virgin media been taking money out for over a year by dd. service was cancelled

[steampowered]

Given the importance of your credit rating, I would be tempted to send a short response asking if Virgin will register a default with the credit rating agencies while the CISAS process is ongoing and, if not, how long this will take if the decision goes against you. It is important that you ask this question clearly, so that if they do default you there is a clear paper trail you can use to hold them to account.

[king12345]

Given the importance of your credit rating, I would be tempted to send a short response asking if Virgin will register a default with the credit rating agencies while the CISAS process is ongoing and, if not, how long this will take if the decision goes against you. It is important that you ask this question clearly, so that if they do default you there is a clear paper trail you can use to hold them to account.

Agree

[sanepersongonemad]

ok going to atempt a draft and will post it here. thanks guys

[sanepersongonemad]

this is what iv wrote in response to vm defence. what do you guys think? thanks so much.

 

 

In response to VM defence:-

• my sky services of tv, phone line and broadband started on may 23 2013 as evidenced by actual bills

• a letter and phonecall of cancellation giving 30 days notice was given to vm in April 2013. This is denied by vm. However, I have evidence from mobile phone bill where I have called vm when I realised this issue and when asked about the notes on the account from my call, I have been told there is no record. This I believe is also the case with my cancellation. no record of my recent call and no record of my cancellation.

• I cannot understand why vm would think I would have their services active when I have purchased high speed broadband, the top television package with sky and a landline whereas the package I had before cancellation with vm was a basic package.

• I had advised vm I did not want to be called as I do not want the same issue of calls ‘not being recorded’ and wanted only written correspondence.

• My email address is active and is checked several times a day. Never in all this time have I received any emails from virgin media let alone any bills. Had I received bills, I would have actioned this sooner.

• I have expressed several times I do not want to be called and would like written coresspondance. Despite this, vm have said they have continued to call me, once again dis regarding my wishes . I also do not have that mobile number.

• There are no emails from virgin on my email account whatsoever. There is also NO explanation why the bills are of varying amounts. I have been provided no breakdown whatsoever. I certainly did not request a change to allow for these varying amounts. I still await an explanation for this.

• I do not have ANY vm equipment. I have sky tv top package downstairs and in my bedroom which I pay a package of £90 for. VM confirm there is no usage of the broadband.

• The charges are invalid as I have not used vm services since april 2013. I do not have their equipment and have no used any of their services.

• I would like immediate clarity on whether vm will be placing a default at this stage whilst this dispute is ongoing, as the spelling and explanation of vm defence is unclear. I would alos like to further clarify that if the decision goes against me, when would the default be applied?

• I would like to add that I strongly refute vm notion that I did not cancel their services and should they have applied a default on my account during this time, I will be taking this to the small claims court as I have cancelled their services and as admitted by vm themselves, I have not used their broadand and do not have the equipment to use their tv and would have no need whatso ever to use it.

• Vvm have blatantly disregarded my request to cancel and continued to ignore my wishes when I had asked not to be called and continued to call.

[sanepersongonemad]

sorry guys what do u think from what iv wrote?

[steampowered]

I think that looks fine. I would just add a request for them to put a mark on your account noting that all correspondence should be put in writing, either by letter or by email. State that you now have no faith in VM's record keeping of oral conversations and are perfectly entitled to request that for them to liaise with you in written form.

[sanepersongonemad]

ok thanks. do you think its clear enough about the bit of them not registering a default? do i need to make this sound stronger? its my biggest concern.

[steampowered]

To be honest I would be tempted to ask the default question in a separate letter or email. I have experienced VM to be an inefficient organisation with poor customer service and I suspect it will take them a long time to respond to your broader complaint. If you want to include it in this letter, it needs to be right at the top.

 

 

The key with these things is making it easy to read and to present it properly. Your letter needs to use proper formatting and paragraphs, with short sentences.

[king12345]

As you're communicating with VM, you will have to write in much simpler terms.

If you wrote thinking that a 6 year old would have to read your complaint, then you're on the right track.

[sanepersongonemad]

o dear lol. so is it ok as it is?

[king12345]

Ask a 6 year old to read it and if he understands it then VM will probably understand 50% of it.

[sanepersongonemad]

ok thanks lol. im just sending that today. fingers crossed sigh. thanks everyone

[sanepersongonemad]

i revieved this from cisas today.

