Channel Removal + Incorrect Charging

[shafiqhamid]

I see a charge of 6.99 for On-Demand Charges on my bill. On the details on this charge it says Additional Feature (18) - So it looks like an Adult Channel which I have never used. How to raise this as a disputed charge? They must be a way to check if the channel was used (date/time/duration). The last think I want is to call and sit for hours in a queue. Any suggestions. 

Also I switched on an additional package (Asian Mela) for 8.80 a month. When I started this additional package a month ago it said I can easily stop subscribing from my TV. I cant find any way to stop and now its gone over a month. Is there any way to stop without calling and waiting in-line?? Is this just a way to get you to subscribe and impossible to stop??

Would appreciate any help/suggestions. Virgin media isn't bad so far in my experience (only just completed year 1) AS LONG AS you dont need to call customer service. 

[nodrogd]

Sadly the only way to remove something from your account is through customer services as removing channels may affect any special deals you have.

The Asian Mela pack is on a special promotion at the moment anyway, so all customers will see the channels until 25th October.

https://www.virginmedia.com/virgin-tv-edit/tv/asian-mela-diwali-celebration-best-programming?_gl=1*3... 

[Zach_R]

Hi @shafiqhamid,

Thank you for your post and welcome back to our community forums. We're here to help.

I am very sorry to hear that there's a disputed On Demand order for your TV services. So that we can take a closer look at what's happened here, I'm going to send you a private message in a few moments. Please respond to that when you can and we'll proceed from there.

Regarding the removal of the Asian Mela pack, we typically are unable to process package changes from here on the community forums, but I'll certainly look into what can be done for you via the aforementioned private message.

Thanks,
 

[shafiqhamid]

Some strange stuff happening on our account:

1. Received an email from VM telling me my contract has expired (when it hadn't as I am on 15th month of a 18 month contract). Had to call them (ughhhh!! Hate calling them). First the lady insisted that my contract had expired and did I want to renew? I insisted that I have the contract in front of me and it still had 3 months to go. Back and forth - Till they confirmed it had not expired and had 3 months to go. I bet I get no email apologising - or explaining why this happened. 

2. See a charge of 6.99 pounds on my account for On-demand Adult movie. Protested that we did not use. The lady was going to transfer me to another department for which I did not have the patience. Was told that someone used the pin to access. Which is impossible. They would not refund as the pin was entered. 

3. Between 13th OCT and 12 DEC I received 8 phone calls asking if I wanted to upgrade my mobile device. After explaining politely to the first few calls - I got upset and told them to stop calling. But they never did. 

4. There was a promotion on a add-on "free for 1-month" - We signed up for it. Found it to be something we did not want. However - payments were taken as we did not cancel. The process to cancel is ONLY by calling them. And you need to give 30 days notice. So we have ended up paying over 50 quid for something we did not watch or want. Yes maybe we should've been on the phone immediately. But its crazy you can switch channels ON from home - But can not cancel/stop channels. Hmmm ... good way to accumulate revenue. Hard times for everyone - right!

Just thought everyone should be aware of these dodgy practices. 

[Kath_F]

Hi shafiqhamid, 

Thanks for your post and apologies to hear about the issues you have had. 

End of contract notifications are usually scheduled and sent in advance of your contract end date to let you know it's coming to an end should you wish to give your notice before the price rises. Sometimes we can be a little to proactive and we can only apologise but it's nothing to worry about. You would continue on the same contract terms until your end date. 

Whenever anything is ordered from On Demand, a PIN is needed to be entered. There are 2 or 3 steps to ordering any On Demand content too. This is to ensure that things can't be ordered accidentally. For any On Demand content, we would only refund if there is an issue with the content such as ordered but not working or won't play. If you didn't order the feature then it would be best to change the PIN and keep this to yourself to avoid this happening in future. 

With marketing calls, we can only apologise if these have continued. You can update your marketing preferences yourself, just sign in to My VM here. Click on Account settings > Marketing preferences > Edit my preferences. From here you can opt out and it will stop calls, emails and addressed marketing within 28 days. 

Finally, with any free trial, opting out can be done right away or anytime during the free trial period. You do need to call the team and they are available to talk to. If you've not given notice to stop after the trial then usual terms would apply so the 30 day notice period and charges would be valid. For this, all we can advise is to ensure you read all the terms and conditions when accepting any free trial as this will include details for cancelling if unhappy. 

If you have any further issues, don't hesitate to get back in touch. 

Thanks,