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Looking for a little advice here as I am aware Virgin's customer service is less than stellar (and that's putting it politely!). Anyway the situation is detailed below and I'm just looking for suggestions really from you guys re what I should do next.

 

Approx one month ago I cancelled my direct debit with Virgin Media as, when they were NTL, two bills were icorrect by large amounts (£30 is a lot when it's the rental for your whole package!). Twice I contacted them and was assued that it would not happen again.

 

The second time it appears they were telling the truth and indeed it did not happen again. I have had minior probs like services being suspended for noa pparent reason and when the tech guy came out he was so annoyed he gave me an upgraded box as he said the prob could've easily been sorted by the people on the telephone.

 

Anyway since Virgin Media have taken over I am totally underwhelmed. first they insist on charging when people don't pay by Direct Debit, a charge I did not agree to and also believe other people have had refunded. They also do not automatically put you on the 3 for £30 package, althouhg if you phone up they do (way to look after existing customers there).

 

I cannot understand the online banking details given on thier bill (which is strange given that I work for a building society!) and so cannot pay by my chosen method. When I complained about the service I had recieved, and the fact they were basically not offering me the best value, they upgraded my TV package for free. They would not budge on the non dd amin fee even though the guy did have a clue how it was calculated.

 

He promised me a copy of thier T & C's (I was just being difficult here) and an explaination of how the charge is arrived at. Neither have bene forthcoming. I have e-mailed and sent a letter only to recieve an automated answer to both stating they will reply within ten working days. That was about three weeks ago.

 

I have also recieved, out of the blue, a note saying I must pay £12 immediately with no explanation whatsoever. I haven't made a payment and no services have been suspended.

 

I realize I'm probably going to have to phone them again but how can I make it not sound like a rant? My preferred route would be writing and I did consider popping something recorded address to the director.

 

My main point in the letter I did sent was that I was a happy ucstomer of NTL and hand't considered moving (slight exageration), but my difficulty is that, if I do leave I don't have a BT line and I believ emost other broadband providers need a BT line present. Last time I checked it would cost £65 for BT to install a line.

 

I'm thinking of sending one more letter spelling out exactly how non existent thier customer service is and hoping for a decent response because, truth be told, I really really don't want to have to shop around for different providers. I'm not going to tell them this of course but it does make me a little hesitant to play the I'm leaving gambit.

 

Thoughts/ suggestions welcome.

The views I express here are mere speculation based on my experience. I am not qualified nor insured to give legal advice and any action you take will be at your own risk.

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Some observations, NTL have charged for non-DD long before VM took over. It is the late fee that came in late last year (again under NTL, but only really noticed under VM). My bank has NTL/VMs banking details pre-stored as a 'Utility' all I needed to add was my account number for the payments to be credited.

 

The billing system is dreadful, and I have found often that there are 2 different amounts owing, what it says on the Bill, and what the on-line service says it is. (The latter is correct). By paying the correct lower amount, this flags to the billing system that I've short-paid my printed bill and all the late fees then get applied.... it would make you scream!

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Argh That's it! The last straw, I don't care what else is available I'm not dealing with this bunch of fools anymore. My bill came today, along with the £5 non dd fee and the £10 late payment fee (which was only there because I couldn't understand their online payment instructions). They have now put the aco**** number I need under the relevent section of the bill. This is the only positive thing they have done today.

 

So... my bill. I confess I can't make head nor tail of it, there are discounts and corrections all over the shop. Some are clearly duplicates as they cover the same period. Impressive. In total the service charges come to £68, strange considering I just switched to the 3 for £30 package. Indeed before that my total service charge was £35.50, and the idiots wonder why I refuse to deal with them by direct debit? If I had been away they would've whipped this out without me being able to do anything until I get back (that's assuming they actually have some staff to answer the phone).

 

They've outdone themselves this time, I was going to ring and query the billing department just for a laugh but I'm just going to hang on for 'retentions' (if they can retain me they are skilled indeed). Why am I not surprised there is a long wait on this option also?

 

I really don't understand thism what's the point of spending money trying to woo new customer then having terrible service? A waste of time on so many levels.

