Virgin Media retention package not as agreed

[MaxxPower]

Hi all.

 

Recently my parents decided to move their Phone/Internet/TV over to Sky from Virgin Media, as there was an offer available from Sky for Free Family Package TV, £10 Unlimited Fibre Internet and £16.40 Line rental per month, so basically £26.40/month as opposed to the £56/month they were paying to Virgin for 100Mb Internet, basic TV and Phone calls/line rental.

The day before Sky were due to install the TV, and a week before they were due to take over the phone line, my parents got a call from Virgin Media and handed it to me (as I tend to do all this kind of thing for them) and it was someone from a retentions team. I discussed the package we were going to get with him, and he offered to lower my parents monthly bills to £24.50/month for the same Internet and TV, but upgrading the phone package to the top XL package. We weren't too bothered about the phone upgrade, and my parents weren't bothered about the Sky Family package, they were fine with the basic Virgin TV package (basically Freeview with catchup), the whole point of the exercise was to save money. Plus the Virgin Media broadband was 100Mb rather than 40Mb from Sky, so we agreed to stay with Virgin Media and cancel the Sky installation.

 

However, the following day my parents turned on the TV and found that all channels except 1-5 were now greyed out on the Virgin Media box. Upon logging onto the online account I found that the TV element of their package had been completely removed when the phone package was upgraded.

I immediately called Virgin Media up, explaining the situation to them, however the person I spoke to said that the only ones who could do the package for the agreed price were the retentions team who spoke to me originally, however they could only call out and I couldn't be transferred through to them. He advised he could see the notes on the account fo what was discussed and there was no mention of TV, which there wouldn't be as we never discussed altering it at all. All he could do was send a form requesting they contact me within 48 hours. This was a bit of an issue as availability at home was going to be spotty over the weekend, then during the week everyone was going to be away from home. There was no call that day, so I called again the following (Saturday) morning, spoke to someone who said they'd mail the person I spoke to directly in order to advise them of our availability and again explain the situation. No call again late that afternoon, so I called once more. This time the person I spoke to discussed with me the possibility of re-adding the TV package as it was before, and downgrading the phone package back to what it had been previously, at a price of £26/month. I agreed to this, though asked for the contact request for the original person to be left open. The advisor assured me this was now all done and the TV package would be back in 24-48 hours.

 

However, today, More than 48 hours later, no TV package showing on the account when I login online (and now nobody at home until Friday evening).

I suspect the cause of the issue is simply some misunderstanding or mis-communication, but the main problem is the poor service I've received when attempting to resolve the issues.

I know I know, should've recorded phone calls or got confirmations in writing and the like. Well that's exactly what I intend to do now.

 

Does anyone have a good Virgin Media e-mail address to contact to explain the situation and attempt to get some resolution to this? E-mail contact is going to be the only viable option for the week anyway.

[fkofilee]

Drop an email to

 

[email protected]

[fkofilee]

While its going straight to the top. They are normally pretty quick to resolve stuff.

[MaxxPower]

Thanks! I'll drop him an e-mail outlining the situation and hopefully we'll get it resolved quickly.

In the past VM have been pretty quick/good at resolving the few faults we've had, so in general my parents were happy with the service, they just wanted to reduce their monthly bill a bit. Unfortunately we just seem to have gotten caught in some issues this time around.

[tobyjugg2]

Hi all.

 

Recently my parents decided to move their Phone/Internet/TV over to Sky from Virgin Media, as there was an offer available from Sky for Free Family Package TV, £10 Unlimited Fibre Internet and £16.40 Line rental per month, so basically £26.40/month as opposed to the £56/month they were paying to Virgin for 100Mb Internet, basic TV and Phone calls/line rental.

The day before Sky were due to install the TV, and a week before they were due to take over the phone line, my parents got a call from Virgin Media and handed it to me (as I tend to do all this kind of thing for them) and it was someone from a retentions team. I discussed the package we were going to get with him, and he offered to lower my parents monthly bills to £24.50/month for the same Internet and TV, but upgrading the phone package to the top XL package. We weren't too bothered about the phone upgrade, and my parents weren't bothered about the Sky Family package, they were fine with the basic Virgin TV package (basically Freeview with catchup), the whole point of the exercise was to save money. Plus the Virgin Media broadband was 100Mb rather than 40Mb from Sky, so we agreed to stay with Virgin Media and cancel the Sky installation.

 

However, the following day my parents turned on the TV and found that all channels except 1-5 were now greyed out on the Virgin Media box. Upon logging onto the online account I found that the TV element of their package had been completely removed when the phone package was upgraded.

