How do I contact VM to cancel my account?

[Fermat]

Usual situation. I was on a 'deal' which has now ended. My bill has now just about doubled to over £60 for just Broadband. Nothing else at all, no TV or phone, just Broadband. The speed is also far higher than I need. 

If I try to click on 'edit my package' I get the option to upgrade and increase the price, only. 

I tried contacting them via WhatsApp and it wasn't a fun experience. After "communicating" with a bot for ages and them waiting for a very long time I eventually got some sort of communication, don't know if it was another bot or a real person, who took me through an absurd amount of security. After giving my full name, DOB, address, customer reference, location code and details off my last Bill - I was then sent a URL, which took me out of WhatsApp, where I was asked to enter bank details (!)

I thought, obviously, I'm being spammed and refused to do this - at which point the bot or person on the other end said 'Great! Contact us again any time!' and terminated the call. I think it was the correct VM phone number - but the behaviour made me very suspicious, I know VM has been hacked in the past as I had to change all my email addresses a few years back after a 'data leak' resulted in me receiving huge amounts of spam.

Why oh why is dealing with VM so hard? I've had enough, they are taking a lot of money off me and I want out. Can anyone tell me the easiest way to cancel the account and get free of them?

Thanks

[newapollo]

The forum team don't have access to the cancellation systems.

The quickest contact method is by calling either 150 from a VM landline or mobile, or 0345 454 1111 from any other phone, call around 8am if possible when lines first open and are least busy.

You've already tried WhatsApp which should have been on 0730 532 7112 - this method can take 4 to 6 hours as phone calls take priority..

You could try the live messenger chat via https://www.virginmedia.com/help/leaving 

(You may need to click on the' I want to cancel' link on that page for the chat to open in another window - make sure you have pop ups allowed)

Also, as indicated on that page, you can use good old snail mail.

Write to Virgin Media, Sunderland, SR43 4AA, including your name, address and account number. Send it by registered (signed for) post.

[Cardiffman282]

As above. 

Also Ofcom would be interested in hearing all about your cancellation experience with VM https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Community-Natter/Breaking-OFCOM-investigating-VM-over-difficult...

[Fermat]

Thanks for the info - the number for WhatsApp was +44 7305 327112, which looks like it was genuine.

But on the virginmediaO2 website it says this, (Cut and paste):

We’ll never ask customers for sensitive stuff like passwords, bank details or other personal security info.

When we talk to Virgin Media customers, we’ll ask them to confirm that they’re the account holder and for three random characters of their memorable word.

And yet after asking for a lot of personal info they sent me a link to some weird URL I've never heard of and asked for digits off my bank account number.

If it looks like a scammer, acts like a scammer...

Seems utterly bizarre and bound to scare people off. Is that the idea, I wonder?

[Akua_A]

Hi @Fermat,

Welcome back to our community forums and sorry to hear you are having issues when trying to contact us. We can understand your concern. Generally, we would ask for the character of your security account password. However, if you are unable to provide this or this is incorrect, we will ask you secondary account-related questions. This may related to the bank account registered on the account. We do this to verify if you are indeed the account holder so you details are only discussed securely.

Does this make sense?

Thanks,

[Fermat]

I wasn't asked to provide characters from my security password.

I was asked to provide full name, date of birth, virgin account number, area reference and then the sum of money paid by direct debit on my last bill. I would have though that was enough.

I was then sent a link to a url - which takes me outside the encryption of WhatsApp - and asked to enter the last four digits of my bank account number.

This is a classic scammers trick. That is 50% of your account number. Sometime later - could be days later on a different call - they ask for verification again and get the first four digits. Keep asking for more and more 'security information' until you have enough to impersonate that person online.

I have no idea where that url took me, but it was a long stream of meaningless looking letters that looked highly suspicious. There was no explanation other than 'fill this in'.

The fact remains VM specifically state on the website that they will not ask for personal info or bank details -

Then ask for personal info and bank details.

My question still remains, why does VirginMedia make this so very difficult?

[Adduxi]

I’ve just recently cancelled without any problems. Sent a registered letter to the address with all necessary account details. Had two calls from retentions which I declined offers and was all done within the 30 days. No problems at all. 

[Robert_P]

Although we understand the concern and it's always best to air on the side of caution, we do have to confirm certain security questions. We would only ever ask for the last 4 digits, never the first 4 but if any of the details given don't match what we have here, security can't be passed.

There are alternate questions which may explain why so many were asked.