Virgin Media Charges

loupy2005 · 1st March 2007, 21:10

I been with Virgin Media for years. I decided not pay by D/D 4 various reasons. as a result I get charged £4. recently I paid the bills late and was charged £10.50 for their late payment fee. They restricted my services as I haven't paid the fee.

I asked customer service to explain the breakdown for the late payment fee., but was unable to give me a answer.

My question is should I reclaim these charges like reclaiming bank charges and whats the best way?

Advice and feedbac welcome!

buzby · 1st March 2007, 22:36

Absolutely - I do it all the time! If you've got recent bills to get an accurate total, list all the late payment fines and non-DDM fees to give a total, then WRITE to Virgin Media and ask for the amount to be credited to your account. Incidentally, IF you can pay them DIRECT into their bank account using BACS, it negates their stance that it 'costs' them to process the paymnent.

bidstermeister · 2nd March 2007, 11:13

I frequently have this issue with them - But have you noticed the payment slip at the bottom of the bill ? It's address to Barclays' AUTOMATED BULK PROCESSING... So if the bank does it in bulk (and without human intervention), there's even more of a case for them wiping this charge.

dicky mint · 2nd March 2007, 11:42

Hi, I also use virgin media and i recently got in touch with them about isues with my bill.
they wrote off my bill all togeather when i complained so if i was you i would call them first before you send letters as they seem to be quiet understanding

buzby · 2nd March 2007, 12:14

Yes - but I'm saving the 'automated processing' argument for a later day. As I take everything from them (BB, Phone TV) and invariably pay my bills, they agreed to a quarterly credit - usually £12 (now £15) to cover these fees. During my last quartely call to request the fee refund, that staffer said he would process it on 'this occasion' as the quarterly credit was to be used only to give new customers to set up a DD. I explained that was immaterial to my case, as I paid via BACS under my control and as soon as they refused to credit, I'd challenge them in the courts. He wished me well!

loupy2005 · 2nd March 2007, 12:22

Thanks 4 your advice. what do I say to these people, Knowing my luck I get get who don't understand and hang up. Any thoughts?

buzby · 2nd March 2007, 13:24

It's always easy if you pay by a method that causes minimal cosst to them. PayPoint, Debit and Credit card payments are always subject to processing fees by the banks, and also need staff to process them. Using PC Banking, or paying by Bank Giro means they get the FULL amount owed, and it is credited automatically with no manual intervention. This gives you the moral argument that your payment method doesn't cost them any more, and if they disagree, they should prove it.

Unfortunately, anyone you speak to will be unable to negotiate in this way, so the easiest way to get the amound refunded is to refer to your lack of confidence in their billing system, as you have had incorrect bills in the past and you feel more secure paying them after the bill has been reviewed.

Additionally, Virgin have to ensure you recieve the bill TEN days before any debit to enable you to review it, and this has never happened, so you fail to see why you should be penalised for their errors and inefficiencies.

You are happy to remain a customer, but only if you are not being financially penalised for doing so. Therefore to prevent you taking formal steps to prevent the charge, wouldn't they like to stay friends and accept the money due from you?

They probably will. And if the person you speak to is unhelpful, ask to be referred to a superviser, even if it means a call back.

loupy2005 · 2nd March 2007, 13:44

Spoke a really unhelpful cow who also said she would be quite happy for me to leave virgin and its my fault the bill are not paid on time and very company has penalty charges could tell the breakdown of the late payment fee. but I must read the T & C. on the back of the bill it states late payment fee MAY be charged

Virgin are not bacing down

Help!! what do I do now?

buzby · 2nd March 2007, 14:26

Easy, play them at their own game. Your original contract did not state they would attempt to levy 'Penalty Charges'. The addition of these fess are NOT part of your contract and you did not agree to them. They have the opportunity to removal all unfair charges, or you will seek to recover them through the courts if they cannot justify the amounts billed. As for 'other firms' doing it, this is not a valid reason, as you do not patronise firms that levy unfair charges.

It would be best to pay all outstanding amounts LESS the amounts in dispute, as to have a debt outstanding for other services weakens your case.

SHERLOCK · 2nd March 2007, 15:29

I also contacted Virgin, charges aside, apparently you have to ask, but if you get the package of TV, BB and phone for £35.00, this is reduced to £30.00.

They just have to input a code........but you have to ring and ask them to do this on an individual basis, SCANDALOUS!!

Also, they rang me and offered both my DD fees (2 months worth + the late fee) = £20.00 if I paid them there and then. It was about 1 week past payment date.

