Forum Discussion

silentg1971's avatar
silentg1971
Dialled in
6 years ago
Solved

Cancel and my partner join as new customer

my contract is coming to an end and since virgin have zero interest in giving me better deal after 20 years plus with them . I am rarely at home anyway with work but if my partner wants virgin servi...
  • BFULLER1's avatar
    BFULLER1
    5 years ago

    Common theme here is that whenever someone at VM “double checks” this, they come up with something new. 

    Let me tell you what is actually the case.

    Person 1 can give notice to cancel and immediately place a new order in the name of person 2 at the same address. How do I know this? 

    I did it, and have done it repeatedly for a number of years now. Disconnection date was October 15th for the old account, install date for the new services was October 16th. 

    The VM retentions drones tell you that you can’t do this - and in some cases accuse you of committing fraud, breaking the law, and playing the system but it’s just their way of being able to keep you tied in to a deal they generate - to get their commission. 

    The thing about 90 days, absolute garbage, and tends to vary based on who you’re speaking with at VM; I’ve been told 30 days, 3 months and up to 6 months. The fact of it is that once one contract with VM and person 1 ends, person 2 is a new customer - at that point neither are currently bound by any terms and conditions - and an address can’t be a party to entering into a contract. 

BFULLER1's avatar
BFULLER1
On our wavelength
5 years ago

Hi again levingsowrth,

 

I had to have it checked by VM's in house legal Counsel as they literally didn't have a clue what they were quoting. In the end, the final word on the matter is that actually, there is no policy at all determining what is a new customer. As soon as Person 1 is out of contract and Person 2 takes a contract they are a new customer. The reason there is so much confusion around this 30 day 60 day and up to 6 month nonsense is that its all guess work. We submitted the cancellation on September 15 2020, placed the new order in my name on the 16th, with an install date of the 16th October. This gave the 30 notice required under the contract. Its also noteworthy, that when doing this a couple of years ago, one of VM's staff accused me of committing fraud, playing the system and breaking the Law - this person no longer works for VM after these statements.

When you're next due to to upgrade or cancel, the following may help.

When you call to get a better deal, the first layer will pass you through to one of their retentions teams, they'll make an offer on a package. If you accept here, good for them, but no so great for you. If you hold your nerve, they'll come back with something better... same as above, great for them. Finally, if you stay strong and actually serve your disconnection request something quite miraculous happens.

The request doesn't go off to the team responsible for disconnecting your service, despite the fact you'll get the "goodbye" email from VM. It goes through to yet another layer of retentions, who call you a few days after the disconnection request goes in - generally English speaking and can usually offer you their best deals, and they'll literally throw money at you not to cancel. 

Next time, hold your neve, you'll win in the end! 🙂

 

levingsworth's avatar
levingsworth
Tuning in
5 years ago

Hi again,

Just reading you very helpful & detailed response but have a query.

You say you cancelled on the 15th & placed new order the next day to be installed 30 days later, thus allowing the 30 days notice, I get that.

However, you then talk about VM contacting you several days after you have cancelled with an improved offer. How does this work if you have already placed a new order the day after you cancelled? 

Cheers

 

 

  • BFULLER1's avatar
    BFULLER1
    On our wavelength
    5 years ago

    Hi levingsworth, 

    Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

    When placing the disconnection request, it does so on the old account. I then sign up using the new account.

    As notice is served on the old account, VM don't actually start any disconnection work at all, instead sending it to their retentions teams beforehand. They only see the account to be cancelled, and generally haven't noticed the fact that a new order has been processed.

    When you get the phone call, offering you the discount, if you choose to accept, make sure you cancel the installation of the new account as there could be issues there, if you decide not to accept the discounts and proceed with the new customer offer, just make sure they raise the work order for the disconnection request, and it's processed 1 day before the installation of new services.

    Hope this helps.

  • Jas-Singh685's avatar
    Jas-Singh685
    Tuning in
    5 years ago

    Hi BFULLER

    So I’ve been going through the same as everyone else here. VM couldn’t give me a good deal so I decided to cancel and have my son sign up. 

    All went well throughout the order process, however he’s just received an email stating that there is already a VM account at the same address, and the order cannot be processed yet. He should be expecting a call as they need to “look into the order”

     

    Have you had this before? Is there something I can do otherwise?

     

    Edit: He booked the new service to begin one day after the existing contract will end

  • BFULLER1's avatar
    BFULLER1
    On our wavelength
    5 years ago

    Hi,

    I've never come across this at all. I've heard this talked about within VM though. It seems it's been flagged by something called their 'Exceptions' team. It could be that the've noticed your surnames are the same [just guessing], that being the case, you'd just need to get your sone to say you moved out. It's an odd one, their legal team have confirmed that there is nothing in the terms stating you can't do this, so them having a team specifically employed to stop it is probably something that I should report to the Ombudsman when I get chance. 

    This is the only thing I can think it would be, with the reason I haven't come across this particular problem is that my partner and I never married so she has a different surname to me - that said, our account number currently ends in a 4 - showing that we have done this successfully now 4 times.

    I hope this helps.

  • Jas-Singh685's avatar
    Jas-Singh685
    Tuning in
    5 years ago

    Thanks for the reply!

     

    Yes, that was my initial thought too, and I was surprised to have such a response so quickly. It was on my mind for him to say that I have moved out, as they cannot prove otherwise. The email did say "there is an existing account under somebody else's name", so hopefully they are just confirming a few things beforehand, it doesn't sound like they've matched the surnames (hopefully).

    Once we get the phone call, I will update.

  • Corey_C's avatar
    Corey_C
    Moderator
    5 years ago

    Thanks for your post and reaching out to the Community Forums, Jas-Singh685,

     

    Yes, we will send notices to person's whose address matches an incoming install request. If you do not acknowledge the email or phone call then it can potentially delay the install.

     

    Cheers,

    Corey C

  • Jas-Singh685's avatar
    Jas-Singh685
    Tuning in
    5 years ago

    Hi Corey,

     

    Thanks for the reply. I think I have missed one call, and I got disconnected from another. It seems difficult to get back in contact to acknowledge the notice about a new install. 

    What would be the best way to contact you? I tried calling once, and I only got confirmation that my contact is due to end. No mention about a new order from someone else. 

    Thanks,

    Jas

  • Corey_C's avatar
    Corey_C
    Moderator
    5 years ago

    Hi Jas,

     

    Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately with sales/upgrade queries there little that we are able to do here from the forums. I can only advise giving the care team a ring at 0345 454 1111 or 150 if you have a landline with us. We also do have an SMS support line to help with the queues, this number is 07533051809

     

    Cheers,

    Corey C

  • Soczek's avatar
    Soczek
    Joining in
    5 years ago

    Hi,

    Have you got the phone call, VM were supposed to do? How did it went? Do they have any problem with the move you tried to do? Is your new installation going as planned?