Virgin Mobile

[midge61]

Hi all

I need some help for my daughter please.

She took out a mobile contract (12mths) with Virgin year but when she set it up she found that where she lived she was unable to get a signal unless she went to the end of her road. She does not have a landline and as a single parent with a baby she needed a phone that would work at home.

She contacted them and explained that she could not get the service where she most needed it and asked if she could cancel, their reply was basically no way you have to pay for the 12mths.

She then took out a Vodaphone contract and payed both. 3mths ago because of troubles with the bank she had to cancel all her DD's and start paying everything by cash. She forgot to continue paying Virgin.
She is noe 3mths in arrears, £90 and has started recieving letters from CARS dca.

She only told me all this last night so now I need some advice as to how to deal with this.

Many thanks in advance

[topCatDC]

Hi midge61
are these charges for late payments or bounced DDS or are they just mist payments ?.
How long between getting the phone and complaining about the lack of reception ? i know it sounds daft but these questions are important as to what to suggest next.
regards
Tc

[midge61]

HI topcat
Thanks for reply. Daughter is away until Monday so cannot be specific until then but from what she told me £90 is 3 missed payments of monthly contract.
She has never made any call as she could not do so. She first complained within the first month but not sure exactly when.
All her previous payments went by dd but this was cancelled when she had trouble with bank and charges leaving her with no money to pay bills (on income support).
Thanks

[topCatDC]

Hi
i understand
she may be able to come to an agreement with them to pay off mist payments and cancel her contract it can depend on how long is left with them .
if you get the relivant details i am sure some one can help or advise
TC

[midge61]

HI
Thanks. Will get info on Mon.

[buzby]

A shame she has to pay for 2 services but only use one. Of all the networks, T-Mobile are pretty good at showing the coverage they offer at street level to let you assess how good or bad coverage is. However all networks do allow you 14 days to return and cancel if the service is not as expected. I'm assuming this wasn't done - so the contract became confirmed and the liability that came with it.

If she cancels early, she'll have to pay the full value of the amount due under it, less a small percentage for not using the inclusive calls. Since this would have to be paid up front, it is often easier just to give notice of cancellation on the anniversary, and pay monthly until then. Alternatively, a family member not in the black hole could take on the commitment and make use of the service, or formally take on the contract.

[midge61]

Hi all
We wrote to Virgin and asked for them to be nice and reduce or possibly cancel the £90 as she has been unable to use the phone since Sept but they have replied saying that as it has been passed to their external dca she must contact them.

My feeling is if we write same sort of letter to them they are just going to persue her for the debt or refer it back to Virgin.

What would be the best thing to do?

Thanks

[buzby]

As I mentioned earlier - lack of signal is not seen to be an excuse, and the best course of action is to ensure that her credit rating isn't damaged. Why not response to Virgin (deal with the organ-grinder and not the monkey) and ask if she can assign the contract to a third party - she's still have to clear off the debt though. Can a family member not make use of the VM phone at a different location?

[midge61]

Hi
This is not an option as the contract came to an end in June.

[buzby]

Oh well, at least the final bill has been calculated. Most mobile firms are fairly inflexible in these matters, and simply see it as the customer not paying a valid bill. The only other way to make something out of it is to resell that handset as 'unconnected', and put the amount to paying off the charges claimed.