Bear with me as this is going to be a rant! Could anyone please explain how Virgin Media are allowed to get away with this situation.
My current contract (broadband, TV, landline) costs £53.31/month and ends on 11 Dec 24, when the price increases to over £70.
On 30 Oct 24 I phoned and arranged to cancel all VM services on 11 Dec 24, when the current contract ends. I received confirmation of the cancellation date by text and email.
On 7 Nov 24 I received my next bill, in the amount of £64.82 for 28 Nov-27 Dec 24. This is despite the fact that all services will be disconnected on 11 Dec 24, and despite the website clearly stating under “explain my closing bill” that I will only be charged for the days before the service is disconnected and that the direct debit payment will be adjusted accordingly. I phoned VM, got the overseas call centre, and spent the usual frustrating 30 minutes or so going round and round in circles with the agent effectively telling me that I was wrong. She did eventually say that after cancellation I would receive a refund of £36.46. She refused to put me through to anyone else either there or in the UK. I gave up because she simply would not answer my questions, presumably because it wasn't on her script.
A few days later I submitted a complaint via the VM website. Their response wasn't any easier to understand than the overseas call centre, in fact I suspect that's where it came from as it certainly doesn't appear to have been written by someone whose first language is English. This time they said my final bill would be £36.46 (the same amount previously stated as a refund). They also mentioned a bill for £73.27 that I should ignore.
I replied asking how the £36.46 had been calculated. Current contract is £53.31/month, it ends on 11 Dec 24, when services will be disconnected, ie 14 days to be paid at that rate. By my calculations (£53.31 divided by 31, multiplied by 14) my final bill should be approximately £24.08. I queried the £73.27 bill they mentioned because the bill I've already received is for £64.82. I also pointed out that I cannot simply ignore it as they told me to do because they will be taking the money from me by direct debit!
This afternoon I've received a response and it's even more ridiculous than before. It doesn't answer any of my questions but now tells me that on 30 Dec 24 they will take £73.27 by direct debit. Then 45 days after cancellation I will get a refund of £109.73 by cheque.
So not only are VM going to take £64.82 from me on 28 Nov 24 for a full month's services when those services will be disconnected 14 days later but they will then take £73.27 on 30 Dec 24, 19 days after disconnection! What possible justification can there be for this other than greed?
I thought it was bad enough that they were going to charge me anything more than the 14 days at my current contract rate, especially when the website clearly states they won't. But why on earth should I have to pay yet another full month, at the higher rate, long after the services have been disconnected? Then have to wait 45 days after cancellation, which will be the end of the 4th week in January, for a refund. By cheque, so that slows it up even more. It surely has to be tantamount to fraud, and if it isn't illegal then it ought to be.
