Virgin Media - apparent outstanding debt

Caist74

Hi,

Need help in understanding this..

in 2001 I moved into new property and signed up with Telewest for TV & phone.

All's well until in 2002 we (we as in my ex partner and myself) had trouble with payments as Telewest kept trying to take money out before it was due so of course we was charged £10 by them, so in the end we got fed up and paid via post office instead each time before the bill was due each month - but we still got charged via DD despite paid it via PO before it was due so we rang them up explaining that we've paid and gave ref number from PO they apologised and said it was a glitch in their system. But it happened again month after month and their excuses was "glitch" so in early 2002 we'd had enough so we rang them and asked for full cost and from what I could remember it was about £100 plus we paid it all of there and then over the phone and cancelled it stating that we're not satisfied with their service keeping us in debt when they was at fault.

Fast forward to last month, I decided that I'd like to try Virgin Media so I applied for it via online and got the email confirming it. Few days later I received an email

"
Hi there,

Good news! We’ve had a look and we can connect your home to our Virgin Media Services.

Unfortunately, there seems to be an outstanding balance at your address. Although the account may not be in your name, we can see from our records that you were living at the address at the time - so before we can go any further, we’ll need the amount to be paid off in full.

To continue with your order, or if you have any questions at all, just give us a ring on 0800 052 7588 (option 1) and we’ll be happy to help"


So I rang them up in thinking there must be something wrong or whatever - I was then told that I owed £908.08 - Cant tell you how shocked I was after hearing it, after recovering from the shock I asked how did that happen? apparently Telewest said that I still owed them that much in 2002. I explained that there's no way it can be that much as far as I remember we paid off the remainder of the bill and closed the account after (even the telewest guy came over to collect the box in 2002!). They said that it was passed to the debt collection agency .. funny I NEVER had any letters from Telewest/NTL/Virgin nor Debt collection Agency about it at all and that phone call was the 1st news I've heard about it. They also said that unless I paid for it I cannot have Virgin cos I'm on high risk.



Rang Credit dept and explained the situation about it .. One did say that the telephone and films was used for 3 or 4 months afterward.. I said how can that be cos I can remember going without a phoneline for 2 weeks and no digital TV cos the telewest box was returned within a week (I had ordered Sky & BT after cancelling Telewest and have been with them since). They then said that I have to ring them again on Monday and they "may" have resolution


what do you think of this? Does it sound right or not?



This is thelast bit of breakdown that irgin sent me via email in excel format


From To Description Amount Running Total of account

21/05/02 STATEMENT BALANCE 708.49 708.49
13/06/02 REJECTED DIRECT DEBIT 215.65 924.41
14/06/02 2/07/02 Digital Direct Debit Cred 1.27 925.41
14/06/02 2/07/02 Talk Unlimited 10.13- 915.28
15/06/02 7/2/02 SurfUnlimited Charge 7.20 908.08
18/06/02 STATEMENT BLANCE 908.08 908.08
MIGRATION DEFAULT 0 908.08
21/06/02 STATEMENT BALANCE 908.08 908.08
9/07/02 WRITE OFF DEBIT 908.08- 0
19/07/02 STATEMENT BALANCE 0 0

what I've noticed just now on the last bit "SurfUnlimited Charge" is the date?

I can give you the whole of the bill if you need to check all as I'm a bit lost on this

Also the Telephone usage charges was under 30 all the wayfrom 3rd Sept 2001 until 3/20/02 (thats how they put the digit down) for 278.64!!:eek:


Sorry its a looooong one but needed help to understand this.


Thanks,


Caist

LeeSouthEast

It's all statute barred anyway, given the age of the debt. There's nothing they can do to recover the sum now.

Caist74

Right at the moment they're trying to be clever ..

Virgin stated that I still owed them money because they said that when the Telewest merged with Virgin, the old bill was still showing making it out that I owed it.

"Because it was statute barred, they cannot ask me for money but wont let me have Virgin unless I pay for it"

Cor, I can go blue in the face explaining that there's NO WAY it can amount to £908 cos if it was that amount they would've made atempt to recover it from me. I havent moved house I'm still at the same address for the last 9 years !!

What do I do? I cancelled Sky, hence wanting to go to Virgin.. I'm absolutely shocked to say at the least.

Is there anyway I can speak or email to anyone higher than the manager of the complaint department ??? (they told me that they're talking on behalf of the 2 guys who're much higher than they are).


Thanks,


Caist.

Caist74

A bit of an update and question..

