Virgin Media Set-Top Box - A CAUTIONARY TALE!

spike7451

gregnash wrote: »

how are we to know that?? to be honest, if a guy came round with a virgin t-shirt on and asked to collect the box, i'd have given it to him and not known i should have received a receipt.

having looked online tho, and through the holes on the bottom, its a 160GB IDE HDD. cheap crap anyway, probably couldn't give it away

Your T&C's as posted above,as for what I posted just now,I know that because I worked for NTL/VM.

gregnash

cheers for the info, ive emailed virgin media to ask them to collect it.

ta

LDU02167

I cancelled Virgin Media TV & Internt in Sep 2009 as I was moving house - when I moved I left the equipment in the loft of the flat.

Today I got a call from Virgin wanting to collect the set top box.......4 months after I have left and paid everything off. At the time of cancelling I asked if they wanted their equipment but received no reply, so I assumed they wouldn't bother collecting it.

For the OP - did you have to pay the charge, was it as much as £250?

Does 4 months seem like an unreasonable length of time to make someone keep their equipment? I see from the T&C's posted above that 2b. states that equipment cannot be removed from the house it was installed in without permission from Virgin - will that ever work as an excuse why I never took the STB with me when I moved house?

Thanks for your help!!

Lady_K

I had an engineer come to replace mine as it had a fault, I asked if he needed to take the box and he said someone from ntl will collect it in a few days. After a month I rang them concerned it hadnt been picked up and the lady said give it to the end of this week then throw it away. I did that but if I had known there was any chance I could be charged I'd have stored it in the garage out of the way just in case. No one did call for it in the end but if they had of done I wouldnt have thought of getting a reciept

I'd say if a contractor ever picks any up from from anyone ask for a signed reciept

Stripelord,

Try and get one from freecycle or second hand before handing over £250 even if they have a mac address on they may not even check, get a reciept for collection its worth a try

spike7451

Lady_K wrote: »

I had an engineer come to replace mine as it had a fault, I asked if he needed to take the box and he said someone from ntl will collect it in a few days. After a month I rang them concerned it hadnt been picked up and the lady said give it to the end of this week then throw it away. I did that but if I had known there was any chance I could be charged I'd have stored it in the garage out of the way just in case. No one did call for it in the end but if they had of done I wouldnt have thought of getting a reciept

I'd say if a contractor ever picks any up from from anyone ask for a signed reciept

Stripelord,

Try and get one from freecycle or second hand before handing over £250 even if they have a mac address on they may not even check, get a reciept for collection its worth a try

The collections are done by an outside agency & they will give you a reciept.If it's the old anolog they're not collecting them anymore. (I gather the old ones were shipped to Russia)

Dando83

When I moved, there was a number of conflicting stories from Virgin about whether the box needed to go back. In the end, it had to.

But there was also some misinformation along the way about the cost. First, there was no charge, then £250, and finally, the letter from the company said £50. It was the standard non V+ Samsung box.

Ignite

I've still got a box stored in my loft. They never bothered to turn up to a booked collection appointment, and were then unable to book in another as their calendar was full! They've not bothered to contact me since except to send me a refund cheque. I've had the box in storage now for 10 months.

greenfroggy

I've thrown everything away, didnt think I would have to send it back and now they are threatning me with a £250 bill. I'm a single mum and feel a complete idiot, does anyone have any spare bits lying around?

Help!

Unity

stripelord wrote: »

Hi all,

I recently cancelled my subscription with Virgin Media after 5 years because they couldn't provide a TV service at my new address. After a few weeks I was cleaning up the flat and decided to throw out my Virgin Set-Top box (the bog-standard Samsung one). Last night a chap from Virgin came round to my flat asking for their box back. It turns out that as I don't have it any more I am going to have to pay a £250 charge.

I'm sure this may be old-news to a lot of people, but I was completely unaware of this kind of clause in their contract. I want to share my experience in the hope of preventing someone else from going through the same thing.

If you leave your digital TV subscriber, DON'T throw out your equipment!

Thanks for this advice :T. I only switched to Virgin last year and I'm not that convinced I'll be staying with them - but at least I know if I do change I won't be tempted to throw out the box. I still have my Sky+ box and I'm sorry it's not of any use to you, I just hope you can get out of this situation without having to pay £250.

Tbh I would offer them say £40 because the box is effectively secondhand and nowhere near worth £250 - but that's just me being cheeky .

gjchester

Lady_K wrote: »

Try and get one from freecycle or second hand before handing over £250 even if they have a mac address on they may not even check, get a reciept for collection its worth a try

Most of us Freecycle moderators will reject the post.

Theres a sticker on every bit of Virgin kit saying it belongs to them. Also theres no legal use for them if they are not registered, Add those two bits together and you on thin ice legally if you try and shift thyem on so hence would be rejected on most freecycle groups.