Telewest/NTL/VirginMedia Have Been Naughty

[ceebee]

To tideturner, glad i could be of some help. The call centre so called customer services at VM are a complete joke so all you forum members, if at first you dont suceed, phone Basingstoke Head office

[bidstermeister]

After sending VM a letter last week, I've got one back AND they called the landline today (despite my letter giving my mobile number and times that I am available!)...

 

 

 

Hopefully we'll have this one resolved later if/when they call back

[TideTurner]

I received the same standard letter BM

[ceebee]

From my experience i wouldn't hold your breath, i had a similar letter from the same address then nothing. About 2 weeks later despite them having my home number (answering machine always on) and my mobile number they sent me another letter saying they tried to contact me but couldn't, yeah right. That was when i found the head office number and phoned them, anything that comes from the address on your letter can be taken with a pinch of salt as its a call centre and if it aint in the script they don't want to know. Incidentally after taking months trying to get rid of them the last correspondence i got was a ' Welcome to Virgin Media' letter telling me arrangements had been made to install my service 4 days before the letter was dated. They really the biggest load of crap i have ever had the misfortune to come across.

[mick094m]

Well tonight I find myself in a similar position again "no Phone" expecting the broadband to go down tonight so thought I better get this in before it does.

I received a letter dated the 17th.June 2008 saying there was an amount of £13.40 outstanding on my account and thought as soon as I receive my bill I will ring after I had checked it.but the same day I recived a phone call from collections asking what I was doing about the £80 odd amount outstanding on my account I pointed out that I dispute the amount and as I have not received a bill (to date 20th. june 2008 none received)I cannot comment and expect I will be disconnected again.I have already got a complaint in about the same thing happeneing last month but not had any reply to that either,I rang up just to check it was what I suspected and not just a fault, I had an interesting long conversation with a Liz from Glasgow,but ended up with her saying that she understood my situation but could do nothing about it until £13.40 had been paid then my phone would be back on in 24 hrs. This was after refusing to pay by debit card or over the phone or set up a DD ....no way am I going down that road again for them to steal money from my bank account again,I have sent an e-mail to Neill Beckett but don't expect much from him either. It is a load of rubbish that we have to put up with this and not only that, complaining to OFCOM is a waste of time, don't get you no where either.

I won't be expecting to reply to any replies made to this post after 12.00 tonight as I am expecting it to be down,but as soon as the phone is back on I will be ringing that complaints number and making it a strong official complaint and won't be fobbed off with any freebees they try to offer me,after all all I am interested in is getting the service I require and a correct bill and in plenty of time to sort it out.Incidently I was told by the person I spoke to tonight that the bill was sent out on the 12th.June 2008 it is now the 20th.June and still not received it,they pony must have gone lame.I will keep you informed of developements as soon as I am able to.

" from what Virginmedia call a respected and valued customer"

[mick094m]

Update on my previous post : ,surprise, surprise I have actually received a bill today the 21st June 2008, it is dated as 12th. June 2008 (bill date) and sent by UK Mail Express parcels and mail, takes nine days by Express mail hate to see it sent by ordinary mail,and how can a late payment be justified for this.my internet connection is still live though could be offline anytime soon.

[susanmcorless]

For 'randomly recorded' you can probably read 'never'. I would think that if they are recorded, it's only for staff training purposes.

Personally, after finding on so many occasions that what I've said and written down about conversations is not what the person at the other end chooses to put down in the computer record, I now 'randomly' record my phone conversations on computer so that I have a definite record. Oddly enough, so far that has randomly been every call!

 

 

Hi there,

 

A few years back I worked for a telecoms companies and I'm not sure about customer care calls, but all outbound sales and inbound sales calls where recoreded - but the issues come when they need to be retrieved!

[bidstermeister]

Right - VM finally caught me today (they rang the home phone despite the letter giving my mobile - luckily I was in)... Chap was very nice and wanted to help but didn't actually have any details as to the breakdown of the £5 PP and £10 LP fees. He didn't know whether VM would be willing to disclose how the charges were calculated but I asked for a written response to be sent either way - I stated that if they did show the costs and I considered them fair, I would end the matter but if they refused to, I would proceed with reclaiming any and all charges since the formation of the contract.

