VirginMedia binding contract?

Sabal

I have been a VirginMedia customer for broadband since September 2012. I signed an agreement for £22.50 per month for 9 months on a promotional student contract.
After 5 or 6 months, I received a letter stating an increase to £24.50 per month, saying "but if you are on a promotional offer, we'll honor it".
I called them, but they said that my "promotional student contract" was not a "promotional offer" (?) and therefore the increase would take effect.
It was only £2 more, so my housemates and I didn't really bother and just paid the new price.

Then, in July 2013 I moved house and I asked VirginMedia to move the contract with me. First of all, they closed my previous account and gave me a new account number - they said that was routine in the case of moving house but, after what happened recently, I am starting to think it was a fishy move.
When I called them, I asked them whether there were discounts for existing customer. After a bit of bargaining, the guy said that he could offer me a £18/month contract, so I accepted.

I then had to wait a week to have them sort out the Internet, because apparently there was somebody else registered in the flat, so they put my name under another flat in the same house as a "temporary" measure. This only caused more problems and it took them a week to finally have the Internet working!
In the meanwhile I received a copy of the paper contract, saying the monthly fee would be £22.50. I phoned them again, but spoke with a different person this time (I couldn't get hold of the same guy anymore), and she said that it was impossible that somebody had agreed to give me a £18 a month. And that the very minimum fee she could give me would have been £18.65 a month.
I said that was ok, and she said that I would be receiving a new contract soon.
I waited for two or three days, but no contract came. On the afternoon I was going to leave for vacation and I would be away for a while, so I phoned them again to explain the situation and make it clear that I had not received the correct contract yet.
Again, the guy on the phone told me not to worry and that the contract would be coming soon.

I was then away, and I only came back two days ago.
I phoned VirginMedia again, because there was no new contract to await me upon my return.
They now told me that it would have been impossible to get that price, and in their database the fee apparead to be, still, £22.50. I asked them how to cancel the service then, because this is not what we had agreed upon.
They said I would have to pay a £86 penalty fee for cancellation, even though I never signed any contract, because the use of the service constituted a contract by itself.
At the same time, she was also trying to convince me to stay with them, claiming that our Internet usage in August was 75GB and I wouldn't get that from a phone-line provider!
This is a ridiculous claim, because I only came back two days ago, my housemate has been here for only 5 days before me, and the router was switched off for the rest of the month of August as well as more than half of July!

How is this possible? Am I really bound into a contract even though we haven't even used the Internet, apart from this last week?? (the router was switched off while we were away)

Thanks in advance.

macman

You were in a new minimum term from the moment you accepted the offer-no cooling-off period.
There is never a requirement to sign a contract, a verbal contract is just as valid.
Your defence here is that the extension was mis-sold. But proving that may be the hard part.

Sabal

macman wrote: »

You were in a new minimum term from the moment you accepted the offer-no cooling-off period.
There is never a requirement to sign a contract, a verbal contract is just as valid.
Your defence here is that the extension was mis-sold. But proving that may be the hard part.

Thank you, macman.
What is not clear to me still is why the contract is valid when we agreed on £18 a month and they are making me pay a different amount. Our verbal agreement was £18, not £22.50.

robert_harper_2000

I've too just had a letter through the post. The price is going up £30 a year due to 'Market Correction' even said it isn't Virgin putting the price up it is the market. lol - surely they can't just up the prices agreed and then keep you to the contract?