Desperate Virgin Media Problem

absvicandmark

I have a desperate problem with Virgin Media which started at the beginning of the year.

I signed up for the 3 for £30 package (tel,net and tv) and paid a one off fee and direct debit setup. After receiving my 1st bill which was wrong I cancelled my direct debit and opted to pay via my card every month instead.
After a couple of months V.M cancelled all sky channels and after watching watchdog was told I could cancel V.M if I cancelled by the end of March (even if a 12mnth contract was orginally held). I sent email and a recorded delivery letter to ask to cancel my services. I received an email response saying they were busy but would contact me within 5 days and that any cancellations would be effective 30 days after the email was sent.

However, a couple of months down the line my connection was still active and they were still sending me bills. After numerous phone calls I told V.M i would not pay anymore bills until they sent me a final bill stating exactly what I owed. After this about a month later I moved to a new address (and informed V.M too).

Now, im still receiving bills even though I dont live at my old address and even court threatening letters. I was eventually assigned a personal account manager which when I spoke to her was very rude and basically said I was still using the service so I should still pay!!! They were the ones who left it on!!! She said she couldnt cancel my service until I made a payment which I refused to do until I had it in writing that they would cancel it. She said she couldnt do this until I made a payment aka, a vicious circle.

It is now september, they are sending court letters to my old address (even though they got my new address and my phone number).

i dont know what to do as dont want to pay up as I dont think that the charges they have against me are fair. I have recorded delivery slips and records of letters sent and emails so what do I do now. The last letter I received (thanks to the new occupants of my old address not handing letters over straight away) was dates 8th august and this was from a solictor saying they were preparing court action.
I feel I should go to court to explain my position and how badly treated I have been by V.M.

Whats your opinions?

Erik6

That sounds awful. I would very quickly get an appointment with Citizens Advice they should be able to some advice and help.

I would also give a few solicitors firms in your area a telephone call. Some solicitors will give a free hour session to look through the case.

Good luck!

Freetime30

Virgin Media are pathetic in my opinion. Because they fouled up various direct debits, I incurred bank charges of £135. I have tried claiming them back, this has been going on since JUNE and I was told 2 days ago that the refund had been authorised and someone would contact me yesterday to confirm all ok. Someone rang me yesterday to say they had "lost the paperwork" and couldn't process the refund until they had the papers back, even though it is there in black and white on their system they have seen the documented proof of bank charges and have admitted their faults. I told them it was unacceptable and that I wanted to disconnect. The chap I spoke to said he would be back to me before 3pm yesterday without fail.
10am today, I am still waiting for my call back. I am going to phone them now and disconnect and they can whistle for any more money from me. Their service isn't even THAT good in all honesty. I have the VIP package and pay £85 per month, but can get everything I get from virgin for £65 via sky/bt/aol, so I will be doing that. Bye Bye Virgin!

jamesa007

I know a man who works at VM so if you pm me your account number i'll ask him to have a look at it for you or give you a call.

Worth a try.

Cheers

Jim

Freetime30

Thankyou very very very much Jim. Kind of you to offer. I have however had confirmation 20 minutes ago of the credit onto my account.
Switched to BT 18 minutes ago, am in the process of going to sky (via quidco for £110 cb) and will get the AOL free laptop. My god I love this site.

absvicandmark

Just an update -

Last week i received what looks like a final bill of round about £220.00. There was no extra charges so looks like they have finally decided on a figure. However, I dont agree as they still charged me up to 3 months extra rental after I cancelled it. I can never get through via fone, dont get any replies via email (only automated that they are busy and will contact me with 5 days - and they never do!) and I my local CAB office is never available.

Now what do I do? I feel like I should just leave it and wait for a debt collection agency to contact me and then discuss with them.

I have emails and letters as proof of the incompetence of V.M.Ive just had enough. They are sending the bills to my new address but according to the new residents at my old address that any corresponding letters are sent there.

What do I do!!!!

MothballsWallet

I had a problem with VM that they inherited from NTL. Basically, I rented my house out while I spent a year travelling, and when I came back, there were 2 NTL boxes fitted to my house.

Neither they nor the letting agent ever contacted me to ask for permission (if they had done that, I'd have probably said yes).

After a few months of wrangling to get VM to update their customer database (I had to quote the Data Protection Act at them for that) and to agree to remove the boxes, I went through Sir Richard Branson's office.

They passed my letter on to VM's Chief Exec's Office, where I've been speaking to a very nice man called Ken Dugdale (see post #1 of this thread).

It probably helped that I mentioned this site, Martin's name, and my being a member as well...

If they're still being difficult, perhaps a call to Ken's office might help (I do have his number if you're interested).

urban_spirit

I'm in the same position. I was offered a deal by retentions in August last year and they have overcharged me on both my BB and phone since then. I've rang every month from then to sort this out out them and with all the promises of 'it will definitely charge correctly this time' it NEVER does.
In February I managed to speak to a really helpful young lady who immediately understood and credited all my overpayments to date - fab! Although she input the correct charges, that for some reason only lasted a month and it defaulted back to overcharging me again.


I ring every month and am assured it is all sorted out, but it never is. I have now paid over £100 more than I should and for some reason they didn't collect the DD properly last month so i'm getting reminders for that payment and this months as i've cancelled the DD - the only way I can stop them taking out too much.


I rang AGAIN yesterday to sort it out and after being passed around (as usual) to 4 different parts of the country/departments I got connected to a horrible, pushy man wanted to sell me MORE services! I made it clear that I wanted my current circs sorting out first-he said he would credit me back on all the overpayment. I asked on which bills will the credit show? how can we stop this happening again? He then swore at me under his breath and I terminated the call.


I am going to write a chronology of overpayments at the weekend and want to send to the chief exec - it's gone waaay past the usual complaints handling team and I don't trust for a second they will get it right.

Thanks mothballswallet for the info - that's exactly what I need.

Can anyone recommend a virtually hassle free BB/phone provider?? I have had enough of NTL/Virgin.

urban_spirit

(duplicate post)