Virgin Media are ruining my life!

[pluff]

I hope someone can help me.

 

 

After a lot of hard work and struggle my credit record is finally in better shape, except for a default from Virgin media for £21

which I got when their service was down for 2 months and I refused to pay for a service I wasn't receiving.

I did pay once they cancelled my contract.

 

I have written to them several times pointing out that the terrible service I received and asking them to remove the default but they are refusing.

I have sent a SAR to them and they sent back 5 pages of computer printout which logs my phone calls and letters, but that's all. Any idea what I should do now?

 

Also on my credit report it goes 1 late payment 2 late payments then default, I thought they had to give you more than that?

 

This one default is affecting so many areas of my life it is ridiculous!

[silverfox1961]

Hi,

Have you logged this as a formal complaint and headed any letter or email as such?

 

Some companies won't treat a letter as a complaint unless it is clearly stated as such.

 

If it has been handled as a complaint then I would expect a deadlock letter from VM so that you can escalate it to the Ombudsman but if it has been going on for over 8 weeks with no result, complain to the Ombudsman as well.

 

It may be worth contacting the Data Processor of the company as well and if they don't assist, you can then go to the Information Commissioner.

 

The ICO have stated previously that it could be unfair to default someone for such a small amount and the default has to accurately reflect the consumers financial issues.

[pluff]

Thanks for the reply

 

 

They did not send me a deadlock letter (I assume it would be labelled as such) but their last two letters have been more of the same insisting that there is nothing they can do as that is a true reflection of my account!

 

 

I will do an ICO complaint.

[scousepie]

A true reflection of the account should say: we failed to meet the expectations of our customers ?

[pluff]

YES! lol

[BankFodder]

Of course you have been treated very unfairly – but this is absolutely normal for these kinds of companies.

 

Even though you may have a legitimate grievance, as soon as you stop paying, they will simply steamroller you.

 

As a piece of advice to other people who read this thread – withholding payment only invites trouble because these companies are dinosaurs and bullies and they will smash up your life and then go home to their children.

 

I think that there is something you can do about this – but it will take quite a lot of effort. It is up to you whether you think it is worth it. The only solution to this is to bring a claim before the County Court for the loss of service and if you can get the judge to accept that you behave reasonably in withholding your payment then you will have a basis for restoring your credit file and also forgetting some compensation for the damage that they are doing to you.

 

Frankly this would be a very good thing to do because these kind of companies need a good kicking and they need to be shown up for the bullies that they are and for their abuse of the credit file system.

 

If this interests you at all, then please could you let us know a bit more about the failure in their service, and what steps you took to try and get it sorted out before you withhold payment.

 

A detailed chronology would be very useful and we can go from there.

[Mr.P]

I have sent a SAR to them and they sent back 5 pages of computer printout which logs my phone calls and letters, but that's all. Any idea what I should do now?

 

I would have expected copies of all bills, default notices, recordings of telephone conversations, and more, lots more. Perhaps a complaint to the ICO would be in order.

[BankFodder]

I've already given you my suggestion for what I considered to be the only solution to this: –

 

The only solution to this is to bring a claim before the county court for the loss of service and if you can get the judge to accept that you behave reasonably in withholding your payment then you will have a basis for restoring your credit file and also forgetting some compensation for the damage that they are doing to you.

 

A complaint to the ICO will make absolutely no difference. Nobody cares about this – including the ICO which has lost sight of its human rights mission and has become far too business oriented. It will need a completely different leader of the ICO to pull it back.

 

If you want help with this then you will have to be prepared to begin a small claim. If you want to begin a small claim then you will have to tell us more about how it all came about.

[pluff]

Hi, sorry I have been at work and unable to answer.

 

I am more then willing to try to take them to court, I just don't really know how to go about it. I was under the impression that small claims was only to get money?

 

Anyway the long story:

 

I signed up to Virgin and started to get problems straight away.

