Forum Discussion

VsUK's avatar
VsUK
Dialled in
12 days ago
Solved

Short contract extensions?

My virgin broadband contract is about to expire on the 18th, at which point it jumps from £41 a month to £76, which I find disgusting but putting this aside. I was offered to keep the current contract for 18 months at £51 a month, this despite on Virgins website, the same package is being offered for £34 a month. Now, I spoke to someone on the online chat & tried to explain the situation, which is this. I have cancer & at the moment things aren't going the way we hoped. I don't want to put pen down on an 18 month contract when I might not be here in 6 months. And the reply I got was, I can could pay in advance for the 18 months. Just lack of compassion or empathy what so ever. 

So, I'm wanting to know if its worth calling to ask for a 6 month extension on my contract. Because I simply refuse to pay £76 for something that new customers can get for £34, even though I'm currently paying £41. I'd rather just cancel & be done with it that be trapped into something I don't want for 18 months. 

Thanks

  • VsUK's avatar
    VsUK
    11 days ago

    Ty, well I called them basically after posting this & I just had to hang up, because the lady on the phone just wouldn't get it into her skull what I wanted or why. Saying she doesn't understand why I wouldn't take up an 18 month contract just in case I'm still around after 6 months as it'd save me money. Just no empathy what so ever. So I took to the online chat to cancel & despite explaining to someone who claims to be Christopher, it was like speaking to an emotionless robot. Repeatedly tried to sell me packages for 18 months despite making it clear my situation & why I had to cancel. And then as soon as I declined these offers, started being rather blunt & rude. Like saying, is this something you understand at the end of each question regarding the cancelation date & return of the hardware. 

    I've never been made to feel so small & worthless by a utility provider in my entire life. 

    If I get through this cancer, I'll never go back with Virgin again. 

  • -tony-'s avatar
    -tony-
    Alessandro Volta
    12 days ago

    firstly - sorry to hear of your problems - nothing i can say that i am sure you have not heard already

    they dont do contract extensions even under the circumstances you outline - its 18 months or a rolling monthly contract at the high rate you quote - not that the 18 month price is that good

    sympathy and empathy is not something VM do - you have some choice and i cannot wrap this up any other way - if you took an 18 month contract to minimise the cost and it was in your name as the account holder and you did not make it to the end of that contact then afaik they would cancel any early termination fees if the account needed to be closed under their bereavement policy - apologies if that sounds blunt or uncaring

    that used to be the policy - but things can and do change so if that sounds useful info wait for a member of staff to get to the thread and confirm

    there are other options - if you cancelled now they may come back with a better offer of the 18 month one you have at the moment

    again if you cancelled another person should be able to start a new contract as a new customer - that would lock them in for 18 months but at a lower price but there would likely be a break in services as one account closed and the other opened

  • VsUK's avatar
    VsUK
    Dialled in
    11 days ago

    Ty, well I called them basically after posting this & I just had to hang up, because the lady on the phone just wouldn't get it into her skull what I wanted or why. Saying she doesn't understand why I wouldn't take up an 18 month contract just in case I'm still around after 6 months as it'd save me money. Just no empathy what so ever. So I took to the online chat to cancel & despite explaining to someone who claims to be Christopher, it was like speaking to an emotionless robot. Repeatedly tried to sell me packages for 18 months despite making it clear my situation & why I had to cancel. And then as soon as I declined these offers, started being rather blunt & rude. Like saying, is this something you understand at the end of each question regarding the cancelation date & return of the hardware. 

    I've never been made to feel so small & worthless by a utility provider in my entire life. 

    If I get through this cancer, I'll never go back with Virgin again. 

    • Molly_T's avatar
      Molly_T
      Forum Team
      11 days ago

      Hi VsUK 👋 Welcome back to the community forum! Thanks for posting. 

      I'm sorry to hear about your current circumstances, all these concerns with your contract/package and billing and your experience trying to get support with this by phone. I appreciate this is the last kind of stress you need when you need to prioritise your health and recovery! 

      I will send you a PM to help confirm a few details and get a complaint raised, so we can investigate what's happened and offer some help. You can find the PM in your Inbox 📩 in the top right corner of the page. We can then return to this public thread with an update when possible. Thanks for your patience in the meantime! 🌞

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    11 days ago

    This must be very distressing, and I really feel sorry for you.

    Please don't think they are picking on you because of your illness. They are trained to use every opportunity to extract more money from customers, whatever the circumstances.