No trace of upgrade order on My VM

[badoit]

On Wed 18 December I accepted a text offer to upgrade from 500 mbps to 1 Gbps for £3 extra. I accepted all the legal stuff and got three emails one had subject line 'Your Virgin Media Order' and some details including activation date tomorrow Sat 21 December. I was surprised at that, given that I'd need a new Hub, as I have a Superhub 3 at present. No further emails/texts about deliver details, etc. What has concerned me is that the section of My Virginmedia for 'My Orders' says:

It looks like you don't have any open orders!

If you'd like to make a change to your package, its easy to do online.

Expecting to see an open order here?

If you've placed an order within the last 24 hours, please wait one full day for this to show. If you still can't see an order this time, contact us to find out more.

Since Wed 18th is way more than 24 hours (and 1 full day!) ago, I wonder if the order has fallen into a black hole? The Order reference is CH2088013245 if I'm allowed to post that here. I can't find any Contact Us method that does not involve phoning, and I don't have a bunch of spare time right now (time of year and all that! 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄.

Of course, I do understand that the week before Christmas is not a good time to expect instant results, but what Iam hoping for is some information!

[newapollo]

Hi @badoit 

You are correct that you'll need a new hub supplying for your upgrade to 1 Gbps as the hub3 can't handle speeds above 600mbps. You will be sent either a hub4 or hub5 depending on which hub stock VM have.

I'm afraid you'll be in for a bit of wait for the upgrade to be processed. There is currently a distribution centre problem which is affecting deliveries - see the bottom of this post.

Generally the orders go to a back office team who apply the deal. This can take up to 14 days to process and they'll send you an email confirming when the change has been made. 

As these offers are online exclusive, the Sales or Customer Services team won't have visibility of them so there's no point calling them up to chase the order or check the status.. 

Once it's been 14 days, if the new contract hasn't been put in place, pop back and update this thread and a mamber of the forum team should be able check things further for you. 

According to the /northantstelegraph,  'GXO’s huge Claudius Way warehouse in Wellingborough was affected by a leak of ammonia that caused the facility to be evacuated. As well as affecting food stocks destined for outlets owned by Whitbread – including Premier Inns and Beefeater restaurants – goods to be sent out on behalf of Virgin Media and giffgaff were also delayed.'

[Barstaff]

Firstly, I can explain the need for new equipment, the Hub 3 tops out at about 600 Mb/s so not suitable for 1 Gig, they will need to send you a Hub 4 or 5 - and it depends on what kit they happen to have available at the time.

Secondly, VM have an ‘issue’ shall we say with a third-party distribution warehouse, an ammonia leak from a refrigeration unit apparently which has rendered it somewhat hazardous! I suspect that as you require new equipment, which VM can’t get as the warehouse staff are, understandably, somewhat reluctant to risk asphyxiation just to get a Hub 4 off the shelf, it’s all delayed.

Now, obviously, it would be good if VM honestly communicated this to you, you being, I suspect a reasonable person, would understand and accept that - alas it’s not the way they work.

OK bottom line, they made an offer, you accepted it, they are now legally obliged to honour it. Fine, but sometime s**t happens and were all need to back off and be reasonable about it. Honestly leave it until the New Year, don’t provoke something that might just end up with you having nothing if it all goes ‘Pete Tong’ over the Christmas period.

You have an order number, you have documented proof of the offer and acceptance, fine, just be patient and ‘reasonable’*

* And the reason I use the word ‘reasonable’ so much is that ultimately, should push come to shove, you won’t believe how much Courts like that term!

[badoit]

Barstaff, thanks for the sensible answer! As you very much appear to have grasped, I am (I hope) a reasonable person, and the situtraion you have described sounds all too familiar, having recently retired from a large well-known public-facing organisation, often judged harshly, with a fair percentage of activities outsourced and/or third-party-dependent. At least I now have an idea of what's going on, and I was once involved in an industrial ammonia leak (wasn't good for my asthma!!!) I am completely happy to crack open the sherry and see what happens in due course. Thanks again. Given your user name, I am tempted to ask for two pints of lager and a packet of crisps Do you remember the record? By a band called Splodgenessabounds?Around 1980? Maybe you weren't around then, but thanks anyway.

[badoit]

Hi newapollo, thanks for the informative and helpful reply. That a leak had quite a big effect. It's interesting how one issue at one place can have an enormous supply chain impact. What with Santa and bank hols I'll be looking at this again next year, I reckon.

[badoit]

* And the reason I use the word ‘reasonable’ so much is that ultimately, should push come to shove, you won’t believe how much Courts like that term!

I know, I worked in Crown and Couty Courts and Tribunals. 

[badoit]

That's 'County'.

[badoit]

Here's an update - today (Sunday, 1.30 PM) I got an email from "Challenger Rapid Testlab - Volt SIMS - (plus my order number and a really lomng string of characters)" saying they were missing some information about my order, and could I call the sales team on an 0800 number. I did that and a helpful guy (sounded like he was not in the UK, from the call quality) told me that Virgin Media had sent me the £3 per month extra upgrade offer in error. However he could offer the same thing for £4 extra, and could change my landline from Weekend & Evening Chatter to Anytime Chatter at no charge. I agreed, and he said I ought to get the new router on Sat 28 December, so fingers crossed. We have actually disconnected the landline handset but keep the bundle for the sake of the price. So fingers crossed. 

[badoit]

"Sunday" above is Sunday December 22nd (2024).

[badoit]

So I now have a contract. A bit different from the initial one. Monthly charges go up from £49 to £53, but (yikes!) £90 from Sunday 28th June 2026 !!! I am surely going to have to watch this the year after next! Is it likely I can negotiate a reduction at that time? Are they mad? The first email (18 Dec) said 'Price from your January 2025 bill £52.00* Price from your July 2026 bill £63.00 (new 18 month contract)'