Virgin Media charging disconnection fee

olivia84

Hi, looking for some advice!

We recently moved house.  I have been a customer of Virgin Media for 15 years.   Basically,  Virgin Media cannot provide my new area with services so I have had to move to Sky.  I was quite happy to stay with Virgin but hey ho.  When they told me I couldn't have their services,  I advised them I would need to leave and gave them the 30 day notice period.  I have now received a bill for £198 as they say I am in breech of contract and this is an Early Disconnection Fee.  I am going round and round in circles trying to speak to them to get this resolved.  I called them and they raised a complaint and said someone would be in touch within 48 hours.  No one contacted me.  I went onto live chat to discuss it and they said I had to wait for someone to contact me about the original complaint raised and someone would be in touch within 48 hours ( I have a copy of this chat)  That was over a week ago.  Went onto Live Chat again and they said that actually it takes 28 days for someone to contact me.  Meanwhile,  They are emailing me this bill saying it needs paid.  I asked them to send me a copy of the contract I was supposedly in breech of and they sent me one which said it ended in April 2019,  so I thought  'great, I wasn't in contract at all'  After speaking to them today, they have told me that actually I renewed the contract in August last year, verbally, over the phone (I probably did). They must have sent me the wrong one when I asked.

I would just love to speak to someone who I can compromise with here.  Personally,  I think it's ridiculous that I gave them the correct amount of notice to stop their services;  I would have stayed with them if they could have provided me with the services,  but they cannot;  no one will talk to me to see how we can resolve this.  I personally thik £35 - £50 to leave a contract early is acceptable but £198??? ridiculous.  How legal are these things if you agree to them verbally? I know plenaty of people would just be like 'stuff 'em - they can whistle'  but I'm really worried about my credit rating being affected by it.  I could wait it out to see if they get someone to actually discuss it with me or even to take me to court;  I would happily go to court over this and let a judge decide if this is fair treatment and a fair price,  but by that time my credit could be trashed.

It's just so frustrating when there doesn't seem to be a decent complaints procedure and you are at their mercy and no one will discuss it with you until it's too late.

Just wondering if anyone else has experience of this and how you went about it?

Thanks in advance

Olivia

JJ_Egan

You are in contract and cancel then you owe the balance . Contract is for xx address not any address .

Not VMs fault you chose to move to a place they do not supply .

See multiple identical posts on the subject of breaking ISP contracts re moving house .

They don't go to court over a valid debt . just pass it on to debt recovery and trash your credit record for six years .

olivia84

Thanks for the reply.  I did ask them for a copy of the contract and they sent me one which ended in April last year.  The only proof they have given me that I was in a contract from August 2019 is just their say so.  I can't find any email confirming this and I wouldn't have deleted it.  When I asked for a copy of it,  they sent me the April one.  It's just so frustrating when the banks got hauled over the coals for not explaining things properly to customers and billions paid out in compensation but Virgin Media seem to be able to charge you what they like without any proof and no one will discuss it with you.  It may not be Virgin Media's fault that they don't supply where I moved to but was I supposed to factor their extortionate disconnection fee into where I live?

**edit...I have just logged into my online account and viewed my contract.  The contract online says it started in December 2017 and changes were made in April 2018 and that the remaining time left was 12 months.  So this would take me to April 2019.  That is the latest contract I can see on my account.  So I have no idea where they are getting August 2019 to August 2020 from.  However,  they just will not discuss it with me and I aonly have 90 days after disconnection to view this online.

pphillips

For now I would just pay up but still dispute it through the complaints procedure and then escalate it to CISAS.

olivia84

thanks;  yea,  I think that's what I'll have to do.  I have video'd myself viewing this online contract as apparently I don't have access to the online account after 90 days so I need some sort of proof.  I do still think that even if I was in contract,  it is a ridiculous amount to charge and this fee should be properly explained when you take out the contract and especially when you phone them to tell them you have to leave.  It's just poor communication and the first I knew anything about this fee was when they emailed me the bill.  Then I got a letter dated the 3rd Feb saying I had overlooked this bill and not paid it and it was due the 23rd Feb??!! lol....honestly they don't know their a**e from their elbow!

pphillips

Make sure you download all the docs while you can, it's certainly worth challenging if the contract was missold or if there is reason to believe the amount charged for early termination is disproportionate / unfair.

Boohoo

You have probably already looked at the webpage of Virgin Media EDF but if not here is a link to it.
https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/the-legal-stuff/terms-and-conditions-for-fibre-optic-services/early-disconnection-fees
You may have to see what fees apply to you by the contract date as it's near the top of the web page.

Jess202008

Hi Olivia, we have had exactly the same situation happen to us recently (including the no record of the restart of the contract) so wondered how you resolved it in the end? I amazes us that this is still allowed. Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thank you in advance. Jessie

JJ_Egan

You have moved house ??with no VM service ??