CANCEL MY BRAND NEW ACCOUNT ASAP

[cushtyvm]

2 days after signing up for a Virgin Media M2 package I want to cancel it because of exceedingly poor customer service that I have endured already! 

Right now I've spent the first 1 hour and 24 minutes of my day attempting to speak with someone to assist me with this but am just kept on hold...and twice thus far disconnected from the call itself.

The last email I received from ResolutionsTeam@virginmedia.co.uk indicated that they could not cancel my account / planned installation and that I must speak with someone. 

Please can someone here from Virgin Media Customer support assist me ASAP ? 

[SGvmedia]

The broadband and TV are actually good - such a shame its so massively let down by the customer service when you need to sort something out. I spent 4 DAYS on the whatsapp trying to get a resolution when i clearly stated at the beginning exactley what i needed - then each day the service reset and i was back at the begininng queuing then waiting hours before speaking with an agent who takes an age to reply.

New customers are valued highley and have deals and rewards thrown at them. Existing customers - even when you dont need any reward/new equipment/cashback etc... dont get offered close to the deals - my best offer was £22 more than the new customer offer.

Ive eventually had to cancel my contract after 10+ years with them.

[Venkman85]

Absolutely agree with u. When things are working all good but its when things go wrong it's hell to resolve.

In this day and age does not need to as complicated.

Also there is no longer such  thing with virgin with customer loyalty. We had to cancel our old account which we had for over 10yrs as was offered insulting deals to remain. We had to setup a new account in order to get these new customer deals. 

[Zoie_P]

I am a member of the Virgin Media team Cushyvm 🙂

I am here to help if you could provide the screenshots and all looks like something is a miss we can PM you and get this looked into asap.

Zoie

[cushtyvm]

Hi again Zoie , presumably the same Zoie as earlier?

Nice to have you back on the thread again after another few hours...as per my previous posts , I am now way,way past the point of offering screenshots , and other 'proof' about the contract I agreed to and that Virgin have failed to adhere to - I was offered £0.00 no set-up costs you're saying I wasn't . 

I now simply want to cancel my account/contract/installation. It hasn't even started yet so this shouldn't be a problem but it somehow seems impossible?

Since we last communicated (some 4 hours ago) I have been engaged in a WhatsApp chat suposedly with the 'Virgin Media Customer Relations Messaging Team' . When I say engaged I mean they have had me on a WhatsApp chat since 14:46 this afternoon, where I've verified who I am , what my account number is and  successfully completed security questions about myself and account .....the chat is still live now - its just after 18:00. I will be stripping out personal details and posting the whole WhatsApp chat here at some point. But as it stands now I haven't had a response from a person since 15:29. I have been very clear what I want and expect ...and at the risk of repeating myself yet again....that is : I simply want to cancel my account/contract/installation. I want nothing further to do with Virgin Media having spent far too many hours on this debacle today : Multiple emails , 1.5 hours on the phone , several hours on Whatsapp chat session, and a whole load of forum thread posts - which do seem to be generating quite a few views I see ....?

[jem101 · Accepted solution]

@cushtyvm If as it sounds like you are, you are adamant that you no longer wish to be a VM customer, then what I would suggest is that you call them up at just past 8am tomorrow morning and follow the ‘thinking of leaving us’ options on the IVR, as this will give the best chance of getting through to a UK based person. They may well try to get you to reconsider and generally do have more leeway than the normal customer services to get things sorted out, entirely up to you if you take the, up on it.

As you have noticed, VM’s customer support model (especially the offshore call centres) is fundamentally broken and riddled with incompetence, sometimes outright lies, and complete inability to solve any issue even slightly more complex than ‘turn it off and on again’!

Except for the forum team here, who, within the constraints of what can be done with VM’s Byzantine operational setup, do have a very good record of sorting out customer issues. So personally, I would give @Zoie_P at least a chance to sort things out for you - I’m sure she will do everything she can to resolve this matter to your satisfaction, and even if not, the statutory 14 day cooling off doesn’t even start until the service is installed and live - so you have time.

[cushtyvm]

Thanks for the insight and also for taking the time to respond.

I really am way past wanting anything to do with Virgin Media...before I even really have anything to do with them. I started the day with a whole bunch of emails back and forth with the 'Resolutions Team' who couldn't resolve anything or help me in any way. Then after successfully navigating the IVR today (not bad tbh) it was the 1.5 hours actually on hold that did for me as. I then turned to this forum and after discovering that I could initiate a support call via whatspp (I wont divulge the number , because obviously it'll just get removed by admins here) I did so. This very Whatsapp chat is still on my other screen . Its a laugh in itself ! a complete lesson in how not to assist a customer. After several hours I am still no further forward. I will strip it of any personal details and post it here for everyone's' amusement...

If ZoieP can now help me out that would be fine , but I guess she/he/whoever will be unable to with limited resoiurces and access - All I am asking for is confirmation of cancellation , its not a big deal surely?

[Zach_R]

Hi @cushtyvm,

I am very sorry for the experience you've had. Via the community forums we don't typically perform package changes, which includes both upgrades and cancellations, but I'm happy to take a closer look to see what can be done for you.

Please respond to the private message that I'll be sending to you shortly and we can go from there.

Thanks,
 

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with the other customers on this thread. This my opinion based on a number of hours of engagement with Virgin media over the past few weeks.

Virgin Media has the worst customer service I have ever encountered from a service provider. 

I do not make a habit of complaining but I currently have a complaint with an energy company over my smart meter breaking and a complaint with virgin media for not providing the Netflix subscription.

In comparison:

Energy Company

- friendly and effective UK Call centre

- agrees callbacks and sticks to them

- not passed around and feels like the issue is owned by a single person

- empathetic

- kept updated throughout

Virgin Media

- A number of inefficient and dishonest offshore call centre staff.

- scripted unhelpful call centre staff.

- failed to effectively record a complaint if a customer requests. I took me at least 4 times to actually get a complaint recorded.

- failed call backs

- no real feeling of ownership

- a responsive social media channel but report to be unable to call back or escalate internally for a callback. 

I am drafting an email this evening to their press office to see if they would like to maybe intervene before I draft a factual observation to BBC Watchdog.

I get a real sense of poor management and Leadership within the company over their customer service operation.

[Venkman85]

Wow that was a brilliant summary and comparison.

I really do think you should contact watchdog, Martin Lewis also 

This offshore call centres being dishonest or unhelpful is a huge part of the problem. 

But to be fair even the UK agents have been ineffective also, from my observations. 

[cushtyvm]

Hi Zach_R https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/634763

I responded directly to your PM last night no more than 10 minutes after you sent it. I've replied with valid security details as requested. Havent heard anything further from you ? I am looking forward to your further assistance when you are available once again?