No online contact form! Phone line down for weeks 150 obviously not working, Vunerable customer too!

[charliesparra]

My son is a vulnerable person, We need the phone line to make sure he is ok & for a backup for the mobile phone as the signal & battery can cause issues, It's been down for weeks, There is no way of registering the complaint other than calling 150 which is impossible if the phone line is down, I attempted to call the high rate phone number from my mobile, 45 minutes then cut off, Cost a fortune. Pointless exercise. There should be an online contact form at least!

Virgin claim there is a way of registering faults & outages online in the "help" spiel for compensation, £8 a day we are entitled to apparently but no link to this mysterious form.

Would anybody care to share a link to a contact form, As i said there isn't one on the site we could find.

I want an engineer call round to fix the issue without using a phone, Phoning is not an option. How does one achive this?

This is a rediculous way of runnning a customer service. The help pages just loop around & around avoiding any real help apart from check you cable & the power cable, Press reset etc.

We even purchased a cable to connect to the Hub 3 phone port but the telephony is disabled & no setting to activate, What's the point of that? Are customers not trusted to activate an emergency backup way of keeping the phone line operational? Apparently Virgin want nearly £100 cash to do so going by other posts on the subject indicate.

I'm sure they would send a message rather than call without any issue if i missed a bill so the message service is definitely operational & implemented only not being utilised for customer contacting virgin.

Oftel is the next stop if we aren't able to move forward after this message. I'm pretty sure this is fundamental rule breaking by not having online contact available. Especially if you have vunerable customers who may be unable to use a phone.

Thanks in advance

[charliesparra]

Thanks again,

Indeed it is a virgin box in the front room, looks like a BT one, same cable etc. I am no expert on telecommunications apart from the logical way it all connects together. The cabinets are just patchbays to connect lines & make them active to the relevent network.

For clarification i have included a screenshot from the UK governments site to prove that the 0345 number is not toll free or limited to a specific amount, It doesn't get any more offical than that, I don't know where you are getting your info from but it is wrong.

The phone service has been active since we signed up years ago when it was standard, Can you get a contract without the telephone?

I double checked the contract & it is indeed part of the package, I have added the image of this also, Don't know why it states the term of this is 12 months & the fibre 18 months. Thats virgins duristriction. The package runs til November 2022 & was only renewed earlier this year.

Regards

.

[charliesparra]

Hello David,

John_GS sent the message, It is gone now as i replied to his message but i am certain he stated that you will try remotely before sending an engineer.

Rgards

[BenMcr]

As @John_GS and @David_Bn are dealing with getting the phone service working again I did want to cover the points you raised.

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@charliesparra wrote:

Thanks again,

Indeed it is a virgin box in the front room, looks like a BT one, same cable etc. I am no expert on telecommunications apart from the logical way it all connects together. The cabinets are just patchbays to connect lines & make them active to the relevent network.

They are for analogue services, but as BT and Virgin Media have separate physical analogue phone networks I want to check. It honestly would not be the first time that there has been some misunderstanding as which provider the line is with.

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@charliesparra wrote:

For clarification i have included a screenshot from the UK governments site to prove that the 0345 number is not toll free or limited to a specific amount, It doesn't get any more offical than that, I don't know where you are getting your info from but it is wrong.

The phone service has been active since we signed up years ago when it was standard, Can you get a contract without the telephone?

I didn't say they were toll free - but that could be included in call plans - which the government website does say 'You may get free calls to some numbers as part of your call package. Check with your phone provider.'

This what OFCOM say about 03 numbers - https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/what-are-03-number...

Calls to 03 numbers cost no more than a national rate call to an 01 or 02 number and must count towards any inclusive minutes in the same way as 01 and 02 calls. These rules apply to calls from any type of line including mobile, BT, other fixed line or payphone.

So 03 numbers do have a charge - but many home phone and mobile plans have inclusive minutes that cover calling 03 number which means that they don't cost anything more than the airtime plan or home phone package monthly cost.

[charliesparra]

0800 numbers are FREE & just as easy to setup as an 0345 without the dubious variation in charges from 3p to 65p per minute. Especially if you are one of the big telecom companies with as you explained your own network.

The old 0845 numbers are fixed at 7p max a minute but there is an addition charge which your phone company charge syou called the "access charge"

Since 1 July 2015, the cost of calling service numbers is now made up of two parts:
An access charge: This part of the call charge goes to your phone company, charged as pence per minute. They will tell you how much the access charge will be for calls to service numbers. It will be made clear on bills and when you take out a contract.

