Hi Megan,
Thanks for stepping in and for your offer of help.
A summary of events:
- On 13th July I spoke with your retentions team as my contract was coming to an end. I agreed a new 18 month contract on a Volt M200 Fibre Broadband package and an O2 SIM to replace my previous Virgin Mobile service. The price agreed for the Fibre Broadband was £28.00
- I received the O2 SIM a few days later, my number has been ported from Virgin Mobile, and have recently received my second bill from O2, which is all as expected
- On 26th July I received a bill from Virgin Media for £97.00, approximately 3.5x the amount I was expecting
This bill contained the following:
- £34.25 for the prior months billing (14 Jul to 13 Aug) which was outstanding
- £7.50 for a Late Payment Charge for this "missed" payment
- £55.25 for the following month (14 Aug to 13 Sep)
Prior to this date, I was unaware the previous payment (due only a week earlier) had not been taken and had not been notified of any problem. My bank account has never been short of funds and having spoken to my bank I was told no payment was requested.
I assumed that either my billing had been suspended due to changing package earlier in the month, or there had been a related technical error which had resulted in the payment not being taken and the overbilling for the following month. Having worked in telecoms myself for 13 years, none of this was a particular concern or surprise as I am well aware that things can and do go wrong.
My original "complaint" was pretty simple:
- I dispute the Late Payment Charge as I pay by Direct Debit so the collection of any payments is controlled by yourselves. Given my bank has stated no payment was requested, and none has been declined, I should not be liable for this charge
- Charges for the following month (14 Aug to 13 Sep) should be £28.00, not £55.25
I spoke to one of your customer service team via Web Chat on 29th July and they advised the following.
- I do have an active direct debit but the payment was not taken, therefore they would waive the late payment charge
- The new package will be effective from 12th August
- The excess charges would be credited on my next bill, and payments will be taken as follows
- 17 Aug - £89.50 - £97.00 minus the £7.50 late payment fee
- 17 Sep - £0.00
- 17 Oct - £26.72
- 17 Nov - £28.00
This is all roughly what I was expecting and, aside from being out of pocket for a couple of months, seemed as reasonable as could be expected. I left this conversation feeling everything was resolved and that was the end of the matter.
Nearly a fortnight after this call, I received an email from your "Resolutions" team advising that the Late Payment Charge would still be applied as my prior months bill was not paid! I have now exchanged 9 emails with your Resolutions team and it is clear they are not willing to provide any form of resolution, or abide by your own code of practice. To summarise just a few of the exchanges
- They do not acknowledge that I have not failed or refused to pay
- They do not acknowledge that you have already agreed (in writing) that the Late Payment Charge should be waived, and they are unwilling to move on their stance that this charge is applicable
- They have ignored my request for my case to be escalated to a manager, as per your code of practice
- They have ignored my request for a deadlock, given the only resolution acceptable to myself has been refused and no alternative has been offered
- They have now advised that actually a (partial) payment will be due on 17 Sep, again conflicting with the advice of your previous colleague
- They have failed to provide an explanation for these additional costs
I must admit, your Resolutions team have provided nothing but wasted time and frustration, and most of their replies contradict their own prior messages. I have now spent endless hours in communication with you by phone, web chat and email and feel I am in a worse position than I was a month ago.
I don't feel my request is unreasonable; I simply want to be charged the £28.00 per month that has been agreed and is stated on my contract, and I don't want to pay late payment fees for payments which haven't been requested. A month later, I do feel an appropriate level of recompense for the many hours I have spent trying to get this matter resolved, would also be reasonable given the circumstances.
Anything you can do to get this matter resolved before I commence to ADR would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Ian