 

His "personal opinion" was that the £10 LP charge was to deter people paying late. My opinion was that it's a lucrative profit-making feature of the contract - Luckily, as we all know, any penalty that doesn't accurately reflect the costs/losses incurred (if any) are a big no-no

 

Turns out that my monthly invoice had been reduced to just £12/month for the 2MB broadband (10 for the net, 2 for the non-DD fee). I don't recall this being the case but who am I to complain ? They added 50p to the non-DD fee (they'd previously promised it fixed to £1.50p) but knocked £8

off the internet cost... wowsers.

 

Anyway, after AN HOUR on the phone (chap was very nice but didn't really know much about the charges) - think he was just bombarding me with as many words as possible... Final outcome was that VM would issue a written response with regards the charges and I'm not on the 4MB service (which has now been rolled out to 10MB in my area) for £19/month for 6months.

 

I thanked him for his help and said I'll be in touch in 6 months

[ASIIndustries]

My response was in written form.

 

We have priced the costs of handling payments made by other methods rather than direct debit (people's time, etc.) and in fact it comes to more than £5.

Edited June 25, 2008 by ASIIndustries
spelling

[TideTurner]

My response was in written form.

 

We have priced the costs of handling payments made by other methods rather than direct debit (people's time, etc.) and in fact it comes to more than £5.

ASIIndustries, how did you come to this assumption?

[ASIIndustries]

Hi TideTurner, i have on-going problems myself with Virgin Media regarding their Non Direct Debit fee & that was the response they gave in written form (recordable source for me as phoning them is not an option).

[TideTurner]

Hi ASIIndustries,

 

We pay by paypoint which is automated. I understand a small percentage is payable to the paypoint outlet. Everything else is automated, as with direct debit.

 

Telewest have admitted that the only reason for their Late Payment fees is to make people pay on time (a deterrent).

 

It seems they wish to get your money in the Bank as quickly as possible, reduce the amount of accounts in default, and maximise on the income per account, regardless of the service they offer.

 

They also will argue with you all day until you threaten to move your account.

 

Customer Service?? Money grabbing more like. I am now paying £1.50 for non DD, but had I not complained, this would still be £5.00.

 

On a large scale this is disgraceful.

 

Sorry to go on.

 

Tide

[ASIIndustries]

Hi TideTurner, yes i agree with you both Late & NDD fees are nothing more than Virgin Media's Penalty Profit!

 

Card payment do require someone to link the card number to your account, recurring card payments are fully automated & require no user intervention.

 

Cheques sent direct to VM are semi automated (account number on reverse of cheque), & all cheques that hit (inward) VM's Barclays account are charged at 23p (in bulk) per transaction.

 

Cash taken direct to VM's offices is the most expensive option, especially if you pay in 1p pieces, but VM's offices are not in every town, therefore it would be very few if any that could pay in cash!

 

Transcash (Bank Giro), PayPoint & BACS (S.O, I.B, T.B, Direct Credit & Debit) are fully automated & require no user intervention, & all funds that hit (inward) VM's Barclays account are charged at 15p per transaction.

 

Actually i was with Telewest when they introduced the NDD fee, Before & after the service cost remained the same, therefore prior to the NDD fee, the service cost included their profit & was nothing more the than the cost of doing business.

[bidstermeister]

VM "say" that it equals (or this case, exceeds) £5 - but they have yet to prove it by providing a "full breakdown of how the charge is calculated". That phrase is the one to use.

[bidstermeister]

Well the plot thickens - A letter dated 29th has just arrived but it seems to have been written before I spoke with them on the phone - Either that or the bloke I spoke to didn't update my account (or they didn't bother to check it, first!)...

 

 

So, for a 4th time they've ignored my written request for a full breakdown of the charges... Here is what I have sent (by post and e-mail).

 

 

I wonder where this'll get me ?!

[bidstermeister]

Got an e-mail back from the chap who wrote to me... Not good, so I guess it's time for a Court Claim!

 

Hi,

 

Unfortunately I do not have access to this sort of information and I am

unable to pass the information on to you. I am also unable to refund

the charges as they are all relevant costing which our company charge

for specific reasons. You are well with in your right to try and claim

this through a small claims court if you wish.