 

We acknowledge receipt of comments on the company’s response to the claim from the

customer. A copy is provided for the company’s information.

The parties are advised that # has been appointed as adjudicator and that all

of the case papers received have been forwarded for consideration.

Upon receipt, the Decision will be sent to both parties (usually within 3 weeks). In the meantime,

we may contact you if the adjudicator requires any clarification or further information on the

documents submitted.

When the Decision is issued the Customer will be given 6 weeks to advise us whether they

accept or reject it

[sanepersongonemad]

so the stress continues. got a decision back from cisas .

 

this is what i received today. no idea what to do. stress is making me ill ((

 

Decision

1. The claim does not succeed.

Recommendation

2. My recommendation is that:

a. The company provides a reasonable payment plan for the customer to clear the

outstanding liability.

b. The company agrees to refrain from referring the customer’s account to debt collectors

unless the outstanding liability has not been discharged when the time frame set by the

payment plan has expired.

 

Main issues

3. I consider that the main issues in this adjudication are:

a. Whether the company has broken a term of the contract between it and the customer or

failed in its duty of care.

b. Whether the reasons given by the customer are sufficient to justify the remedy sought.

Background information

4. In order to succeed in a claim against the company the customer must prove on a balance of

probabilities that the company has broken some term express or implied of the agreement

which existed between them, or failed in the duty of care which the company owed to the

customer and that as a result of this breach the customer has suffered loss. (A duty of care is a

responsibility or a legal obligation of the company to avoid acts or omissions which can be

reasonably foreseen to be likely to cause harm to others). If no such breach or loss is proved

the company will not be liable to pay compensation however disappointed or upset the

customer is.

5. The customer and the company are aware of the facts of this case. I do not propose to recount

all the facts in the same manner and order as the parties have done in their documents except

where it is necessary for the purposes of this decision. I have carefully considered all of the

documents submitted by the parties in support of their submissions which were presented to

me. The parties should also be reassured that if I have not referred to a particular document or

matter specifically, this should not be taken to mean that I have not considered it in reaching my

decision.

Customer’s and company’s positions

6. The customer had a contract with the company for telephone, television and broadband. When

the minimum period expired in May 2013, the customer cancelled her contract with the

company by phone and in writing, and switched providers. The customer submits that she had

not been receiving bank statements until recently, when she noticed that the company had

continued to make monthly deductions from her account by direct debit. The customer has had

no correspondence or bills from the company. The customer received conflicting advice from

the company’s complaints department, which claims that it has no record of her having

cancelled all of her services.

7. The company explains that in April 2013 it received a request to port the customer’s telephone

number to another provider. The company ported the customer’s number, but did not cancel her

other services as no request to that effect had been received. In October 2014, following a

complaint from the customer, the company disconnected the customer’s remaining services.

The company submits that it has sent monthly emails notifying the customer that her bill was

ready to view. The company attempted unsuccessfully to call the customer to discuss her

2complaint on a number of occasions. The company then wrote to the customer to confirm its

position. The customer has made a direct debit indemnity claim via her bank. The company

confirms that the customer was charged correctly,. The company has agreed to credit the

customer in respect of the final month’s charges as a goodwill gesture.

8. In her response to the company’s defence, the customer confirms that she gave notice both in

writing and by phone that she wished to cancel all of her services in April 2013. Recent

experience has shown the customer that the company fails to log all of the calls it receives. The

customer has requested that the company contact her in writing, and has advised that she does

not wish to be contacted by phone. The customer confirms that there are no emails from the

company in her email account.

Adjudicator’s findings and reasons

9. I find that:

a. The customer claims that the company has wrongly charged her for services which she

cancelled in either April or May 2013. The company accepts that it received notification

that the customer wished to port her number to a new provider in April 2013, but submits

that it has no record of any request on the part of the customer that she wished to cancel

all of her services.

b. CISAS is an evidence based process. It is necessary for the person making the claim to

present me with sufficient evidence to prove, on a balance of probabilities, that what they

say is correct. In this case, therefore, the customer has to provide sufficient evidence to

prove that she cancelled all of her services in April or May of 2013.

c. The customer has told me that she cancelled her services by call and by letter. The

customer has not, however, provided me with any evidence, such as a copy of the letter,

proof of postage to show that she wrote, or of a contemporaneous note of a telephone

conversation or her telephone bill to show that she called the company at the relevant

time.

d. The company claims to have no record of any request on the part of the customer to

cancel her services in 2013. I note what the customer has said with regard to the

company’s failure to log calls, but this is not sufficient to prove that the customer wrote or

made a call for which there is no other evidence.

e. The company submits that it sent the customer a monthly email to the email address

which appears on her application form, and that the customer ought reasonably to have

been aware that monthly payments were being deducted from her bank account.

