Virgin Media disgusting practices

TheCoz

Hi there,

Need some advice on the terrors that are virgin media.

A little backstory,

Basically, my grandfather passed in late october, I was staying with him as a part time carer while working full time aswell. He has had virgin media services for around 12 months before he passed.

Now, I informed virgin media of this, and we arranged a transfer, I decided to keep all the services he had, while we sold the house.

I verbally agree'd to change over the contract to my name, However, I received no agreement via post or contact to sign. I informed them that I would be a short term residency there due to the fact the house should be sold within the next 4 months.

Today, I have called them to cancel, as I have left the property and I am staying with friends til I can find somewhere to live.

They are charging me £240 to disconnect + my final bill + £400 for a tivo box I couldnt take with me due to having 3 days to leave the property (hopefully the person who purchased the house is able to return this to me)

I pleaded my case with the agent on the phone to no avail. I said I would of never agree'd to these contract terms over the phone and I know charges for all this was never actually mentioned, I also received nothing in the post regarding this.

Do I have a leg to stand on? or are virgin going to get away with charging me over £600 for 3 months of service?

Thanks, any advice would be amazingly helpful

eddddy

Hi TheCoz

Condolences for the death of your grandfather.

I guess your grandfather agreed to Virgin Media's terms and conditions when he signed up - including the disconnection fee, and the fee for not returning the box.

If you asked for the agreement to be transferred to you, you would be taking on those same terms and conditions. They probably don't have a legal duty to tell you the t&cs all over again.

But are you sure it was transferred to you? Their t&cs say they would have confirmed that in writing:

This agreement is personal to you and you may not transfer your account or any of your rights and responsibilities under this agreement without our written agreement.

If the agreement is still in your grandfather's name, the money due should come from his estate. And it should be paid by his executors.

The only other option is to see if they will reduce the fee as a gesture of goodwill, but it sounds like you've tried that.

macman

They will certainly charge you for the box, which is leased and remains VM's property, and must be returned at the end of the contract. Why in 3 days could you not unplug and retain it?

Buzby

You complicated things by transferring. You could have kept the services running by paying them yourself directly without transferring the contract. The fact you did made you their new client, and there was no need to do this as if you terminated the new owner would simply take on the services they wanted.

The practice is reasonable as you took on the commitment - but for all the wrong reasons.

VisionMan

If you think you were duped into this, ask them to listen to the call.

But I agree with all the above. That 'transfer' was actually a new full term contract in your name. You should have just kept the original contract (and term) running, with you being the executor of it.

CKhalvashi

Legally, I'd say they're correct, unless you've been told that it's the same contract continuing.

Morally, I'd say not, so complain, and see how you get on.