The views I express here are mere speculation based on my experience. I am not qualified nor insured to give legal advice and any action you take will be at your own risk.

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Right I'm sick of holding so here's my letter, I know it's too sarcastic and chatty but I really don't care. Certainly the most fun letter I have written :)

 

 

I note you have completely ignored my previous correspondence therefore I have enclosed a copy for your reference. I did receive an automated response to my e-mail, and a letter saying you would reply within ten working days. Said letter was dated April 19th and I have heard nothing further from your organisation.

 

Most of the issues I highlighted in my earlier letter have still not been resolved; although I must give credit where it is due - you have finally come up with the revolutionary idea of providing customers with the full details they need to make a payment online. Please accept my thanks for this information as it allowed me to make a payment for the amount that I believe I actually owe your organisation.

 

As per earlier communication I do not believe your non-direct debit charge is fair or lawful and am still awaiting the breakdown promised by one of your representatives. I have already pointed out that I do not wish to pay by direct debit, as I do not believe your billing system is accurate. My most recent bill is truly a work of art and underlines my point beautifully. I cannot understand the billing section. My understanding is that I am currently on the 3 for £30 tariff and therefore I cannot quite believe the bill dated 30th April which claims a total of £68.33 for rental.

 

I also notice you levy a late payment charge and yet another no direct debit charge. Unless and until you provide some proof that it costs you £60 per year to accept payment from a customer I will not pay this fee. If I do not receive a satisfactory response to this letter I will proceed to claim this amount back in court.

 

I have discussed the most recent bill with a member of your team who did seem to know what he was doing. Unfortunately the problem is more complex than he anticipated and had to be passed to technology, although I can sleep easy knowing that they should sort the matter out within two weeks.

 

Frankly I do not see why I should make do with an adjustment to my next bill, as per previous letter NTL twice billed me incorrectly, the current bill makes no sense, and the individual I spoke to today confirmed the same system is in place. Accordingly I have paid the amount of [edit], which is made up of the spurious amount on the most recent bill (less the £30 which should never have been charged) along with the deduction of the three non direct debit fees, late fee and the difference between the £35.50 I was charged initially when 3 for £30 was on offer to all.

 

If you do not agree to the above then I regret to inform you that you must take this as my thirty days notice of cancellation as you are unable to competently bill me for the services you provide. I am sure your records will confirm that I am a profitable customer, but as a result of your frankly appalling customer service and levying of unreasonable charges to which I never consented, I shall have to look elsewhere for my services.

 

Ordinarily I would only discuss such matters in writing but in order to improve the way you treat other customer’s in future I would be prepared to accept a telephone call on my home telephone number on an evening. I refuse to spend anymore time waiting to speak to your staff and trust that the above clarifies my position. In light of the above you should not be surprised that I was unable to get through to the disconnections department. As previously suggested you are wasting time and money advertising to recruit new customers where your existing provision for customer service is inadequate.

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The views I express here are mere speculation based on my experience. I am not qualified nor insured to give legal advice and any action you take will be at your own risk.

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O c'mon someobdy must've been amused by my letter?

The views I express here are mere speculation based on my experience. I am not qualified nor insured to give legal advice and any action you take will be at your own risk.

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hi was reading your post the only probs i have had with V/M was the billing, that was when it all changed over which was sorted the moment i called them up about it, oh and just to let you know that if you need to call V/M dial 150 on a V/M Line it will be free:)

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Right I'm sick of holding so here's my letter, I know it's too sarcastic and chatty but I really don't care. Certainly the most fun letter I have written :)

 

 

I note you have completely ignored my previous correspondence therefore I have enclosed a copy for your reference. I did receive an automated response to my e-mail, and a letter saying you would reply within ten working days. Said letter was dated April 19th and I have heard nothing further from your organisation.

 

Most of the issues I highlighted in my earlier letter have still not been resolved; although I must give credit where it is due - you have finally come up with the revolutionary idea of providing customers with the full details they need to make a payment online. Please accept my thanks for this information as it allowed me to make a payment for the amount that I believe I actually owe your organisation.

