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Contract changed without notice

Oonaghd
Tuning in

Trying to sort an issue for my father- he received a letter stating price rises in April and wrote to virgin saying he didn’t want to renew his contract when it expired in nov 22- virgin then completely cancelled his service- he wrote again advising that he didn’t want the current contract cancelled until it ended in nov 2022 and they reconnected him- his bill is now nearly £100 per month ( original deal was £49 a month) he did not request or agree to this upgrade and the original error with cancelling was a mistake on virgins end- he has been trying to get this sorted all day and has been passed from agent to agent to agent( some who were incredibly rude) and have not dealt with his query- at this stage he is considering cancelling his account completely due to the mismanagement of his account and unauthorised transfer to a package at £100 per month that he never agreed to- who can we speak to to get this sorted ?

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

@OonaghdExcuse me for butting in here, particularly as I'm reading between the lines of both the problem and the response, but the following may be worth giving thought to.

Forum staff:  The deal your father was on previously, may not be on the system anymore. Which would be one reason as to why we have not changed it back, which I understand is an inconvenience.  The only way we would be able to help from here, is if you could pass security on his account, is this something you are able to do? We can not promise the £49 he was on previously, but we can see what more we can do. We do not normally deal with package changes from this platform, but due to everything you have said, I am happy to help.

That's not a confidence inspiring response.  A contract existed between the OP's father and VM.  Due to VM's poor quality staff, the contract was cancelled, which regardless of VM's T&Cs, the company cannot do, any more than the customer can unilaterally change the deal on terms they'd like.  The fact that VM may have wiped the original deal off the system is irrelevant, the company broke their contract, and are now obliged to:

1) Reinstate the original, discounted fixed term deal, on terms at least as good as the original, not some less favourable compromise. 

2) Refund any payments taken above the agreed contract price

3) Pay compensation for wrongful disconnection

4) Pay additional compensation for setting up a new contract on unagreed terms

5) Pay further compensation for failing to sort this out promptly and effectively.

There's also a strong suggestion that the OP's father may be a vulnerable customer, which is a regular area of miserable yet unapologetic failure by Virgin Media.  If both 3 and 4 are relevant above, then you're talking at about £150 for number 3, and £70 for numbers 4 & 5, but if your father is vulnerable through age, hearing loss or other cause, then you could double those.  Maybe all of those things are what the staff are sorting out, but I don't get that impression, albeit they can't go into details in a public forum.

So, @Oonaghd there are formal routes to achieve all five of the above if VM won't sort this out quickly and generously.  They involve formal complaint to VM (which you'll probably need to do in writing), this will likely be fobbed off because VM's complaint handling is done to the company's customary standards of everything.  If it is fobbed off, you reject the "resolution" they offer and ask for a deadlock letter, and when you get that you approach CISAS, the industry complaints adjudicator.  If things get as far as CISAS, make it clear if your father is vulnerable - this is very relevant to a complaint adjudication.  If you need to approach CISAS, then I also suggest you do a short "drive by" complaint to the regulator Ofcom.  Ofcom don't get involved in individual complaints, hence why you don't put too much effort into that one, but they do consider the company's performance overall.

If VM will sort out the contract price and duration, but won't generously resolve the compensation aspects to you and your father's complete satisfaction, you can use the formal route to get that paid.

See where this Helpful Answer was posted

10 REPLIES 10

Hayley_S
Forum Team (Retired)
Forum Team (Retired)

Hello @Oonaghd,

Welcome, thanks for posting.

I am sorry for the issue with your fathers account.

The deal your father was on previously, may not be on the system anymore. Which would be one reason as to why we have not changed it back, which I understand is an inconvenience. 

The only way we would be able to help from here, is if you could pass security on his account, is this something you are able to do? We can not promise the £49 he was on previously, but we can see what more we can do. We do not normally deal with package changes from this platform, but due to everything you have said, I am happy to help.

Please let me know.

(Please do not post any account information on this public thread)

Many thanks,

Hayley
Forum Team



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Hi Hayley

can you private message me?

Hi I was speaking with agent Haley over a week ago regarding my fathers contract being changed without his consent - he has requested a new passcode to get this sorted out and was told he would receive it in 3-5 days - that’s was 9 days ago and he still hasn’t received a letter with the passcode- can someone please look into this ? 

@OonaghdExcuse me for butting in here, particularly as I'm reading between the lines of both the problem and the response, but the following may be worth giving thought to.