I immediately called Virgin Media up, explaining the situation to them, however the person I spoke to said that the only ones who could do the package for the agreed price were the retentions team who spoke to me originally, however they could only call out and I couldn't be transferred through to them. He advised he could see the notes on the account fo what was discussed and there was no mention of TV, which there wouldn't be as we never discussed altering it at all. All he could do was send a form requesting they contact me within 48 hours. This was a bit of an issue as availability at home was going to be spotty over the weekend, then during the week everyone was going to be away from home. There was no call that day, so I called again the following (Saturday) morning, spoke to someone who said they'd mail the person I spoke to directly in order to advise them of our availability and again explain the situation. No call again late that afternoon, so I called once more. This time the person I spoke to discussed with me the possibility of re-adding the TV package as it was before, and downgrading the phone package back to what it had been previously, at a price of £26/month. I agreed to this, though asked for the contact request for the original person to be left open. The advisor assured me this was now all done and the TV package would be back in 24-48 hours.

 

However, today, More than 48 hours later, no TV package showing on the account when I login online (and now nobody at home until Friday evening).

I suspect the cause of the issue is simply some misunderstanding or mis-communication, but the main problem is the poor service I've received when attempting to resolve the issues.

I know I know, should've recorded phone calls or got confirmations in writing and the like. Well that's exactly what I intend to do now.

 

Does anyone have a good Virgin Media e-mail address to contact to explain the situation and attempt to get some resolution to this? E-mail contact is going to be the only viable option for the week anyway.

 

I have has so many issues like those you describe over the years with VM, I now only use them when there is no other option.

Your idea of only corresponding via email is a good idea in principle, but you may find that you just get told to ring them in response to any of your emails.

 

I recently 'gave them another chance' to quickly find that the new customer deal they offered me 'was never offered', and they effectively were going to charge me near on 5 months of the agreed payments within 3 days of the service going live.

After 3 phone calls all saying things like you have heard, I formally told them they were in breach of the agreed contract and I considered it void, told them I was recording the call, confirmed it by email, and told them to collect, or send pre-paid returns packaging for their equipment.

 

I know people also say that of sky, but I have never had any real issue with them, and I am satisfied with the speed I receive, which does not vanish in the evening, even if it may be a lot lower than VM's claimed speeds.

 

VM simply DO NOT do what they say, do NOT charge what is agreed, and DO NOT resolve issues.

 

Your next additional issue will almost certainly be that if you do cancel, VM will be saying you signed up for a new 12 or 18 month contract for the deal you have not actually got, neither will they bend on that without a formal complaint which you follow through.

 

Even if it seems to get resolved, you will probably find that the charges quickly, if not immediately end up being far higher than agreed again - and back in the loop.

 

They are horrendous.

[MaxxPower]

I've already discussed the possibility of new contract/cancellation period with them and confirmed that the cancellation period ends on 20th October, so at least once everyone is back home. The issue with me calling them is that I can't speak to the person I need to speak to, they themselves have told me that the person/department needs to call me. I'm happy for them to do this, I can just provide them with my mobile number (and look to record the call this time).

Should they be inflexible on that then we'll take the view that the contract has been breached due to them not providing what was agreed and we will follow through with a formal complaint as required.

[mikeymack2002]

My issue had been charges. I spoke to CS then disconnections got a much better deal I now pay just 24.49 all 3 services. Record the call and follow it up..

[tobyjugg2]

My issue had been charges. I spoke to CS then disconnections got a much better deal I now pay just 24.49 all 3 services. Record the call and follow it up..

 

I have had a few friends who thought that, but when you look at their bills, there are additions and subtractions galore. None added up over 3 months to the agreed amounts * 3 (ignoring any call charges). All were higher.

VM's response when queried was that 'it works out over the year'.

 

I'll add a further personal experience.

One of the many times I rang them regarding overcharging, the CS person said, I'll apply a £25 credit which should deal with the overcharge and when it settles I would be £25 in credit.

The following month, in addition to still being charged more than agreed, there was a £25 debit, credit, debit on the bill, which effectively reversed the prior months £25 credit in a very complex way.

When I rang, they had 'reversed the credit as there were no notes justifying it' ... That became a saga too.

[MaxxPower]

E-mail away.

 

Unfortunately it came out fairly long, and I'm aware that longer mails tend to lose interest, but I was as to the point as I could be whilst remaining polite/friendly (I always find that being this way tends to get better results than coming across as angry/aggressive), and I wanted to ensure that all of the details were there.

