on 07-08-2022 13:27
I have nowhere else to turn so please help
This is the timeliness
Because of all the errors and being charged at a contract of £59 the bills are impossible to understand unless you really look at them very carefully. The bills are incredibly difficult to make sense of and I have only really been able to do that now with support of my friend but what they do show is you have got it so wrong for me and never resolved the problem.
What I know now which I didn’t know then is he applied a credit each month for 4 months on 28/1/2022,which made no sense to me.
I paid 2 months upfront of £59 for the months of January and February. This is nothing like the Sales call “nothing to pay till May”
Multiple attempts to contact Virgin regarding this
8/5/2022 I wrote a complaint and had no response from it
I placed a call 3/6/2022 Case C/030622337 and the call handler listened to me and I explained everything to him and said I wanted a manager to deal with this as no response from my complaint. He said he would escalate, and I would receive a call within 7 days. No call received.
11/7/2022- After a lengthy discussion I was told that you would apply the rolling credit and then you sent me an email to say that my issue was resolved! It is not.
It says I owe £36.51 from my last bill now as my contract is £59, and it says I now owe £96.51 for the month of July, payment date 11th August. I just do not have that money and you are wrong!!
Overall, the customer service has been of a below average standard. The agents have not once resolved my issues.
Because of all the errors and being charged at a contract of £59 the bills are impossible to understand unless you really look at them very carefully.
It’s not my job to do that.
I am left feeling scared, anxious, and incredibly frustrated with everything
I continue to be in a position where my contract is for £59, and all your agents are trying to do is to add a credit to my account each month which means I am having to call so many times.
I feel you are in breach of the original contract of £29.99 per month for 18 months, taking me up to August 2022. The contact in my online account is for £29.99. The nicest and most helpful advisor was in your sales team the one securing a contract otherwise they have not been helpful.
Please trust this has had a serious impact on my mental health. I have had a recent diagnosis of ADHD I am left feeling scared, anxious, and incredibly frustrated with everything. The anxiety is very very real. Every time I see a Virgin email or logo, I feel stressed.
I am a single mum and had a hip replacement last year for osteoarthritis.
This is unbelievably stressful as the deficit is following me every month as the credit has not been applied correctly so my bill is increasing. The fact is my daughter needs school shoes and a new uniform, I currently don’t know if you will be taking off money, I don’t owe you again? It is making me ill with worry. I will be overdrawn if you take £96.51 out of my account on the 11th of August and I will get charges and will not be able to pay any other bills or food.
I get the impression you have made this difficult for me since January so I will just give up as it is so much effort and just go with the £59, as vulnerable people just may well do that.
Any time I have asked for my money returned the call handler simply disconnects the call
Having been on the phone for hours.
I believe I am entitled to a new contract of £29.99 per month and a credit of £75 and some other compensation.
I believe the sales girl requires more training because the affect this has had on me is overwhelming and it has affected those close to me too.
I am at my wits end contacting you at least twice a month with the anxiety each moth of a bill that is not agreed or affordable. Please help me.
Answered! Go to Answer
on 08-08-2022 09:47
Lucylia9 - the forum staff can sometimes get all these things sorted out ie the deal you agreed being implemented, fully backdated, plus compensation for the wasted time, anxiety and distress caused by VM's incompetent customer service, and for the poor complaint handling. I'd suggest you're looking for at least £150 in compensation.
If they can't offer all that, then you can escalate your complaint for independent review by CISAS. There's some primary requirements - that you must have formally complained to VM (as you have) and that either you have deadlock letter (sound like no), or the complaint is over 8 weeks old and still not resolved to your satisfaction (which is the case). So unless VM sort things out and offer decent compensation quickly, then you're in the clear to involve CISAS immediately.
And finally, sheesh, Virgin Media! Aren't you individually ashamed when you read that post? What does it take to make VM's executives sort out the festering carbuncle that is your customer service?
on 08-08-2022 08:43
Hi Lucylia9, thanks for posting and welcome to our community.
Sorry to hear that you're receiving conflicting information regarding your billing and I am sorry to hear of the distress it is causing you. I would like to take a closer look on your behalf. I am going to send you a private message. Please look out for the purple envelope in the top right of your screen.
Regards
Lee_R
on 08-08-2022 09:47
Lucylia9 - the forum staff can sometimes get all these things sorted out ie the deal you agreed being implemented, fully backdated, plus compensation for the wasted time, anxiety and distress caused by VM's incompetent customer service, and for the poor complaint handling. I'd suggest you're looking for at least £150 in compensation.
If they can't offer all that, then you can escalate your complaint for independent review by CISAS. There's some primary requirements - that you must have formally complained to VM (as you have) and that either you have deadlock letter (sound like no), or the complaint is over 8 weeks old and still not resolved to your satisfaction (which is the case). So unless VM sort things out and offer decent compensation quickly, then you're in the clear to involve CISAS immediately.
And finally, sheesh, Virgin Media! Aren't you individually ashamed when you read that post? What does it take to make VM's executives sort out the festering carbuncle that is your customer service?
on 08-08-2022 12:43
on 08-08-2022 12:59
on 08-08-2022 13:54
@Lucylia9 wrote:
Unfortunately every time I have asked for compensation I have been disconnected, leading me to think perhaps there is some kind of penalty issued for call handler if they even discuss this??? For now I just want to know they will not be taking £96.51 out my bank account on the 11th as my daughter will have her new uniform by then and their request will be rejected due to insufficient funds. Thank you again Andrew.
Well, fingers crossed that it gets sorted out, but given VM's corporate track record, I have limited confidence that they will have this resolved in three days - perhaps Lee_R can make sure this does get fixed? If it doesn't then the direct debit will be requested at the full amount, and depending on your banking arrangements will either be refused, or put you overdrawn and potentially result in bank account charges. It then gets worse - if the DD is refused, VM's systems will handle it as a late/defaulted payment under a credit agreement and advise that to credit reference agencies. That may or may not matter to you, but for most people preserving a clean credit history is very important as black marks linger for six years and can affect new services agreements, phone deals, all forms of loans and borrowing, even new property rental applications.
If either of those things happen, and your account would otherwise have had the funds to meet the correct amount of the agreed contract, then that's an additional mess caused by VM's failure in the first place and subsequent Keystone Kops performance in not putting things right despite repeated opportunities. And it becomes another mess that VM will have to clean up (=more compensation in my view, and almost certainly will require formal complaint and then involving CISAS).
08-08-2022 16:08 - edited 08-08-2022 16:11
Thanks for getting back to me Lucylia9. I have responded to you privately
Lee_R