Virgin Media Community

[miket3]

I am here due to spending nearly 2 hours on the telephone and still not speaking to anyone that can help. 

I am a long standing virgin customer for broadband, phone, TV and mobile.

On 15th December 2020 I singed up by phone for the Oomph Bundle which I thought was quite a good deal and worth entering another 18 month contract.  Everything went fine and my TV package was available within an hour.  My broadband was not up to scratch but I knew that would be wound up eventually.  

On 28th December 2030, I received an email telling me that my Oomph Bundle has changed.  They said that they had been doing checks and noticed that I was not eligible for the Oomph package.  They did not give a reason, just enclosing a new 18 month contract with the changes they had made, although I had not agreed to them.I   immediately replied to that email, saying I did not agree with this and would be registering a complaint. On the same day, I opened a complaint C-2812201537.

I heard no more from Virgin and tried numerous times to call them, but gave up after hours of failing to speak to someone due to covid situation.  On 19th of January 2021 I received an email regarding my complaint which stated they tried to ring me but couldn't get through.  They said that they had looked into it and the results were- "according to our investigations and records we would like to inform you that you spoke to one of our agents and agreed for the changes on the account. The resolution was  recorded as. "EDUCATED".  which I regard as insulting!  Again as a result of this I immediately replied to the email informing them I do not agree with this.  I had not missed a call from Virgin, I am 71 years of age and have been in isolation, sat next to my Virgin land-line and my Virgin mobile!  As a result of this I spent the next week trying to phone Virgin customer services but could get no further than music playing to me. Again I heard nothing from Virgin and my complaint had been closed so I opened a new one.  This was confirmed on 13th February and again I received nothing from Virgin.  On 19th February I looked at my account and was horrified to see that the status of my second compained was "CLOSED".

I have today spent over 2 hours sitting on the phone.  I decided I didn't care how long it took I would not give up.  My first call was answered after 15 minutes and a very helpful young man told me I would need to speak to customer services and that he would put me through.  I waited 45 minutes and I think it was answered but it immediately went dead.  I was determined, and started another call which took 55 minutes to answer by a very gruff lady to just put me through, I thought, to customer services.  This was answered after 35 minutes and I asked if I was speaking to customer services and I was told, no this is faults.  I just had to give up!!!

I am not prepared to honour the last 18month contract I received, and I am disgusted with Virgin.  My first inclination is to sign up for the Sky offer I have already obtained and argue about the legitimacy of my 18 month Virgin contract later. Cancel

Can anyone on here help me. 

[Andruser · Accepted solution]

These "didn't get the deal I agreed" situations happen from time to time.  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 a contract (Consumer Rights Act 2015), so VM have to honour whatever was promised, whether they like it or not.  Hopefully the forum staff can pick this up and get it sorted - by which I mean that you get exactly the deal you were promised, not some less attractive compromise.  That would be the cheapest and quickest resolution for both parties, and the best way of trying to recover some goodwill in a bad situation.  

If the company still won't honour its agreement you need to escalate to the industry arbitration scheme CISAS as soon as permitted by the rules.  In the meanwhile, don't do anything daft like stopping your direct debit, that'll be recorded as a credit default, and opens up whole new realms of difficulty for you.  Don't worry about VM claiming that they couldn't get hold of you, or that they have (incompetently) the complaint, this doesn't stop you being able to take the matter further.  You can either ask VM for a "deadlock letter", or just wait for eight weeks from the date of your first complaint, and then escalate to CISAS.  Explain the background and request that VM be required to give you the promised deal, fully backdated, and add on a request for compensation for the hassle.  Not only does escalation to CISAS cost VM money (free to you, costs are ALWAYS paid by the company) but it gets your case investigated and impartially heard by expert dispute resolution staff.  From published data, the majority of complaints escalated to CISAS, either the company immediately concedes, compromises, or loses at the end of arbitration.  

As I said earlier, hopefully the forum staff can get this resolved quicker and without the formality, and I'll flag this staff to comment.

[Lee_R · Accepted solution]

Hi miket3, thanks for posting.

I am sorry to hear of any confusion around your monthly package and contract.  Please can you advise if you've been given any explanation as to why you were not eligible for the oomph deal?  Also, how do you wish to proceed moving forwards?

Regards

Lee_R

[miket3]

Hi, thanks for taking the time to make contact.  There was absolutely no reason given why I was not eligible for the absolute Oomph bundle.  I was out of contract when I signed up, accepting the fact I would be in another 18 month contract period, but I had no problem with that as I was very happy with Virgin and wouldn't be going anywhere anyway.  As far as I am concerned, Virgin granted me an 18 month contract for the absolute Oomph bundle, and to suddenly, over a month later, change the contract without my agreement is not acceptable, and I think illegal.  Re-instatement of my original contract is the minimum I will accept, and  I would expect compensation for nearly 3 months of lost facilities and all the trouble of opening complaints which were ignored and hours on the telephone trying to just speak to someone at Virgin.  An upgrade to 1gig broadband would be very acceptable.  

Regards, Miket3

[Lee_R]

Thanks for confirming this. I am going to consult with a colleague regarding this.  It will be tomorrow before I am able to do so, is this okay?

Regards

Lee

[miket3]

I would really appreciate that. Thanks.

[Lee_R]

Hi miket3

I am going to drop you a private message. Please look out for the purple envelope in the top right of your screen.

Regards

Lee