Virgin Media Rip Off

aceades

i was about to sign up as their prices seem ok, but went i wanted to pay by standing order they tried to add £5 extra on for every month, infact they charge anyone that does not use direct debit £5 extra which makes them uncompetitive so i stopped.

I just think its mad how they can try and charge this saying its to cover costs when it will cost them more to process a DD than it will for their bank to accept my payment, i think its disgraceful and the operatives were rude and didn;t seem to give a toss if it was a lie or not, and they were the sales people so god knows what the aftersales is like

anyone have any view on this, how to get around it ? or even a decent ISP that does not try and rape you just for signing up without letting a massive unorganised company have control of payments coming out of your account,

its probably so they can change the charges without telling you like i just saw a post about, if it was on standing order it would not change until agreed with the customer !:mad:

how bloody annoying, i took ages looking through there packages too and there is absolutely no mention on the site until you try and set up without direct debit on the phone -

donnac2558

I believe all companies will charge you for not using DD. Someone did take BT to court about the extra charge for not using DD and they lost. Your gas,electric, water BB, phone etc all charge extra for no DD, some charge more than others.

aceades

strange, i have never come across it before,

I am with British gas and they do not charge me for using standing order, neither do severn trent, or Plusnet who my fone is with and i pay those by card ! I also dont get charged for house, car insurance and pet insurance paid by SO.

soem people must be getting ripped off, if they have to pay an extra £5 a month for all those thats an extra £25 a month , £300 a year no idea how people dont notice or how teh companies get away with it and to think soem people gripe about a couple of quid service charge ! madness

i will have to phone and have a word when i get chance, the usual solution is just to cancel the DD though and they soon accept a payment when they are owed it

shame though that most people just accpet that extortion , after all tehy are lying by saying its costs them less with a DD, how can it possibly cost less than a SO when it me and my bank that do all the work, they should get a discount for using SO !

staffie1

No point phoning virgin - you will have to pay by DD or accept the charge. Or don't do business with them. You are covered by the DD guarantee, but I agree it's a risk with so many people claiming they have had billing issues with VM. I have in the past.
I'm actually looking to go back to VM because I want cable broadband again, but their reputation on billing scares me, and I don't want to be raped with the £5/mth 'let's screw some more money out of our idiot customers' charge.
I believe the Irish government outlawed this practice some time ago incidentally.

macman

They won't accept a SO because it means that they can't bill you for any other amount than that agreed on the SO, unlikew with a DD.

donnac2558

Yes I thought a standing order for for the same amount everytime. Would this work for a bill like gas etc as the amount you use each time would be different?
Surprised your gas company take a standing order as the prices change.

Have to say never had a problem with VM overcharging me. I do online banking and the amount they take actually shows up a few days before hand on my DD section telling me they will be taking so much on that date.

So BT won't take your standing order and now Virgin doubt any of the others will either for internet or phone services. Don't want to use DD then pay cash and get charged the extra or do without.

soul619

iv had lots of problems with VM but never with my bill amounts

williham

I think you'll find that although your gas/electricity company won't charge you more for not paying by DD, they will charge you less if you do.

There are far less costs involved with DD because it is all done by computer. With SOs they would have to employ someone to check they received your payment then credit it to your account. As well as this the amount changes every month so you would have alot more work to do.

We pay all our bills by DD, it saves time and is always cheaper or the same price and it's much easier.

spud17

soul619 wrote: »

iv had lots of problems with VM but never with my bill amounts

Lucky you.

It's the only thing I've had problems with, one small break in service in 2 years, and a couple of times inexplicably running slow, but about 6 problems with incorrect billing.

I'm half way through a 12 month deal, confirmed by email.
I've just received the latest bill and it shows a £7.50/ mth increase, on top of the previous £2/mth increase.
The billing department can't help, saying I have to take it up with retentions who gave me the original deal.

liam8282

Most places actually offer a discount for DD, so it maybe that you are not receiving the DD discount rather than being charged more for using SO.

MORPH3US

soul619 wrote: »

iv had lots of problems with VM but never with my bill amounts

As above, you are the lucky one.

I was on the 2 for £20 for the first year and I don't think my bill ever came to £20 for the whole year... I was ringing every month to sort it out, absolute pain in the !!!!!