@DC VM Colleague offered an upgrade to include 1 gig broadband, maxit tv and weekend plan with new upgraded HUB 4 router "and the package is offered at 87 per month - no contract or charges". 1 hour later I get a new 18 month contract emailed to me alongside a £35 bill for the new router.
These "didn't get the deal I agreed" situations happen from time to time. However, your legal rights are crystal clear - information provided by a company verbally or written is binding if the consumer relies upon it when entering a contract (Consumer Rights Act 2015, S50), so VM have to honour whatever was promised, whether they like it or not.
As an important point of detail there is ALWAYS a contract between a customer and VM, what seems to be the issue here (apart form the outrageous £35 charge for the hub required to deliver 1 Gbps) is the concept of a fixed term contract. VM may claim that this was a "mistake by the agent", but that doesn't matter, the law is clear - if you rely on information provided by the company, then when you agree to the principle terms then they become part of the contract.
Hopefully the forum staff can pick this up and get it sorted - by which I mean that you get exactly the deal you were promised, not some less attractive compromise. That would be the cheapest and quickest resolution for both parties, and the best way of trying to recover some goodwill in a bad situation. If they can't get it sorted in that complete manner, you need to search, read and follow the Virgin Media Complaints Code of Practice. Don't start a complaint until you've seen if the forum staff can get this sorted, because I believe they can't get involved once it has become a formal complaint.
If you do need to raise a formal complaint (I suggest in writing, by recorded post), reject the contract they're trying to impose, and demanding that as per your legal rights the company honour what was offered and accepted, and pointing out that if the company can't honour its agreement you will escalate to the industry arbitration scheme CISAS as soon as permitted by the rules. In the meanwhile, don't do anything daft like stopping your direct debit, that'll be recorded as a credit default, and opens up whole new realms of difficulty for you. Don't worry if VM contact you claiming that they couldn't get hold of you, so will close the complaint if they don't hear to the contrary, this doesn't stop you being able to take the matter further.
If VM still won't honour the contract despite the complaint, or say they're going to close the complaint, then you follow the process and escalate to the industry arbitration scheme no sooner than eight weeks after your initial complaint was received by VM (or if you get offered an unacceptable resolution, reject that and ask for a "deadlock letter"). Explain the background and request that VM be required to give you the promised deal, fully backdated, and add on a request for compensation for the hassle. CISAS will ask VM if they want to offer a settlement or contest the case - latest data shows VM settled 38%, and contested 62% of CISAS complaints. Of those they contested, three quarters were found in the customer's favour. Fighting an adjudication costs VM money - I guess around £400 in CISAS case fees, plus VM staff time to argue the case, plus the costs of extracting all relevant information. Since you'd accept a rolling contract at the offered price, the company would have to employ imbeciles to fight this - on the other hand you don't lose or concede 84% of escalated complaints if you're smart.
If VM choose to contest, CISAS will ask for VM's evidence, which should include call recordings or chat transcripts. They'll then take a view on whether that backs your case or not, and rule accordingly. There's no charge to you whatever the outcome, possibly they'll side with VM, and either way it's a certain amount of effort and delay, if it comes to that do you want to stand on your rights, or roll over for the big corporation?
I'm a Very Insightful Person, I'm here to share knowledge, I don't work for Virgin Media. Learn more
Have I helped? Click Mark as Helpful Answer or use Kudos to say thanks