When I asked why am I still having to pay that money in order to have Virgin - this is the reply

"Please accept my apologises for the inconvenience this issue may have caused.
By the account saying write off this means that the company has accepted that we wont receive the money back and would have sold on the debt.
However, because it has been a long time the debt would have been sold on again and so on.
This means that we wont chase you for the money nor will we send any more correspondence regarding the debt.
On the other hand we still have on the system that you had this account with us once and the balance was not paid so you would be classed as high risk when taking our services. This is why you are told you still owe £908.00.
The best way to resolve this issue would be to speak to our credit control team who will be able to assist you on clearing the balance and advising you. Their number again is 0800 052 2620."

Can they still show it up on their system - or shouldn't it be showing anything at all?

This is from when it started

2 From To Description Amount Running Total of account


25 10/19/01 STATEMENT BALANCE 142.22 142.22
26 9/16/01 16/09/01 Me Myself & Irene (15) 2.99 145.21
27 5/11/01 2/12/01 Digital Essential 17.73- 127.48
28 5/11/01 2/12/01 Line Rental 8.96- 118.52
29 7/11/01 2/12/01 Digital Supreme 22.53 141.05
30 7/11/01 SWITCH 837 54.60- 86.45
31 12/11/01 Payment TRANS CASH 65.00- 21.45
32 9/11/01 11/15/01 Line Rental 2.24 23.69
33 16/11/01 2/12/01 SurfUnlimited Charge 5.67 29.36
34 18/11/01 Telephone usage charges 27.85 57.21
35 18/11/01 VAT 4.87 62.08
36 16/11/01 2/01/02 Line Rental 15.04 77.12
37 3/12/01 2/01/02 Digital Supreme 26 103.12
38 3/12/01 2/01/02 Digital Direct Debit Cred 2.00- 101.12
39 3/12/01 2/01/02 TALK UNLIMITED 16 117.12
40 3/12/01 2/01/02 SurfUnlimited Charge 10 127.12
41 20/11/01 STATEMENT BALANCE 127.12 127.12
42 20/11/01 Payment DIRECT DEBIT 127.12- 0
43 16/12/01 Telephone usage charges 39.18 39.18
44 16/12/01 VAT 6.86 46.04
45 3/01/02 2/02/02 Digital Supreme 26 72.04
46 3/01/02 2/02/02 Digital Direct Debit Cred 2.00- 70.04
47 3/01/02 2/02/02 TALK UNLIMITED 16 86.04
48 3/01/02 2/02/02 Line Rental 9.6 95.64
49 3/01/02 2/02/02 SurfUnlimited Charge 10 105.64
50 18/12/01 STATEMENT BALANCE 105.64 105.64
51 18/12/01 Payment DIRECT DEBIT 105.64- 0
52 24/12/01 REJECTED DD-REFER TO P 127.12 127.12
53 25/12/01 DISHONOURED PAYMENT FEE 10 137.12
54 10/11/01 11/10/01 Bedazzled (12) 2.99 140.11
55 20/01/02 Telephone usage charges 24.69 164.8
56 20/01/02 VAT 4.32 169.12
57 3/02/02 2/03/02 Digital Supreme 26 195.12
58 3/02/02 2/03/02 Digital Direct Debit Cred 2.00- 193.12
59 3/02/02 2/03/02 TALK UNLIMITED 16 209.12
60 3/02/02 2/03/02 Line Rental 9.6 218.72
61 3/02/02 2/03/02 SurfUnlimited Charge 10 228.72
62 22/01/02 STATEMENT BALANCE 228.72 228.72
63 25/01/02 25/01/02 Additional Feature (18) 5 233.72
64 8/02/02 REJECTED DD-REFER TO P 105.64 339.36
65 9/02/02 DISHONOURED PAYMENT FEE 10 349.36
66 22/01/02 Payment DIRECT DEBIT 228.72- 120.64
67 17/02/02 Telephone usage charges 30.14 150.78
68 2/17/02 VAT 5.27 156.05
69 3/03/02 2/04/02 Digital Supreme 26 182.05
70 3/03/02 2/04/02 Digital Direct Debit Cred 2.00- 180.05
71 3/03/02 2/04/02 TALK UNLIMITED 16 196.05
72 3/03/02 2/04/02 Line Rental 9.6 205.65
73 3/03/02 2/04/02 SurfUnlimited Charge 10 215.65
74 2/19/02 STATEMENT BALANCE 215.65 215.65
75 2/26/02 REJECTED DD-REFER TO P 228.72 444.37
76 2/27/02 DISHONOURED PAYMENT FEE 10 454.37
77 1/03/02 1/03/02 Additional Feature (18) 5 459.37
78 2/19/02 Payment DIRECT DEBIT 215.65- 243.72
79 3/20/02 Telephone usage charges 278.64 522.36
80 3/20/02 VAT 48.76 571.12
81 3/04/02 2/05/02 Digital Supreme 27.5 598.62
82 3/04/02 2/05/02 Digital Direct Debit Cred 2.00- 596.62
83 3/04/02 2/05/02 TALK UNLIMITED 16 612.62
84 3/04/02 2/05/02 Line Rental 10 622.62
85 3/04/02 2/05/02 SurfUnlimited Charge 12 634.62
86 3/22/02 STATEMENT BALANCE 634.62 634.62
87 4/17/02 Telephone usage charges 0.1 634.72
88 4/17/02 VAT 0.02 634.74
89 3/05/02 2/06/02 Digital Supreme 27.5 662.24
90 3/05/02 2/06/02 Digital Direct Debit Cred 2.00- 660.24
91 3/05/02 2/06/02 TALK UNLIMITED 16 676.24
92 3/05/02 2/06/02 Line Rental 10 686.24
93 3/05/02 2/06/02 SurfUnlimited Charge 12 698.24
94 19/04/02 STATEMENT BALANCE 698.24 698.24
95 6/04/02 6/04/02 Additional Feature (18) 6 704.24
96 19/04/02 19/04/02 Additional Feature (18) 6 710.24
97 30/04/02 30/04/02 Additional Feature (18) 6 716.24
98 7/05/02 2/06/02 Line Rental 9.00- 707.24
99 7/05/02 2/06/02 Digital Supreme 24.75- 682.49
100 3/06/02 2/07/02 Digital Direct Debit Cred 2.00- 680.49
101 3/06/02 2/07/02 TALK UNLIMITED 16 696.49
102 3/06/02 2/07/02 SurfUnlimited Charge 12 708.49
103 21/05/02 STATEMENT BALANCE 708.49 708.49
104 13/06/02 REJECTED DIRECT DEBIT 215.65 924.14
105 14/06/02 2/07/02 Digital Direct Debit Cred 1.27 925.41
106 14/06/02 2/07/02 Talk Unlimited 10.13- 915.28
107 15/06/02 7/2/02 SurfUnlimited Charge 7.20- 908.08
108 18/06/02 STATEMENT BALANCE 908.08 908.08
109 MIGRATION DEFAULT 0 908.08
110 21/06/02 STATEMENT BALANCE 908.08 908.08
111 9/07/02 WRITE-OFF DEBIT 908.08- 0
112 19/07/02 STATEMENT BALANCE 0 0