 

Mr Mockridge,

 

Regarding Account number -

 

I have been advised to contact yourself in order to look into having an issue we are currently experiencing with our Virgin Media package resolved. My apologies if you and your team are not the correct people to contact in relation to this matter, and if that is the case it would be appreciated if you can advise me whom to contact after reading the details of the issue below.

 

On Sunday 27th September we undertook a Friends and Family offer from Sky for the provision of Internet, Telephone and Television services. I must stress that we were not unhappy with the service provided by Virgin Media, we merely wished to reduce the monthly outgoings. As this was a Friends and Family offer we assumed that Virgin Media would be unable to match it, and so agreed with the new provider to undertake services with them. The agreed service was for Unlimited Fibre Internet, Sky Family TV and Phone Line Rental for a cost of £26.40/month.

Following this, on Wednesday 30th September we received a call from the Virgin Media retentions team to discuss retaining us as a customer and discussed a reduction in the Virgin Media bill to approximately £24.50/month in order to retain the current 100Mb Internet, current M TV package and to upgrade the Telephone to the XL package for 12 months, after which we would be able to call again and have the discounts applied for a further 12 months. We were very happy with this offering and agreed to remain with Virgin Media and cancel the changeover to Sky.

 

Unfortunately, the following evening we discovered that the available TV channels on our Virgin Media box had been removed with the exception of BBC1 through to Channel 5. On logging onto the online Virgin Media account we found that whilst the telephone package had been upgraded as agreed, the TV package had been completely removed and now showed as having no TV subscription.

We made contact with Virgin Media customer services the following morning, Friday 2nd October, in order to discuss this issue, unfortunately we were advised that the only ones who could resolve this issue was the original team who agreed the package who could not be contacted directly as they were only able to call out, so we could not be transferred directly to them. The advisor I spoke with passed through a contact request form, however I outlined that the availability of someone in the house to receive a call was not good through the weekend due to prior existing commitments.

As no call was received we called once again on Friday evening to further discuss the issue. This advisor informed me they would directly e-mail the retention agent I had spoken with, advising them of our availability times.

 

Unfortunately no call was received through the available times and so on the afternoon of Saturday 3rd October I once again called and spoke with another agent whom offered an alternative solution. This was to downgrade the telephone package back to its original status and re-add the M TV package to our account, for a monthly price of approximately £26.80/month. We were happy to proceed with this as it was still a significant reduction in our previous price and would provide us with the services we required. We were advised that this process would take 24-48 hours to complete.

 

However, and the reason for my e-mail to you today, this process has not been carried out. On checking our online account there is still no TV package showing and the phone package is unaltered, and as of yet we have not received the promised phone call from the retentions team. Unfortunately there is now nobody available in the home for the week due to prior arrangements, however I am able to be contacted on my mobile phone, the number for which is .

Due to intermittent mobile phone reception in the area which I am currently working however, our preferred method of contact would be via reply e-mail. This also ensures there are no further mis-communications or mis-understandings.

 

I look forward to hearing from you and your team and to a speedy and acceptable resolution to this matter which is acceptable for all parties.

 

 

Kind Regards,

 

So we'll wait and see what the response may be.

[martin2006]

hi maxxpower,

 

whatever else happens regarding your email, unless the problem has been physically sorted by the 20th (yr cancellation deadline), make sure you cancel, they can and will drag it beyond that date so you cant then cancel, you will then be tied.

Sky will always welcome you back, let VM know they are waiting to pounce

[tobyjugg2]

Interesting to read through the current VM t&C's, which I haven't done for a while, and I'm sure the staff haven't (rather than have and lie).

J is the relevant bit for broken agreements and ending the agreement,

 

http://store.virginmedia.com/the-legal-stuff/terms-and-conditions-for-fibre-optic-services.html

 

 

 

 

 

Did anyone realise tenants with less than a 12 month tenant agreement can't take out VM services?

 

M.4

You confirm that you are:

a. the current occupier of the home; and

b. either the freeholder of the home or a tenant under a lease of 12 months or more.

[mmfhater]

Tom mockridge executive team are useless as well

[tobyjugg2]

Don;t forget that VM commonly take any contact with them as a fresh 12/18 month agreement with them, and always do if anything is actually 'changed' whether it occurs correctly or not. Make sure you confirm and record that is not the case if you don't want that.

 

On a related issue, VM will tell you that you have to phone them cancel, they always have and still do claim this,

http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Manage-Your-Account-Cable/How-can-I-cancel-my-services-apart-from-phoning-as-no-reply/td-p/2924200

 

Despite what is actually needed by law and their own T&C (if you can find the bits)

 

 

They regularly refuse to action cancellations if you contact them by any method other than ringing them - and there are almost certainly npower like delights waiting when you do try to ....

