Outrageous billing for services I haven't requested

[Budal]

Hi,

I gave notice to VM in November 2023, and agreed a December 2023 termination date for all services, and my final bill at the time was settled. On the 20th December (due to delays with the installation of a new broadband provider) I specifically requested a 30 day extension for broadband services only.

I have now just received a new bill for £378?!?! Broken down as £220 for a full suite of new services?? Then a further £158 for all services through to the end of February?? What kind of crazy incompetence is this. If there were going to be any further charges they should only ever have been for 30 days worth of broadband services only (as requested). It was not permission to have carte blanche on adding anything and everything onto my account.

I have over the years been with VM a couple of times now, but the customer services (or lack of), and inability to sort out simple issues has now put me off considering a future return.

[Reece_MH]

Hi Budal 👋

Thanks for posting, and a warm welcome to the Forums.

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble you have had when disconnecting, and the unexpectedly high bill. If you are coming out of your contract period, and request a disconnection, any discounts you have may be expiring within your 30-day notice period.

If this is the case, and you then extend your disconnection date, you would be charged at the non-discounted rate for your services. However, as we bill a month in advance, the bill may be higher than expected as it will display charges for the month past your actual disconnection, we're unable to alter this.

Rest assured, within 10 days of your disconnection, your bill will be automatically adjusted to reflect the true amount for the service cost over the extension period.

Cheers,

[Budal]

Hi Reece - there are 2 issues to address here please:

1. the extension request was only for broadband. Not for any other services. As such I would like the bill adjusted to only reflect the use of broadband for the extension period. This was explicitly requested at the time, and at no point was I advised that any other products would also be extended, and at no point were additional costs advised.

2. I am not comfortable paying for February charges for services I have never requested. To then be in a position where I then spend weeks/months chasing a refund. So I will be cancelling the direct debit, and will make a direct payment only when the final bill has been corrected to remove services that were never requested and to remove advance charges for future months for those services and even for broadband through Feb.

Please advise if you need additional details to discuss this further.

[Reece_MH]

Hi Budal 👋

Thanks for coming back to us on this. When extending your disconnection period, we would not be able to extend an individual service, and it would be a case of your full package being extended.

As mentioned previously, your bill is automatically adjusted within 10 days of your disconnection, and a final bill is sent. If you cancel your Direct Debit, please ensure that a payment is made by the Due Date advised on your final bill, to prevent any Late Payment Charges or reflections on your credit file.

Please do let us know if there are any discrepancies with your final bill, and we'll do our best to help out.

Thanks,

[Budal]

Why is this not explained at the point of extension? I specifically stated to the customer services representative (happy for the transcript to be pulled up) that I just wanted my broadband to be extended. I was then advised that this could be done for either 30 days or 60 days. I chose 30 days given the date of my new broadband installation.

I have cancelled the direct debit because the bill I received states payment will be taken on Feb 5th. This is earlier than 10 days after my disconnection date, so as stated earlier I’m not paying a large incorrect sum only to have to spend weeks/months chasing a refund.

I would like to escalate my concerns related to this bill (both being charged for services I did not request, or at least being led to believe only broadband was being extended when it was not, and for the poor practice of demanding payment for services in advance when it is clear those services are about to be disconnected).

Please provide a contact with whom I can discuss my bill with directly (including ensuring I am not incorrectly charged a late payment charge). I would also like a contact for raising a complaint in relation to this issue.

[Kath_F]

Hi Budal, 

We are sorry to hear you remain unhappy. 

When extending your services, they would have to remain the same as otherwise you would enter a new contract. The team wouldn't have been able to only offer an extension on the broadband as this would mean we'd have to then put you on a broadband only deal which would have come with a new 18 month contract. We can only apologise if this wasn't explained to you. We will make sure feedback is given to the agent to address any training needs. 

In terms of the billing, this would be done automatically and a final bill is usually generated 3 days after your services have disconnected. We wouldn't be able to amend this until the services are disconnected and even then, it is all done automatically. 

So we can give you some specific information and confirm dates and figures, I'm going to send you a direct message to allow us to pass security with you in a private space. If you are using a PC/Laptop then you can just click on the little ✉ at the top right-hand side of the page to access your inbox. If you are on a mobile/tablet device then instead click on the little circle icon in the top right then select 'Messages'. 😊

Thanks, 

[Kath_F]

Hi Budal, 

Thanks for sticking with us via private message. 

I'm happy that I've been able to confirm everything for you and explain things thoroughly. 

If you have any further issues once the final bill has been generated, pop back to us here on the community. 

Many thanks,