 

13th January: my telephone line was installed and crossed with my neighbour’s line.

17th January until the 23rd January: my internet was down – I was told a fault in the local area

11th June until the 22nd July: fault in my area with broadband service no continuous connection. During this period I called Virgin on:

 

• 11th June (automatic message telling me there are problems in my area)
  
• 18th June (same automatic message)
  
• 20th June (same message)
  
• 22 June (same message)
  
• 28th June (I spoke to an agent who told me my service would be back by the 11th July)
  
• 11th July (I spoke again to an agent who told me my service would be back by the 16th July)
  
• 17th of July (I spoke to an agent who told me my service would be back by the 20th of July)
  
• 21st of July (automatic message telling me that there are problems in my area)
  

 

21st August: internet down I called Virgin and booked an engineer

 

22nd August: engineer came and installed new hub, which worked until 9pm that evening.

 

29th August: Internet service down again I called and spoke to an agent who told me there is a problem with the settings on my computer. Something which I find hard to believe given that a) the engineer who installed the new hub used my PC to check the connection and did not notice a problem with my settings and b) I am attempting to connect with a PC, an iPhone, a blackberry and an android tablet and none of these have a continuous connection.

When the next bill came I paid the part that was for the few calls I had made but not the actual connection for broadband I also sent them a letter telling them that I refused to pay for this part as I had not received service AND at that time my service was still down. I also told them to just disconnect me as I had, had enough. They then tried to make me pay an early disconnection fee. I made several angry phone calls and when they finally sent me a bill that didn't include the early fee I paid and we went our separate ways.

Until... I desperately need to move, but this big huge default on my credit file is stopping anyone from lending to me. When I first checked out the default I expected it to be from the disconnection fee that I had refused to pay but it's not it's from the time when I paid the service charge late as I had not received service! my credit report has a 1 then a 2 then the D. I'm so angry about this it is ridiculous!

[BankFodder]

What year is all this please?

[pluff]

2013

[BankFodder]

OK. I think that you gave a very good case if you have all of this documented. Did the SAR contain any reference to the service breakdowns or the phone calls etc? If not then you need to chase it up by making a complaint accompanied by a threat of legal action to their compliance officer.

 

I am quite sure that you will need to start a small claim so you need to prepare. Read up on the forum. You will find that it is very easy.

You are right that you can only bring a money claim but there are ways to do it. you could apply for a court order but that would be complicated.

The way to do it is to sue for the return of your money and also to sue for compensation for the unlawful credit file entry. If you win then that will spin off automatically into a clean up of your file.

[pluff]

Thank you so much, I'm feeling in the fighting mood now! I kept everything so will go back over it all. I will read some threads here as well to start my case.

 

I will keep you updated.

 

Thanks again

[BankFodder]

We will help you.

You have to be convinced that you are prepared to take a small claim. If you are certain then it is possible to write to them, to make your complaints and to make your threat. There is absolutely no point in making any threat if you're not prepared to carry it out. Don't bluff. They receive a bucketful of complaints and threats every day and nobody ever carries them out.

 

Once you are sure that you are prepared to go ahead and take a legal action, we will help you to draft a first letter complaining about the compliance with the SAR and also about the way they have conducted your account and telling them that legal action will follow if they don't sort things out (they won't).

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Here's a link to a thread about someone else being driven to distraction by Virgin Media. It's a different scenario, but it's gone legal.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?434805-virgin-media-been-taking-money-out-for-over-a-year-by-dd.-service-was-cancelled

 

HB

[pluff]

Thanks I am reading around the forum now and working on my final warning letter to Virgin.

[BankFodder]

I suggest you let us see it before sending it.

Can you let us have a list of what you think is missing from the SAR

[pluff]

Will do, I don't actually know what should be in the SAR. I have been trying to find out but it all seems a bit vague. They have sent me a computer print out which lists all my calls and letters by date but what else should be there?

