Virgin Media/NTL

OK - here's my case. I needed to get an extra land line ( I already have 3), so phoned up. On hold for ages (as per usual). Also wanted to discuss bringing all services under one agreement (2 mobiles, 3 landlines, full TV package) and upgrading to V+. With this package, I am one of VM's most valuable customers - one of th eones that they need to keep. Finally get through to someone who starts to look at the various agreements that ntl: set up for me, and says that I have the 3 extra landlines plus the one included with the tele package. This was news to me - I asked to know for how long I'd been paying for 4 lines, with only 3 being provided. She didn't know, but could offer me 3 months repayment - any more was prohibited by law. I pointed out that this was not the case, and it suddenly became 6 months. I said that I prefered to write to complaints - she said write to the Swansea address on the back of the bill. She also couldn't deal with teh rest of my request until everything had been dealt with. On the back of bill is a Wythenshaw address. Go to the VirginMedia web site - no complaints address at all. Find the Swansea adress from one of the many VM forums. Write to both. Wait for ages - get 2 letters back saying that they will be in touch in 5 working days, or possibly 10 due to quantity of complaints.
1 month later, still nothing. Write to the head of customer services and the CEO. 3 weeks later, get 2 letters stating that they will be in touch within 5 working days, but it could take 10. Get back in touch with the customer service desk. Explain everything again, as notes on system not fully descriptive. The guy tries his best to help me, but says that he can't actually do anything. Gives me an email address to complain to. weeks later, I get a letter, saying that they will be in touch within 10 working days, although it might take 15.
Do a quick calcualtion of 1 line's rental times by the 7 years I've been with ntl:/VM, add a token amount for all teh time I've spent to date, and submit a small claims court claim. Get an immediate response from VM's legal department, saying how I'd got it wrong - I was only overcharged for 3 years, so they only owe me £380, and out of the kindness of their heart, they'll refund me the full £120 small claims cost, but nothing against the time spent. Discussions go back and forth, with teh legal guy stating that I am wrong in my thoughts that VM has treated me with disrespect (not responding to communications, lying to me, refusing to deal with me for extra services, not getting any specific response from teh head of customer services or the CEO, refusing to even consider a token payment against the hours I have so far spent, only responding when a legal claim was made). They have now decided to contest part of the claim, which I assume means that they will be going for th elowest repyamnet to me possible.
I have written to my MP (he referred it to the Commisioner for Data Protection), to the minister responsible for consumer affairs (no response), to Oftel (nothing they can do) to Otello (VM is not registered with them), to Watchdog (nothing from them yet) and am currently looking in to Which? legal services and a possible full court case.
It is obvious that VM just hope that people will lose the will to live and just go away. We all need to make sure that we complain as hard as we can and stick with it - the cost of dealing with us all on a continuous basis is too much for such a company to deal with.
As a starting point, the email address of the head of legal affairs is [EMAIL="david.bond@virginmedia.co.uk"]david.bond@virginmedia.co.uk[/EMAIL].
It is disgusting that a company can get away with such dispacable levels of service, and that there is no real formal way to complain and to get any satisfaction. Write to your MP requesting that they look to submit an early day motion forcing such companies to have a complaints procedure detailed in writing with an easy means of entry via their web sites, and that an independent body be set up to stand in where the procedures are notbeing followed.