Forum Discussion

hackneyuser's avatar
hackneyuser
On our wavelength
2 months ago

VM special offers by phone call to existing users Pressure to give verbal agreement

I took a call from VM sales team, who I have got a good offer from in the past.

I explained I was on my way out, but it seems the staff employed are only allowed to stick a a script.

To cut a long story short, the offer I was made seemed good. A small monthly increase but with upgrades to tv package, download speed, free calls, and free sim card.

So I said could they email me the details, as quite a lot to take in, and wasnt prepared to agree to anything with out seeing the small print. ie did this reduction only last until the end of March.

But he said he couldnt email and would have to phone me back..

This doesn't seem ethical. And dont blame the staff who are presumably set targets etc..

But no company should expect customers to a new financial agreement with out seeing it in writing.

So VM / O2 you need to make sure that staff are able to email details.

I may well now have missed what could be a good deal, but I am certainly not agreeing to it via a phone call.

Very disappointed that VM should thinks this is okay.

(sorry if this is the wrong forum but hard to workout where to post it.

  • newapollo's avatar
    newapollo
    Very Insightful Person
    2 months ago

    It's very likely that the agent wouldn't have the necessary systems access or security codes to allow them to send emails.   Having worked in call centres myself this was often because only certain teams/grades having access to the email systems. It may also be due to security precautions, licencing costs for email access.

    There's also the temptation for staff to abuse the systems by engaging in sending personal emails instead of answering/responding to customer queries.

    The VM systems do send automated emails with full details when a customer agrees to a new contract. The customer can then take advantage of the 14 day distance selling window should they change their mind and wish to reject that offer. They would then go back to their original pricing, even if it was an out of contract price,  and package (or nearest equivalent) and then have the option of either cancelling or renegotiating.

    VM's actual prices can vary on a day to day basis, and agent to agent basis. If the agent does offer to call back then there is no guarantee that the same offer will still be available as agents are given a set amount of allowances to offer at varying price points.

    If they have used up their quota of lowest prices for the day or week, then they couldn't offer say the Mega Volt bundle for £100, but if the next agent hadn't reached their quota then they would be able to offer that price point.  It's also possible that one of the retention teams may be "trialling" a price point not available to other teams.

    • hackneyuser's avatar
      hackneyuser
      On our wavelength
      2 months ago

      Thanks - that's really informative, but a bit depressing.

      So if there are quotas may not even get what seemed a good deal. All I wanted assurance it would last at least a year, not tie me into and automatic annual increase in April of next year.

      But as you say, I should have a couple of weeks to opt out.

      • Paul_DN's avatar
        Paul_DN
        Forum Team
        2 months ago

        Hi hackneyuser,

        Thank you for reaching out to us in our community and welcome, sorry for any disappointment around the offer which was added, with any changes as advised you do always get 14 days cooling off once added.

        If you current contract has ended you can speak to our Customer Relations team on either 150 from a Virgin Media Landline or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone, options 1,3 then 4.

        If you do however need further help please reach back out to us.

        Regards

        Paul.