Charged by Virgin for calls to Lyca

cipdia

Hello,

I HAVE BEEN CHARGED FOR CALLS MADE TO LYCA MOBILE ALTHOUGH I STILL HAD MINUTES LEFT IN MY ALLOWANCE. THE CHARGES ARE APX £27. I'VE CONTACTED VIRGIN 3 TIMES TODAY, SPEAKING TO EVERYONE FROM CUSTOMER ADVISER TO SUPERVISORS TO MANAGERS AND THEY ALL TOLD THE SAME STORY: NUMBERS STARTING WITH 0740 ARE NOT INCLUDED IN MY ALLOWANCE, I ASKED THEM HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT IT BUT THEY KEPT REPEATING THE SAME SENTENCE OVER AND OVER AGAIN, IT WAS LIKE LISTENING TO A BROKEN TAPE. I TRIED TO EXPLAIN THAT THERE IS NO INFORMATION ABOUT THIS IN MY CONTRACT OR ON THEIR WEBSITE. NOTHING, SAME SENTENCE AGAIN, THEY UNDERSTAND MY PROBLEM BUT THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. I CONTACTED LYCA WHO SAID THAT IT'S NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM AND THAT I SHOULD TAKE THIS MATTER WITH OFCOM. I CALLED VIRGIN AGAIN AND STILL THEY WON'T REFUND ME.

WHAT DO I DO NOW?

THANKS IN ADVANCE.

CIPRIAN

m0jo

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO WRITE IN CAPS?

Never heard of lyca, depends on the T&C's of the tariff you've undertaken. What tarriff or T&C's have you got?

cipdia

There's nothing in T&C about this. They said it's a problem between them and Lyca, something to do with the numbers provided by Lyca not being registered as mobile numbers. So am I the one that has to pay. All I know is that I still had minutes in my allowance and that I have called a number starting with 0740, digits that refer to a uk mobile number, it wasn't 0845 or similar. They state on their website:

"You can use the minutes and texts in your bundle to call UK landlines (that's numbers starting 01, 02 or 03) and on all other UK mobile networks."

Since Lyca Mobile said they are a registered UK mobile network why is Virgin so stubborn in refunding the money.

OneADay

Some explanation HERE.

Virgin I think use T-mobile network and t-mobile have a problem with 0740 numbers.

chattychappy

See also: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/30882147#Comment_30882147

Don't see what the point of having regulators is when this kind of thing can happen, they know it's happening, and they do little about it.

In my case (on T-Mobile) I got charges refunded and then my contract expired anyway.

cipdia

chattychappy you're lucky.

To be honest no matter what the outcome is, I'll cancel the contract as soon as I am able to do it.

I have sent Virgin a final e-mail. If this doesn't work I'll call Ofcom and Otelo, although as you said their influence is 0 so I'm not optimistic about it. I'll just end up canceling the DD because I'm not going to pay for their conflicts (Virgin & Lyca)

Thanks.

ShaneUK

cipdia wrote: »

chattychappy you're lucky.

To be honest no matter what the outcome is, I'll cancel the contract as soon as I am able to do it.

I have sent Virgin a final e-mail. If this doesn't work I'll call Ofcom and Otelo, although as you said their influence is 0 so I'm not optimistic about it. I'll just end up canceling the DD because I'm not going to pay for their conflicts (Virgin & Lyca)

Thanks.

That is a bad move - don't do that, it can/will affect your credit score.

Keep harrassing them until they back down.