Need Guidance on how to proceed with a Virgin Media issue

inkwell2write

A quick background to my issue:

-  Feb 25 – Vigin Media rep knocks on door and mentions various packages they are offering in the area. After multiple visits and discussions, I decide to go with them.

- My one and only requirement for them is to port my landline number across.

- Switchover occurs in March.

- As I only use landline generally for receiving calls, I find out in April that my landline is not working.

- Ring Virgin Media. Seems due to their internal zoning setup my landline number was not ported across. Discussion. They said they will try and sort it out.

- After multiple calls – initiated by me each time – I eventually ended up logging a call with Ombudsman. I explain the background and also the fact that even though I am being charged for a landline, nobody has told me what the number is – not even on the bill. I ask for a strong fine to be issued to Virgin Media which they could donate on my behalf to Cancer Research and for a refund of my line charges etc.

- Ombudsman found that Virgin Media knew well in advance of moving my service across that they would NOT be able to port my landline number across. Yet they did not inform me in order for me decide whether to proceed or stay with my existing provider. In addition, they confirmed what I had reported – nobody from Virgin Media got back to me after my calls and I had to chase them up.

- Ombudsman has found in my favour but I am not fully happy with what they are proposing.

1. Virgin Media to provide an apology letter.

2. Virgin Media to provide a ‘goodwill’ amount of £75, which will be credited to my account as the Ombudsman is not in a position to get them to send that amount to Cancer Research.

3. Allow me to cancel my contract with Virgin Media within 30 days after the outcome has been agreed, without any penalty payment.

When I queried about getting my line rental amounts refunded, the Ombudsman said that according to Virgin Media they had provided me with a line. I said the line had never worked. Ombudsman  enquired if I had reported this. I said not explicitly because when I had rung Virgin Media I had talked about my number not being ported and line not working. Ombudsman said that as I had not reported it explicitly, they could not ask for my line rental to be refunded.  

So I end up ringing Virgin Media and report my line not working. The engineer duly arrives a few days later. I show him the phone in my living room. It turns out that Virgin Media (like other Telco’s) are no longer providing land lines and using the router to provide a telephone line. He gets a small adapter and puts it into a port at the back of the Virgin Media Router. He them plugs my handset and inserts the telephone cable into the adapter. Hey Presto. The telephone is working and he is now finally able to provide me with the number that has been allocated to me.

MAJOR PROBLEM however. The router is in a cupboard underneath the staircase and cannot be moved due to the Fibre end point in the house (cabling is not an option). As a result the handset is also now in the cupboard underneath the staircase, which is of no use to me. At no time during the sales or when the engineers came to install the router, was I told that my phone would need to be connected to the router underneath the stairs. If I had, I would have curtailed the discussions there and then.

FYI - I still have to update the Ombudsman about the engineer visit and the phone in the cupboard underneath the staircase.

Question I have is this – What are my options if after the new information, the Ombudsman still doesn’t rule for my line rental to be refunded by Virgin Media.  

 

 

Ayr_Rage

If you had bothered to check the router dashboard pages then you would have seen that the phone service had been enabled, I cannot see them refunding much as the service was available.

VM have clear instructions online and with their routers as to where to plug in handsets when you move to them for phone service.

Get a DECT multi handset wireless phone system and plug the base station into the router. 

Aylesbury_Duck

inkwell2write said:

A quick background to my issue:

-  Feb 25 – Vigin Media rep knocks on door and mentions various packages they are offering in the area. After multiple visits and discussions, I decide to go with them.

- My one and only requirement for them is to port my landline number across.

- Switchover occurs in March.

- As I only use landline generally for receiving calls, I find out in April that my landline is not working.

- Ring Virgin Media. Seems due to their internal zoning setup my landline number was not ported across. Discussion. They said they will try and sort it out.

- After multiple calls – initiated by me each time – I eventually ended up logging a call with Ombudsman. I explain the background and also the fact that even though I am being charged for a landline, nobody has told me what the number is – not even on the bill. I ask for a strong fine to be issued to Virgin Media which they could donate on my behalf to Cancer Research and for a refund of my line charges etc.

- Ombudsman found that Virgin Media knew well in advance of moving my service across that they would NOT be able to port my landline number across. Yet they did not inform me in order for me decide whether to proceed or stay with my existing provider. In addition, they confirmed what I had reported – nobody from Virgin Media got back to me after my calls and I had to chase them up.

- Ombudsman has found in my favour but I am not fully happy with what they are proposing.

1. Virgin Media to provide an apology letter.

2. Virgin Media to provide a ‘goodwill’ amount of £75, which will be credited to my account as the Ombudsman is not in a position to get them to send that amount to Cancer Research.

3. Allow me to cancel my contract with Virgin Media within 30 days after the outcome has been agreed, without any penalty payment.

When I queried about getting my line rental amounts refunded, the Ombudsman said that according to Virgin Media they had provided me with a line. I said the line had never worked. Ombudsman  enquired if I had reported this. I said not explicitly because when I had rung Virgin Media I had talked about my number not being ported and line not working. Ombudsman said that as I had not reported it explicitly, they could not ask for my line rental to be refunded.  

So I end up ringing Virgin Media and report my line not working. The engineer duly arrives a few days later. I show him the phone in my living room. It turns out that Virgin Media (like other Telco’s) are no longer providing land lines and using the router to provide a telephone line. He gets a small adapter and puts it into a port at the back of the Virgin Media Router. He them plugs my handset and inserts the telephone cable into the adapter. Hey Presto. The telephone is working and he is now finally able to provide me with the number that has been allocated to me.

