DISCONNECTION NIGHTMARE

[Vass1565]

Hi All,

After the price jump (£20 > £51) at the end of my contract in summer 2023, I requested that someone from customer retentions contact me to discuss affordable, renewal options. I chased this again via the portal and due to lack of response, in August I asked to simply cancel my contract.

Having not received anything (via the portal, email or post) I chased again in September and called in October to confirm my termination date, only to be told no such request had been processed.

Thereafter I raised a complaint, (re) canceled my contract and was advised that services would cease mid December. Then followed plethora of calls from retentions (who I asked several times to not contact me again) and countless fob-offs regarding my complaint, via WhatsApp and not written post as requested. At this stage, I responded via Virgin’s WhatsApp message (as requested), which resulted in my raising a second complaint … yes, a complaint about a complaint - I know right!?

Yesterday I received a 'January Virgin Media bill' for £49.30 on or immediately after 30 January 2024. After three calls this morning, was eventually advised the termination had been instructed, but not actioned, despite having received the following WhatsApp message:

“15/12/23 - Hi, it’s Virgin Media here. We’re sorry to see you leave, however we don’t want to see anyone without connectivity while making alternative arrangements. We’d therefore like to give you your current services entirely free for an extra month. If you don’t want this, simply reply with NO, otherwise, we’ll make the arrangements for you. Your services will still automatically disconnect, so there’s no need to do anything.”

I have been told once again that my service has been canceled and this is finally reflected in My Virgin Media portal. Neither complaint has not been upheld however, as apparently as I had failed to respond to the second WhatsApp message, despite again requesting written correspondence via post.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? 

I strongly believe that Virgin Media should offer compensation for a service that I did not require and tried many times to cancel, not to mention the hours and negative energy wasted on all this. 

Given that I have now lost all faith in Virgin (even the lovely member of staff Josh was appalled when I explained my experience today), so my question really, is do I go via OFCOM to get some sort of justice?

[Reece_MH]

Hi Vass1565 👋

Thanks for posting, and welcome to the Forums.

I'm deeply sorry to hear about this poor experience when speaking with our team regarding your disconnection. Based on the information you have provided in your post, you were selected as part of our "Stay Connected" promotion, which provides you with one month free on your service, to allow you time to move providers and have a seamless change 🙂
 

As a result, your disconnection would have been set for a month ahead, so if you had your original disconnection for mid-December, this would be moved to mid-January, but as mentioned previously, this additional month has no charge and will be reflected on your final bill, which is sent within 10 days of the new disconnection date.
 

As our billing is a month in advance, the bill you have received is would be for services in February - this is automated and our team cannot prevent this. Once the disconnection has completed, the bill will be automatically adjusted within 10 days.

I'm going to send you a private message, so we can look into the complaint(s) you have raised, and investigate further. Please look out for it in the top-right, white envelope or by tapping your profile picture and selecting "Messages".

Thanks,