Refused by virgin media

DEMONKNIGHT

Hi all,

I lost my job in IT in Jan, the Company is no more.
I am now Bankrupt.
I need Broadband for my work and have tried the Tmobile dongle with 2gb but I always run out about the 13th and it's prohibitive.
I am in rented accomodation and don't want the expense of a Landline and then Broadband, I checked with VM and I can have 10mb BB on a 12 contract, I applied expecting to be turned down which I was, I then made an offer to pay the whole 12 months in one go, they checked and said this wasn't possible, I escalated this and spoke with a Supervisor who agreed that I had made a resonable request but they still couldn't (wouldn 't) do it.
I stated that I only wanted BB no other services and they could block my account so no changes could be made and after 12 months I would return there equipment to them, also I would pay the £40 installation fee.
I feel badly treated (discriminated?), any suggestions?
Thanks,
DEMON

spike7451

VM are the only provider (that I know of) who credit score a customer,it sounds to me like your bankrupcy has gone against you with the credit scoring agency they use.

Sometimes they do ask for a deposit in cases where someone doesn't have good credit.I'd write or email their head office & try it that way.
Good luck,
Spike

Tropez

You're not being discriminated against as no company is required to provide its products/services to somebody if it doesn't want to and as you have most likely failed the credit check, even with your offer of paying fully in advance, there isn't much else you can do if Virgin don't want to supply you with a broadband line, except perhaps making the offer in writing and explaining your situation in full to Virgin's head office (address should be on the website somewhere) but even then there is no guarantee that they will be willing to come to an arrangement.

What you need to remember is that Virgin's computers are flagging you as an unsafe customer and call centre staff and supervisors alone may not have the necessary authority to make an overriding decision against the computer. It is no different than with other forms of credit, if you're being flagged as being unsuitable for a particular product/service, then only somebody with the proper authority within that business is able to make the decision to overrule what its system is saying. In this case, I would wager you need to go pretty high, but there is a possibility that Virgin's own internal policy will not allow for such deals anyway.

At £21 per month just for broadband you could probably find an acceptable landline and broadband deal with somebody like TalkTalk or BT (depending on who has their LLU set up in your area) for roughly the same price.

darkblue_2

VM are the only provider (that I know of) who credit score a customer

I think it's more unusual not to credit check. BT do it, too. Given that they are the biggest - they've pretty much got the market covered.

You might be better looking at contract dongles with no download limit.

Tropez

spike7451 wrote: »

VM are the only provider (that I know of) who credit score a customer

O2 appear to do it as well for broadband. I took up O2's broadband due to the good deals (at the time, not so much now) for existing pay monthly mobile customers and my credit report showed that O2 had searched it shortly after I placed the order - even though I was already a mobile customer for five years.

DEMONKNIGHT

So I would struggle getting any contract for phone/BB, dongles it is then.

spike7451

Tropez wrote: »

O2 appear to do it as well for broadband. I took up O2's broadband due to the good deals (at the time, not so much now) for existing pay monthly mobile customers and my credit report showed that O2 had searched it shortly after I placed the order - even though I was already a mobile customer for five years.

It's the last step in 'the shop' that O2 use for online processing of orders (I worked for them for a few months last year) but for some purchases the credit check isn't taken into account or as seriously as ,say, trying to buy a IPhone.

Tropez

spike7451 wrote: »

It's the last step in 'the shop' that O2 use for online processing of orders (I worked for them for a few months last year) but for some purchases the credit check isn't taken into account or as seriously as ,say, trying to buy a IPhone.

Ah, I see. Thank you for the information. That makes sense.

Tropez

DEMONKNIGHT wrote: »

So I would struggle getting any contract for phone/BB, dongles it is then.

You might struggle but it doesn't mean that it is impossible.

You just need to present your case to somebody high enough in the chain at a broadband supplier and see what they say. The worst that they can say is no but there may be a company willing to help you out.

DEMONKNIGHT

Will I be able to get a Contract dongle?

darkblue_2

I don't see why not. It's worth a shot. It's only going to add a search to your credit file, so there's no real difference. They're removed after 6 months anyway.