Forum Discussion

Dravencrow's avatar
Dravencrow
Settling in
5 days ago

Sold a contract under false representation.

I have been with Virgin since it was bought by NTL but the customer service is poor and i'd had consistent intermittent faults with the broadband plus the set top box hadn't worked in a year.

Recently my contract came to an end with  and rather than renew i just let it run as i was not happy with the service overall and was considering other service providers and didn't want to be locked into a contract should i choose to leave.

When i contacted Virgin regarding an offer they'd made i told them of my intent to leave and reason why. To which their customer service agent promised me a very favourable deal which included faster broadband, a new wifi hub (at my cost) set top box, and 3 wifi pods at no extra cost. 

However on delivery of my package i found only the wifi hub had been delivered and none of the other promised items. 

I have spent weeks being fobbed off by various "customer service" agents, all of whom have lied at various points. I had been told that the pods could only be ordered once everything else was delivered and activated. 

1st up, the wifi hub couldn't be activated. I was told it was activated on two seperate occasion (took hours to get through) and on one occasion that the wifi pods had been ordered. On one occasion the agent told me the wifi hub had been activated and as it was getting late in the evening i asked for assurances that it was sorted and that if it didn't come on in the next hour that i would have support from Virgin Media to continue to trouble shoot the issue. He assured me that support was available. When the issue wasn't rectified and i still couldn't get any internet i tried to contact Virgin Media only to get a message to say all operators were finished for the day and i'd have to wait until morning. He essentially lied.

When i spoke to an advisor the following day as the wifi was not activated, they eventually did activate the wifi and then told me the pods or tv set hadn't been ordered. Another lie from previous advisors.

They then told me that a tv box wouldn't be replaced, that they would send an engineer who would bring the wifi pod with him and fix the set top box, i was told to be at home or otherwise be charged £25.

The engineer did not arrive as per the arrangement. 

When i contacted Virgin Media, they told me the engineer didn't need to come to the house as the fault was identified outside and there was no need to visit. This was a lie as the set top box was faulty and had been out of action for a year. 

After raising a customer complaint and telling them that if this wasn't resovled once and for all i would cancel my contract, they told me that they would send out a set top box, once this was installed i could then call up and order a wifi pod as they're only able to send out one item at a time. This would then help to solve the issue.

Having recieved the set top box, i attempted to contact Virgin Media but (not for the first time) recieved no response via their bot messaging service or Whatsapp, therefore i had to try again 24 hours later. 

Having eventually gotten through to an advisor, he had requested that i run a diagnostic check to see if was eligable. I informed the advisor that it was not a case of eligibility but i had been promised the pods as part of an incentive to renew my contract. The operator then told me that he could not provide them without diagnostics to confirm eligibility. Getting nowhere with the agent i informed him i would like to end my contract on the grounds of false representation. He then informed me that i would be subject to a cancellation fee due to being past my cooling off period. It was at this point i asked to speak to a manager.

I informed the manager of the situation who repeatedly told me that he couldn't see the problem and that i should just send the diagnostic. He told me that the pods did not form part of my contract and that the advisor had made a mistake "human error happens and you should consider it"

He refused to cancel my contract without a penalty clause and refused to supply the pods without running a diagnostic. The manager then had the audacity to raise a compalint and close it as resovled as a training issue WHILST WE WERE STILL SPEAKING  and without confirming whether i was happy with the resolultion or not he also ending the conversation without confirming whether there was anything further. 

I honestly do not think i have been treated so dishonestly and so poorly by any other service provider in my life. I genuinely feel like i've been conned by a criminal such is the take and run attitude of Virgin media.

I cannot think of any other service supplier that would have the audacity to incentivise someone into taking a contract only to chalk up the incentive to human error and tell the customer to essentially get over it. 

I am convinced this is illegal and will be seeking legal advice but i thought i should share my experience to hopefully ward off anyone who is thinking of entering into a contract with Virgin Media. 

 

 

false representation

10 Replies

  • Kath_P's avatar
    Kath_P
    Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
    5 days ago

    Hi Dravencrow, 

    Thanks for taking the time to contact us via the Community. It's lovely having you on board with us in the Forums. ⭐

    We're sorry to hear you've been left feeling this way. WiFi Max is a service we provide where if needed, we'll provide up to 2 WiFi Pods. You'd only be eligible for these if you're getting less than 30mb speeds in any room, or if you're having no connection. These can only be sent one at a time, with 7 days between the orders. Diagnostics would also have to be run each time to ensure a WiFi pod is the correct fix for the issue. 