 

As per earlier communication I do not believe your non-direct debit charge is fair or lawful and am still awaiting the breakdown promised by one of your representatives. I have already pointed out that I do not wish to pay by direct debit, as I do not believe your billing system is accurate. My most recent bill is truly a work of art and underlines my point beautifully. I cannot understand the billing section. My understanding is that I am currently on the 3 for £30 tariff and therefore I cannot quite believe the bill dated 30th April which claims a total of £68.33 for rental.

 

I also notice you levy a late payment charge and yet another no direct debit charge. Unless and until you provide some proof that it costs you £60 per year to accept payment from a customer I will not pay this fee. If I do not receive a satisfactory response to this letter I will proceed to claim this amount back in court.

 

I have discussed the most recent bill with a member of your team who did seem to know what he was doing. Unfortunately the problem is more complex than he anticipated and had to be passed to technology, although I can sleep easy knowing that they should sort the matter out within two weeks.

 

Frankly I do not see why I should make do with an adjustment to my next bill, as per previous letter NTL twice billed me incorrectly, the current bill makes no sense, and the individual I spoke to today confirmed the same system is in place. Accordingly I have paid the amount of [edit], which is made up of the spurious amount on the most recent bill (less the £30 which should never have been charged) along with the deduction of the three non direct debit fees, late fee and the difference between the £35.50 I was charged initially when 3 for £30 was on offer to all.

 

If you do not agree to the above then I regret to inform you that you must take this as my thirty days notice of cancellation as you are unable to competently bill me for the services you provide. I am sure your records will confirm that I am a profitable customer, but as a result of your frankly appalling customer service and levying of unreasonable charges to which I never consented, I shall have to look elsewhere for my services.

 

Ordinarily I would only discuss such matters in writing but in order to improve the way you treat other customer’s in future I would be prepared to accept a telephone call on my home telephone number on an evening. I refuse to spend anymore time waiting to speak to your staff and trust that the above clarifies my position. In light of the above you should not be surprised that I was unable to get through to the disconnections department. As previously suggested you are wasting time and money advertising to recruit new customers where your existing provision for customer service is inadequate.

 

Brill, let us know how you get on. Both my sister and I are with V/M who unfortunately are the cheapest for the three option! But by God it's true what my dad used to say when dealing with some people, you pay peanuts and you get monkeys!

Their turn over of staff is unbelievable, you never get to speak to the same person twice and I'd love to know what 'charm' school some of them have attended as their attitudes suck!

Had major problems about five years ago and to get a very very long story short my line was working in conjunction with someone else (like the old party lines for some oldies!) but unfortunately I was paying the bill for both lines. I used to get bills of £300 + a month!!! Took me 18 months to sort it out. Told me they wouldn't disconnect the line as the problem was with them - they did!! Told me they wouldn't be billing me anymore - they did!! Told me they wouldn't chase for payment - they so b****y did. In the end I wrote to the regional manager and demanded it be sorted by them within the week - they did!!

Now I just pay via DD, check my bills, always something on there that shouldn't be. I phone them they take it off and we continue the process the following month.

Sorry for the rant and I hope you can sort it out...

 

Boo x

;) Boobaby

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Please note that advice given is purely my opinion and should be treated as such.

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I today recieved a letter!

 

Unfortunately it was the standard rubbish saying ten days to reply... My notice better start from the day they recived it (sent recorded so should not be a problem).

 

If they don't sort this out I'm going to fire another one off to the director, whoever that is, as this is not acceptable.

The views I express here are mere speculation based on my experience. I am not qualified nor insured to give legal advice and any action you take will be at your own risk.

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I would suggest you direct your complaint directly to Steve Stewart, Managing Director of Customer Care at Virgin Media. Whilst I cannot guarantee your complaint will be resolved to your satisfaction, you will at least be contacted by someone from Virgin Media senior management team who take all complaints a little more seriously than the call-centre staff.

In instances such as persistent overcharging you are well advised to cancel direct debits until the matter is resolved. Do not attempt to resolve the matter with the call centre staff contact Virgin Media senior management directly, informing them why you cancelled your direct debit and requesting that they resolve the matter to your satisfaction. They will normally contact within 48 hours of receiving your complaint with a resolution.

