Withheld refund

That's how the system is designed. You are expected to play you part in it by getting tired and giving up. 

Thank you yes, I have made formal complaints which are, as you say , incomprehensibly and repeatedly closed when a manager sends an email to say a cheque is ‘in the post’. I will go the ombudsman route, just that I’d really hoped for a faster solution .

30 days for second class post?

Are they posted from the Indian call centre then ? 

To add . I’m only awaiting a cheque because despite at least 20 assurances from various managers that the payment would be made by bacs, (including one manager , suraj, who informed me he had MADE THE TRANSFER himself🤯) , the bacs was cancelled and a cheque was issued . The lies and false assurances have been unreal. 

Warning to anyone considering taking a complaint to the Ombudsman about Virgin Media

You can take Virgin Media to the Ombudsman, but based on my experience, be aware that Virgin may still try to avoid paying what is awarded.

Timeline & facts:

• November 2025 – Virgin Media applied account credit and repeatedly told me it would be refunded via cheque or BACS.
  Despite this, the credit was used to offset bills while they continued taking direct debits from my bank.
• After chasing Virgin Media for months and dealing with consistently poor customer service, I requested a deadlock letter due to breach of contract and complaint resolutions being changed without my knowledge or consent.
• The Ombudsman accepted my case. I provided chat transcripts and call recordings.
• 2 January 2026 – The Ombudsman upheld my complaint and explicitly ordered:
• A written apology
• A £450 cheque for service failures
•  
• 27 January 2026 – Virgin Media decided to use existing account credit from November to “settle” the Ombudsman award.

This directly contradicts the Ombudsman’s findings, which clearly stated that:

• Account credit could remain on the account and be used to offset future bills (as Virgin normally does)
• The £450 was an additional award, specifically for distress, inconvenience, and service failures

The Ombudsman’s written decision states (paraphrased):

• Virgin failed to provide clarity around credit vs refunds
• There were shortfalls in service
• The complaint was upheld
• A £450 cheque was required, in line with similar cases

Despite this, Virgin Media and ADR later claimed they had “completed the remedy” by doing the following:

1. Saying the £450 compensation was applied as account credit on 27 November 2025
2. Deducting bills from that credit
3. Sending the remaining £413.29 by cheque on 27 January 2026
4. Issuing a formal apology

This is not compliant with the Ombudsman’s decision.

The original account credit was for separate issues, including:

• A missing free gift when I took the contract
• Installation at the wrong address
• A two-week installation delay
• Complaints being closed without resolution
• Senior staff providing false timelines for refunds

The Ombudsman clearly awarded a new £450 payment, not permission for Virgin Media to reuse existing credit to pay themselves.

I’m not being ungrateful — but using my own compensation to settle an Ombudsman award is not what was ordered.

Given everything that has happened, including non-compliance after an upheld Ombudsman decision, I would strongly advise anyone to think carefully before dealing with this company

Still chasing them now to get them cough up what they have been ordered to do. 

If you have an ombudsman decision in your favour and VM has not complied, next stop should be the small claims court process to enforce the ombudsman decision.

Don't mess about trying to get VM to pay up for another 5 or 6 months.

Hi Jamiemoss43,

We are sincerely sorry to hear that it has taken an extended period of time for this matter to be resolved. We understand how frustrating this experience may have been, and we appreciate your patience throughout.

In order for us to look into this further and ensure the issue is fully addressed, we will need to complete some security checks with you. For your privacy and protection, we will continue this conversation securely.

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Thank you for patience.

It depends Jamie if the ombudsman's has upheld your complaint and made finding against them and told them it implement remedies then it legally binding - Just appalling they just do what they want and no one does anything to stop them , I hope you get sorted