Late payment, I do believe you pay 1 month in advance (supposed to anyway)

davethorp · 2nd March 2007, 18:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by loupy2005

Spoke a really unhelpful cow who also said she would be quite happy for me to leave virgin and its my fault the bill are not paid on time and very company has penalty charges could tell the breakdown of the late payment fee. but I must read the T & C. on the back of the bill it states late payment fee MAY be charged

Virgin are not bacing down

Help!! what do I do now?

Suspect the lady you spoke to wasn't happy with all the calls they are getting about the dropped sky channels so was in a bad mood. May be worth calling again. Were you holding for a while. I held for an hour and a half to talk to them before but.......

I am very happy with virgin media at the moment. When I first signed up I had Starter TV, BB size M, Phone size M for £30. This was upgraded when virgin took over to TV Size M, BB size M, Phone size M for £30. Called today and said I was thinking of moving to sky following the dropped channels and now I am now on TV size XL, BB size L, Phone size L for £35 a month. So virgin get an extra £5 off me and I get better TV, broadband and phone. Everyone is a winner (except sky of course)

bidstermeister · 2nd March 2007, 19:59

Not having my contract to hand, what's the wording re: any late/processing fees ? Is it "we may charge a fee" or "fees may be charged" ? If the latter, charge THEM

I use the same excuse when informing people that the call is being recorded (cos I'm nice like that), anytime I see a note saying "calls may be recorded" - I use that one on them, despite knowing that I can record it (and not inform them) anyway.

Les Gunn · 3rd March 2007, 01:04

Virgin Media is a sad old case, because it carries all the negatives about NTL with it. Here's a few examples of their crap service...

*Billing ring me on several occasions telling me that it's no good me paying through my bank direct to their account, as their Accounts can't trace it for days and I may get cut off. I told them I wouldn't be changing my method of payment and they had better modernise!

*Their wonderful new box of tricks that supposedly records all your programmes, wiped all mine over last Christmas and I had some silly arse in their Faults section in India telling me it was my fault! I complained like hell to them and eventually an engineer came out (what a great bloke!) and told me it was a fault with the settings and sorted it there and then.

*I rang today to speak with customer service and was cut off - a line fault perhaps??!!

*They can't justify their charges, so go for them!!

I hope Branson kicks a few arses, or this good ship will become an albatross....

adelaidebull · 3rd March 2007, 06:53

I phoned up them yesterday to pay the bill,and i asked how can they justify £5 for not using a D/D and £10.50 late payment,the bloke went to asked his superviser and came back and told me its to pay the wages of all the billing dept cause people not paying by D/D are causing extra changes,where as paying by D/D costs a lot less...

bidstermeister · 3rd March 2007, 12:20

Well, for starters - you can pay via card in an automated fashion via phone, but I doubt the robo-woman can enter into a debit on the merits of penalty charges.

Whilst on the phone to them this week (about my "they've been naughty" thread), one of the guys said "yeah, we're always busy - there's currently about 200 people in the queue waiting to speak with us"...

marciasdad · 3rd March 2007, 17:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by buzby

Easy, play them at their own game. Your original contract did not state they would attempt to levy 'Penalty Charges'. The addition of these fess are NOT part of your contract and you did not agree to them. They have the opportunity to removal all unfair charges, or you will seek to recover them through the courts if they cannot justify the amounts billed. As for 'other firms' doing it, this is not a valid reason, as you do not patronise firms that levy unfair charges.

It would be best to pay all outstanding amounts LESS the amounts in dispute, as to have a debt outstanding for other services weakens your case.

I have been a cable tv/telephone customer for the last 14 years. I have been with Encom, Bellcablemedia, Cable and Wireless NTL and finally Virgin Media.the only contract i have ever signed is with Encom 14 years ago, at this time they did not have a facility for collecting payments by direct debit. (I did ask)
Virgin Media or NTL, as was, have offered their customers several methods of paying their accounts D/D, telephone automated service, Internet Banking, Paypoint and Cheque.

Only a cheque payment could attract a surcharge as human intervention is required, but is it to the tune of £5 per month. or £10 for a late payment fee.

I intend to reclaim all these charges from Virgin Media and would like to know if anyone out there has pursued this and has been successful?

buzby · 3rd March 2007, 18:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by marciasdad

I intend to reclaim all these charges from Virgin Media and would like to know if anyone out there has pursued this and has been successful?

Good for you. The answer is 'yes' and I have had ALL my non-DD and late fees re-credited. As I keep pointing out to the staff, I pay them almost £800 per year, and if they want to scew more out of me, that is not the way to do it.

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