Thank you so much for your detailed answer. It was very kind of you to take the time to reply. Your summary of my position, and of Virgin Media is very accurate. I have since replied to my own comment in regards further details of my conversation with the Communications Ombudsman earlier this year. As a result I have asked Virgin Media for a "subject access request" in order for me to detail the many correspondences with Virgin Media, and journey I have been through with them. I will then take it forward, not because of monetary compensation, but of treating customers fairly. I was previously a Virgin Media customer since 2011 (account number REMOVED)
[MOD EDIT: Personal and private information has been removed from this post.]
Not sure I have fully understood your reference to 'I will need to contact Virgin Media a total of 8 times before I can refer my complaint to the Ombudsman' above but, if it was VM who told you that, that is totally untrue as already noted by others above. You should include that in your ombudsman case if you think it was an attempt to obstruct you from accessing ADR.
You can also share your unhappy complaint experience with OFCOM.
They launched an investigation into VM on 13 July 2023 specifically into VM's complaints processes with particular reference to 'complaints handling/facilitating appropriate access to ADR during 2022/23'
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/bulletins/enforcement-bulletin/open-cases/cw_01275
Case ref. no. and an email at the bottom of the above page or submit with same info via the contact form
https://ofcomforms.secure.force.com/formentry/SitesFormCCTMonitoring
Submitting information won't help your individual complaint but it will contribute to the OFCOM investigation and it sounds like your experience is directly relevant to the terms of reference of the investigation.
While you prepare your ombudsman case, you might find it useful to read some of the past cases where the customer has provided useful feedback on the (successful) outcome of their ombudsman case.
If you read through the past topics, you will get an idea of the dodges and excuses VM comes up with to try to avoid paying out the correct compensation (forewarned is forearmed etc. etc.). As you will see from the topics, the majority of customers are driven by the same motivations as you in making sure VM treats customers fairly and is held to account and fulfils its obligations under the auto comp scheme rules
https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/QuickStart-set-up-and/Pre-Pull-Nightmare/m-p/5275679#M226421
https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Managing-Your-Account-Cable/Compensation/m-p/5375731#M236832
https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/QuickStart-set-up-and/Delayed-installation/m-p/5420709#M238025
Good luck with the case and do post back any outcomes on here as it offers encouragement to others in the future who will be faced with the same kinds of issues when VM fails to pay up after a delayed/failed installation.
