Help appreciated guys! VIRGIN CHARGING £150 FOR BOX

wuckfit

MORPH3US wrote: »

Buy a box from fleabay and then give them that back.

the boxes, as a number of posters have stated, remain the property of Virgin. in all liklihood they'll not be on eBay. even if they are, then technically they're stolen goods.

macman

Forgive my cynicism, but if that argument was accepted, a lot of people wouldn't return them.
The boxes are worth a lot and are very saleable.
I'm not saying the OP wouldn't give it back, but many others would and do take advantage.
If I rent something for a year and then 'lose' it, is the hirer really going write it off at no cost to me?

MORPH3US

wuckfit wrote: »

the boxes, as a number of posters have stated, remain the property of Virgin. in all liklihood they'll not be on eBay. even if they are, then technically they're stolen goods.

Correct but say for example the person lost the box and paid the fee demanded by Virgin... the box has then been purchased and is the property of the individual to do with as they wish. You would be buying them in good faith.

As for the second part:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NTL-VIRGIN-MEDIA-SAMSUNG-smt-2110C-BOX_W0QQitemZ330385175315QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL?hash=item4cec7db313#ht_615wt_1165

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Virgin-Media-V-Box-BRAND-NEW-Complete-Package_W0QQitemZ110467887874QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElectronics_Video_RemoteControls?hash=item19b8663302#ht_2892wt_1165

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Virgin-Media-V-HD-Box-160GB-HDD-Details_W0QQitemZ190356693684QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL?hash=item2c5224a2b4#ht_1077wt_1165

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/virgin-media-box-samsung-Brand-new_W0QQitemZ120503911635QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL?hash=item1c0e97c4d3#ht_500wt_1182

wuckfit

MORPH3US wrote: »

Correct but say for example the person lost the box and paid the fee demanded by Virgin... the box has then been purchased and is the property of the individual to do with as they wish. You would be buying them in good faith.

As for the second part:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NTL-VIRGIN-MEDIA-SAMSUNG-smt-2110C-BOX_W0QQitemZ330385175315QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL?hash=item4cec7db313#ht_615wt_1165

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Virgin-Media-V-Box-BRAND-NEW-Complete-Package_W0QQitemZ110467887874QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElectronics_Video_RemoteControls?hash=item19b8663302#ht_2892wt_1165

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Virgin-Media-V-HD-Box-160GB-HDD-Details_W0QQitemZ190356693684QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL?hash=item2c5224a2b4#ht_1077wt_1165

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/virgin-media-box-samsung-Brand-new_W0QQitemZ120503911635QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL?hash=item1c0e97c4d3#ht_500wt_1182

Unfortunately 'bought in good faith' is no defence, as many people who have unwittingly purchased stolen cars, for example, will attest.

spike7451

MORPH3US wrote: »

Correct but say for example the person lost the box and paid the fee demanded by Virgin... the box has then been purchased and is the property of the individual to do with as they wish. You would be buying them in good faith.

As for the second part:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NTL-VIRGIN-MEDIA-SAMSUNG-smt-2110C-BOX_W0QQitemZ330385175315QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL?hash=item4cec7db313#ht_615wt_1165

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Virgin-Media-V-Box-BRAND-NEW-Complete-Package_W0QQitemZ110467887874QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_AudioTVElectronics_Video_RemoteControls?hash=item19b8663302#ht_2892wt_1165

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Virgin-Media-V-HD-Box-160GB-HDD-Details_W0QQitemZ190356693684QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL?hash=item2c5224a2b4#ht_1077wt_1165

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/virgin-media-box-samsung-Brand-new_W0QQitemZ120503911635QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ConEle_SatCableFreeview_RL?hash=item1c0e97c4d3#ht_500wt_1182

Then you are buying a traceable & expensive doorstop.Once the box is locked out on disconnection it cannot be reconnected as easy as Sky's can.The box can also be traced back to the original renter(s) by the MAC address of the box.
Even if the OP did what you suggest,once the box is scanned in,it'll show up as belonging to the original install,not the OP, & she'd still be billed & her 'return' would be passed on to the Fraud Investigation Team.(and possibly the police)

Spike (Ex NTL/VM engineer)

misspixie_2

Thank you for all your responses :money:

I am just competely gutted that I have lost that box. Dad has searched his garage and it's not to be found. I am assuming during the move when everyone was encouraging me to be ruthless and ditch some stuff, the box got ditched.
But what an evil surprise just before Christmas.
The only reason I was not too concerned about the box was my previous experience with an old Virgin box that was never collected even though it was tended to like a much loved elderly family member for a couple of years (under the bed).
I was considering buying one from Ebay but then all this talk about 'stolen goods' scared me a bit especially considering they can be traced to their original home, although if Virgin never collected a box for years and you wanted to get rid of it maybe they could be charged with fly tipping.
OHHHHHHHHHHHHH i really dont wanna give Virgin another £250 on top of the £40 early termination fee!!

Sol00

I think you're just going to have to pay the charge and move on. I doubt Virgin would take any notice of you threatening to move to Sky as it's in your partner's name.

macman

I'm still struggling to understand how you can 'lose' a hulking great metal box? It's not like it slips down the back of the sofa, or gets put out with the weekly rubbish by mistake.

misspixie_2

It's not an easy thing to mislay thats for sure but when well meaning Dads are helping with a move, things can get taken to the tip along with old sofas and Playstations etc.

Good news is thanks to the reply above about emailing Neil Berkett's email address, someone from the Chief Executive's office at Virgin phoned me just now at 9.30am this morning following a late night email from me last night and said they will get hold of the Box collection department and find out the serial number (i asked if they knew this because if they didnt i could send them a box from ebay). Anyway, she said if they insist on the charge, they will half it to £125.

Fab news. It's worth pursuing these things.


UPDATE!!

While i was writing this, the nice lady from the Chief Executive of Virgin's office phoned and said the Box collection departmen say the charge is only likely to be £55. She said I may receive a letter, or I might not. It's s grey area (her words) apparently.

Never just pay these charges, always enquire, argue, complain!

misspixie_2

Tommyh wrote: »

I'm also with Virgin and your problem really doesn't surprise me. If everything else fails however, email their CEO Neil Berkett on [EMAIL="neil.berkett@ntl.com"]neil.berkett@ntl.com[/EMAIL].
I had a problem with a Sky installation and when I tried to claim my money back they where Uming and Ahing, as soon as I email their CEO I miraculously got my money back the next day.
Make sure you are polite but firm, don't swear or throw insults etc. He'll be more interested in you not emailing him directly and get it sorted out asap.
Let me know the outcome tho, would be interesting to see if it works again.
Cheers
T

THANKS SO MUCH Tommyh, doing what you suggested really helped :j