Forum Discussion

MartinF1's avatar
MartinF1
Settling in
4 days ago

Help accessing elderly fathers account

My father is 91 years of age and has been a VM customer for decades.  His memory is not what it was and recently we saw his renewal costs for his package which are astronomical compared to what we pay.  He has not used email for ages and does not know his email password or memorable word on the VM account.  Phoning Customer Services and going round in circles on the automated system for 45 minutes before speaking with someone, only to be told that they needed his memorable word to continue !!!!!! We were assured that they would send out a reminder of his memorable word by letter and 5 days later we are still waiting for the letter !! In the meantime he continues to be charged an astronomical bill for what is basic services.  Can somebody please help from VM to resolve this issue as we seem stuck with Customer Service staff refusing to help unless security checks are passed in the form of stating the memorable word which we simply cannot do.

8 Replies

  • Cardiffman282's avatar
    Cardiffman282
    Wise owl
    4 days ago

    Yet another elderly VM customer inadvertently caught up in astronomical rolling contract charges and customer service systems ruthlessly designed to frustrate any actual human interaction. 

  • goslow's avatar
    goslow
    Alessandro Volta
    4 days ago

    A VM person should reply here within a few days and should be able to help facilitate access by asking some alternative questions about the account.

    Supposedly VM now has a crack team of agents to deal with complex support cases according to this recent press release

    https://news.virginmediao2.co.uk/virgin-media-o2-launches-specialist-uk-based-team-for-complex-customer-support/

    Your experience suggests, however, that the reality seems to be the same old same old of non-contact.

    • newapollo's avatar
      newapollo
      Very Insightful Person
      4 days ago

      The letter may have possibly been sent out 2nd class post, however the letter may still be in transit.  2nd class mail though should take 2 to 3 days but may be slower due to public/bank holidays.

      MartinF1​ If it's an old one then the memorable word often took the form of mothers maiden name, town of birth, first school, favourite pet etc.

      Although he may not know his password, or the memorable word on his account, can he access My Virgin Media?  If so then he (or you) may be able to amend the memorable word  by logging in there. When logged in click on Account Settings >  Account Details > scroll down to Telephone Security Details  (memorable word) > and then click on Edit.

      Considering your fathers age and poor memory it may be a good idea to ask VM staff to place a 'vulnerable' marker on your fathers account.  This means that when reporting a fault,  VM promise to prioritise your appointment over our standard level of care.  As far as I know this only applies to broadband and landline services. 

      Having a vulnerability marker on the account means there is a good probability that any future interactions may be picked up by the new team of agents mentioned by goslow​ 

      The alternative questions about the account are usually based upon billing, normally needing the account email address, amount on last bill/next bill, bank sort code,  account number and area  code, and full name and  full address

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    4 days ago

    Many elderly people, even those without a disability, grew up without the internet and are unfamiliar with modern technology.

    It is disgraceful that such vulnerable people are predated upon by greedy companies like VM.

  • Steven_L's avatar
    Steven_L
    Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
    4 days ago

    Hello MartinF1,

    Welcome to the Community and thanks for taking the time to post here on the forums. I’m sorry to hear of the issues that your Father is having with his account and package however all customers would need to pass account security before their account can be accessed. The agents that have been spoken to, should have offered secondary questions and then if they can't be answered the reminder letter should be sent. When did your Father speak to the team to ask for the letter to be sent? This could have been delayed due to the bank holiday at the start of the week. 

    We can look further into this for your Father and see what we can do however we would need to pass account security to do so. Would you be able to do that on your Father's behalf? This can be done via secondary questions rather than characters from your Father's memorable word. 

    Kind Regards,

    Steven_L

    • MartinF1's avatar
      MartinF1
      Settling in
      3 days ago

      Thank you, everyone for your advice and guidance.  I actually gave it one last shot today and phoned Customer Services.  Got through to someone within ten minutes of calling rather than the 45 minutes previously so really depends on time of day and day of week.  Spoke with a lady who to be fair was exceptionally helpful, extremely patient with my father and used secondary checks such as Bill details etc.  Putting a vulnerability marker on his record was a breeze, thanks @newapollo, the call took about 45 minutes from start to finish but we now have additional safeguards in place and his Bill has been vastly reduced as a result too.  Thanks all once again

      • jpeg1's avatar
        jpeg1
        Alessandro Volta
        3 days ago

        That's really good to hear. Perhaps VM really are trying to improve customer service.