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Wow sounds like your having as much fun as me!! Where do I start - not one correct bill (been with them since Sept 06, started as a TW customer). If you want to change a package, change ownership of the account or in effect change anything the you get charged DOUBLE the upgrade fee. When things go wrong as by all accounts they so definatley have, apart from 3 I have never dealt with such a bunch opf incompetants!!!!!!! There are as with any company a few exceptions, but that has led to nothing.

 

In brief one month after I started decided to upgrade telephone package to double number of minutes which was for the first 3 months the same price as the original package. Started on 3 for £30 with 200 mins telephone time that cost me £9 per month so total DD each month should be £39 unless my maths has seriously failed me!! Upgraded minutes to 400 at an extra £8 per month after the 1st three months, so again unless I am wrong months 3,4 and 5 of contract should be at £39 and then increased to £47.

 

As I said not one correct bill, they took too much on DD a couple of months ago and after numerous calls admitted it was their fault and said any bank charges would be covered by them, which I agreed to, sent proof of charge and was promised that the money would be returned direct to bank account. The person I was dealing with went on holiday and despite sending a letter addressed directly to her, it was intercepted before it got there and "dealt" with. I spoke to a member of the CS team and she said that they had applied another adjustment to my account, I told her this was not good enough and I wanted what was promised (i.e money refunded to bank account) so she said she would issue a cheque to which I agreed and has never materialised. Got a call from Colin in the Customer Loyalty (to be read as we f****d up now I am going to try and keep you as a customer team!!!) and it appears that a cheque was never issued!!!!!! Told him I wanted it sorted - also told him was very p****d off that a personal letter had been intercepted and wanted a resolution to all this so I am now calmly waiting a phone call which I am sure will never come!!!

 

Also complained that for those of us on the basic package are not getting what we paid for. First off they remove SKY ONE et al, OK so was well publicised and they are allegedly fighting to get this back. They replace it with what they consider a suitable alternative under the Guise of Virgin Central (channels 120 and 121) both of which are exactly the same. Then they remove Paramount Comedy.

 

I am as you can imagine furious with them, so I don't think I am going to wait for this phone call, it looks like it is time for pen to paper again, think I will cc Sir Richard too

 

Anyway sorry to hijack the thread a little but I am so p****d off by it all.

 

Let you know what happens.

 

Bluejay

 

BTW is the CS address in Swansea any good or is there another address for this Steve Stewart??? Thanks

HSBC (£3722.80) MCOL Filed 12th June 07

transfered to Horsham County Court AQ dispensed with but fee still payable. AQ fee payed and added to claim. Case allocated to small claims track - due to be heard 30th August 07 - 2nd Nudge to DG sent (04/08/07)

Virgin Media (Complete Incompetance and refund of bank charges) - Letter to MD Customer Care - sent 24th May 2007 - resolved, refunded and 9 months free TV

 

British Credit Trust - VT to be started

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Don't worry about it, at first nobody was watching so feel free to vent your frustrations.

 

I had to laugh today when I bought a local paper guess who's recruiting...

 

They're paying nearly 19,000 for Customer Relations Executives (and I quote) who can keep people happy. Who's going to train them I wonder?

The views I express here are mere speculation based on my experience. I am not qualified nor insured to give legal advice and any action you take will be at your own risk.

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Send the e-mail got this reply at nine thirty the next day

 

Steve Stewart has received your email and has asked me to contact you to discuss your concerns. I am so sorry that you have had such a poor customer experience with us. I do assure you that you are a valued customer and I am most concerned that you feel you have been treated with contempt.

I would very much like to discuss the issues you have raised and would appreciate your contacting me on 0845 234 0752, extension 6184. If you are using a mobile phone please advise me immediately I will call you back.

I feel that I have resolved your billing issue but need to discuss this with you. I am working from 0845-1700 hours this week; I will also be working overtime on Sunday so if you feel this would be a more convenient day, please also advise me.

The views I express here are mere speculation based on my experience. I am not qualified nor insured to give legal advice and any action you take will be at your own risk.

