Virgin Media breach of contract???

[Redletter]

Hi can anyone advise on this please?

 

My brother moved in with me and agreed to take over the phone & broadband Virgin Media package I have with them as I was going to cancel but he wanted to keep it.

All well and good and we informed them of this way back in January.

They sent us a form out to fill in (a piece of A3 paper folded into 4 pages-this is significant) to transfer the services to my brother and we filled it in and sent it back as requested.

My brother requested bills by e-mail and I cancelled my direct debit.

After a month I received another bill in my name despite my brother taking over the balance on the account.

I contacted them and asked them why they were billing me and they apologised and said they would carry out the name change within two weeks and all future bills would go to my brother.

They contacted my brother and without my knowledge he added TV to the package which he was told was free-which didnt matter to me as he had supposedly had the account transferred to him.

Anyway a month passed and I received yet another bill in MY NAME!

I rang up, spoke to someone in a call centre in India who assured me the change was being implemented.My brother gave me the money and I paid it on my debit card and was apologised to yet again!

 

2 months down the line I have received a letter stating that they have suspended the services due to non payment of the last 2 bills in MY NAME!

 

Apparently when the forms went back "the last page was missing"

 

HOW? It was ONE PIECE of paper with all 4 pages on it!!!!!

 

They tell me the transfer has NOT taken place yet they allowed my brother who was not authorised by me to add a TV package and sign for it installing!

They say they are not in breach of my contract as my brother "must have had my password and was therefore authorised"

They claim ANYONE WHO HAS THE PASSWORD IS AUTHORISED!!!!

 

I claim that the password is there for them to verify MY identity NOT to authorise ANYONE who happens to guess it-who has clearly stated he was not me, to service the account!!!

 

Where do I stand on this??

 

If the account IS transferred then Im not liable for the balance.

 

If the account IS NOT transferred they have allowed someone else to make changes to my account without my permission and to install equipment in my flat without my permission!!!!!

 

Please advise!

[Redletter]

bump

[buzby]

Accounts are not 'transferred' in the accepted sense - the correct procedure is for you to indicate your rights to terminate the contract, and your brother to take them over as a going concern from an agreed date - so avoiding any termination or reinstallation concerns. More importantly, your brother would have a new contract number/customer number and be bound for a minimum term of 12 or 18 months depending on the service package agreed.

 

DID you give him your password for the account? I wouldn't trust VM's Indian Call Centre to forecast the weather in Hydrabad - so you need to establish a mutually agreeable date when you ceased to be responsible for the service. The fact they lost 'page'3' is immaterial - this only affects the provision of the new service, not your intention to leave. So, as you have to give them 30 days notice, your liability would ordinarily end at this point, in tandem with your usual billing date.

 

In negotiations, ensure that any adverse credit data is removed, from the termination date, as you refuse to be liable for the account from that time. Any other issues are for VM to sort out with your brother, not you.

[Redletter]

Thank you Raymond that is most helpful. So in effect, the fact that they were aware of my intention to leave would satisfy their requirement of 'notice'? They are now saying that I would have to pay the outstanding balance before I can even terminate my agreement and that even at that point I would have to give them another months notice!!!!

The thing is it does state on the form that I am still liable for any balance until the 'transfer' has been fully completed. But I would say at the very least the point where they allowed my brother to discuss/request installation of the tv services should be the point where I ceased to be responsible.

No I did not give my brother the password.

I still believe the purpose of a password is so that they can establish/verify MY identity not a means of allowing other people to discuss my account/details.

[IdaInFife]

don;t know much about how VM work but when companies use passwords that is to verify the caller has authorization to make changes on the account.

 

Ida x

[buzby]

It is a point to argue, but it may be tough. For an issue as complex as this I would deal with VM only in writing, stating a simplified timeline of events, concerning the facts as they apply to YOU (not your brother)..

 

From what you say, there's no issue of services going unpaid? As your brother is presumably paying you for the services he is using. A front line phone jokey isn't going to do much other than spout the company line, but there is room for doubt here - as there have been technical failures n both sides.

