Virgin

smeddum07

Just want to ask a quick question to the MSE people! I have had virgin TiVo for a bit now due to there fault (they admitted and refunded) we missed a direct debit and it got cancelled. now I want to re set up and have a zero balance however they are saying it must be 27 I don't get paid till 30 there refusing to put this on, therefore there forcing an unfair charge that I can't avoid this must be illegal! What can I do about it Bar there helpful advice have money on the 27th

[Deleted User]

smeddum07 wrote: »

I want to re set up and have a zero balance however they are saying it must be 27th I don't get paid till 30 there refusing to put this on, therefore there forcing an unfair charge that I can't avoid this must be illegal! What can I do about it

You'd have to pay two months in advance I think. Best to ring them and try to haggle, but you're in a weak position if you've missed payments in the past.
If I really could only keep the money in my account for such a short period, I'd be asking myself if I can truly afford Virgin's TV service at all.

smeddum07

I didn't miss a payment they tried to take money on the day before it was agreed therefore cancelling the agreement has I said they have admitted responsibility and we are up to date, however it is (ignoring my views on the unfair and unreasonable direct debit charges) them refusing to set up a direct debit that is workable that is stopping this from going through! Get plenty of money each month to afford all bills just need the service being charged on pay day each month what we agreed on when we signed up!

macman

Clearly VM are being absurdly inflexible on the DD date. However if your earnings are good ('plenty of money each month') but your cashflow is still that tight, is subscription TV really a good idea?
What happens (worst case) if you were to lose your job? That will not allow you to void any remaining minimum term contract.

spike7451

If the payment hasn't cleared onto his account (this can take a few days) the system wont let payment details to be modified until it has.

mazza111

When I worked for them, it was a while ago... The systems wouldn't allow you to change a DD date until after the first payment had been taken that way. Basically what you'll need to do is pay the first one by DD a few days early(their set date), then call them up and change the date for the next one. Will mean you will have a bill slightly higher due the date change due to pro rata charges.

Buzby

Actually your DD does not have an 'agreed date'. It is any date and amount, and depending on weekends and holidays you can expect a payment to be taken up to 4 days 'early' or 'late' (but in true, it is never late).

It is not illegal (yet) but they and other firms engineered the payment system to force folk unwillingly into paying by DD as it was the only way to keep costs down. You payment date is set at the start and cannot be changed, but if your money is tight that you have nothing in your account at the month end, I'd avoid a DD, as when it goes wrong - the costs for failed payments are another money-spinner.....

smeddum07

Too not go to far into my personal life me and my partner can cover bills plus extras (we can be pretty bad!) but work in two weeks since I get paid during the month her at the end, it's not the first dd since we had it set up and paying happily with it! I know about dd when was younger I got hit with it essential company's like it cause they can just put there hand in ur account whenever they want! Is my only option to cowtow (sp?) to them and keep money over screwing up our planned spending! I am going to make an official complaint because there staff we're so rude!