MAJOR PROBLEM however. The router is in a cupboard underneath the staircase and cannot be moved due to the Fibre end point in the house (cabling is not an option). As a result the handset is also now in the cupboard underneath the staircase, which is of no use to me. At no time during the sales or when the engineers came to install the router, was I told that my phone would need to be connected to the router underneath the stairs. If I had, I would have curtailed the discussions there and then.

FYI - I still have to update the Ombudsman about the engineer visit and the phone in the cupboard underneath the staircase.

Question I have is this – What are my options if after the new information, the Ombudsman still doesn’t rule for my line rental to be refunded by Virgin Media.  

 

 

You have two:

1. Cancel your contract within 30 days, without penalty.
2. Continue with the contract.

I don't see the problem with the charity situation.  You can simply send £75 to Cancer Research once you've received it.

Is there actually a line rental item on the monthly bill?  I have a VM package but it's not broken down.  In fact, whenever my deal is up for renewal it's always been cheaper to tack the line rental on than to have broadband only.  If yours is the same, there are no line rental charges to refund, which is perhaps why the Ombudsman is not pressing VM to refund them. 

The cupboard situation is a little trickier, because even if you have a wireless handset, the base/charging station would have to be in the cupboard and you'd need to go and get the handset to take the call.  A bit of DIY wiring may be possible to bring it out of the cupboard but to be honest, I'd just cancel the contract and take your business to one of the many other providers out there.

QrizB

Aylesbury_Duck said:

The cupboard situation is a little trickier, because even if you have a wireless handset, the base/charging station would have to be in the cupboard and you'd need to go and get the handset to take the call. 

With the suggestion from the previous reply, though:

Ayr_Rage said:

Get a DECT multi handset wireless phone system and plug the base station into the router. 

You can have the base station in the cupboard but the handset and charger elsewhere.

Something like this (which includes an answerphone too):

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4093972

Aylesbury_Duck

QrizB said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

The cupboard situation is a little trickier, because even if you have a wireless handset, the base/charging station would have to be in the cupboard and you'd need to go and get the handset to take the call. 

With the suggestion from the previous reply, though:

Ayr_Rage said:

Get a DECT multi handset wireless phone system and plug the base station into the router. 

You can have the base station in the cupboard but the handset and charger elsewhere.

Something like this (which includes an answerphone too):

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4093972

I suspect OP won't be thrilled at the prospect of spending £40 to solve a problem they weren't warned about, but it definitely would do the job.

QrizB

Aylesbury_Duck said:

I suspect OP won't be thrilled at the prospect of spending £40 to solve a problem they weren't warned about, but it definitely would do the job.

I can't speak for the OP (and have neve been a VM broadband customer) but we've had a similar home phone for a decade. It saves us paying extra for our ISP's answering srvice, and paid for itself in the first year.

littleboo

Your phone, before switching to Virgin, was presumably plugged into a BT/Openreach socket? What happened to that phone when you switched providers - where was it plugged in?

inkwell2write

Ayr_Rage said:

If you had bothered to check the router dashboard pages then you would have seen that the phone service had been enabled, I cannot see them refunding much as the service was available.

VM have clear instructions online and with their routers as to where to plug in handsets when you move to them for phone service.

Get a DECT multi handset wireless phone system and plug the base station into the router. 

I didn't check the router as I was expecting my existing landline setup to remain 'as is', as nobody in VM had told me the base station would need to be moved. Thank you for the DECT suggestion. 

inkwell2write

Aylesbury_Duck said:

You have two:

1. Cancel your contract within 30 days, without penalty.
2. Continue with the contract.

I don't see the problem with the charity situation.  You can simply send £75 to Cancer Research once you've received it.

Is there actually a line rental item on the monthly bill?  I have a VM package but it's not broken down.  In fact, whenever my deal is up for renewal it's always been cheaper to tack the line rental on than to have broadband only.  If yours is the same, there are no line rental charges to refund, which is perhaps why the Ombudsman is not pressing VM to refund them. 

The cupboard situation is a little trickier, because even if you have a wireless handset, the base/charging station would have to be in the cupboard and you'd need to go and get the handset to take the call.  A bit of DIY wiring may be possible to bring it out of the cupboard but to be honest, I'd just cancel the contract and take your business to one of the many other providers out there.

The £75 to Cancer research is not an issue as I will just pay that directly to them. I had been hoping the Ombudsman might have adjudicated a higher figure.

Like yourself there is no breakdown of the bill. However at the point of setting up the service, I was told the landline was £15 pm.

Due to the setup, wiring from the cupboard is not an option as there's too much work involved. Understand about base/charging unit being in the cupboard but the fact that I have lost the number I have had for decades means I am not inclined towards the new number thats been allocated.

Its looking like cancellation within the 30 day period at the mo. 

inkwell2write

QrizB said:

You can have the base station in the cupboard but the handset and charger elsewhere.

Something like this (which includes an answerphone too):

< as I am a newbie I cannot post a link - see original message for link >

If I do end up using a base station under the cupboard, it will be with a different provider as I just feel VM have not informed me of pertinent facts prior to cutover, 

inkwell2write

littleboo said:

Your phone, before switching to Virgin, was presumably plugged into a BT/Openreach socket? What happened to that phone when you switched providers - where was it plugged in?

The phone was connected to the wall socket near the TV in the living room. Nobody from VM had informed me that the base socket would need to be connected to the router. If they had or that they were not able to port my number (which I have had for decades), I would not have proceeded with the cutover to VM.