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I would very much like to discuss the issues you have raised and would appreciate your contacting me on 0845 234 0752

 

 

You've got "Customer Concern" in Wythenshawe. Prepare to be distinctly unimpressed. First, they feigned ignorance ("No, we don't have any record of the dozens of phonecalls or the three letters sent by special delivery"). I called them later to chase the progress on the complaint (a copy of which I had emailed to the woman at CC, which she had acknowledged), I left a message saying that if nobody contacted me I would have to go to court. I called a week after this to tell them that nobody had contacted me, and asking to know why - they told me that they were told not to take any further action because I was going to court!

HSBCLloyds TSBcontractual interestNew Tax Creditscoming for you?NTL/Virgin Media

 

Never give in ... Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Churchill, 1941

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Thanks

 

Well I have finished the letter to Mr Stewart so it will be in the post later as a signed for item.

 

Here is the copy of what I am sending, a little disjointed I know but I am hoping that it will cause VM to respond positively

 

"I find that I have no choice other than to direct my complaint directly to you as I have experienced a level of Customer Service that is incompetent on practically every level.

I started to subscribe to cable services with Telewest in September 2006, and apart from the initial installation of the services it has all been downhill from then. When I signed up to the package I was delighted to hear that I would get Digital Cable TV (Starter Package), Broadband and Telephone services for £30 with an additional £9 to upgrade the telephone to ‘Talk Anywhere 200’ so therefore a total monthly Direct Debit of £39. Subsequently I upgraded the telephone package to ‘Talk Anywhere 400’ for an additional £8 per month after the first three months as at the time there was a promotion. So following the initial 3 months of the upgrade my monthly Direct Debit should have increased to £47. Unfortunately this is where it all started to go wrong. I was told that for some reason the offer could not be applied to my account in the normal way, but I was reassured that it would not be a problem and that for the offer period (the first three months of upgrade) I would see on my bill a “Goodwill” adjustment to reflect the offer.

 

All seemed OK for a while, until after much discussion with my fiancée we decided that as the payments where being debited from her account then she should have ownership of the account. So we made enquiries about this and we were told it would not be a problem and we should receive the paperwork in the post shortly. The paperwork duly arrived and when we read it we discovered that we would have to pay one month in advance and one month in arrears in one lump sum just as we had when we started the contract. Admittedly at the time we were dealing with Telewest, but I understand that the requirement for Virgin Media is the same. Having discovered this we decided not to bother and to continue as we started.

The main problem occurred on the xxxxxxxxxxxx when a direct debit charge of £xx was taken from my fiancées account (the charge should have been for £xx as we were still in the offer period), this subsequently forced her account overdrawn and she was charged £25 for the privilege. I phoned your Customer Service team to sort the problem out and was advised to make an indemnity claim, which I did, at this point things turn from bad to worse, whilst initially as a result of the claim the charges where refunded to my fiancées account so was the direct debit payment, leaving us in a position where we owed Virgin Media for that month. Eventually I received a telephone call from Patricia Wolstenholme in Manchester, who is by the way an exception to the rule and was extremely helpful, and she told me that there was a much easier way to sort out the problem and that I should never have been advised to go along the route of making an indemnity claim. As a result of this and after taking the circumstances into account she advised me that a payment of £xx was required to bring my account up to date. This payment was duly made and unfortunately Patricia took the incorrect amount from the card. She immediately apologised, got straight on to the relevant department and had the difference returned to my fiancées account straight away. At this time she also said that she was personally responsible for the error and if any bank charges where incurred then she would have them repaid immediately once she had seen evidence of the charge. Unfortunately as it took a few days for the money to show in my fiancées account it did trigger a £25 charge, so my fiancée talked to her bank yet again to explain that it was a result of Virgin Media screwing up again and that a stop to any further charges would be applied and that a letter would be sent as evidence of the charge and the reason for it.