3f. There appears to be some mystery surrounding the emails, as the customer confirms

that she has not received the monthly notifications which the company claims to have

sent. Based on the evidence which the company submitted showing the times and dates

that notification was sent to the customer, however, I am satisfied that the company at

least attempted to make the customer aware that she was being billed.

g. The customer has said that she has been unable to access her bank statements, and so

was not aware that payments were being taken from her account. It would not, however,

be reasonable to find the company liable to the customer purely because she could not

access her bank statements.

h. The customer has claimed that she did not make use of the services provided by the

company during the disputed period, and this has been supported, to some extent at

least, by the company’s confirmation that the customer did not use the company’s

broadband service. This may be strong evidence that the customer wished to cancel all

of her services; it does not, however, prove that she did so.

i. On the basis of the evidence provided to me, I find that the customer has failed to prove

that she cancelled all of her services in April or May 2013 by giving notice to the

company either by phone or in writing. Consequently, the customer has failed to prove

that the charges raised by the company throughout the disputed period were incorrect.

The customer’s claim does not succeed.

j. Since the customer has failed to prove her claim, she has also failed to justify the remedy

sought.

k. Despite my findings in this case, as I noted in paragraph h. above, the fact that the

customer did not use services for which she was being charged is very strong evidence

that she intended to cancel all of her services, even if she has been unable to prove that

she did so. As things stand, she has been left in a very difficult position, with a liability for

a large payment for services which she neither wanted or used. In addition, there is risk

that the existence of the outstanding liability will jeopardise the customer’s future plans.

In view of this, my non-binding recommendation is that the company agree a payment

plan with the customer. I further recommend that the company refrain from referring the

customer’s account to debt collectors unless the liability has not been discharged when

the time frame set by the payment plan has elapsed.

Conclusion

10. My conclusion on the main issues is that:

a. The customer has failed to prove that the company breached the contract or failed in its

duty of care.he customer has failed to justify the remedy sought.

11. Therefore, the claim fails.

Recommendation

12. My recommendation is that:

a. The company provides a reasonable payment plan for the customer to clear the

outstanding liability.

b. The company agrees to refrain from referring the customer’s account to debt collectors

unless the outstanding liability has not been discharged when the time frame set by the

payment plan has expired.

 

 

 

this is the letter with it:-

 

Please find enclosed the adjudicator’s Decision in the above dispute.

In accordance with the rules, the customer now has six weeks to let us know whether they

accept or reject the Decision, that is, the customer must tell us on or before 02/01/2015.

Please note that this deadline cannot be amended or extended under any circumstances.

IF THE CUSTOMER WISHES TO ACCEPT THE DECISION THEY MUST TELL US WITHIN

SIX WEEKS, IF THEY DO NOT THE COMPANY WILL NOT HAVE TO DO WHAT THE

ADJUDICATOR SAYS.

You may advise us in writing, by fax or email.

Please note that the Decision can only be accepted or rejected. It is not open to review or

appeal.

Should your claim have not have succeeded, the Company may now pursue any debt owing to

them. Rejection of the decision leaves you free to take your matter to court. Should you choose

to pursue this course of action we suggest that you take independent legal advice from a

solicitor or your local Citizen’s Advice.

 

 

they have not said if it will show as a default etc or not, dont know what to do at all. fed up of these virgin media robbers.

[king12345]

As expected!

Cisas is funded by VM and the other communication companies, so they roll the ball uphill.

Think about this: Given the reasons of this "adjudicator" (VM employee) you could now wait 6 months and send a random person a bill.

Then the random person would be the one to prove that they didn't request your services.

Even after you admitting that your services were not used (so no expenses to you) the random person would still be liable.

 

Is this "adjudicator" living on planet earth?!?!

Why would I have to produce evidence that I have cancelled a service when indeed I changed provider for the same or better services?!?!.

This clown ruled exactly as I predicted in my earlier posts.

