Forum Discussion

tbray's avatar
tbray
Joining in
9 months ago

ClearScore Shows Virgin Account In Arrears

Hello

Before the moaning starts - hope everyone is safe and well.

My issue: I received an email to say my credit score has gone down due to my account with Virgin Media being in arrears. However the value which is being quoted is my next bill value of £76, which is showing in My Account on Virgin as being due on the 22nd May (8 days time).

I have been going through a large amount of issues with my account since moving home earlier this year, which should be documented on my account record for any VM staff. If anyone is interested in the issues I will outline them below.

I haven't missed a payment before and my credit score has been looked after to prevent any issues with future borrowing as I look to get a mortgage, so obviously this is extremely distressing. I intend to report this to the ICO as this seems to be a misuse of my personal information which is impacting my negatively as well as seeking compensation.

All this is to say, I'm hoping someone at Virgin can address the immediate issue at hand, by reporting the correct information to Equifax to rectify my standing with any credit referencing agency who might communicate with them.

Please let me know if there is anything further I can provide, I'm being extremely transparent here and not misrepresenting the situation. Screenshots can be provided if needed.

Many thanks

 

The initial account issues: it was when attempting to change my direct debit bank account and payment date, I needed to manually pay my outstanding balance first which would allow me to make the DD change. Once I had paid manually, I cancelled my old DD at the instruction of Virgin. Virgin unfortunately attempted to take the funds a second time via direct debit, which their system recognised as being a successful payment. They then "refunded" me the duplicated payment during the next billing cycle, which left my account in credit for this period. (Overpayment, less monthly bill amount was about £50 credit). They then corrected their "correction", and billed me my next monthly bill amount, plus the missed month which was masked by the refund - still following? All this is to say, I was on hold for hours in total, disconnected by every "option" you select when looking to discuss account queries, and told no compensation was warranted. This was maybe three weeks ago, and now I'm told this bill is in arrears, despite the Direct Debit mandate showing on my account as having been successful.

  • Beth_G's avatar
    Beth_G
    Forum Team
    9 months ago

    Hi tbray

    Thanks for your post, welcome to the Community Forums.

    I'm sorry to hear there seems to have been an issue with your credit file reports from us. It seems strange that a charge from this month is already appearing on your credit file, whether this default is incorrect or not. 

    I'd really like to help you with this issue and find out what's happened. I've sent over a PM so I can take your details 😊

    • tbray's avatar
      tbray
      Joining in
      9 months ago

      Hi Beth

      Thanks for coming back to me.

      I agree with you it certainly is baffling especially considering my recurring bill amounts do not reflect the £76 - it’s an awfully specific figure for it to be anything else. (Not least of which had it been a result of a missed payment previously I would expect to see a bill for this value somewhere, however all historic bills are accounted for and paid).

      Unfortunately I’ve gotten used to strange occurrences with my account as of late. I had never experienced any issues previously with Virgin Media but it has honestly been one thing after another, capped off by hours of frustrating calls, disconnections, dead-end phone options and phone numbers which lead me in circles.

      I have gone back to you on your message - thank you for reaching out. I hope this will lead somewhere productive and have no doubt this query will be handled with care. 
       
      Thank you too @japitts for your response too. I appreciate it’s not the be all end all and I’m not simply looking for my number to go up. Unfortunately, as you say, entries such as improper delinquent payments isn’t something I’m comfortable in baring in a time where the next big expense is just a credit check away.

  • japitts's avatar
    japitts
    Very Insightful Person
    9 months ago

    Just to add, take your so-called "credit score" with a big pinch of salt. It's a marketing invention by certain credit agencies to hide what really matters.

    When you apply for credit, lenders will look at your free statutory credit file and confidentially score you against their own criteria. That's the only scoring that matters, and you can only influence it by the quality of entries on your file.

    Entries that you feel are incorrect, can be disputed by emailing creditfileamendments@virginmedia.co.uk