We received the letter from my fiancées bank and posted it as directed by Patricia (I also e-mailed her to advise that it was on its way) for action. We waited patiently for the money to be credited and it seemed to be taking a long time so both my fiancée and myself attempted to contact Patricia with no luck (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx), when she returned she did call us to say that she had not received a letter from us at all. In the meantime I had received a voice mail from your Customer Service team advising me that the situation was sorted out and that there was a letter on its way and that I should call 150 if I wanted to talk to anybody in the meantime. After discovering that Patricia had not received the letter, I put two and two together and phoned 150, spoke to an agent and she advised me that Patricia’s letter had been intercepted and dealt with as she was on holiday. The agent (I believe her name was Claire) even read out the letter that had allegedly been sent to me (I am still waiting) and advised me that the £25 charge had been refunded by way of a rolling credit to my Virgin Media Account. I told her that this was unacceptable and so we agreed that she would have a cheque issued and sent out straight away, I was even told that it could take up to 28 days to be processed and sent. This time has long since passed and no cheque or letter (advised it would take 10 days) have materialised.

I received a call from Colin yesterday, I understand he is part of your Customer Loyalty/Care team to ask if my dispute had been resolved, to which I informed him that it most certainly had not as I was still waiting for the cheque/letter etc to arrive, it was only at this time that I discovered that no cheque had been sent and directly against my wishes a credit had been placed on my Virgin Media Account.

I would also like to add that I am very dissatisfied that the dispute between Virgin Media and Sky has not been resolved and that the Virgin Central channels that have replaced Sky One are poor substitutes especially as they are both exactly the same! I would also like to express my dissatisfaction that yet another channel (Paramount Comedy) has been removed from the package. So I am actually paying the same amount each month and receiving less of a service.

I understand that as the consumer I am free to make my own choices in home entertainment and that I could get a comparable service from Sky, however I did choose Telewest as I thought that as an all in package this met my needs more than the competition. Unfortunately if this situation cannot be resolved then I see no choice other than to go to Sky and negotiate a package with them.

If you are agreeable then I would view the following as a satisfactory resolution

- Have the £25 cheque sent out to be received by no later than Friday 8th June 2007

- A copy of the letter that has allegedly been sent to me but not yet received

- A free upgrade to the next TV package by way of compensation, this does not mean commencing a new contract and will continue until I decide to no longer use your services

- A letter from you agreeing in black and white the resolution

- Either a change of ownership to my fiancée as she is paying the bill or a guarantee that if there are any problems at all then she has the same level of authority as me to deal with them.

I hope that we can come to an agreement on this; unfortunately if this is not possible then I will have no choice other than to terminate our contract at the earliest opportunity.

I look forward to hearing from you in the next seven days; if I don’t then I will be forced to seek advice on taking this matter further."

 

Fingers Crossed

HSBC (£3722.80) MCOL Filed 12th June 07

transfered to Horsham County Court AQ dispensed with but fee still payable. AQ fee payed and added to claim. Case allocated to small claims track - due to be heard 30th August 07 - 2nd Nudge to DG sent (04/08/07)

Virgin Media (Complete Incompetance and refund of bank charges) - Letter to MD Customer Care - sent 24th May 2007 - resolved, refunded and 9 months free TV

 

British Credit Trust - VT to be started

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I've also just got a letter telling me thier £5 charge is fair basically because they say so. Apparently it costs them lots to accept my payments (I couldn't care less). Also other companies levy such charges, I refer you to my previous answer.

 

I thought about sending another letter but what's the point, they just ignore it anyway?

 

First I'll give this lady hell on the phone, then I'll write na even better letter, they will not win it will only happen to some other poor bugger.

The views I express here are mere speculation based on my experience. I am not qualified nor insured to give legal advice and any action you take will be at your own risk.

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First I'll give this lady hell on the phone, then I'll write na even better letter, they will not win it will only happen to some other poor bugger.

 

Good luck. You will be summarily ignored.

HSBCLloyds TSBcontractual interestNew Tax Creditscoming for you?NTL/Virgin Media

 

Never give in ... Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Churchill, 1941

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Good Morning!!

 

The cherry is now on the icing!!! My OH and I tried to watch some TV choice on Demand last night only to be told we are not subscribed. Talked to a lady on 150 just now and she says that it has not been withdrawn. So she advised me to call the technical team on 151, followed their instructions, waited on hold as the advice did not work and then heard a voice message saying that TV Choice on Demand was only on a 3 month trial and if you wish to subscribe blah blah blah.

