Virgin Changeover from BT

boomerie · 2 December 2015 at 2:17PM

I am currently at war with Virgin Media following having them transfer my line etc to them from BT.

BT have sent a bill, I did expect a final bill up to the date of termination of the line but what I got extended for at least a further month (in the end to 28th December!). BT are claiming Virgin never notified them of the change over, Virgin are saying they did.

The initial operator told me that it was my fault for not cancelling DESPITE me making it clear to them that the Virgin Media sales rep told me that I did NOT have to do anything. They cut me off rather than refer me to someone else after I pointed out to them that they were not listening to anything I said. (And in doing so this prevented me from getting a transcript of the chat!)

The second operator has however said

Just so you know Virgin Media can apply for a telephone number to be transferred from a previous provider. When this happens, it means the phone service is automatically cancelled when the transfer completes. This will also terminate any existing ADSL Broadband service which is delivered via the telephone line. We are, however, not able to cancel any TV service.

so by my reading Virgin have screwed up and owe me / BT the additional costs or have I missed something?

visidigi · 2 December 2015 at 6:42PM

Did your BT contract require you to give them 30 days notice to end the minimum term of your contract?

Sounds like you should have notified BT in advance to ensure reduced cost of switchover.

jem16 · 2 December 2015 at 7:29PM

boomerie wrote: »

so by my reading Virgin have screwed up and owe me / BT the additional costs or have I missed something?

So did you transfer your number or not?

If you did then that terminates the phone and BB as said. If you did not the onus was on you to terminate.

From Ofcom;

If you're switching to or from a cable network, you will need to stop your service with your current provider and start a new service with a new provider (sometimes known as 'cease and re-provide').

In these circumstances you will need to contact both your current provider to cancel your contract and your new provider to arrange your new broadband service.

emiliobianchetti1960 · 3 December 2015 at 8:48AM

There are two different types of process for switching broadband - 'gaining provider led' and 'cease and re-provide'.
Which process you follow largely depends on what provider you're switching to and from and the type of connection you have or are looking to change to. In particular, if you are switching to or from a cable provider such as Virgin Media, you will need to follow the 'cease and re-provide' process.
The length of time it will take will depend on the services you have.
The first thing you should do therefore is contact the provider you wish to switch to, and explain what you want to do. They should be able to give you details on which process you need to follow.
Regardless of the process you follow, you have a 14 calendar day period from the date you enter a new contract with a new provider in which you have a right to cancel your request to switch without being charged.
Below we set out the details for each of the processes.

JJ_Egan · 3 December 2015 at 10:10AM

So who is we in the above post ??

jem16 · 3 December 2015 at 10:32AM

JJ_Egan wrote: »

So who is we in the above post ??

Ofcom. It's basically a cut and paste job from the Ofcom site I linked to in the post above.

parttimeskint · 3 December 2015 at 11:01PM

When moving to Virgin media from BT or any non-cable provider you have to cancel the service with your existing provider. Make sure first that the order has already been placed with Virgin Media and they know you want to keep your existing number.

Virgin media will usually provide with a temporary number and port the existing number once the BT or whatever service has cancelled down.

Virgin media have 10 working days to port the number other wise it's lost.

When virgin media puts in a request to port the number the existing service does show as pending cancel or cease requested or pending terminated or whatever language the losing provider uses. But the line will never actual cancel as there isn't really a company taking over the physical line, only the number, and no engineer will be out to port the connections so the line stays active and never cancels.

when you call to cancel the broadband and line rental you will probably be told that there is already a cancellation in place and there is no need to do anything. This is wrong, you need to have them place the cancellation.

hth

kayg362 · 9 February 2016 at 3:43PM

I am also in the process of changing from BT to Virgin Media and have experienced the following problems already:-

1. Virgin Media attended the house without notifying us to dig up the front lawn and lay a cable - 2 weeks before installation date of 11th February '16
2. BT stopped BT Sport (free as part of the contract) on 17th Jan without our prior knowledge
3. Changeover date is 11th Feb - BT broadband stopped working yesterday (cut off). I spent nearly 2 hours talking to various depts. at BT and told there was a fault which they couldn't test as the changeover is within 4 days/an engineer would take up to 7 days to attend/the broadband has ceased/my Manager thinks that Virgin have ported the number before the date of changeover

So who do you believe? Certainly not BT! I shall be more than happy to leave after 6 years as a customer, and hopefully a better customer service with Virgin Media (who I called and they said they haven't ported the number). Still no broadband until Thursday (hopefully). Whatever happened to the 'customer is always right' - must have been in the dark ages.
Good luck to all who change internet provider!

Virgin Changeover from BT

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