Virgin Media Default

stephaniem30

Hi Everyone

I had an incorrect virgin media default registered to my name from a previous address, only noticed after being rejected for a mortgage last year.

Finally after months of phoning and getting nowhere, as no one i spoke to seen any problem with the account which was closed with no balance, i finally spoke with head of customer relations who personally emailed the three CRA's to remove which was done within 2 weeks. That was Oct 2012,

Check my experian today and its back showing as a default, registered with yesterdays date?!?! I am so confused as the mess took ages to sort out and Virgin media admitted there was no balance and no reason for the default in the 1st place,

Anyone ever experienced this? Phoned experian, less than helpful, basically said their info comes from Virgin media and to contact them, the thought of starting this argument with them fills me with dread, i have not lived in the house for 4 years and have no username/password with them which seems to confuse them even more !

Any advice much appreciated,

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

Don't forget to discuss the level of compensation you require from Virgin Media for this fiasco. Call or write to customer relations stating you want compensation. Bearing in mind it affected a mortgage application this sum should be sizeable and if I were you I would be prepared to use the small claims court to achieve it if VM prove to be sticky.

In my family there was a case like this when they were NTL. Incorrect default on a phantom account set up In error along side the proper paid up account. Only noticed when a credit application failed. Back then no one in NTL knew which department dealt with pushing data to Experian and allegedly the relevant people didn't speak to the public. Similar buck passing. Experian said speak to NTL, NTL said speak to Experian. Eventually the default was removed but kept returning each month NTL updated files like you have experienced. Took over a year to sort out.

The sooner the CRA reporting systems are better regulated the better. The ICO is a toothless tiger. There should be a structured system of instant fines for file errors paid to customers and a proper structured compensation scheme for damages caused by error reporting by firms. If they don't like that system then don't broadcast data to CRAs.

stephaniem30

Hi

thank you so much for your reply, your experience sounds the exact same! Its so upsetting having to sort out others mess and the impact its had on my future so far! I agree with you on the compensation, its cost me hundreds in fee's so far not to mention the stress,

They really do have no clue when i phone which dept i need and automatically transfer me to collections/debt dept who always come back and say i owe nothing!

Will prepare myself to start teh daily telephone calls to them!

Thanks again,

A_Flock_Of_Sheep

stephaniem30 wrote: »

Hi

thank you so much for your reply, your experience sounds the exact same! Its so upsetting having to sort out others mess and the impact its had on my future so far! I agree with you on the compensation, its cost me hundreds in fee's so far not to mention the stress,

They really do have no clue when i phone which dept i need and automatically transfer me to collections/debt dept who always come back and say i owe nothing!

Will prepare myself to start teh daily telephone calls to them!

Thanks again,

Maybe write to customer relations with a letter before action telling them to remove the incorrect default forthwith and state that you require proportionate compensation not greater than £5,000. Give them the statutory 14 days to come up with an offer and if the don't file an court form N1 and state that the sum due is not more than £5,000 and let a judge decide on the value. Before it goes to court will be the mediation stage and you know at every turn VM are being inconvenienced coming up with defences and they will have to dance to your tune and deadlines. The firm will need no respond within 14 days to either defend all the claim or come up with a figure.

This is what my nephew would have done in hindsight now.

ladymarmalade222

Just give me a minute Stephanie and I will PM you a couple of email addresses who will do their best to get to the bottom of VM mess ups.

I have had months and months of crap service and every time I email using these contacts I get a call of apology, a ref number and direct telephone number to contact them if the problem persists.

This time they sent out a more senior technician who was here around 2hrs to investigate and are replacing all my cables externally and internally to try and sort the issue out.

I have also had around £350 in goodwill payments in recent months so it does pay to persevere.