I have been a loyal, long-standing customer of Virgin Media as well as other Virgin businesses over many years. However, the customer service I have experienced over the last couple of weeks have been simply the worse I have ever received from any service provider.
I contacted VM by phone on 16th November to discuss my package options as I was aware that my contract was ending as I had received a bill stating that my monthly payment was increasing substantially. I had moved house in June 23 and had been informed that my payment and services would continue for the remainder of my contract in my new property. However, when I contacted Virgin they informed that I had two contracts with them and one of which was not ending until December 2024. This had been set up without my knowledge or consent. The person I spoke to could not explain what had happened and passed me over to the home mover team. I was told after a call lasting 2 hours and 8 mins that they had made an error but did not know how to fix it and someone would have to call me back.
Virgin home mover team contacted me again on the 17th November by phone and told me that my additional contract had been removed but it would take 72 hours before I could review or discuss my account. When I mentioned that I would politely like to make a complaint, the lady hung up on me.
I contacted Virgin Media 22nd November to try to resolve this matter and after a very lengthy call when I asked to cancel my contract after some delay the adviser exclaimed "good news" and was told that I could continue with the same monthly payment of £70, retain my package benefits over a new 18 month contract. The adviser assured me many times during our call that everything was in order and my discount would be approved. He explained that it would not be on my initial contract, as the discount had to be authorized but it had been already approved by his manager and I would need to "trust him" that it would be applied. I asked several times during our call, how I would know and he stated that I would receive an email or he would personally call me but the discount was definitely approved and I had nothing to worry about. The call lasted 1 hour and 38 minutes.
I contacted VM again this time on the chat facility on the 28th November as I hadn't received any official confirmation regarding my discount on my package and wanted to an explanation of why my bill was £146.98. This time the duration was 2 hours and 5 minutes. Once I got chatting to a human, they stated that I needed to speak to someone else and I was put on hold. Eventually, the new adviser stated that he needed to investigate with his manager of what has happened. He kept saying please bear with me and then the chat disconnected. When I went to start another chat, it reappeared and there was a message with no explanation, stating that he would raise a compliant and that I would hear back from his manager in 3 -5 working days. To be clear, the adviser did not provide me with any clarity on my account or what had happened.
To date, I have still not received any explanation or confirmation that what I was repeatedly told on the phone is actually the case nor have I received any correspondence from the adviser's manager.
I did receive an email yesterday from VM complaints, stating "thank you for the chat on the 4th December" and with absolutely no detail of my complaint, awarding a £5 credit which is perhaps the biggest insult I have ever had. To be clear I did not speak or communicate with anyone from VM on the 4th December.
I would like to emphasize that I am prepared to escalate this matter to the relevant regulatory authorities, including the Ombudsman. I believe in a fair, transparent and honest customer provider relationship and hope that someone can eventually address my issue and communicate with me to provide me with confirmation that the package I was sold on the 22nd November at 19:30pm will be honoured.
I feel I have exhausted all avenues and this is my last attempt to gain clarity. You immediate attention to this matter would be appreciated otherwise I will have no option to pursue data subject access requests and further action.
