Cancelling Virgin contract after 4 months

gia1

I have had Virgin media since February (big mistake) I have TV, phone and broadband, since I've had it my house phone is not working I've called to tell them the phone is not working and they have said I need to make sure it's not my actual phone, otherwise if they send an engineer and it is my phone they will charge me. I am not going to buy another phone to please them, anyway I had a go at them and an engineer is coming out. Is there anyway I can cancel my Virgin media as they have said they will provide me with a service and are not is that not a breach of contract? I really want out, it's just been peoems from
The start, please help.

Kurtis_Blue

They are providing a service, if the phone is experiencing a fault they are visiting to fix. No different to any other service provider.

They probably didn't expect you to buy a new phone, just take it to a friend or family members house to quickly rule out a common problem.

gia1

No no, they are not providing a service which I am paying £15.99 a month for.

alleycat`

Honestly they are just informing you that if the fault is found to be with your equipment then there will be a service charge to you for sending the engineer.

Borrowing a phone to make sure the fault isn't in your home is a sensible suggestion on their part. You will go ballistic if they find it's your equipment / internal wiring at fault and they then charge you for the engineer visit and any remedial work he has to perform.

If you are 100% confident the fault is not yours and the engineer proves it to be the case then you are probably entitled to some service credits if/when they prove that is the case (depending on when the fault originated).

Based on your original post i don't see anything stated that would allow you to leave your contract early based on unreasonable behaviour on VM's part.

JJ_Egan

gia1 wrote: »

No no, they are not providing a service which I am paying £15.99 a month for.

So you have proved the no service by using another phone ??

Kurtis_Blue

Yes Yes, they are providing your services as per the T&C you agreed to, if there is a break in service then you are due a pro rata refund for the lost service.
Sadly the contract you agreed to does not allow early termination due to a gap in service.

Nilrem

As has been said, they're providing the service, willing to fix any problems, and warning you that if it's down to your equipment you can be charged for the call out.

Given I've had to go round friends houses to help sort out their phones and found that the batteries in a remote handset are dead, or the kitten/rabbit/dog has chewed a cable it's not unreasonable for them to ask you to check the phone isn't at fault.

For example unplugging any extensions (so only the master socket is in use), and if you've got wired and wireless handsets check the two phones one at a time.

You can pick up a cheap new phone for under a fiver, or if you're on reasonable terms with your neighbours you can probably borrow one from them to perform a check.

All phone providers in the UK will tend to charge you if you call them for a fault and it turns out to be your equipment causing the problem, as their contract is for the phoneline, not to fix your equipment.
All VM are doing is telling you to make sure it is the line, and warning of the possibility of a charge (as I think they're legally obliged to do).

gia1

So I bought a phone plugged it in and guess what no dial tone.
3 months without a phone. Thanks virgin

Kurtis_Blue

Remember to claim for the missing service time.

browniej

gia1 wrote: »

So I bought a phone plugged it in and guess what no dial tone.
3 months without a phone. Thanks virgin

So why couldn't you have done this back in February? If you had, it would have been fixed long ago.

How did you expect them to fix it if you wouldn't allow them to come out in case you were charged?

Nilrem

gia1 wrote: »

I have had Virgin media since February (big mistake) I have TV, phone and broadband, since I've had it my house phone is not working I've called to tell them the phone is not working and they have said I need to make sure it's not my actual phone, otherwise if they send an engineer and it is my phone they will charge me. I am not going to buy another phone to please them, anyway I had a go at them and an engineer is coming out. Is there anyway I can cancel my Virgin media as they have said they will provide me with a service and are not is that not a breach of contract? I really want out, it's just been peoems from
The start, please help.

gia1 wrote: »

So I bought a phone plugged it in and guess what no dial tone.
3 months without a phone. Thanks virgin

I'm afraid that the 3 months without a phone sounds to be down to your refusal to do basic tests (that all telecoms providers ask for).
If you had tried a different phone, or "risked" a charge (if you were that sure it was the phone line and not your phone) it could probably have been fixed within a day.

When I've had VM and BT out to fix phones (at least since we were allowed to use our own phones*), there has always been the warning about if it's your equipment.

When I had a problem with the phone line about a year ago it took under 24 hours for VM to fix it.
Mind you the first thing I did was to try the fixed line phone on it's own, and then the cordless phone on it's own** (thus ruling out one of them causing the fault), and was able to answer the "have you tried a different phone" question with an affirmative.


*Anyone else remember when you had to rent the phone from Bt?


**One of the primary reasons I have a £3 Aldi special phone is that it's handy for testing or if the cordless phone dies (it also works in a power cut).