[pluff]

So far I have: (haven't put in anything about the SAR as I'm still trying to find out what should be)

Thank you for your letter dated 02/01/15 containing information about my account. Despite my ongoing complaint with Virgin media concerning the way my account has been handled, you have still not been able to offer me an acceptable resolution.

As I have previously stated, given the terrible service I received, the relatively small amount involved and the lack of correct procedure followed, I would like the default on my credit file removed, not changed to settled, removed.

I do not currently have an interest in claiming compensation for the unlawful credit file entry and the money I paid to you for an unacceptable service, I am only requesting the default removal. Should I not hear from you within 14 days from the date of this letter I feel that I have no other choice but to escalate this complaint to the ICO and commence with court action. Should I be forced into this action I will be pursuing full compensation.

Is this kinda right?

[BankFodder]

In your opening post you say that your SAR simply produced a list of phone calls and letters. Do these relate to the problems that you had with virgin and to your attempt to sort it out?

 

It will be very helpful if you could be more specific in your details because it saves us having to come back to you all the time for more information.

 

Your position in relation to virgin is roughly this:

 

You were a good customer for a certain period of time and you carried out all your contractual obligations.

 

At some point they failed to deliver the service that they were required to give to you. This is fundamental because the broadband service was the fundamental part of the contract and without which the contract would have no meaning.

 

Although you made strenuous attempts over a reasonable period of time and work with them to try and get the service restored, they failed to do so.

 

Eventually it became clear that the entire purpose of the contract had been undermined by their breach. You eventually accepted the breach as evidence that they had terminated the contract. You accepted the termination and you cease to pay the money.

 

At that point you had no further contractual responsibilities towards them and any obligations you had of the contract – including your agreement to share your data – ceased.

 

This would be the basis of your claim against them. You would be suing for breach of contract, return of your money and compensation.

 

You would also be suing for a modest figure in compensation for the loss and stress caused by their unlawful entry on your credit file.

[pluff]

Sorry, I am a bit rubbish at this!

 

Yes the SAR stuff is just like a call log Print out which details all the calls I made and letters i sent relating to the whole account, problems and disconnection.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply will redo my letter.

[BankFodder]

Please let us see the letter before you send it out. It will be most helpful to you if we are closely involved

[BankFodder]

By the way, do all the letters and other records you have show the story - or are you relying on your own account of what happened?

 

You need paper evidence of your case.

[pluff]

Yes I have all the paperwork. All the letters I have sent and all the replies from virgin.

[pluff]

I started to write my letter, I'm still a bit stuck on what to say about the lack of documents from the SAR but so far:

Thank you for your letter dated 02/01/15 containing information about my account. Despite my ongoing complaint with Virgin Media concerning the way my account has been handled, you have still not been able to offer me an acceptable resolution.

I entered into my contract with Virgin expecting a certain level of service, I am aware that you do not offer a fault free service, however, I did expect at least the majority of the time to be able to use the service I was paying for, the broadband service was the fundamental part of my contract and Virgin Media failed to deliver this requirement.

I made strenuous efforts over a reasonable period and worked with you to try and get the service restored, but you still failed to do so. Eventually it became clear that the entire purpose of the contract had been undermined by your breach. I eventually accepted the breach as evidence that you had terminated the contract. At that point, I had no further contractual responsibilities towards you and any obligations I had of the contract – including my agreement to share my data – ceased.

So, as I have previously stated, given the terrible service I received, the relatively small amount involved and the lack of correct procedure followed,I would like the default on my credit file removed, not changed to settled, removed.

I do not currently have an interest in claiming compensation for the unlawful credit file entry and the money I paid to you for unacceptable service, I am only requesting the default removal. Should I not hear from you within 14 days from the date of this letter I feel that I have no other choice but to escalate this complaint to the ICO and commence with court action. Should I be forced into this action I will be suing for breach of contract, return of money paid after and during the breach and compensation for the loss and stress caused by the unlawful entry on my credit file.

I look forward to your response.