asserting your rights. It becomes more difficult when it is with these 'service' charges, or where they provide a route that allows you to bypass the increase, You are expected to take that route whether you want to or not, and in these cases it is NOT a reason to break.
You can! If it is a material change to the agreed terms, you can break and walk, simply by writing to them and asserting your rights. It becomes more difficult when it is with these 'service' charges, or where they provide a route that allows you to bypass the increase, You are expected to take that route whether you want to or not, and in these cases it is NOT a reason to break.
Hm, let's see...
Would a material change be, say, jacking up the cost of my broadband per month and 'service' charge be, say, jacking up phone call usage rates?
If your BB was £25pm and they announced it was going up to £30pm, and they introduced a fee of £1.50 to recieve your bills by post (but free if you viewed them online), only the first is a 'material change', but would permit yu to terminate.
However, thwy would pass you to Retentions, who would agree to provide you with a 'bill credit' that would provde a monthly rebate (of the increased amount) for the time remaining on your contract. I'm unclear whether you have to accept this (rather than leave) but as this - in effect - puts you right back with the same fees for the minimum term, it would be difficult to argue for a realease from the contracts as you'll not have been disadvantaged under those circumtances.
They charged £1 for paper billing previously so its a 25p increase.
Thanks for that I did intend to ignore this thread after the reply from yourbank as I thought it was me that was wrong ,but I too have no sort of info on my bills asking for £1.00 for not paying "online", then re-read the letter from Virginmedia and it clearly did not state an increase from £1.00 to £1.25 just that it was an "extra" penalty for not paying "on-line" and did not wish to contradict yourbanks reply and get into a slanging match,so thanks for agreeing with me.
Not here. The bill cost was included in the service char. £1 was added for call itemisation if requested.
That said, I think they're 'doing a Ryanair' - they're pushing the system to see how far they can get away with it. Who would have thought non DD customers would be made to pay £60pa just because they don;lt trust VM with their access to a bank account?
OFCOM have still to rule on this after their consultation late last year, so there might be good news on that front. But since you cannot reasonably be expected to know what your bill is (clairvoyance?) charging you additionally to receive it is nonsensical. What we need is the courts to reject debt collection action for VM claims because no bills were sent.
Buzby ...... that reply above was intended for you.bit ..........sorry for the mistake bit early in the morning
Well Virginmedia need to standadise their billing system as there is nothing at all like that on any of my Bills,then again they did say that it was to come in force in April in the communication I got from them and I have not had any bill with that on it yet.
Then again I don't intend taking up any form of e-billing for exactly the same reason Busby made ..........don't trust any form of e-billing especially with Virginmedia
Then again I don't intend taking up any form of e-billing for exactly the same reason Busby made ..........don't trust any form of e-billing especially with Virginmedia
I just realised who you were. Things have changed since the last time I posted on a thread by you. I don't work for the bank anymore and I did email the DWP re the other thread with some very interesting results which I will share with you via PM if you want?
Nice to see you back though
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Their T&C might as well state 'We do what we want and you pay for it and like it'.
Originally Posted by buzby
