Help with a letter of complaint to Virgin Media

donxkey

Hello,

I have recently been left feeling very annoyed and upset by Virgin Media, so much so that it prompted me to write to them to complain. However I know that in the heat of the moment people tend to fly off the handle and get too emotionally involved in the situation. I was just hoping you could read through my letter and see whether you think it will be taken seriously and if you could give me any tips to make sure it is. I really don't want anyone to end up in the situation I have been in. I know that friends in the past have had problems with them too, I just really wish they would do something about it.

Anyhow, here is my letter, constructive critisism is encouraged!

In the final draft I will include my customer account number, the tracking number of the parcel and my contact details

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Dear Sir / Madam

I am writing to complain about the unacceptable way you handled the delivery of my broadband instillation package.

I was told to expect my package to arrive on Friday 24th September between the hours of 7:00am and 5:00pm. I took the entire day off of work in order to be able to accept the delivery.

I had not received the parcel or any information about it by 4:30pm and so I decided to give your customer service department a ring. I was on hold for about 8 minutes, which I was expecting. I first spoke to Ritu (I apologise if I spell any of your employees names wrong but they did not spell them out to me) she told me she would put me through to the installation department. She then hung up on me. This I was not expecting.

I phoned back and experienced some more of your hold music before getting through to someone who did not give their name before transferring me to the installations department again. I was on hold for another ten minutes or so before once again being cut off.

I phoned once more and spoke to Shrita who told me not to worry, the package was definitely scheduled for delivery between1pm and 6pm. Interesting as you may remember I had previously been told the package would be delivered anytime between 7:00am and 5:00pm. If I had known not to expect the package before 1pm I could have gone into the work for the morning.

By the time 6pm arrived my parcel still had not. I called your customer service team once again and spoke to Jessica. She is the only shining light of good customer service in this ridiculous situation. She noticed I was on my mobile phone and immediately offered to call me back to save me money. She told me the tracking number for my parcel and gave me the telephone number of HDNL so I could contact them; she then transferred my call to them, so I could find out where it was.

If I thought your customer service was not up to scratch I was in for a shock with HDNL. The lady I spoke to sounded entirely irritated by me and did not seem to want to help me in the slightest. She informed me my parcel had been sent to the wrong depot and so was being shipped back to the correct depot. I asked when I could expect redelivery as I worked full time and would have to book another day off. She told me she did not know. I asked her if she could please help me to work out what to do next. She said the only thing I could do was keep constantly checking the HDNL website until I noticed the package was back at the depot and then phone to organise redelivery.

On the 26th of September a lady from Virgin Media phoned me to ask if I received my parcel okay. I let her know that I hadn’t and so she reorganised delivery for me on Friday 1st October.

On the 27th of September I received a text message from HDNL to say my parcel was on its way and it would be with me between the hours of 2:30 and 5:30. As I had told your employees several times before, I work full time. I have to book time off if I am not going to be at work for the day. I was told by your team that my package would be redelivered on Friday 1st October so that is the day I booked off. There would be no one home to receive a package on the 27th September. I understand that they may have been trying to be helpful by getting the package out to me again as quickly as possible but as I have already explained it was pointless for them to be trying to deliver it on the 27th.

I phoned your customer service department again and spoke to Anshu. He informed me that his system shows my item will indeed be delivered on Friday as I had asked. I asked him to explain why I had received a text message saying otherwise. He put me on hold so he could speak to his manager. He explained I would have to phone HDNL and speak to them about it. I told him surely Virgin Media should have contacted HDNL to make sure my package was delivered on Friday 1st. He told me there was nothing he could do, it was down to me.

I phoned HDNL again. I was told the package was on the way to me. I would receive a calling card as they would be unable to deliver the item without a signature. I would then have to phone them again to give the number on the calling card and rearrange delivery.

I am really upset about the fact that I wasted an entire day and will now have to take another day off work in order to receive this installation package. It is also clear that there is a lack of communication between your team and the team at your delivery company. I do not think it should be down to me, the customer, to run around chasing this up and trying to reorganise a delivery, especially as it is not my fault that the parcel did not reach me on the date I expected. I have been a customer of Virgin Media in the past and you have always given me good customer service. They way I was treated really shocked me.

I ask that you review who you use as your delivery company. If they are not going to deliver an item on the day they are supposed to then I suggest that they ring the customer as soon as they know. It might also be worth you looking into some more in depth customer service training so that your other customers do not end up in the situation I am in. I feel that it is not unreasonable of me to expect compensation for this inconvenience, at the very least a refund for the delivery fee and reimbursement of phone bills. I await your suggestions on how we can clear up this situation.

Thank you
Clare

williham

If you send an email in someone from headoffice will ring back within a couple of days and arrange some compensation for you. If you send a letter you probably will have to wait ages.

Have had experience of 2 installations going wrong and they sorted both to my satisfaction.

guspoppy

My boyfriend had problems with virgin for weeks. I contacted them to sort it out as he wasnt getting anywhere with them. I said I was with Sky and they immediatly appologized and problem was sorted within minutes. Also got a free upgrade on his broadband for inconvenience.

DCFC79

You shouldnt be going back and forth between virgin and hdnl, surely virgin should contact hdnl

talulahbeige_2

Given my various experiences of VM incompetence I'd hold off complaining until it's all installed and working correctly.
Just continue to keep detailed recrods until then.

Mk14:37

Yawn yawn yawn. I couldn't get through all this, and I suspect anyone reading it at VM won't either. Don't get me wrong, I've been there with Virgin and I totally sympathise, but you have to make this readable.

Condense it down and keep it to the point. Instead of, "I first spoke to Ritu (I apologise if I spell any of your employees names wrong but they did not spell them out to me)" - do agents ever spell their names? - Try, "I first spoke to Ritu (spelling uncertain).

"I phoned back and experienced some more of your hold music before getting through to someone who did not give their name before transferring me to the installations department again. I was on hold for another ten minutes or so before once again being cut off. "

Or - I called back and was cut off once more.

"If I thought your customer service was not up to scratch I was in for a shock with HDNL."

Are you writing a letter of complaint, or some sort of comedic rant, like the Virgin Airways food chap?! (if it's a comedic rant, then it's still not very good!)


Have a go at summarising the key issues, cut out the fluff and you might get a result!