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richardc0404's avatar
richardc0404
Tuning in
12 months ago
Solved

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After being a long standing customer i left Virgin Media in April 2023.

In August 2023 a was send a text by the Debt Recovery firm BPO advising me i had an outstanding bill so i went online and made arrangement to pay. I was surprised that, to my knowledge, I had not received any notification direct from Virgin Media. I have contacted both BPO and FCA and they were both surprised by Virgin's attitude.

At the end of August Virgin Media put a default on my Credit file which has ruined my v good credit file. I have seen lots of other complaints of Virgin abusing their position, not sending any letters out warning you. I have been in contact with Virgin Media to try to sort out but I am now going down the line of making an official complaint and then off to the regulators if i do not get any satisfaction.

My question is are Virgin Media, under the Credit Consumer act legally obliged to send out a 14 day letter advising that their is an outstanding bill? At least you would get a warning of an outstanding bill and be given the chance to remedy.

I am in a lot better position than some who have been affected this way as I dont intend to get credit any time soon but as a matter of principle i will see this through.

Thanks

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    12 months ago

    You can also register a disagreement with the credit file agency, and in my experience they will remove the record it's not justified.  I suggest you do that right away.

    But yes, VM's accounts department can be really nasty with customers' and ex-customers' financial records. They just don't care what effect it has, or perhaps they do and enjoy it.

  • Ilyas_Y's avatar
    Ilyas_Y
    Forum Team
    12 months ago

    Hey richardc0404 Thanks for reaching out to us and a warm welcome to the Virgin Media Community forums. 👋🏼

    I'm sorry to hear about the issues with the BPO collections notice.
    May I ask if you've managed to speak with our credit file team? You can email them your query, with your full name, full account details and they can assist, bear in mind they can take up to 21 days for a response. You can email them on: creditfileamendments@virginmedia.co.uk.

    In relation to the notice, when you leave Virgin Media, the final bill will mention on there if there is any credits or debits that are owed.

    Kind regards,
    Ilyas.

    • richardc0404's avatar
      richardc0404
      Tuning in
      12 months ago

      Hi Ilyas,

      I have had 2 email conversations with your credit file people. Basically they say don't worry - your account shows as settled and the your credit file will only be rubbish for 6 years.

      Putting a default notice on your credit file without giving your customers a letter advising just seems wrong. As far as I have read it is a legal requirement for VM to send a letter. I have been in touch with Customer collections and they could not tell me anything.

      So I will be making a formal complaint, talk to the regulator or express my views on any channel I can.

      Lucky for me i live in a large development with Virgin and BT Fibre installed and we all regularly chat on WhatsApp so I will not hold back on my thoughts on VM. In the last week that's 3 customers you lost.

      Compared to some on this forum I am in a fortunate position as i am not looking to get a mortgage, employment etc.

      • David_Bn's avatar
        David_Bn
        Forum Team
        12 months ago

        Thanks for coming back to us richardc0404.

        If you're able to come back to me via our envelope in the top right hand corner, I'll seek to assist you, if we can pass security on the account that this debt is in relation to.

        Thanks,

        David_Bn

  • jpeg1's avatar
    jpeg1
    Alessandro Volta
    12 months ago

    You can also register a disagreement with the credit file agency, and in my experience they will remove the record it's not justified.  I suggest you do that right away.

    But yes, VM's accounts department can be really nasty with customers' and ex-customers' financial records. They just don't care what effect it has, or perhaps they do and enjoy it.

  • richardc0404's avatar
    richardc0404
    Tuning in
    12 months ago

    Yep I agree reference the credit file route which i will do in due course but I also think that everyone should be sent a letter/communication to advise as otherwise how do you know anything. It simply wrong and it by the loks of it messes up with peoples lives. If you get a demand and ignore it and don't make an agreed payment plan then they have every right. Just looks very vindictive.

    I'll keep chipping in on my local whatapp