Hello

I was rebuilding my credit file, last time I posted I think it was regarding building my credit. Well I got a vanquis card with a £250 limit which was increased to £1000 after six months which was surprising.

Okay to the point, last October we moved house but unfortunately this area doesn't support virgin media. I informed virgin media I was moving and gave them my new address so that was okay they said they would be in touch to collect the equipment.

It appears that have billed me for septmeber despite being informed I had moved address, they never one wrote to me at my new address with a bill. Turns out they had billed me £110 which has now turned into a default, I contacted the chief executive office they said they'd investigate.

They eventually got back to me and informed me that they were unable to help and they refused to remove the default from my account even if I settled the balance, there is absolutely no way I wouldn't have paid £110 and run the risk of my credit file being ruined for 5 years.

We pleaded with them we said we will pay it rite now and it would have been paid if we had known about it, it was stressful enough moving house and we also had a one year old son at the time which made it even more difficult.

I'm kind of disgusted at the lack of help from virgin media, we started our own business in January we actually received £120,000 inheritance just after we moved. Now we can't even get a business bank account, we applied at barclays and was delcined so checked experience to find a default for £110. Virgin just said no we can't help and my only option is to pay it so it shows as settled but the default will remain.

I've printed off a form to an ombudsman I believe it's a separate one for virgin media complaints, I'm hoping they can do something I just can't believe virgin media were so unhelpful I'm sure Richard Branson would be disgusted by it also.

It's really upset me it's more annoying that if this was an area that could get virgin we would have got it and stayed a customer, thanks to virgin we won't get a mortgage we won't get mainstream credit if we need it. I pleaded with them saying because of £110 I won't get a mortgage even then they didn't care, the impact his is going to have on our lives is huge. We can't even keep our income separate it's currently going into a personal bank account which isn't professional asking people to pay into a personal account and it's going to cause problems with doing accounts and hmrc - of course virgin media didn't care and took to ignoring my emails.

I do think this is unfair and unjust, I haven't paid the default yet I'm thinking if i pay they'll never remove it so either way my credit is ruined for a few years.

I'm just so upset and stressed about it all, I don't know if the independent ombudsman is my only option since virgin media haven't been sympathetic despite knowing they have ruined us for five years and we can't buy a house for the sake of £110 we didnt even know we owed them

Please excuse any mistakes, just typed this on my phone and it kept freezing on me.

Welcome to the Virgin media conned poor souls club!

Ombudsman?!?!

Forget about it!

Most likely they will rule in Branson's favour, but worth a punt just for the sake of it.

Your only option is to find a legal reason to take them to court and once you win publish the court report on as many sites as possible sending all the links to ceo.

Firstly you will need to send them an iar asking for all of your bills, communications and especially the telephone call transcript of when you cancelled their 'services' and gave them your new address.

Then you will need to dig deep into it and find out exactly where and when they conned you.

It seems like they enjoy ruining people's life.

"I'm sure Richard Branson would be disgusted by it"; not likely, he's too busy making billions to have any sort of sympathy for you and your ruined poor life.

Good luck, you will need lots of it!

I really thought we were back on track to buy a house we even have the deposit and a steady income.

Virgin shouldn't be allowed to default people's accounts seeing as it's not a loan or credit.

I wasn't sure they'd have transcripts from my calls from nearly a year ago! What's an iar? Going to court sounds expensive, I've just finished reading that if I settled the default it might only effect me for two years.

I can kind of understand why they might be unwilling to help, I'm sure their are plenty of people who knowingly just avoid paying then give a similar story.

I thought a company had to inform you before they defaulted you, they never contacted us again. I'll ask them for the transcript of all conversations though

What's the point in an ombudsman if their likely to favour virgin media

So it's common practice for virgin media to do this to people? I don't know how they can legally bill me for September last year when I wasn't even living there and I had already called to cancel my contract.

Horrible people they are, we were paying them nearly £100 a month we always paid albeit sometimes a little late - that's why virgin weren't willing to help they made a big deal of it saying there was several times you paid us late I said yes well I was off work on maternity leave but I always paid each month and apologised for it being late but it was always paid.

I don't know what's wrong with these people and why they don't care about how big an impact this is going to have on us, despite having a deposit for a mortgage we are stuck renting paying off someone else's mortgage.

Iar= information access request under data protection act 1998.

You ask for info about you to a company and they must send it to you within 40 days.

They can legally charge you £10 for it.

Plenty of template letters online.

You cancelled the contract and they still billed you (without sending a bill of course).

Unless there was a notice period applicable, then you can take them to court for that.

Just need the evidence.

Small claim court is not expensive and quite informal.

You can represent yourself and avoid legal expenses.

Again, plenty of info online.

But you need to gain evidence to win the case

Thanks I'll get onto it, I'll email them a letter asking for it and if no reply I'll write to them.

I'll settle the default, no point refusing to pay it out of principle despite the fact I shouldn't owe them a penny.

By the sounds of it I'm screwed over either way, I won't ever use any of their services again unless it's a train or plane when there cheaper grrr I'm so mad I can't fully escape them

Sorry, iar should read sar=subject access request.

My fault, old age kicking in

Thanks for taking the time to reply

When did you give them notice ?

Start of October so should have been no more than 30 days, they told me on the phone they billed me for September when I wasn't even living there

If you gave them notice at the beginning of October then they can charge you for the notice period (usually 30 days).

But they have to send you a bill!

Well they could say they sent it, I didn't get any bill I didn't get notice of an impending default which I thought they had to give.

Have they got proof of posting?

They have your tel number I suppose and they could have called before ruining your credit rating.

All points in your favour

When did you give them notice ?

Start of October so should have been no more than 30 days, they told me on the phone they billed me for September when I wasn't even living there

I'm not quite getting this. You gave notice in October. September comes before October so of course you were charged for September and the months notice 'October'.

Sorry I'm trying to run after my son, I moved in October I have notice start of September.

We actually had the keys for our new place 3rd of September

I can get proof from our old letting agents when we moved and when we signed the lease for our new place. I'll get the exact dates and send that off to the ombudsman, they did forward our mail to use for a month so virgin didn't send any mail here or to our old address

I do know my months of the year, it's my birthday in two months. I have baby brain still

See two months, no my birthday is in two weeks time not two months I only just noticed that. It's my son's birthday in two months

@kaimoo86.

I know this doesn't help with the situation regarding Virgin,

but, as far as a business bank account goes, all is not lost.

Go to another bank and ask for a 'business "clearing" account',

explain the situation regarding the default and that it is in dispute,

you need an account to pay into but do not, at present, require any credit facilities and

*most* banks will be willing to give you the business equivalent of a 'basic bank account' until you can clear the mess up with Virgin.

Although you might run into the situation of "computer says no", branch managers can (and do) override this if you explain the problem fully.

At least that would mean that you have a separate account for your business and a debit card (also in the company name) to make payments.

VM did same to me ... informed the 2 main credit reference agencies that I was a non-payer WHILST DISPUTE WAS ONGOING WITH THEIR CHOICE OF ARBITRATOR. It meant I was 'blacklisted just as I went self -employed and I couldn't get credit even though I had 30 + years of unblemished record.

I took them to Small Claims Court and won (of course, they couldn't even be bothered to attend or contact the Court - Judge was not impressed) and finally the stain on my record was lifted. It was a long draining experience and I wish I had taken it further as they should not be able to abuse their 'power' in this way.