Virgin Mobile cancelled my plan, can I do anything about it?

Ulrich

Hi All,

I have a very frustrating situation with Virgin Mobile and hope to get some real advice here.

In the end of June I called VM's retention team because my contract's price was about to go up. They didn't offer anything interesting and I asked them for a PAC code.
2 weeks later I called them again to see if there is any change, but they said that my current plan is the best value/money and advised to keep it.
I didn't have time to shop around and decided not to do anything.
Then suddenly, almost 2 months after my first call to VM my mobile data stopped working when I was on my way to the airport going on 2 weeks holiday abroad.
I managed to contact VM before departure and they said that I requested to cancel my tariff and now I'm on Pay as You Go. On my request to get me back on my tariff they kept saying that requesting a PAC code meant cancelling my tariff and offered some much worse tariffs to switch me to, which I refused to do.
Having read-only phone abroad with only a hotel's WiFi, I filed a complaint to VM via Resolver, and they responded the same thing: "Unfortunately this is not possible without you contacting sales to see if a similar deal is still available, a disconnection was requested 29/07/2018 and this is not reversible. We do not believe this account was cancelled in error you were advised 30 days’ notice."

So now I'm back to the UK and wonder if there is anything I can do to get my old tariff back or something?
As I need my phone to make calls etc and I'm not happy to use it on PAYG basis, I thought I could order a new SIM with a good tariff somewhere else and use it until I'm done with VM. I don't want to lose my current number and even if I'm unsuccessful with VM, I should always be able to transfer it to the other SIM, hope that's correct.

Any practical advice is greatly appreciated.

mchale

Only if the pac code is used within 30 days of receiving it does it cancel the contract, so if you didnt use the pac code the contract would still run.

[Deleted User]

Cancelling your contract and having a PAC code are 2 separate things. Using the code does cancel the contract but not using it doesn't automatically mean you keep everything the same. Some providers will keep you on the old tariff if you don't use the code but VM clearly accepted that you wanted the contract to end.

You tried to "play the game" and got your fingers burnt because VM didn't give you a better deal, so that's your own fault. The fact you "didn't have time" is no ones fault either except your own. If VM don't offer your old deal anymore there is nothing you can do. Can you imagine the fuss if VM hadn't cancelled your contract when you wanted them to?

The good news is you can just request another PAC and swap your number to a new contract SIM with any other provider.

pmduk

Virgin always transfer accounts to PAYG accounts so that you retain the number and can PAC it to a different network. Once you've found a new network you'll need to obtain a new PAC from Virgin (the old one will have expired by now), and give that to your new network.

I suspect during your original call you made it clear you wished to leave, (in the hope it would produce a better deal perhaps?). This was processed accordingly. Sometimes brinksmanship doesn't work.

Ulrich

I strongly believe that requesting a PAC code and giving a 30 days notice is 2 different things, and I did not see anything saying it's the same. And if Virgin is going to cancel my tariff when I request a PAC code, they MUST let me know about it BEFOREHAND, which they did not.
As I did only ask for a PAC code and never said I'm leaving, I expect my contract to run as usual unless I used the PAC code provided within its validity timeframe.

Jon_01

Ulrich wrote: »

As I did only ask for a PAC code and never said I'm leaving, I expect my contract to run as usual unless I used the PAC code provided within its validity timeframe.

You might expect that, but that means nothing. What do VM T&C's say, that what you agreed to when you started the contract...

Ulrich

Jon_01 wrote: »

You might expect that, but that means nothing. What do VM T&C's say, that what you agreed to when you started the contract...

And what do VM T&Cs say exactly?

[Deleted User]

mchale wrote: »

Only if the pac code is used within 30 days of receiving it does it cancel the contract, so if you didnt use the pac code the contract would still run.

Not true in the case of Virgin (although it does seem a strange way of doing things)

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Managing-Your-Account-Mobile/Virgin-PAC-code-process/td-p/3637196

Ulrich

Colin_Maybe wrote: »

Not true in the case of Virgin (although it does seem a strange way of doing things)

That case is even worse.. what do their T&Cs say about it after all?
Don't remember if they sent them to me when I signed up..

pmduk

You will have confirmed that you agree to them when you signed up.

[Deleted User]

Ulrich wrote: »

That case is even worse.. what do their T&Cs say about it after all?
Don't remember if they sent them to me when I signed up..

I did have a fairly brief look on their website but if it's there they like to keep it hidden.