Bereavement Stress and Virgins inflexibility.

[NellyMorse]

Hi,

I'm one of the executers of my dad's estate who died recently.  I contacted Virgin's bereavement team to discuss options re my dad's account as he is survived by his wife.

My dad was overpaying for his contract (£52.15 for 100mbps and phone) so I thought I might as well close his account and start a new account for my mum as a new customer.  She cannot afford £52.15 a month.

Virgin's bereavement guy said yes this would be possible and outlined the shiny new deal (£25 a month for 132mbps and phone) and explained that she'd also get brand new equipment and a brand new phone number as a "new customer".

I told them that she woudln't need new equipment as the old stuff still works fine and would not want to lose her landline number (which she is currently very reliant on and has had for 35+ years).

Well... then apparently the only option would be to transfer ownership of my dad's account which means she would not get the benefit of deals for new customers.  The Bereavement guy said "look at it this way as a new customer she would get a better deal and new equipment or just to keep the number she'd have to continue paying £52.15 a month, £27.15 more than the offer for a new customer".

He was intransigent on the matter.  The whole thing felt like a sales call, completely different to every other bereavement team I've unfortunately had to contact this week.

My mum would be a new customer but obviously wants to also keep her old number is that too much to ask? Why can't Virgin just show some compassion and flexibility in these situations which essentially boil down admin.

I can recognise that Virgin may want to drive a hard bargain with customers looking at their options when contract renewal comes up and refusing to price match offers advertised for new customers and I've dealt with them in this capacity myself and know they eventually improve their offers when it becomes clear that if they didn't you'd find a new provider.

But why play the same hardball game with a OAP who has just lost her husband of 57 years.  Deary me. Really disappointed but not surprised by VM. 

[Alex_RM]

Hi NellyMorse,

Thanks for posting and welcome to our community 🙂

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss, and appreciate this isn't the experience you need right now.

The agent is correct in saying that, should the account be transferred rather than a new one set up you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the cheaper deal.

If a new deal it would also mean new equipment, as the old equipment would be tied to the old account.

If you did want to set up the new account we can look to transfer the number over for you, if you let us know once the new account has been processed I can pop you over a private message to ensure this happens.

Alex_Rm

[NellyMorse]

Thank you for your reply. I would to close my dads account and start a new account for my mum but retain the telephone number. She is reliant on that number. If this is possible please let me know how I need to proceed. I understand you will need details from the death certificate etc.

[Ilyas_Y]

Thank you for the reply @NellyMorse on the forums.

If you speak with the bereavement team regarding this, they will be able to make an arrangement to get the number ported over to the new account so that you guys keep the landline number and benefit from the new customer deal.

Give them a ring on: 0800 952 2302, and they will assist. 

Let us know how it goes.

Kind regards,
Ilyas.

[NellyMorse]

thank you I will try again tomorrow and update you.

[NellyMorse]

Update

I tried again with Virgin media's bereavement team who remained unwilling to let my mum take over my deceased dads contract and take advantage of offers for new customers and keep her telephone number (lifeline).

Bereavement team was intransigent and said there was nothing they could do and forum members who advised me were wrong to do so and may not even work for virgin media.  I was on the phone for an hour.  

Options were;

1. start new contract as new customer and take advantage of new customer deal but lose telephone number; or

2. take over my dads contract for £50 per month for 100mbps and keep number and then make another call to customer services and try and negotiate a new deal or leave.

I opted for option 2, my mum cannot afford £50 per month but she can less afford to lose her number. I'll see what deal they're willing to offer but t just involves more time on the phone trying to negotiate when its pretty much the last things I'd like to be doing.

In my view more could have been done.  the Bereavement team could have reached out to the custsomer service or customer resolution team to see what sort of deal could've been reached.

By way of comparison my dad had an iphone 14 with Vodafone.  Vodafone's bereavement team allowed my mum to keep my dads phone iphone 14 and agreed to write off the remainder of his contract.

[Carley_S]

I am deeply sorry to hear that you feel this way @NellyMorse. 

I'm sure the team will be able to help and discuss a new contract/package for your mother that is better suitable to her. You can speak with the team to discuss by calling on 0345 454 1111 / 150 or via SMS 0753 305 1809 and WhatsApp on 07305 327 112 our team will be more than happy to perform a package review for you. They will ensure that you're on the best possible deal for your mother's package.

[NellyMorse]

Final update.

My mum contacted the resolution team and they offered to reduce the cost of my mum's virgin package from £51 per month for 100Mbps to for my mum to £31 per month for 100Mbps (not £25 per month which is offered for new customers). 

The minimum contract term had already passed so my dad had been on a rolling contract.  My mum accepted the offer as she just couldn't be bothered with the hassle for the sake of an extra £6.  When renegotiating my own contract a couple of months ago Virgin offered me 200Mbps for £31.

Overall a disappointing, time consuming and unhappy experience.

[Kain_W]

Thanks for the update on this NellyMorse,

Many apologies for the issues faced on this however in getting this amended.

If you do have any future queries then be sure to pop back up to the team for further assistance.

Kind Regards,