From Essentials back to normal - Why so difficult?

[customer---X]

Sit back and enjoy my tale of woe......

So. As a claimant of UC, I signed up to the Essentials package. 15mb for £15 monthly, with no chance of a price increase, and their promise of  "So whenever you’re ready to go back to your usual Virgin Media services, just give us a ring and we’ll sort it all out for you.". Turns out that is a lie.

Just as my qualification period is about to finish, I get an email saying that someone will make contact about renewal. Well that was also a lie. My bill was jacked up to £21.40, with no contact.

Having a relatively good tv, I wanted to enjoy the higher quality video available, and was getting fed up with buffering. Due to medical issues I can no longer work, my social life is dead, I don't consume much alcohol, and drugs & smoking is for fools. My audio / video entertainment is my only current vice, so I asked about upgrading.

Apparently you cannot just drop back in to normal service. There is no way to do so. So I was advised that as they cannot do the upgrade then I should terminate, and rejoin as a new customer, and reap the appropriate benefits. Perhaps putting the account in another name should it fail.

I had my first call back and was offered 50mb with an O2 sim (with 10gb data) for £20, under the banner of Volt50, with the bill split £10 + £10. Well i can get O2 for £6, and new customers can get 100mb (boosting to 200 under Volt) for £18.44 after online bonuses, so I said I would think about it.

i applied for a new account (my termination still going through) to start on the last day of my old account, as advised by staff, and I get an email back saying order accepted. Then I get another email saying that I am already a customer, and someone would call me within 48 hours to discuss my options. Well that was another lie.

So I ring Customer Service to firstly sort out the overcharge, and then to try to sort out the renewal. It seems I have to wait for the overcharge to sort itself out as there was a termination in progress, but no option to prove my UC entitlement to get the reduced rate. When discussing the possibility of upgrade through the "leave & join" method, I was told that as a current customer I could not get a new contract, that it would only be a continuation of my old contract, and that if I chose to L&J then I would have to be disconnected for 3 months to qualify. Also, putting a new name to the household would not be permitted as a new customer, and so no upgrade possible. So there were another 2 lies between 2 staff.

I then ask to be put through to Retentions, hoping to sort the matter, wherein I learn that it is impossible to leave Essentials and upgrade, that I might have to wait for my contract to die and that MAYBE I will be a new customer, who knows? But at the moment my account is being dealt with by the Exceptions team. But can we get hold of them? Oh no. they are a separate unit that will call you ONLY. Can they solve it? Don't know, wait and see. Have they made contact? Nope.

So I have had to run around in circles, being fed different and conflicting information, and am still none the wiser. Who is in a position to help? All I want is the 100mb for £18, to which I will then join my own O2 account, boosting my package to 200mg, + 10gb + u/l mis & texts.

Is it really so difficult?

[Serena_C]

Hi @customer---X

Welcome back to our Community Help Forum.

I'm sorry to read your tale of woe, I would like to apologise for the stress and frustration caused. Apologies that you have not received a call back as promised regarding the Billing issue and to arrange the renewal of your services. That is not the high standard of service we aim to provide.

I would like to take a look on our systems and investigate this further for you. I shall send you a private message now to obtain the details required. Please look out for the purple envelope in the top right corner and get back to me when you can.

Kind regards,

Serena

[customer---X]

Serena.

I have replied as requested.

I have no wish to leave Virgin, and have been happy with the service since the days of BlueYonder / Telewest. With the exception of a few outages or issues that were sorted quickly, and / or sufficiently compensated for, I have had no problems. I am happy to sign off a new contract and stay, but feel that 20 years of brand loyalty is being overlooked whilst deal jumpers get the best of all worlds.

Thank you

[customer---X]

** UPDATE **
A reply has been received.
As it stands, it still seems that you cannot return to the mainstream from being an Essentials customer. So the Virgin website openly touts an absolute lie regarding Essentials.

[TresFrustre]

It looks like your bill has gone up to £21.40 as you no longer qualify for Essentials. You'd still be receiving 15mbs broadband only under the same rolling 30-day contract. But you've put in a cancellation request.

I'm surprised the information you were given about not being able to upgrade. The webpage conditions you refer to suggest you should be able to upgrade to whatever services you want. This will be for a new 18 month contract as an existing customer. You'll be offered the standard existing customer rates and have to negotiate a price that's acceptable to you. If you've been told you can't upgrade VM should have made that clear before you signed up for Essentials and revise the terms & conditions and webpage.

Hope one of the Forum Team can sort this for you. Doesn't make sense to me.

[customer---X]

From the site...

Every 12 months we'll ask you to provide evidence that you still receive Universal Credit and if you do, you'll continue to be charged £15 a month. 