EE is owned by BT PLC a limited company with shareholders, Maximising profit is essential so why would they charge 3p when they can just as easily charge 65p??

Why do you think everybody uses 0345 numbers now?

It's clearly obvious, Max profit!

Who do you think created these guidelines?

Neutral ex industry individuals with scruples or somebody with a portfolio of shares & investments?

Oftel is ran by ex government officials, I can guess that most of their friends & family have investments in companies like BT. You need to be very naive to think the customers best interests are a priority here over profit for shareholders.

I definitely was extorted & it's validated by the governing bodies guidelines. Thats why they are guidlines rather than laws,Worrying but not uncommon, it's typical shysty behaviour of corporate entities in todays world.

Oftel are clearly in the disinformation game, To quote the link from the site "Many organisations use 03 numbers as an alternative to more expensive 08 numbers"

0800 is FREE is that not an 08 number?

0845 numbers are fixed at 7p max per minute with a charge per call called the access charge, thats nowhere near as expensive as 0345 numbers.
What are these expensive 08 numbers?

None are remotely as expensive as 0345

09 numbers are the highest up to £3.60 per minute with an access charge from 5p to £6

The wording 'typically" is a vague & meaningless term, I assume used here to give the impression all is fair, I would love to see documentation of which companies charge 3p per minute for using these numbers. All justified under the disguise of being less expensive in the rhetoric when it's clearly not the case as i have explained.

Inclusive minutes are manufactured to profit, That is why we have idioms like "You don't get something for nothing", The better it seems the worse it is in practice, You pay in other ways.

The signal & speed of internet is horrific on a mobile network even though it's sold as 50GB data + Unlimted calls with an asterisk on the end to indicate not all is what it seems.

"Many organisations use 03 numbers as an alternative to more expensive 08 numbers. For example, many public sector bodies have moved from 0845 numbers to 0345.

Calls cost no more than calls to geographic numbers (01 or 02).

Calls from landlines are typically charged up to 16p per minute. Many providers charge a 23p call set-up fee (or 'connection charge'), but this can vary. Call charges are dependent on the time of day, and most providers offer call packages that allow calls free of charge at certain times of the day.
Call costs from mobiles vary according to the calling plan chosen. Typically, they are included in free call packages. However, if you call an 01/02 number outside of any inclusive minutes, they can cost between 3p and 65p per minute"

My sons phone line is stil inactive, The bill arrived into his inbox last night without any communication issues or surcharges, I wonder if i could start charging companies for using my inbox to communicate, An access charge LOL

This is a real eye opener of a predicament, In the 21st century a telecommunicatiosn company struggles to provide FREE communication with it's customers that have outages. 150 is clearly flawed if your outage is the phone. No online form is rather convenient with the only other option so expensive customers are in limbo if they don't want exploited.

The telecommunication industry is clearly compromised by investors, The customers interests are not a priority especially apparent after this little episode.
I had my doubts but now i am certain.

Regards

[charliesparra]

I have to post here for john_gs

R Miller

[japitts]

I'm just going to reinforce the advice from @BenMcr on 03 numbers here. As much for the benefit of others reading this thread, as @charliesparra 

The Ofcom help page may have already been referenced, but any mention of "national rate" is a long-since obsolete phrase that serves no useful purpose these days.

An 03x number is a landline number. If your call plan includes an allowance to call landlines, then 03x numbers are in that allowance. If, for whatever reason, you don't have a call allowance - perhaps you're on PAYG or are using a landline outside its inclusive period - then whatever price you pay to call an 01x or 02x numbers, is what you'll pay for an 03x call. This applies to all UK telecoms providers, fixed & mobile.

I can't, off-hand, remember the exact name of the legislation, but (what I'll loosely call) Consumer Regulations prohibit the use of non-standard numbers for "customer-service" queries since many years. In other words, a company with whom you have an existing relationship, must - by law - provide a free or standard-rate number for queries. 080 is a free number, 01, 02 & 03 numbers are classed as standard rate.

Virgin Media satisfy that by using 0345 4541111 for all customer-service queries.

[goslow]

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@charliesparra wrote:

Thanks again,

<snip>

The phone service has been active since we signed up years ago when it was standard, Can you get a contract without the telephone?

I double checked the contract & it is indeed part of the package, I have added the image of this also, Don't know why it states the term of this is 12 months & the fibre 18 months. Thats virgins duristriction. The package runs til November 2022 & was only renewed earlier this year.

