Not sure if this is the right place

PaderB

Hi,
I am posting this in this category because I cannot find anywhere else to go.

I would like to know whether it is possible to claim unfair charges back from other than banks?

My problem is with Virgin Media. I originally contracted with Telewest before they were taken over by Virgin. Although the monthly bills were very difficult to interpret, they at least went into some detail. Since then, Virgin bill you in 3 lines which amounts to: what you owe this month, what is carried forward from last bill and Pay this.

When I first started with Telewest, they discounted my bill by £2 if I paid by direct debit. Since Virgin took over, and I have never had the opportunity to sign a new contract, they now penalise you if you do not to the tune of an extra £5. Added to the fact that there is no proper way of identifying what the costs are, they appear to appear to impose 'fines' of £10 whenever they suggest you are late. I have received emails on one day saying that you ebill is ready yet receive a letter (computer generated) informing me that an extra £10 has been added to my bill for late payment on the very next day. My £15 monthly bill at the moment amounts to over £50 because they say that I have had penalty charges added for the past 3 months. Can anything be done to: 1. Reclaim those charges, and 2: Force them to make their billing system more transparent

Pader

natweststaffmember

PaderB wrote: »

Hi,
I am posting this in this category because I cannot find anywhere else to go.

I would like to know whether it is possible to claim unfair charges back from other than banks?

My problem is with Virgin Media. I originally contracted with Telewest before they were taken over by Virgin. Although the monthly bills were very difficult to interpret, they at least went into some detail. Since then, Virgin bill you in 3 lines which amounts to: what you owe this month, what is carried forward from last bill and Pay this.

When I first started with Telewest, they discounted my bill by £2 if I paid by direct debit. Since Virgin took over, and I have never had the opportunity to sign a new contract, they now penalise you if you do not to the tune of an extra £5. Added to the fact that there is no proper way of identifying what the costs are, they appear to appear to impose 'fines' of £10 whenever they suggest you are late. I have received emails on one day saying that you ebill is ready yet receive a letter (computer generated) informing me that an extra £10 has been added to my bill for late payment on the very next day. My £15 monthly bill at the moment amounts to over £50 because they say that I have had penalty charges added for the past 3 months. Can anything be done to: 1. Reclaim those charges, and 2: Force them to make their billing system more transparent

Pader

I have two links which seem to be fairly clear on those points about billing and about late charges(albeit I had to look at both links)

http://www.virginmedia.com/customers/billing/payments-faqs.php
and
http://www.virginmedia.com/customers/billing/billing-faqs.php

If you want to complain here is the address:

Complaints,
Virgin Media,
PO Box 333,
Matrix Court,
Swansea.
SA7 9ZJ

PaderB

Thank you for taking the trouble, but the point is, I never agreed to pay any handling fees. What other company charges you money to take your money.

But my main beef is about the lack of information on bills. I dont know if they are intentionally obscure but I have heard many people complain that their cable tv bills are much higher than they expected.

I need to know if the arbitrary fine they give you is legal or not and whether it can be actionable.