Problems with Pre Contract Offer from Retention Team

[vm876]

Hi there. I recently was offered a new 18 month contract from the retention team on 27/03. The documents were sent to me via text and email. I approved them on 28/03. I was then expecting some form of confirmation of the change, but didn't receive anything. I contacted VM retention team again a couple of days later and they informed me it would take 14 days to process, taking me up untill 10/04 which wasnt outined to me. Today I thought I'd just double check with VM that the contract would start on 10/04 and they have infomed me they have no knowledge of this contract from 27/03! Has anyone had experience of this before, in terms of waiting the 14 days and then the services starting. Seems very odd as every other time I have requested a new contract, the change has been immediate and documents sent out immediately? Either way I am now stuck paying significantly more on my old contract despite the request to change!

[vm876]

@Zach_R I last spoke with the retentions team on 05/04 (today). I wanted to just double check that the contract i signed up to on 28/03 was still going to proceed. The VM rep informed me that they had no record of the contract I signed up to previously and decided to offer me another similar deal. I declined as I already had actioned a previous offer on 28/03 and didnt want to muddy the waters! If someone at VM could let me know if this is still going ahead that would be great. As stated prevously I assumed digitally approving the docs on 28/03 would mean that the contract would start straight away as I was out of contract! It would seem not..

[vm876]

The bill is at an increased rate as I am out of contract and therefore out of the previous discount. At least thats how it appears in my account. On 10/04 hopefully everything will become clear. I still fail to see how this process should take 14 days when i digitally signed a contract though! During this time VM makes increased profits on each account waiting of course..

[Hayze]

I  wouldn't hold your breath but best of luck. Please let us know how you get on.

[Kath_F · Accepted solution]

Hi vm876, 

Thanks for coming back to us on this one. 

Just to explain things a little further on the process, I know some of this has been mentioned previously but I just wanted to put it all in one post so nothing gets missed. 

If you've renewed online through My VM or via an email offer that was sent to you, once you've agreed to the terms and conditions, these orders go to a back office team who apply the deal. There is usually a back log and due to this, it can take up to 14 days to process and they'll send you an email confirming the change has been made. 

As these offers are online exclusive, the Sales or Customer Services team won't have visibility of them and are unlikely able to offer the same package/price. Your 14 days right to cancel period does not start until the new contract is live and active on your account. 

In terms of the activation date, this will usually state 'to be confirmed' or something along that lines in your pre-contract documents. In some cases, if you have some sort of unique discount or service on the account then the team will be unable to process the deal however after the 14 days, there would be notes to confirm this on the account and we can check things and escalate if needed. 

We understand it is frustrating needing to wait but come back to us after the 14 days and we can then help then. Until then, our hands are somewhat tied. Once the new package does go live, your billing will be adjusted by a pro rata credit which will come off your next bill. 

I hope that clears up any confusion and answers some questions that have been raised in the overall thread.

Thanks, 

[vm876]

Kath the offer was made to me by the retention team over the phone and emailed to me as I wanted to check the details of it. I didnt renew via My VM or an email offer! I asked for the contract to be emailed to me to check the price and duration of the contract. Over the phone I was told it was £X for the full 18 months. I wanted to check this before I signed up. I then approved the changes from the link sent to me by the retention team. The only confirmation I got was as per the attached screengrab.

[Kath_F]

Ah right OK. So this is something different. Any offers given by a retention agent would need to be completed by the team. Accepting the documents at a later date doesn't process the change as this needs to be completed by the agent directly. 

It's also worth noting that any offers are only valid at the time so if you decide to not take the offer there and then, it may not be available to do at a later time. 

Finally, in terms of the cost remaining the same for a full 18 month term period, we do not offer fixed contract prices. The price of Virgin Media's main services will increase each April by the Retail Price Index rate of inflation announced in February each year plus 3.9%. This doesn’t apply to any add-ons you may have selected or admin costs. The price of add-ons may vary at any time and you can cancel them with 30 days’ notice. This is in any pre-contract documents so in your case, you will see an increase in price from April 2025 for any renewal deal you accept.

I think it's best if we take you in to a private message to pass security and see if we can replicate the offer. If it's no longer available then we can look at the next best option for you. 

I have sent you a direct message to allow us to do this with you in a private space. If you are using a PC/Laptop then you can just click on the little ✉ at the top right-hand side of the page to access your inbox. If you are on a mobile/tablet device then instead click on the little circle icon in the top right then select 'Messages'. 😊

Thanks, 

[vm876]

Thanks  for clearing that up Kath_F, perhaps VM should not send out pre contract documents with the option to approve them digitally by the customer in that case. Also it is unfortunate that upon questioning when the contract would come into affect, the retention team informed me it would take 14 days! It would appear that was not going to occur.

Also to note I am aware of RPI inflation during a contract. I was not referring to that, I was referring to discounts applied to packages over the term of the contract. If you are told over the phone that a discount is applied for the duartion of an 18 month contract, you expect just that, not a 6 month discount followed by 12 at the normal rate

I have sent you a PM, looking forward to the resolution!