Forum staff:  The deal your father was on previously, may not be on the system anymore. Which would be one reason as to why we have not changed it back, which I understand is an inconvenience.  The only way we would be able to help from here, is if you could pass security on his account, is this something you are able to do? We can not promise the £49 he was on previously, but we can see what more we can do. We do not normally deal with package changes from this platform, but due to everything you have said, I am happy to help.

That's not a confidence inspiring response.  A contract existed between the OP's father and VM.  Due to VM's poor quality staff, the contract was cancelled, which regardless of VM's T&Cs, the company cannot do, any more than the customer can unilaterally change the deal on terms they'd like.  The fact that VM may have wiped the original deal off the system is irrelevant, the company broke their contract, and are now obliged to:

1) Reinstate the original, discounted fixed term deal, on terms at least as good as the original, not some less favourable compromise. 

2) Refund any payments taken above the agreed contract price

3) Pay compensation for wrongful disconnection

4) Pay additional compensation for setting up a new contract on unagreed terms

5) Pay further compensation for failing to sort this out promptly and effectively.

There's also a strong suggestion that the OP's father may be a vulnerable customer, which is a regular area of miserable yet unapologetic failure by Virgin Media.  If both 3 and 4 are relevant above, then you're talking at about £150 for number 3, and £70 for numbers 4 & 5, but if your father is vulnerable through age, hearing loss or other cause, then you could double those.  Maybe all of those things are what the staff are sorting out, but I don't get that impression, albeit they can't go into details in a public forum.

So, @Oonaghd there are formal routes to achieve all five of the above if VM won't sort this out quickly and generously.  They involve formal complaint to VM (which you'll probably need to do in writing), this will likely be fobbed off because VM's complaint handling is done to the company's customary standards of everything.  If it is fobbed off, you reject the "resolution" they offer and ask for a deadlock letter, and when you get that you approach CISAS, the industry complaints adjudicator.  If things get as far as CISAS, make it clear if your father is vulnerable - this is very relevant to a complaint adjudication.  If you need to approach CISAS, then I also suggest you do a short "drive by" complaint to the regulator Ofcom.  Ofcom don't get involved in individual complaints, hence why you don't put too much effort into that one, but they do consider the company's performance overall.

If VM will sort out the contract price and duration, but won't generously resolve the compensation aspects to you and your father's complete satisfaction, you can use the formal route to get that paid.

Natalie_L
Forum Team (Retired)
Forum Team (Retired)

Hi Oonaghd

 

Thank you for getting back in touch with us. 

I am very sorry to hear the letter has not yet been received. As Hayley is away from the office, I will pop you over a private message and we will take a look at what's been happening. 

Speak soon, 

 

Nat

Many thanks for your helpful reply! I’m still trying to get this sorted- I’ve requested a passcode to do it online but over a week later still haven’t received it so we may just have to go straight to the complaint route. 
 I’ll give the pass code until Monday to arrive  - I think that’s a reasonable amount of time to expect a letter to come via Royal Mail  unless VM have sent it by carrier pigeon. 
I honestly will never use VM again after this experience, they are basically stealing an extra £50 a month out of a pensioners account and have been completely impossible to deal with over the phone or online - definitely feel we’re being fobbed of. A message saying “we really want to help” is not the same as actually helping! 

I wonder where my dad would stand if he just cancelled the direct debit- after next month he will have paid his end of the contract he agreed to and I fear if they keep taking 100 out of his bank every month he will never get it back. He never agreed to them taking the extra £50. 

Hi @Oonaghd,

Sorry to hear you've yet to receive your reminder letter, if you have not receive this and wish to raise a complaint, or if have any further concerns or question on this issue, you can reply to Natalie's private messages and she'll continue to support you from there. Hopefully, this can be resolved as soon as possible for you. 

Here to help 🙂
Virgin Media Forums Agent
Carley

Thanks for your reply Carly I have messaged Natalie and was told the letter had been posted a week ago- I have raised this issue 2 weeks ago and still have not got any further with it so at this point I feel I have no other option than to make a formal complaint in writing

This is very disappointing to hear that we have not been able to resolve this issue for you. We would need to pass security to be able to discuss account details, and so we must wait for the reminder letter to continue to support and resolve your queries and concerns. The letter does normally take 5 working days to arrive to the address on the account. If you do wish to raise a formal complaint you can do so by any of the methods listed here. Any further please direct your concerns to Natalie via the private message you have open. Many Thanks. 

Here to help 🙂
Virgin Media Forums Agent
Carley