 

Regards

 

Matt

 

My reply:

 

Thank you for your prompt reply. I am surprised that you are unable to pass my request to somebody higher up, but your response being what it is - I have no option but to advise you of the following:

 

As Virgin Media have failed to suitably prove (or offer to prove) that the charges are fair, I shall proceed with a claim against Virgin Media in the Small Claims Court. The cost of which will be added to the amount claimed (along with interest at the statutory rate). You are advised that part of my claim will be a Court Order forcing Virgin Media to reveal the breakdown how these charges are calculated.

 

You may wish to pass this e-mail to Virgin Media's legal department.

 

...to be continued

[ceebee]

Whilst not strictly topical to the last few replies i just thought you might like this one. Despite having left VM 13 months ago, following 4 months of trying to get them stop sending me invoices for services not received, in the last week i have had two telephone calls asking me if i would like to take up their cable service, i told them in no uncertain terms that if i never heard from VM again as long as i lived it would suit me fine (not being personal to the callers, as its only a job after all). What amuses me though is this is supposed to be a communications company so you would think that they would at least keep a database of customers/ex-customers, or am i just being naive.

[bidstermeister]

Well, despite numerous e-mails to our friendly Matthew Dowdall - I'm still hitting a brick-wall... So they've got until 5pm Monday before I file a claim.

 

Hi,

Again I cannot provide this information for you. However, I am aware that this breakdown of the direct debit charge has already been provided to our regulator, OFCOM. They have made it clear that at the moment they are happy at the current level of the payment handling charge.

 

Again, if you wish you can take this to the small claims court.

 

Regards

Matt

[mo]

hi,why do they keep sayin ofcom have approved there charges?they keep tellin me same

[MARTIN3030]

Well, despite numerous e-mails to our friendly Matthew Dowdall - I'm still hitting a brick-wall... So they've got until 5pm Monday before I file a claim.

 

Hi,

Again I cannot provide this information for you. However, I am aware that this breakdown of the direct debit charge has already been provided to our regulator, OFCOM. They have made it clear that at the moment they are happy at the current level of the payment handling charge.

 

Again, if you wish you can take this to the small claims court.

 

Regards

Matt

 

 

Personally I dont know why you left it so long.

 

I wrote straight to the CEOs office giving them 14 days.

After 7 days I recieved a call from someone in that office advising me that I will not be getting anything back.

I asked if his was a FINAL response and was told yes.

Next day I filed my claim (actually it was all ready to go days before just needed dating)

 

Now I dont need to SAR them since I have all my statements since the last claim.

But as evidence that they have given the No I could request my account screenshots if it was needed since the conversation I had will have been logged word for word.

 

As Bankfodder recently said....these ppl get hundreds of letter every day from customers threatening to take them to court-many do not go ahead with it and VM know this quite clearly.

Once the summons pops up on their legal affairs desk then of course they take a little more interest....I am relishing my round 2 with them-getting the money back was harder than 3 bank claims-but I got it in the end.

 

Just show them you mean what you say-and do it straight away !!!

[bidstermeister]

This came in the post (recorded) today...

 

 

However, I'm still waiting for my SAR to come through (seem to be missing a few bills and would like all their notes on me anyway!) - but at least I've got their "final response" Once I have all my charges, I'll probably send the 7 day letter or maybe just for the MCOL as they've had plenty of time.

 

Fun fun fun

[MARTIN3030]

Personally I would file this not on MCOL but in open court on an N1.

The main reason being to save confusion since MCOL are not accepting claims for bank charges(I know its different but recently I was told of one guy who had his Credit card charges claim knocked back)

Also I think you will get a quicker turnaround since the Courts are much quieter now since the stays.

IMH

[bidstermeister]

Well - my "contract change" letter has been received and has now been deemed "accepted" by Virgin Media. But this morning, would you believe - my bill includes a £5 payment administration charge. This invokes Paragraph 3 in my revised terms which states a £25 charge shall be applied for each breach of contract

[heartopp]

Well - my "contract change" letter has been received and has now been deemed "accepted" by Virgin Media. But this morning, would you believe - my bill includes a £5 payment administration charge. This invokes Paragraph 3 in my revised terms which states a £25 charge shall be applied for each breach of contract

 

Can you do that?

[locutus]

Can you do that?

 

They'll be creating a CAG account and asking the same questions!!!

 

tut tut @ charging for not providing a service bidstermeister!!!! LOL