Refusing to honour offered discount for Sky Sports HD & dodgy sales through WhatsApp

[ycheng5020]

I received an email offering me Sky Sports HD at a discounted price of £19 per month. I bought it and I received an order summary the same day, confirming that I added Sky sports HD for a monthly payment of £19.

About a week later, this package had still not been activated. I contacted Virgin Media WhatsApp, and sent them the required screenshots of the offer email and confirmation email. and they said that it can take up to 15 days; if it was still not activated 15 days after my order date, I should contact them again and they would add it manually.

More than 15 days after my order date, I duly contacted the Virgin Media WhatsApp, and sent them the same screenshots, as well as the screenshot clearly showing that I was told to contact them again after 15 days, so that they would manually apply the discount.

I was then told "there might be some issue" but if they added Sky Sports onto my account it would cost £92.75 per month (?!); I was then immediately suspicious since the base price of Sky Sports HD as far as I know is £38.75 per month. In addition, this person I was talking to through Virgin's WhatsApp did not tell me their name, unlike the person I spoke to when I first contacted them.

Aside from that, I have gotten nowhere with actually getting Sky Sports HD onto my TV for the price I actually paid for it (£19). I am thinking of filing a complaint, but I am not really expecting that to have any use, as well as the fact it could take 28 more days.

[ycheng5020]

The second person I talked to did give me their name but also just said "we cannot honour this deal"

[ycheng5020]

every reply I make on another thread is magically going to this one for some reason - ignore

[Daniel_Et]

Hi @ycheng5020 👋 Thank you for your posts and welcome to the Virgin Media Community 😀

We're sorry to hear about the poor experience you've had 😔

I can see you've been in touch with the team since your second post. Are you any further forward with this?

Please pop back to us at your earliest convenience.

Regards,
Daniel

[ycheng5020]

No - like I said they just said "we cannot honour this deal" repeatedly when I showed them screenshots/proof of me buying the offer for £19.

[ycheng5020]

Yes I've seen all the similar stories but still thought putting this on this forum wouldn't do any harm. I've joined VM quite recently and trust me after this experience I'll be getting out asap. Would still like Sky Sports while I'm here tho haha

[Ayisha_B]

Thanks for the update @ycheng5020 

Did the team advise why they were unable to honour the offer?

I know these are subject to change, meaning a deal available one day may no longer be available the next.

[ycheng5020]

They said because I was not sent a pre-contract (well you, VM, have to send the pre-contract), so when I asked if they could send the pre-contract, they said there was no copy of the deal in my account.

May I reiterate that I have already bought the deal and got an order summary email 20 days ago saying "You can now enjoy a package which is just right for you... We hope you love your new services". So frankly, it doesn't matter if the deal is no longer available or whatever, since I have bought it and I received confirmation of my purchase. You're now saying that you can't honour it, and you expect me to be ok with that?

[Ayisha_B]

If you did not receive any CSS/CIS documents, then the order will not have gone through which is why the team advised it could not be honoured. 

[ycheng5020]

I have three gripes:

1. Why do I have an order summary email if "the order [did not go] through"?

2. I have proof of the order in the form of an order summary email. It is a failure on your part; I repeat, it is your fault if the order did not go through, or if I did not receive any documents. So, I am asking you if the order "[did not go] through", why were the required documents not issued, and, why don't you issue the required documents now, given I have proof.

3. I was explicitly told that after 15 days, I should contact VM again, when my discount and services would be applied manually. This has not been the case. If "the order [has] not gone through", as in your words, why was I told to contact you again 15 days after the order, wasting many hours yesterday?

I suppose it would be unfair to ask you if you think this is an acceptable level of customer service, so I won't.