Left my 78-year old Mum, newly widowed, living alone, without phone or internet a week before Christmas

 We recently called Virgin to notify them of the loss of our father, the account holder.  This in itself was a drama, it feels like Virgin is trying really hard to prevent customers from actually speaking to a person.  When I did get through it was, of course, the wrong department.  I was supposed to be transferred to the bereavement service but I was put back into the automated server and started again from scratch.  Eventually, more luck than judgement, I spoke to a person who said the account could be terminated.  The last payment was made December 9 so services were prepaid through to approx Jan 9 2025.

The following day the phone did not work but internet did.  I called Virgin to request urgent assistance, being as my Mum is 78, living alone and has some cognitive impairment.  In addition, it was just before Christmas and there was a funeral to arrange.  Initially, Virgin would not deal with me as my dead Dad wasn't able to verify his memorable information.  Eventually I found a direct way to the bereavement line - again, they do try to keep from speaking to a person, but I finally managed it and after much arguing due to my Mum's circumstances, was assured an engineer would be out before 8pm.  

I called around 6.30 and was told an engineer was never booked because there was no fault, Virgin had disconnected us.  I told them very clearly that this absolutely should not have happened and all services were paid for through to January.  They assured my that if I called back at 7.30, the work order would be cancelled and they could reinstate the line.  At 7.30, I was told the work order was active until midnight, so I would need to call back the following day.

The following day, internet was disconnected.

More calls followed until eventually I was told the line could be reconnected - as an exception - in the next 4 to 8 hours, rather than 72 hours, but only for 10 days, as there is a legal requirement to close the account.  This was the first time we had been told this - it was call number 6 in 2 days - and I have not been able to find this information on Ofcom or other phone providers.  In the end, a new line was provided - with a different number - after approximately one hundred and sixty minutes of calls to Virgin.  At no time in the original call - any of the next 4 calls - were we advised they would be cutting off the services before the expiry of the payment period, and certainly not within 12 hours.  No one bothered at any time to ask if there was another person still in the residence, such as a confused and grieving 78-year old.

As an aside, we had been trying for months to get Virgin disconnected, as the TV had stopped working months earlier and they refused to deal with us - my Dad was living with dementia and we have Power of Attorney.  However, no matter how may times the POA documents were sent, Virgin always denied receipt.