.

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In your screenshot in #11 for 'Your Virgin Media services' does it show 'Virgin Phone' further down the page (cropped off in your pic) as per similar example pic below?

https://www.virginmedia.com/help/virgin-media-how-to-cancel

Just curious as to why you have two different minimum terms showing for phone and broadband. I would have thought they would be the same for a particular package of services.

Did the loss of the phone service follow the renewal of the package? It has been mentioned in the past on the forums that the money-saving package renewals some customers have been offered on the phone actually came about by the removal or downgrading of services (unbeknown to the customer at the time of renewal!).

[charliesparra]

No offence, I tend to reference acurate verifyable data rather than unsubstantiated forum chat, Therefore I would love to see this information you mention on an official bodies website to enable me to retrieve my funds from EE by referencing it.

Can you provide a link?

My references are from the .gov & Oftel sites yesterday, Surely they wouldn't display this information unless it was relevant & factual. If indeed this information is out of date why no mention of amendment in these places?

I will reiterate, 0800 numbers are FREE why deviate to a 0345 with a charge that can vary, No logical reason i can see why. Helplines should be FREE 0800 numbers, You can't get any more transparent than that, Not vague setups with hidden debatable agendas. I rest my case.

There's a lot of weird defending of virgins policies from seemingly sychophantic members here. As with anything, Unless i'm provided with solid checkable information i could print out, That would hold up in a court of law i'll stick to what i read on these sites for now.

Thanks for the input anyway

[charliesparra]

Why the dates of the phone & broadband differ I have no idea, You would have to ask virgin that question, We just renewed the contract a couple of months ago but downgraded the speed & removed the TV, Nothing more, nothing less.

Thanks to your link I double checked the contract, Yes the phone has been removed from the actual contract without consulting us. Not apparent on the main page.

Opening up a fresh debate

Why isn't there a cross next to it on the main page like the TV & mobile services??

Why does it state 12 months next to the clearly active symbol?

We definitely did not ask for the phone line to be removed. Why would i expect it to be operational with phones still plugged in, calling it & now wasting time looking for answers if we removed it??

So £44 a month for the slowest M100 broadband available from the provider & only getting 50% of the speed due to using wifi as the box is miles away on the inside of the outside wall far away from the computers location.

Unbelievable!!!

Thank you goslow you definitely have enlightened us

[japitts]

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@charliesparra wrote:

No offence, I tend to reference acurate verifyable data rather than unsubstantiated forum chat, Therefore I would love to see this information you mention on an official bodies website to enable me to retrieve my funds from EE by referencing it.

Can you provide a link?

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https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/what-are-03-number... 

"Calls to 03 numbers cost no more than a national rate call to an 01 or 02 number and must count towards any inclusive minutes in the same way as 01 and 02 calls.". IMO the reference to "national rate" is misleading, but the statement is otherwise factually correct.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/how-muc... 

Under "03 numbers"..."Calls cost no more than calls to geographic numbers (01 or 02)."

Virgin Media price guide: https://www.virginmedia.com/content/dam/virginmedia/dotcom/images/mobile-browse/downloads/010420_Eve...

Page 4 refers to "Geographic calls, numbers starting 01, 02 or 03"

EE website: https://ee.co.uk/help/help-new/billing-usage-and-top-up/call-text-and-data-charges/charges-for-calli... 

"Calls to 01, 02 or 03 numbers will come out of your inclusive minutes."

In the bad old days of 0845, 0870 etc, "helpline" charges were not regulated in the way they now are, and unscrupulous firms were free to have sales numbers on 0800, but C/S on more expensive 0845, 0870 etc. The regime that was introduced in 2014 scrubbed that away, and at least means that customer service enquiries must be on "standard rate" numbers. Some companies choose to make them FOC on 0800, but that's going one step further.

It's not an official site so I hope you'll "accept" it - Fair Telecoms gives a very good explanation of the current regime - http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/consumer-contracts-regulations.html . the page does include a link to gov.uk  guidance if you want to verify it from an official source.

I almost don't want to deviate from my main point, but "So £44 a month for the slowest M100 broadband available from the provider & only getting 50% of the speed due to using wifi as the box is miles away on the inside of the outside wall far away from the computers location.. " - Virgin Media supply you with a broadband connection and a free router. Wireless conditions in your home are completely outside their control, and that's why all speed measurements should be done over an Ethernet wired connection.