New build, unfair early termination fee

[matt_g_uk]

I’ve just moved to a new build & wanted to take the Virgin Media services with me.  I’ve had email updates from the new builds team saying that there have been a few delays and it will be a few more weeks before the connection is ready.  No big deal.

However in the meantime I have been charged the £240 early termination fee because I’ve moved into an area without service.  I’ve been told there is no prospect of getting this refunded unless the new connection begins within 30 days.  At first that seemed possible but the latest delays push the new connection date a bit beyond that.

As a policy this seems insane as well as unfair and gives me no reason to stay with Virgin Media at all.  I am literally being charged £240 because Virgin were delayed in connecting the new property.

Has anyone had any luck getting the fee refunded in these circumstances?

[Steven_L]

Hey @matt_g_uk,

Welcome back to the community and thanks for taking the time to post your issue here on our forums.

I'm sorry to hear that you have had issues with moving services to your new property and the early disconnection fee.

I can take a further look into this for you but we would need to pass account security to do so. I will drop a private message over in a moment and we can get started.

Regards,

Steven_L

[Steven_L]

I'm still looking into this @matt_g_uk and will be in touch with you soon with an update on this as soon as I can.

Regards,

Steven_L

[matt_g_uk]

To add insult to injury, yesterday I received a text message warning me that my equipment hadn't been collected and I would be charged an additional £40 unless I returned it soon.  In fact the equipment had been collected by Virgin Media the day before.  Again, this is not a consumer-friendly or joined-up process.

[Shafreya]

The texts are automated and your equipment return wouldn’t of been processed yet to stop that. Takes a couple days to get through the returns system.

[matt_g_uk]

Just an update that nothing has changed - we have received marketing material in the post from Virgin Media so I assume a new connection will be available fairly soon.  We have been charged the £240 early termination fee and there doesn't appear to be any prospect of getting that refunded, whether or not we are now connected in the new property.

[Anonymous]

Food for thought is if you are determined to have VM when they are available at your new property.

(Personally I wouldn't)

You would be eligible for all new promotional offers as a new customer.

A new customer saves more than £240 over 18 months compared to existing customers/standard pricings.

[Zak_M]

Good afternoon @matt_g_uk 

I can see that Steve is still working on getting this resolved and you are still in PM conversation. 

Thank you for updating your thread. 

Kind regards,

Zak_M