Contract price not as agreed

[uk338]

Hi,

I had a very short exchange with VM support regarding the recent 2023 price rises (i was told my curent £43 package would rise by £12). VM offered my current package at £34 for the duration of my existing contract.

It was very clear:

VM -"We can offer the current package for 34 pounds per month, until the end of your contract."

Me - "Yes, providing there is no change in service - i'm happy with that. Thanks"

I've just recevied confirmation of the changes:

1) Talk Weekends has been replaced by Weekend chatter?

2) The service charge is now £43, there are no details of any new discounts, and it states that some deals expire during the contract. It also added blurb about being able to raise prices during the contract, which makes me wonder whether the May 23 price rise would still be applied.

It's so tiring dealing with VM.

[Andrew-G]

These "didn't get the deal I agreed" situations happen from time to time - in fact they happen regularly with Virgin Media. 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 or remaining within a contract (Section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015), so VM have to honour whatever you agreed, whether they like it or not.  So that's your original package, at £34 for the remaining term of your contract.  At the end of that you'll have the option of VM's new hiked prices, to leave or renegotiate, but be aware that they're changing the T&Cs so that next April they'll increase the standard (high) prices by RPI+4%, and that'll be a lot more when applied to any discounted deals.

All contract calls are recorded, so there will be a record of the conversation, sometimes forum staff sort these situations out nicely and quickly, sometimes customers need to get heavy with VM through complaints and using Ombudsman Services to exercise your rights.  

[Anonymous]

It really is like 24/7 whack a mole dealing with VM.

Sounds like you have a transcript / recording. If not you can demand them via an SAR request https://www.virginmedia.com/help/dsar-faq

I suggest either waiting for the forum team and/or raising a formal complaint. 

[uk338]

Thanks for the reply. Hopefully some forum Admin staff will be along shortly.

I have the transcript, as it was via WhatsApp.

[Andrew-G]

---

@Anonymous wrote:

It really is like 24/7 whack a mole dealing with VM.

---

Isn't it just?  Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year the same old problems.  Imagine how easy it would be to turn round VM's fortunes simply by a proper implementation of continuous improvement? 

From job adverts and LinkedIn profiles it is a matter of public record that VM pay people with job titles like "Head of Continuous Improvement", "Director of Transformation", "Quality Manager", "Head of Product Improvement", along with all manner of Lean and Agile coaches, "scrum masters" "black belts" and all the other corporate claptrap, yet their collective efforts remain a complete and miserable failure to change the VM customer experience.  I suppose they ignore the Sisyphean failure of their labours, kid themselves they matter, and count the generous salaries they get paid for improving nothing.

[Nathan_B]

Hi there @uk338, welcome back to the forum and thanks for your post.

Sorry to see that you have been having issues with the contract price not being what was agreed. I will certainly be happy to take a look at this for you. I'll send you a PM to confirm your details so this can be done.

Regards

Nathan

[Nathan_B]

Thanks for chatting with me via PM @uk338 I'm glad that I was able to have this resolved for you 😊

I have closed your complaint as resolved now, however, if you do need anything further please do let us know. We are always happy to help.

Regards

Nathan

[uk338]

My March bill has just landed, it's £43 not £34 - nothing has changed.There is no change in promotion / discounts.

[Travis_M]

Hi @uk338 

Thanks for posting on our community forum and sorry to hear about the issue with your price.

I'll drop you a private message now to confirm some details and have this resolved for you, keep an eye on your inbox.

[uk338]

Hi,

In Feburary, when the inflation-linked price increases were announced, i contacted support and we agreed my £43 package would be reduced to £34 for the remaining duration of my contract.

Since then, i've come back three times to have the price corrected, this is the forth. It seems that VM have tied themselves in knots with convoluted discounts and credits, which expire at different times. Each time i've been in contact with VM support, i've pointed out the discounts expiring at different dates, but i'm assured each time that it will magically work itself out correctly. 

Lo and behold, my last bill was £55.

Hopefully someone can correct it again.