 

Was anyone else aware that it was only a 3 month trial?? I certainly didn't see anything or hear anything about it?:???:

HSBC (£3722.80) MCOL Filed 12th June 07

transfered to Horsham County Court AQ dispensed with but fee still payable. AQ fee payed and added to claim. Case allocated to small claims track - due to be heard 30th August 07 - 2nd Nudge to DG sent (04/08/07)

Virgin Media (Complete Incompetance and refund of bank charges) - Letter to MD Customer Care - sent 24th May 2007 - resolved, refunded and 9 months free TV

 

British Credit Trust - VT to be started

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Nope. It's 'on demand' some programmes are free and others charged. It is ture boxes have to be specifically enabled for it, and if they drop out of service for a bill pay issue, it's very seldom turned back on automatically.

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All I can say is that Mr Branson has a lot to answer for. I am having the same problem after cancelling my DD becuase I wasn't receiving a decent working service and technical support never called me back, despite 2 letters of complaint! When I cancelled the DD they suddenly took notice but and called me but still failed to rectify my problem. They then said that they will be taking the money off my Debit Card (as they had these details) - I wrote to them again and said that I would not authorise them to do this. Strangely enough, they didn't take any money off my card! Again more phone calls to tecnical 'support' and it was a stalemate. They said that they would be able to rectify my problems if I paid my bill, I said that I'd pay my bill if they rectified my problems - as I told one lady (who had trouble understanding me - never mind the other way round) "I don't go into a shop and pay money for something that is broken". Anyway - my mortgage is due to go out of my account next week and when I do a last minute money check I discover that a payment of £102 has been taken by Virgin Media.

 

Mental wasn't the word. I phoned my bank and said that I had been robbed (quite literally) and they cancelled the card and are trying to recover the money. Virgin claim that I authorised them to use this card at anytime when I first joined. Now all I want to do is cancel my contract - but -hey, I can't until August!!

 

How can I get away from this completely incompetent organisation (incompetent to its customers - but quite obviously good fleece artists for its managers).

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All I can say is that Mr Branson has a lot to answer for.

 

Mr Branson has nothing to do with Virgin Media. It is owned by what used to be NTL-Telewest, the Virgin Group is a minority shareholder.

HSBCLloyds TSBcontractual interestNew Tax Creditscoming for you?NTL/Virgin Media

 

Never give in ... Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Churchill, 1941

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To the naysayers I say ha ha!

 

Got my balance wiped out, after a rather friendly chat. The lady mentioned that other companies charged, I said , with all due respect, I'm not concerned with other companies. I even stuck in a little dig about banks charges which made her chuckle.

 

She said that a transfer from my account still needs somebody to 'apply it to the aco****' yep that must take about four seconds.

 

But sersiouly she did state that a study had been done on the costs and that it actually costs them MORE than the £5 to process payments not made by DD. I let this point go, as the thing is they have to show it in court, or even to me before I concur.

 

I told her I knew people who had had the charge waived, she didn't like that.

 

I'm awaiting my bill which will have the balance set to zero (forget the actualy amount, I think that was just for late payment fee and non dd charges around £20).

 

I'm going to have a look at the bill and if it's all good I'll give them a second chance. She agreed that the service is not good enough when customers are trying to get through, I pointed out it feels like they just want your money but if you actually want something doing then it appears they don't care.

 

I like the offer Sky have on at the moment anyway so if they continue to mess up then I'll have a bit of that.

The views I express here are mere speculation based on my experience. I am not qualified nor insured to give legal advice and any action you take will be at your own risk.

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In which case, I want to know what you did that the rest of us didn't. I was told other companies do the same, I told them "lots of people commit murder, does that mean it's okay for me to come to your house and kill you? What other companies do is none of my concern." Despite my repeated protests, pointing out what they were doing was fraud, that other people had received refunds, that the banks themselves have admitted that what they are doing is not quite legitimate, the woman at Wythenshawe refused point-blank to apply a refund. In fact, the first mention of court action came when she suggested that it was the only way I was going to get my money back!

 

On Tuesday, I'm giving their legal office a call. I really want to push ahead with court, but I'm due to move at the end of June, can't afford to file and won't qualify for remission.

HSBCLloyds TSBcontractual interestNew Tax Creditscoming for you?NTL/Virgin Media

 

Never give in ... Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. Churchill, 1941

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