Divulging bank account details over the phone
I was intending to leave Virgin Media, mostly because of their poor customer service. However, as I approached the end of my contract they offered me an acceptable deal so I decided to stay. Unfortunately, at the end of the call, they told me they needed the first half of my bank account number; if not they would lose their jobs. VM state explicitly that they never ask for such information and they haven't before in my 20+ years with them. After a total of an hour and a half on the phone, both to their sales team and to customer service, I was pressured into giving this information which I did since I was about 98% sure that the people were legitimate. Overall, this 90 minutes was the most stressful (sales team) and amateurish (customer service) interaction I ever have had with a supplier so I will be taking this into account when I next renew. I think I'd rather deal with an organisation that doesn't shorten my life expectancy.