Moving home / getting broadband whilst BR

Raphael

dojoman wrote: »

As for Virgin media try this number below and ask for complaints, don`t bother with customer services, I have done this in the past and always had a satisfactory outcome with them. 01256 752000

Thanks I'll try that. The last (unhelpful) person I spoke to refused to give me a number or address for complaints, she just said "go to the website and get in touch there" (great, especially when you've no longer got good internet access!).

Because I didn't want to give my notice for my current flat until I had a new place for sure (I didn't want to be homeless again, I'd had trouble finding somewhere I liked who would also take me and didn't want to take a lease on a place I didn't really like just cos I had no other choice), I ended up having a month overlap, which was needed anyway to sort many things and clean the flat in depth.

I'd phoned Virgin Media asking to be connected at the new place as soon as possible, thinking it'd be OK with a month overlap. I told them the new place had a Telewest box there already, but they couldn't find any trace of it in their systerm, and kept saying they needed my landlord's approval, they were meant to have sent a letter for that, but the agency said they'd never received anything (as I said before it's a small agency, and there's only one person in the office working 3 days a week and she said she was used to those requests but hadn't received one for my flat, and would keep me informed straightaway if she did receive one).

I phoned again and they claimed they were waiting for the authorisation form to get back, so I asked them to confirm the address they'd sent it to, they refused to tell me (the first guy who'd dealt with it spoke really bad English and kept asking me if I was renting from the council, and mentioning the council even after I'd given him the agency's details!), and asked me for the details again, but the agency never received anything that time either!

The 3rd time I phoned, the person I spoke to told me it was no wonder, since I wasn't on the ground floor, what they needed was my downstairs' neighbour's approval!

By that point, it was a couple of days before my last day at the old flat (I'd left the computer there till the last minute since I work from home and need to be online, I'd just go there nearly every day to do what needed to be done, had to get a cab for my PC etc on the very last day, will VM reimburse me that?), so I asked for it to be disconnected cos someone else might move in, and I was informed that because I hadn't given them 30 days' notice I would still be charged for another 30 days.

I said I needed to be disconnected anyway, but wanted to make a complaint and get a refund of my advance charges, and she just told me to go to the website for that. That was on 26th April.

But because I really wanted to get connected I knocked on my downstairs neighbour's door, an elderly woman who didn't quite understand what I was on about but said she had no problem with it and would happily sign and return the form.

So I called VM again to give them my neighbour's details, and the person I spoke to that time asked me for my landlord's details again; when I mentioned I'd been asked for my neighbour's details, she said she'd have to check with her supervisor, who confirmed that I now needed authorisation from BOTH. But the letting agency still hadn't received the form in question!

I gave up and was about to try Sky, when I got an unexpected sales call from VM the day after my services at the old flat got disconnected: "I see you just got your services disconnected cos you're moving out, would you like to get your new flat connected with VM?"
My desperate answer was along the lines of: "I've been trying to for 5 weeks, can you work miracles?

And it finally happened! Had to wait another 2 weeks cos the subcontracted engineers couldn't come in any earlier, but when the guy got here he found out it was a piece of !!!! since there was a Telewest box anyway, he was really nice and gave me a new modem since my old modem was playing up (wireless modem for the first time!), and my new bill seems to be lower now!

But the direct debit still took full price today for my old internet connection, supposedly covering charges until June! I want my money back, and more!

Raphael

dojoman wrote: »

As for Virgin media try this number below and ask for complaints, don`t bother with customer services, I have done this in the past and always had a satisfactory outcome with them. 01256 752000

Thanks I'll try that. The last (unhelpful) person I spoke to refused to give me a number or address for complaints, she just said "go to the website and get in touch there" (great, especially when you've no longer got good internet access!).

Because I didn't want to give my notice for my current flat until I had a new place for sure (I didn't want to be homeless again, I'd had trouble finding somewhere I liked who would also take me and didn't want to take a lease on a place I didn't really like just cos I had no other choice), I ended up having a month overlap, which was needed anyway to sort many things and clean the flat in depth.

I'd phoned Virgin Media asking to be connected at the new place as soon as possible, thinking it'd be OK with a month overlap. I told them the new place had a Telewest box there already, but they couldn't find any trace of it in their systerm, and kept saying they needed my landlord's approval, they were meant to have sent a letter for that, but the agency said they'd never received anything (as I said before it's a small agency, and there's only one person in the office working 3 days a week and she said she was used to those requests but hadn't received one for my flat, and would keep me informed straightaway if she did receive one).

I phoned again and they claimed they were waiting for the authorisation form to get back, so I asked them to confirm the address they'd sent it to, they refused to tell me (the first guy who'd dealt with it spoke really bad English and kept asking me if I was renting from the council, and mentioning the council even after I'd given him the agency's details!), and asked me for the details again, but the agency never received anything that time either!

The 3rd time I phoned, the person I spoke to told me it was no wonder, since I wasn't on the ground floor, what they needed was my downstairs' neighbour's approval!

By that point, it was a couple of days before my last day at the old flat (I'd left the computer there till the last minute since I work from home and need to be online, I'd just go there nearly every day to do what needed to be done, had to get a cab for my PC etc on the very last day, will VM reimburse me that?), so I asked for it to be disconnected cos someone else might move in, and I was informed that because I hadn't given them 30 days' notice I would still be charged for another 30 days.

I said I needed to be disconnected anyway, but wanted to make a complaint and get a refund of my advance charges, and she just told me to go to the website for that. That was on 26th April.

But because I really wanted to get connected I knocked on my downstairs neighbour's door, an elderly woman who didn't quite understand what I was on about but said she had no problem with it and would happily sign and return the form.

So I called VM again to give them my neighbour's details, and the person I spoke to that time asked me for my landlord's details again; when I mentioned I'd been asked for my neighbour's details, she said she'd have to check with her supervisor, who confirmed that I now needed authorisation from BOTH. But the letting agency still hadn't received the form in question!

I gave up and was about to try Sky, when I got an unexpected sales call from VM the day after my services at the old flat got disconnected: "I see you just got your services disconnected cos you're moving out, would you like to get your new flat connected with VM?"
My desperate answer was along the lines of: "I've been trying to for 5 weeks, can you make miracles?

And it finally happened! Had to wait another 2 weeks cos the subcontracted engineers couldn't come in any earlier, but when the guy got here he found out it was a piece of !!!! since there was a Telewest box anyway, he was really nice and gave me a new modem since my old modem was playing up (wireless modem for the first time!), and my new bill seems to be lower now!

But the direct debit still took full price today for my old internet connectio, supposedly covering charges until June! I want my money back, and more!

Ineedaname

I don't remember Raphael, but are you in receipt of Housing Benefits? If so and you can get a letter from your new agents stating you HAD to move in by xx date in order to take the property, then it's possible to get HB covered on both properties for the overlap. No guarantee, but always worth a try.

Keep at it with VM, get your money back because they should have been doing a transfer of the service anyway and not a separate disconnect and new account connection. With a transfer you effectively give notice on the old address as you ask for the service to be connected at the new address. It doesn't necessarily mean a smoother delivery or loss of any downtime, but you shouldn't be charged twice in the same month at the least.