They couldn't answer any question I've asked.

What is "Additional Feature (18)" ?

Why is the Telephone usage charges was incredibly high? (79 3/20/02 Telephone usage charges 278.64 522.36) how did that come to it when all of my phone usages was much much lesser in previous bill??

They couldn't tell me why they was still charging me when I recall giving the box back to them in Jan or Feb when we gotten fed up of them and their "computer glitches" when it comes to payment, I remember never cancelled D/D as it was a no no - hence trying to pay parts of it, in the post office.

What is SurfUnlimited?

Why still charging me when I also recall having no service in Dec/Jan?

These questions remained unanswered

Sorry it's long, thought I'd give a bit of it for readers/helpers to understand.

Thanks,

Caist

Kurtis_Blue

Caist74 wrote: »

They couldn't answer any question I've asked.

What is "Additional Feature (18)" ?
Thanks,

Caist

:kisses::kisses2::kisses3::grouphug:

spike7451

Surf Unlimited is,iirc,what they used to call the cable broadband package years ago when it first came out.Your charges are billed in arrears so your telco bill may be high because of this,same as any box office purchases & all the missed payment fees have just snowballed & have been added after you cancelled.
The reason it still shows as a negative balance on the SMS for your address,is NTL/VM,unlike Sky,do a credit check & because the is an outstanding balance,that cannot be cleared off the SMS until it is paid.It's an automatic feature of the SMS that VM & Sky use,that's why the SMS won't let you order.Even if it is paid/written off,VM may ask for a deposit before they supply you any services.

(SMS-Subsciber Management System)

macman

They can't pursue the original debt because of the time limit. But that does not mean they're under any obligation to provide you with a service now unless you 'voluntarily' pay the arrears (and probably pay a hefty upfront deposit).
Why did you cancel Sky before you had confirmed VM though?

Kurtis_Blue

macman wrote: »

They can't pursue the original debt because of the time limit. But that does not mean they're under any obligation to provide you with a service now unless you 'voluntarily' pay the arrears (and probably pay a hefty upfront deposit).
Why did you cancel Sky before you had confirmed VM though?

More importantly why do you want to go any where near them after this treatment? have you checked your credit record? that should really be the only issue here,

spike7451

The OP won't be able to get VM services until the debt is removed from the SMS & the only way that can be done is to pay up,spent or not.