[Redletter]

I sent them this:

 

Dear Mr. Berkett,

I am writing to you as a last resort with total disappointment at the extremely poor level of customer service I have received so far, which has caused me considerable undue and unnecessary stress. It would appear that no-one at your call centres are capable of carrying out what should have been a very simple task, nor are they capable of giving me correct information. I would ask that you personally will, at this point intervene and bring this matter to a satisfactory conclusion without further delay.

Your call centre staff have acknowledged that as far back as January 2009, I enquired about having my account transferred to my brother, XXXXXXXXX. Initially it was my intention to close the account down but I was advised it was quite simple to actually transfer the account to my brother, so that is what I chose to do. I was sent a "NEW TOR 01" form for myself and my brother to complete. Admittedly there was a delay in returning the forms but your call centre has acknowledged receipt of the form around the beginning of March 2009. I was not aware of any problems until I received a further bill in my name and not as I expected in my brother's name. I telephoned again on April 2nd 2009 and spoke to someone in the call centre in India who accepted a debit card payment but apologised and confirmed receipt of the forms and said that they would action the transfer and it would take 2 weeks. I repeatedly asked them to confirm that I did not need to go through the process of filling out further forms and was assured that I did not and that said transfer would indeed take place 2 weeks from April 2nd 2009. They also confirmed that any future bills would go to my brother via e-mail to my brother's e-mail which they had read back to me correctly.

Some time in-between the above dates, I am aware that my brother (not me) was allowed to authorise the installation of television services at my address and therefore I assumed that the account transfer must have taken place.

However, much to my dismay I am repeatedly receiving bills in my name and am now being told that "although you received the form a page (2) was missing." This is impossible! The form we received and the many identical forms I have been repeatedly sent is made up of 1 piece of paper. Upon acknowledging receiving page 1 with my signature upon it (which has been confirmed to me) then you MUST have page 2 also as it is on the reverse of page 1! Pages 3 & 4 are also printed upon the same piece of paper. There are no loose pages on any of these forms so it would not be possible to omit one of them! Therefore I do not accept that you could have only received a part of the form and if anything I would say that this must have been lost between departments if copied at your end and this is not my fault. Also I would say that having received notice of my intention to disconnect as far back as January I should not have to, as I am being told, give you another 30 days notice in order to close this account down. So far this simple task has taken 5 months! I would ask that you oversee the complete closure of this account immediately as I do not accept liability for the services my brother wished to continue with, and had the transfer been carried out correctly when I requested then my brother would have been paying the bills which he should have, but never received by e-mail.

I have made every effort to sort this mess out and have been repeatedly misinformed by your call centre staff that the transfer would take place without the need to complete further forms. If it is necessary to do so I will not hesitate in making a Subject Access Request under the Data Protection Act to your data controller in order to obtain transcripts of ALL telephone conversations with your call centres in order to provide evidence in a court of law should the need arise for me to defend any action you threaten with regard to enforcement of the amount outstanding to which I do not accept liability. This will also enable me to ascertain who gave authorisation to my brother to have television services installed at my address without my express permission, as according to your staff the account is still in my name not his.

Thank you for your attention in this matter,

Regards

Redletter.

[Redletter]

Received:

 

"Im so sorry; I will ask my office to help"

[buzby]

I got that too, then Adrian takes over and does nothing.

[KPRHERO]

Hmmmm, to be honest password or no password virgin are defo at fault here. I would refuse to make an offer of payment, and threaten legal action until they can prove YOU authorised the installation of television services, and I would do a sars request. At the very least once you threaten legal action, and refuse to continue with payment they will take notice.

[Redletter]

Hey thanks to everyone for all their advice I have just received an e-mail from the chief executive office as follows;

 

Hello Steven

As requested, I have cancelled the account and as a gesture of goodwill cleared the balance to zero. I have arranged for a equipment returns package to be be sent by post, please would you return the set top box.

If I could be of any further help in this matter, please let me know.