I had the email to say that the period will be over soon and that someone will contact. The problem is, no-one has made contact to confirm my eligibility. I still qualify, but have not been given the opportunity to provide the proof. So they have jacked up the price because they have not completed their side of the contract. Even Serena did not ask for proof when trying to sort it out. So it is lucky I suppose that I have put in my notice, otherwise I would be stick with a ridiculous charge for a slow service. The profit line for Virgin at £15 for 15mb, compared to £18.44 for 200 mb is possibly a good reason.

As an existing customer, IF there was any chance of switching from Essentials, they wanted in the region of £31 for the 100mb. Now whilst that would fit in with their idea of "we won't look after you because we already have you", why did I have various guys, between them telling me to 1) leave and renew because it is their fault, 2) leave and get someone else from the household to sign up, and 3) that neither option is applicable because I am already a customer? Three people, with three different ideas and advice that I have no idea of which to follow, with a member of the forum then looking at the account, telling me that as there is a termination going through there is not a lot that can be done, and still not confirming which of the 3 bits of advice is a lie.

The webpage is the same as before, giving incorrect information. It could almost be looked at from a stand point of I was given a contract to which they were not in a position to honour, and that therefore the contract is void. I wonder if Citizen's Advice or someone with Consumer legislation experience would enjoy playing with that. Obviously the page has been preserved on my pc.

To say that I am a bit narked off over this is belittling my feelings for the matter. Of the 20 years of using the service, this is actually the worst customer care I have had. No-one has any idea what to do about Essentials. There has been no training. 

When they also say that as a customer you cannot have a deal, it is then completely turned over as they proceed to put a package together.

[TresFrustre]

Blimey - you have been given the runaround.

I'm sure the cancellation can be stopped if you haven't been disconnected yet. However, you'd still be in a quandry as to what deal could be achieved.

Maybe it's time to look at other providers new customer deals if Virgin won't play ball?

[customer---X]

So.....

It took 3 weeks of faffing around, with various incorrect / unsubstantiated information or just plain lies being passed on. It seemed that no one could help as the training wasn't there. All ideas were contradicted. So I figured I would use the useless service of Whatsapp to try to register a complaint.

Well guess what? That failed as well. As soon as a connection was made, the operator wanted to start looking for the best deal for me. What the hell. You crack on. Nobody has succeeded so far, so another won't matter. And true to form, dismal failure, and never offered to take on my complaint.

For 2 hours we bounced back and forth, with even more expensive options offered than previous. Again they could do nothing for the situation.  I asked the Whatsapp lady how long is the timescale from leaving a contract before I can be classed as a new customer? 6 months !! Well that was different to the 3 months that another rep had told me. So I asked about the new contract I had applied for, was it still live, or dead, or suspended, or was someone going to call etc? Sorry, can't see that. OK, can I have a number of someone that can? I was given a Sales number.

So, with little energy or enthusiasm, I rang Sales. After the 2 mins it took to clear identification I asked about that order. It did not seem to exist. I gave a very brief outline of the saga, of which he could see everything on screen. I felt in his voice and actions the feeling of "Not my problem. I didn't cause it. I can't correct it. LET'S GET YOU SORTED and deal with the other crap later".  BINGO !!! 

The upshot? It is ONLY 30 DAYS from old to new status, but that can be over-ridden for the right circumstance. I am that circumstance. I mentioned I was told I could get the new bonuses, (Sat and waited to be laughed at) and was offered the choice of £100 Amazon voucher, or £100 account credit. I was given the 100mb for £24 per month (before discounts) on a new 18 month contract that will run on as my old one finishes, with the option to add an O2 sim of my own to upgrade to Volt. I will need to install a new modem that is being sent out, and return the old kit.

No sales pitch. No BS. No lies. Just service.

It took ONE person to sort out in 5 mins what 8 people over 3 weeks could do nothing with, who never called back when promised, and never was the same information issued twice other than "We can't upgrade from Essentials". That individual has secured me as a customer of Virgin, compared to the others discouraging me from staying.

WHY WAS IT SO DAMNED DIFFICULT? The proof is there that it didn't have to be.

[TresFrustre]

Good on you for persevering. Glad to hear you've resolved this.

As you rightly say, training needs to be implemented asap so the right advice is given re the route out of Essentials.

The £100 Amazon voucher or bill credit is so you're not financially inconvenienced by the £99.95 new equipment installation fee you'll be charged. Was that explained to you?

[customer---X]

I'll still be 5p in profit. !

Old contract ends on the 19th. New contract starts on the 19th. Equipment to be delivered on the 21st? That needed a phone call.

I had a look through another Virgin page, and it still shows my original re-application as being live. Have been assured it isn't. Who do we believe?