Virgin Media Cancellation Fee

bunter

ive just been charged by VM £50 for leaving their service. i have the L package "up to 8mb" which was fine for 3 months until the speeds dropped and dropped until finally for the last month i have been on 0.5mb.

i emailed them no end of times and got fobbed off with a complete load of crap, even when i talked to an operator online he gave me no help. i have also written to VM stating just how annoyed and dissappointed i am in their service

any ideas how i can get out of the charge as i see that as a level of service far below what i should expect?

Lokolo

I should think not as it is in their terms and conditions.

However, you say you emailed them and phoned them but got no response, however, you try other techniques, such as bugging until they give in.

We've had a few problems when one of their lines went and we had veeeeery slow broadband. Phoned up, complained, complained, complained and eventually they sent out a technician who said it was the switch which was going caputt.

I would just keep trying and trying to get their attention. You are unlikely to get better speeds elsewhere on a BT line.

DatabaseError

"You are unlikely to get better speeds elsewhere on a BT line"
LOL
VM are well known for their poor speeds, caused in part by lack of 'backhaul' capacity, i believe
comparison

Bummins

Hey there!

I too and extremely unhappy with my Virgin Broadband connection speeds, but being a bit of a techy I've found its really the very high latency thats the problem >300ms, playing online games like world of warcraft always has been very poor.

I am not over my 12 months contract period, and if i wish to cancel i would incur the T&Cs:

"Virgin Media reserves the right to charge you a cancellation fee of £50.00 (fifty pounds) if you cancel your Broadband Service within 12 months of the date"

Now we all know that its their infrastructure thats the problem, and i really dont want to jump through their troubleshooting hoops before they tell us so via their expensive customer care number. But the question is, what are our rights? if service is clearly unacceptable (by our standards) surely its against consumer choice to hold us to ransom?

digp

You could sue them for not providing a satisfactory service.

Bummins

digp wrote: »

You could sue them for not providing a satisfactory service.

mmm i dont like the thought of having to do that? anyone else had any experience with Virgin Badband?

normanmark

Before going through any contractual issues, at least report the problem so they have a chance to try to correct it. If they still cannot resolve the situation then go down the route of contracts etc

iMacThere4iAm

Bummins wrote: »

"Virgin Media reserves the right to charge you a cancellation fee of £50.00 (fifty pounds) if you cancel your Broadband Service within 12 months of the date"

Where in the terms and conditions does it say that? I too am trying to leave a Virgin contract, and in these terms & conditions, it says that you have to pay for the remaining months of the contract, even if you cancel the service.
On the other hand, over the phone, they tell me it costs £10 per service per month remaining.

So which one's right??

bestpud

tonyhague wrote: »

"You are unlikely to get better speeds elsewhere on a BT line"
LOL
VM are well known for their poor speeds, caused in part by lack of 'backhaul' capacity, i believe
comparison

I agree with Tonyhague, we have been repeatedly told that by virgin and it is balderdash!!!

They have blamed the supermarket down the road, the street lights, our internal wiring, BT, the world and his dog in fact, for the crippling speeds we experienced after they became virgin media.

Even as I cancelled (contract up) they told me it would be no different.

Funny enough, we are with plusnet now and the difference is amazing! Same street lights, wiring, area etc, but a faster connection... :rolleyes:

NeilNorton

Just joined MSE.com and feel better already as I'm clearly not suffering alone. VM have repeatedly told me I must have spyware or P2P on my PC to explain pathetic speed on their L package. I'm getting little better than dial up at peak times! I've got all the security so definitely not my problem.
I've tried the e-mail route but keep getting the standard tracert and netstat letter followed by spyware fob off.
I was just about to find a new supplier when I read the thread. Was it a new connection that pays the fee or does it apply to any upgrade? I've just been upgraded to L in last few months.
:rolleyes:

mrtesttube

Hello folks,

I hope someone could advise me or perhaps share similar experiences.

I joined Virgin Media (home, telephone and broadband) in January 2010. In January 2011, I changed my phone package (adding on 0845 numbers etc.) and tv package. I was not informed at the time that I would be signing up to another 12 month contract!

I moved to sky last month and lo and behold on my final virgin media bill, I have been presented with £85 worth of contract termination fees (for all 3 services) - despite having been with virgin for over 20 months!

It gets better, their Indian call centre ("Fahimi")assistant informed me that I had agreed to a new contract in January 2011 when I had made changes. I did not agree to this, it was not mentioned on the telephone call (although "Nicola" at the time placed notes on my account saying that it was!) and I never received an email/letter confirming this. Surely making changes to your package at the end of a 1 year contract does not automatically sign you up to a new one! I definitely was not told this otherwise I would have cancelled my services there and then.

I complained to Fahimi who basically told me I had 2 options: pay the fees or within 21 days my account will be referred to a debt collector. I asked who can I complain to as this was totally unfair, only to be told that "I had no right to complain as I am no longer a customer"...

I am shocked and horrified at Virgin Media at this. I paid all my bills on time and do not expect to be treated like this. Nowhere in their terms and conditions does it state that if I alter my products and services, no matter how minor a change, will I be placed on a new contract without being discussed or agreed to.

Has anyone had similar experiences? I am adamant that I will not pay these charges and have written a complaint to Virgin requesting proof that a new contract was agreed (recorded phonecalls ideally). Failing a satisfactory response, I shall report this to OFCOM and anyone else who will listen to me rant and rave