 

My advice: Take VM to court were the judge won't be on their payroll directly or indirectly and they will use common sense and legality rather than ox rear waste to make a decision.

[sanepersongonemad]

how do i do that? what should be my next steps? i dont understand if they will put a default or not.

[king12345]

If you don't want the default, pay back the £900 and then start court proceedings.

Here is a guide to do that:

 

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/law_e/law_legal_system_e/law_taking_legal_action_e/small_claims.htm

[steampowered]

If you want to be sure of avoiding a default I think you have to pay the money and then try to claim it back through court.

 

To be honest, if this got to court I can see it going either way. You need to check your bank account (or the statements) more frequently than once every 18 months.

[king12345]

I disagree with steampowered.

If this case is taken to court VM will have to produce evidence that the op didn't cancel all services but just the landline.

This will prove difficult because they're not denying that the op called to cancel the landline.

But using common sense, why would the op ask to keep the other services if he was subscribing to sky?

VM is claiming something impossible to believe: The op called but only cancelled the landline and despite having no need for the other services anymore, decided to keep them.

This is absurd!

If VM wanted to do a number on the op, should have denied any sort of cancellation telephone call.

It doesn't make sense that someone keeps servicing not needed and only cancels the landline after subscribing to the same services with another company.

Madness.

I don't think any judge would side with VM in this case.

And the fact that the op only found out after 18 months doesn't make any difference.

It's true that anyone should check their bank statements more often, but this doesn't change the fact that VM has been taking undue money from the op.

[steampowered]

Hmm. Your argument is very convincing king. On reflection I imagine that probably would be enough to convince a judge that the services were cancelled on a balance of probabilities (although I don't think its guaranteed).

 

To be honest, if a claim is issued, I would expect VM to settle this before it reaches court. It would cost them near enough the £900 to get someone down to the local county court to represent them.

[sanepersongonemad]

thanks guys. they are saying in the letters that i didnt cancel but a request to port the number from another provider had come up in the letters abpve. i know i cancelled it and have sky bills from that date onwards. how can i prove i sent a letter or a call back 18 months ago? i cant

 

also they have given no explanation as to why the amounts are varying over the 18 motnhs - i have had no contact with them.

 

also yes i only found out 18 month later, but not only have they agreed i have not used their services, this was not my fault as because its a spare account and i dont have hardly any activity on it, i rarely get a statemnt.

 

how do i know that they have not put arrears on? i recieved a bill from vm in the post today showing a months credit which is there 'good will gesture' from this months notice.

 

do you think they would get someone to court?

 

my mortgage stuff is goin ok so far but because i am getting a new build, it is not due to be ready till beginning of february.

[king12345]

I personally wouldn't risk getting a default on my credit record while a mortgage application is ongoing.

Imo you would be better off settling the bill and then send a letter before action which they will duly ignore.

You must make it clear that you only paid the bill to avoid a default on your credit record and you strongly dispute their charges.

Also make sure to write to the cisas circus and reject that laughable decision made by their clown in case VM tries to use that against you in any way.

After all of this it will be county court claim.

[sanepersongonemad]

ok how will the best way to pay be in the sense i am to let them know i am only paying it under duress to avoid a default? should i pay and write that at the same time? i plan to do this today. i just hope its not late arrears or anything as all my credit is clear and in excellant condition all for this mortgage. thanks for your help.

[steampowered]

I think that's a good idea. Personally I would pay the money, and at the same time send them a formal letter stating that (1) the money is being paid to avoid the risk of a default being placed on your credit file given that you will shortly be applying for a mortgage, (2) you do not accept that the money is owed to VM as you cancelled all your services last year and (3) you intend to bring a small claim through the county courts to recover the money and will follow-up with a formal letter before claim in due course.

 

If you decide to go ahead and issue proceedings, you would need to follow-up with a formal letter before claim giving them 14 days to come up with settlement proposals or you will issue the claim.

[king12345]

Make payment as instructed in their latest bill and send them a letter before action by recorded delivery stating that you have made payment under duress and you're now seeking a refund.

I would also send the exact same copy of this letter via email to the ceo.

Give VM 14 days and then file in your local county court.

Again, don't forget to notify the cisas circus about your rejection of their decision.

Don't be scared of the big boys, they know that most people will stop moaning after a few complaints, but they panic when they receive a court summon and try to settle out of court.