[MaxxPower]

Well we're most of the way there

After contacting the Exec team I quite quickly got a response e-mail to advise my case had been assigned to someone (though I suspect this was just something of a template e-mail) and within 30 minutes of receiving that mail I had a phone call. After a few discussions I managed to get the package discussed to revert the phone package back to what it had been and to restore the TV element of the package for the previously discussed £26.84/month price.

Call was recorded and got a written e-mail confirmation as well (Which has now been forwarded to several online and offline mailboxes for safe keeping).

 

Unfortunately looking at the e-mail confirmation it appears that Caller Display had also been removed, and on calling the house phone it looks like the TruCall/BT Guardian isn't working quite right (as it wouldn't without caller ID) so now I just need to get that sorted.

 

 

I swear, one of these days I'll do something like this and it'll be simple

[tobyjugg2]

so £26.84 instead of the prior agreed £24.50?

Does it confirm that it is the TV internet and XL call package that they initially agreed to to get you to cancel the sky install?

and how long does the price you have been offered last, and what is the length of your new customer tie-in contract with them

 

You need to check all these for pitfalls Maxxpower.

Log onto the my.virginmedia and see what your account says

 

Also you will need to keep an eye on your bills. A common ploy is a 4/6/9 month discount (which you think is for the length of the contract) and an 18 month tie-in when you think its a 12 month cost agreement and a 12 month tie in (even without the agreed costs not being properly applied)

 

Please keep us posted.

 

 

Oh and always refer to the deal as a package deal, or when they change the price of one part of it, they will try to tell you you can only cancel 'the affected part' and of course, doing that will send all the other parts back to full cost - probably more than the existing package with increase.

 

 

... oh oh and also watch out for their using the term 'fixed term contract', rather than fixed price contracts. They seem to try to claim any deals were fixed term (tying you in for x months) rather than fixed price over the term.

 

So you end up with a 4 month discount on a 18 month fixed term contract if you aren't careful.

[MaxxPower]

I'll be keeping an eye on the bill for sure.

And yes, £26.84, as the £24.50 price was, as it turns out, without TV. Think the retention agent misunderstood me when I said "We weren't really bothered about the TV", it seems he thought I was referring to Virgin Media TV rather than Sky TV.

The discounts are for a period of 12 months, as is the new contract term. Again, have got this recorded from the phone conversations and written confirmation via e-mail.

 

Have got the Caller ID sorted as well. Called up again to the exec team to have it re-added. They did originally want to charge the £2.50/month for it, but I pulled the "Given all the trouble we've had can we have that charge waived? The original agreement was for our phone package to be what it was before, and that included the Caller Display", so got that added for free, just can take up to 24 hours to take effect so can't really test it accurately until tomorrow afternoon.

 

So basically we've now got back our original package, but instead of £56/month it's £26/month. A bit of a slog but it appears we got there in the end. Though until I can test out the Caller ID (and get home on Friday in order to go to my parents house and test the TV) I'm holding off on calling 'Resolved' on this one.

[tobyjugg2]

So basically we've now got back our original package, but instead of £56/month it's £26/month. A bit of a slog but it appears we got there in the end. Though until I can test out the Caller ID (and get home on Friday in order to go to my parents house and test the TV) I'm holding off on calling 'Resolved' on this one.

 

Well done Massive saving.

Keep us posted please, especially after Novembers coming VM price increases and any effects to your package deal.

 

regards

TJ

[fkofilee]

Ooo looks like my advice did good

 

Congrats, even if its not fully sorted yet

[mmfhater]

Vm told me caller id is free but they don't activate it unless asked

[tobyjugg2]

Ooo looks like my advice did good

 

Congrats, even if its not fully sorted yet

 

 

Too right. Good to see that the email to the top is working again - I have used it in the past to get a resolution, but it had been blocked from receiving emails at one stage - you just got an automated email response say ring us.

 

Good to see that its working again.

[MaxxPower]

Ooo looks like my advice did good

 

Congrats, even if its not fully sorted yet

 

Yep, thanks very much for that address!

Had a call back from the exec team today to check that everything was resolved, though I had to let them know that I can't really check until Friday, so they're going to keep things open until next week when I can test and call back if there's any issues

[MaxxPower]

Think I can call this one resolved now. Tested the phone and TV over the weekend and everything looks good!

 

Now to just keep an eye on the bills