Virgin media, customer service...

The_blur

Hi all.
The story has a good ending which does make a change.
I phoned VM today on behalf of my mother to get her VM package renewal price reduced as was hiked up a lot more than what she currently pays( for phone and broadband, nothing excessive ) .
On the first call after a wait i got through to a foreign call centre which couldn't help at all and just read off a screen and listed crazy prices for the package( a price which you check their website is for TV included ect).
I asked to be put through to disconnections as i know they are UK for this so got put through, i wont though name and shame the call operator but she was rude to begin with and basically said there is nothing she can do as she has no more discounts she can give this month, so i can either leave, or hang up and try another operator who might have more discounts available to them!.
I was quite shocked by this and tried to ask how it so inconsistant with discounts, and how i am literally dependant on who picks up the phone to my call, she was rude some more and even when asked to speak to someone who can help or a manager she said there wasn't one available. i hung up.


I called again, went through through the above, disconnections, got put through to a very helpful bloke and got the price she currently pays, easy.

Im sorry but how the heck does this happen? surely every operator within a dept like disconnections where people are calling with intention to leave should have same authority to discount bills ect, it seems mental that it depends purely on who picks up the phone.
Legally is this even allowed?

be interested to hear thoughts.

JJ_Egan

Legally why would it not be allowed .

Though i agree its silly and has been posted before ( even today )

asacarter

Just wanted to mention my experience of Virgin Media customer service today...

My contract for £35/mo was ending this month so I called up last month to get a renewal quote. We agreed on £39/mo as their best offer.
The day after I received an email confirmation for the new rate of £39 and the next payment December 21st (today) would be £26.33 which includes a credit of £12.67.

So today arrived and they took £59 from my bank account taking me in to my overdraft.

I called them up and got a rude guy who kept calling me love and wouldn't let me speak. He said there was nothing he can do and put me through to collections. After an hour on hold, the lady in collections said there was nothing she could do and told me to contact my bank under the direct debit guarantee.

I then got another email from Virgin saying that my new monthly rate was £40  - something I have not agreed to!!!

I called my bank and after another hour on hold submitted a claim under the direct debit guarantee. I have had the full £59 returned to my bank the same day but I'm not really sure what I should do now? Do I phone up and pay the £26.33 which was the correct amount they were supposed to collect today?

I've sent a complaint to their customer services but not heard anything back other than than a confirmation they have received it.

The_blur

JJ_Egan said:

Legally why would it not be allowed .

Though i agree its silly and has been posted before ( even today )

Legally I know it's a grey area but if your buying a product from a company then surely they cannot have such a price difference within the company, bit like going to tescos and being penalised for being a northerner on pasta, silly example but hopefully get my drift? 


The biggest issue I have and others seem to have is they aren't accountable at all, the regulator seems to do nothing especially if your the start of what is a line of complaints on a company. 

Definitely need more regulations within the tv/ broadband industry

Chino

The_blur said:

Legally I know it's a grey area but if your buying a product from a company then surely they cannot have such a price difference within the company, bit like going to tescos and being penalised for being a northerner on pasta, silly example but hopefully get my drift?

Companies have the right to charge whatever they feel the market will bear.
Consumers have the right to take their custom elsewhere if they feel they're being overcharged.

JJ_Egan

But supermarkets do have regional variations .

More regulations more cost to the customer .