Overcharging Vulnerable Customers

[adencag]

My in laws, like many fixed income elderly people,  are struggling to meet their bills. Having been asked to look at their accounts I was SHOCKED to learn that Virgin Media is charging them £168/month for a basic service (broadband, telephone and no frills TV). They have also been told that their monthly fee will increase to £182 from April. It looks like Virgin think the elderly and vulnerable are easy money - and knowing that as a group they are reluctant to change - consistently overcharge them. For the basic service they are receiving they shouldn’t be paying more than £60/month. Looks like I’ll have to move them to a more trustworthy provider. 

[jpeg1]

This is appalling, but not a shock because VM just ratchet up the price at every renewal if you don't call in and argue. 

Get them onto a new service as soon as possible.

[Ilyas_Y]

Hey @adencag Thanks for reaching out to us on the Virgin Media Community forums. 👋🏼

I'm so sorry to hear about this happening to your in laws package. 😢
I will look in to this for you and assist you on the matter. ✉

I will send a private message.

Kind regards,
Ilyas.

[asim18]

£182! That's shocking. I really feel sorry for people who have no idea how much they're paying and should be paying, nor how fast of a broadband they actually need!

If I was in charge of VM I would create a special package for the elderly/pensioners, similar to the package they have for people on benefits. I have been brought up to look after and respect elderly people, seems the current CEO has been bought up to take all their money!

It should be about £25 per month to be honest. VM is the only provider in the world which I'm aware of who charges money for Free-to-Air TV channels.

[japitts]

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@asim18 wrote:

VM is the only provider in the world which I'm aware of who charges money for Free-to-Air TV channels.

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The argument would be that if you genuinely just want to "free" "view" then the clue is in the name - and it is completely free once the hardware is paid for.

VM Mixit includes hardware rental, and recording facilities.

[newapollo]

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@japitts wrote:

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@asim18 wrote:

VM is the only provider in the world which I'm aware of who charges money for Free-to-Air TV channels.

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The argument would be that if you genuinely just want to "free" "view" then the clue is in the name - and it is completely free once the hardware is paid for.

VM Mixit includes hardware rental, and recording facilities.

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Also VM Stream which carries the basic free to air channels including some which aren't on freeview, and is free apart from the one off  £35 activation fee.  It's one box per household and can't be taken with any other VM TV packages, and is delivered over the internet. It doesn't have recording facilities though but carries the main catch up apps. 

[Roger_Gooner]

If your contract is due to expire soon or you are on a rolling 30-day contract, then you will no doubt get a better deal by calling Retentions (choose "Tell us you're moving" option).

[Ilyas_Y]

Thanks for speaking with us today @adencag on the Virgin Media forums. 👋🏼

I'm glad we have been able to assist and get this matter resolved!
All information can be found within our private chat.

Do reach out to us for any other queries and we'll assist where possible. 🙂🧾🔍

Kind regards,
Ilyas.

[adencag]

Thx for your help Ilyas, very pleased you managed to this sorted out and your efforts were very much appreciated. 

Good job 👍 

[Kath_F]

Hi adencag, 

Thanks for coming back to us on this to update the thread. 

We're happy to hear that Ilyas was able to help get things resolved for you. I've passed on your kind feedback to Ilyas and his manager directly. 

If you have any further issues, you know where we are 😊

Thanks,