Hi Gareth_L,
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me, I appreciate anyone who can help me on this.
Sorry for the length of this, it’s the abridged version of what your company have put me through since 1st June. In response I would say this to you, why then would you send people like me an email on 1st June saying `Were all moved in Steve, Our Lightning-fast broadband is now available on your street`, when it actually wasn’t then, and still isn’t to this day?
Why then do your salesmen sit in peoples houses just telling lies to get people to sign up, surely this is against all sorts of Consumer regulations and law? The guy who signed me up on 3/6 gave me 3 dates, “when we can fit your installation, which one suits you best”. I chose the 17th June and the salesman saw me write this date in my desk diary, He did not say that this was in any way a `provisional installation date` and that you may fit my installation then or on any day to suit yourselves going into the future, he didn’t tell me that I’d signed up to a `we’ll fit it when we feel like and just keep changing dates at will` contract! Neither did the salesman point out that you were signing me up to an 18 month contract at £25.99 per month BUT and this is a big BUT, that at month 19, the price rises by a massive 130% to £60 per month!!!!. This salesman started the VM lies rolling that day he signed me up, but they were to continue to the day I am writing this. A Black day indeed! Then there’s everything you put people through in trying to get the installation made. You have badly affected my actual health and mental health with what you’ve put me through for the last two months since June 1st. During this period I have now spoken to at least 12 Virgin Media representatives on the phone, every single one of them has lied and lied and lied to me. The story keeps changing every time you talk to someone (I’ve recorded every conversation by the way). An engineer was sent out to see me on 18th June. He didn’t knock my door, as he was supposed to, but I spotted him by accident and went after him. He then lied to me by pointing at the pavement outside number 33 (a neighbours) and said “there’s a blockage here and we need permission from BT to enter their ducting”, but hang on you’d told me on 1st June that `were ready to go in your street Steve`! Then after you failed my first installation date of 17th June, and because of the conflicting stories I was getting from you on the phone, I sent a letter to your CEO Lutz Schuler on 24th June asking for his help. He ignored my letter! All the way through this I have been taking advice from Trading Standards, so they advised I write again making it a complaint and giving 14 days to respond. I sent this by recorded post like the 1st letter and by email to the CEO as I now had his email address. I then received a call on 2/7 from a man in the Executive Office, he went through things and said “the problem was outside number 45” ( a second address given now for the problem!) and “he’d given me the information and was closing the complaint”. I received a confirmation email that wasn’t even written in the Kings English. I wrote an email back to the Executive Office asking what their email meant, and this produced another call back from the gentlemen who had called me before. In this 2nd conversation he ended by saying “give me 24 hours mate and I’ll look into what you’ve said and come back to you”. That was over two weeks ago and I’m still waiting for that call!! In between these calls with this man from the Executive Office, on 9/7 a woman rang from VM “confirming my installation date of 25/7”. Since 1st July I have in fact had 4 conversations with VM people on the phone all “confirming the installation date of 25/7 between 8am – 1pm”! In this call of 9/7 the lady I spoke to said you were waiting for permission from the local authority to gain access outside my property, (another 3rd address) ”! Can you see the lies now, its either “BT or the Local Authority” from whom you are awaiting permission to do work, and the blockage, is either outside number 33 (if you believe the engineer who visited on 18/6) or its outside number 45, (if you believe the gentleman from your Executive Office) or its outside my address!! At 19.17pm on 24th June, less than 24 hours before the 2nd installation date, I received a text to my phone saying you couldn’t do the install and you were now pushing my installation back to a 3rd date of 2nd September. When I switched on my PC the next day I had 3 emails from you confirming this further delay and offering me £30.49 as compensation. The problem in this entire story started with your promise on 1st June that `were ready in your area` and then your salesman giving me the 17th June as my installation date, and not saying this was `provisional only`, because I then gave one months notice to BT to cancel my contract. I managed to get BT to extend this to 5th August, but on Monday 5/8 I finally lost my lifeline! If your salesman had only been honest and said this 1st installation date was “provisional only”, I would not have cancelled my contract with BT and not now been in a mess. All because you can’t be truthful!! When I say lifeline by the way, I mean exactly that. I need internet for medical reasons. I receive all my appointment letters and changes of appointment letters from 3 hospitals that I am under, one of whom operates a `1 strike and your out policy` meaning if they change an appointment now and I don’t find out about it and don’t turn up, they kick me off the clinic and to the end of the queue. Also I have a sensor on my arm that sends information over to one of these hospitals regarding my medical status so they can intervene if needed, that umbilical cord is now dead courtesy of VM. I have told your company about my medical needs but to no avail!! Trading Standards advised I write to your CEO saying that you were in Breach of Contract and giving you 7 days to complete the contract. I did that on 26th July. It was sent recorded letter that day and to the CEO`s email address and the Executive Office email address also. He and anyone else representing VM have just totally ignored this letter and emails!! On Monday 5th August I went to a personal meeting with Trading Standards to show them all the extensive paperwork I now have on this issue, and I played them extracts from all of the voice recordings I have made in talking to over 12 VM staff. They have advised me on how to proceed further. I can not believe that a company like VM can put people through all of this and just sign them up to a `sometime – never` contract and affect their health so badly. How do businesses get on signing to this `sometimes- never` installation date contract, you could put businesses out of business and lose all the employees their jobs waiting for their connection. I am now writing to my MP about all of this. Surely Virgin Media people don’t set out to do this to customers, your`e all just normal people like us. We sign a contract and agree a price for you to provide a service and you provide it, Simples!
