V4 Telecom

ColinRMorris

Does anyone on this forum use V4 Telecom? My parents who are in their 80's were unwittingly signed up to V4 a couple of years ago when they were with Talk Talk and getting a bad service. The method of signing up was an unsolicited call which I was not happy about once I found out which was some time after my mum had signed up. Over two years later and having what I consider to be patchy service most of the time and with what I consider an antiquated router that comes up as having weak security on my Apple iPhone they have now had an issue with billing which has left me flabbergasted. 
Their billing is generally around £23+VAT per month and charged for the month ahead except this month the bill came in at £70+! On calling them they admitted it was an error but said that they could not refund the difference immediately but would do it via credits over the next two months bills! I spoke with the customer service person and they were adamant that the refund could not be done and admitted that this had happened to quite a few other people. 
Am I right in thinking that we can take action through the Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme? I intend to phone my mothers bank tomorrow and see what they say but wondered if anyone had thoughts as to why they are adamant in not paying the refund immediately or at least within a reasonable time?
Certainly would be worth MSE looking at V4 as my experience with them has been awful. 

Neil_Jones

ColinRMorris said:

Does anyone on this forum use V4 Telecom? My parents who are in their 80's were unwittingly signed up to V4 a couple of years ago when they were with Talk Talk and getting a bad service. The method of signing up was an unsolicited call which I was not happy about once I found out which was some time after my mum had signed up. Over two years later and having what I consider to be patchy service most of the time and with what I consider an antiquated router that comes up as having weak security on my Apple iPhone they have now had an issue with billing which has left me flabbergasted. 
Their billing is generally around £23+VAT per month and charged for the month ahead except this month the bill came in at £70+! On calling them they admitted it was an error but said that they could not refund the difference immediately but would do it via credits over the next two months bills! I spoke with the customer service person and they were adamant that the refund could not be done and admitted that this had happened to quite a few other people. 
Am I right in thinking that we can take action through the Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme? I intend to phone my mothers bank tomorrow and see what they say but wondered if anyone had thoughts as to why they are adamant in not paying the refund immediately or at least within a reasonable time?
Certainly would be worth MSE looking at V4 as my experience with them has been awful. 

V4 Telecom looks to be a business provider, and as they are charging in + VAT implies that is the case.

The issue here seems to be a line fault that appeared with TalkTalk and hasn't been rectified with V4.  That suggests whoever your parents move to the issue will follow.  That's something you need to take up with the provider and they'll raise it with Openreach.

As for "charging for the month ahead", well that's normal for all providers. The £70+VAT would suggest an out of contract rate which is what happens to business rates when they fall out of contract.

If they're out of contract (which if its more than two years they probably are) then pick somebody else and move away.  Then if the line fault that affects the speed remains, raise it as a fault.

The direct debit scheme doesn't cover you if the error is on the provider's side billing wise.  So if they charge you £84 (70+VAT) and they said they were going to take £84, and they took £84, that's not covered by the direct debit guarantee.  If it was found out later they should have only taken, say, £60 then they can decide how to fix this - refund or credit - pending on your choice.

Neilbingham

Similar story. My 84-year-old mother has recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I have been trying repeatedly to cancel the V4 landline account since August 2023 and I’ve been unable to do so. They keep putting an impediment in place to prevent me from Cancelling this account. This includes a request for my power-of-attorney information which I provided and my mother‘s medical records and a note from the care home . They are impossible to contact. I am constantly put on hold whilst whoever I am talking to has to speak to the manager. They are Threatening a debt recovery company in order to continue to bill my mother. I have referred the specific case to the ombudsman and have also placed a generic complaint with Ofcom. V4 are shockingly bad.