    From your post, it sounds as though the Hub and Set top box issues are sorted. If you can run diagnostics through the VM Connect App, if you're getting less than 30mb speed, or no connection due to a black spot, pop back and let us know. We can then get your first WiFi pod ordered. 

    Many thanks, 

  • Dravencrow's avatar
    Dravencrow
    Settling in
    5 days ago

    You appear to be missing the point as do your colleagues. I only agreed to take the contract out as i was promised 3 wifi pods upfront as an incentive, with no caveat. I was lied to to take the contract out, this coupled with appalling customer service throughout has left me wanting out of a contract i was duped into taking and never going to use Virgin Media again. 

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

      Thank you for clarifying that information. We're sorry you feel that way with regards to our customer service. When did your contract activate?

      ^Martin

      • Dravencrow's avatar
        Dravencrow
        Settling in
        4 days ago

        Hi Martin, my new contract was activated on the 12th of May, due to the numerous issues that i had experienced it was not until the 1st of June that i finally realised that i had been mis-sold the contract under false pretence. It was due largely to the ineptitude and half truths of the various agents that i had spoken to and it was just past the "cooling off period" when i was told that the pods should never have been included as part of an incentive and were not going to be honoured by Virgin Media unless they met a diagnostic threshold. At no point did any of your agents make me aware of this in all of the times that i spoke to them, that was until the 1st of June. 

  • Dravencrow's avatar
    Dravencrow
    Settling in
    3 days ago

    Hi David, looking at your reply and the reply of others i think highlights my point perfectly in terms of Virgin Media's customer service as no one seems to either understand or listen.

    It does not matter what you would not or should not have offered. The plain and simple fact is, is that it WAS offered, 3 wifi Pods by a member of Virgin Media as an incentive for me to take out a contract. It is the REASON i renewed my contract! Now Virgin and everyone are telling me that they're not going to supply them, but at the same time telling me i'll be charged for cancelling my contract even though the wifi pods were the tipping point to me agreeing the contract in the first place. I honestly cannot understand what you are not getting. 

    Example: You go into a garage to buy a car and there are no wheels on the car and you say "do you know what!? I'm going to another garage where they sell cars with wheels!" Then, the salesman comes running up and says "Oh wait, don't be put off by that, i'll throw the wheels in for free!" 

    5 days later the car turns up with no wheels, you ring the garage and they say "Oh no he shouldn't have offered you the wheels, we don't do wheels, do you really need them? How far are you looking to go? Can't you walk instead? We don't do wheels unless you really need them! And by the way, we're pretty sure you don't need them" 

    So i'll summarise once more. A member of Virgin Media, told me that they would provide me with 3 wifi pods if i renewed my contract. I renewed my contract and everyone since is telling me he shouldn't have, that means a member of Virgin media, probably chasing a sale, mis-sold me a contract under false pretences.

    At this point the pods are irrelevant, Virgin Media has missed numerous opportunities to put this situation right and have failed spectacularly.

    All i ask is this, cancel my contract FOC, take your kit back and i'll go somewhere else. 

    • Cardiffman282's avatar
      Cardiffman282
      Wise owl
      3 days ago

      You are absolutely right and I could cite the relevant statute but actually leaving foc seems an even better solution. 

    • Carley_S's avatar
      Carley_S
      Icon for Forum Team rankForum Team
      2 days ago

      Sorry to hear you feel like we aren't supporting you Dravencrow. 

      Pods would only be necessary and improve WiFi signal strength, which would boost the signal into areas of the home where the signal is not reaching. If that is not happening in the home, then the pods will improve anything, which is why we would need to run through the troubleshooting steps and checks, to see if you're experiencing service issues due to blackspots and weak signal.  

       

      We can see on the systems on our side that you've since been speaking with the team and have actions in place to investigate this further. We recommend using one method of contact to save any confusion and multiple requests from being actioned, which may delay any resolution further. 

      • Dravencrow's avatar
        Dravencrow
        Settling in
        2 days ago

        I think it's quite obvious by now that the replies are simply bots and Virgin Media do not even do the courtesy of speaking to customers themselves to resolve their issues. Absolutely appalling state of affairs.