Retentions ring to keep me, make an offer, then sign me up behind my back. WITHOUT MY CONSENT.

[customer---X]

I had decided that the 41% hike in price for no justifiable reason was the incentive to look elsewhere, and so I handed in my notice. I expected, and received, a call from Retentions to keep my business. 

Abdul seemed a nice enough guy, We agreed he could not match the price I have been offered from Toob of £25 with 900 up and down and a £50 Amazon card on an 18 month contract, and so he made an offer of £24 for the M250 package. We agreed that he would freeze that offer, and that if I wanted to stay, I could call. Not a problem. There is a 2 week crossover between the new installation and the expiry of my notice, so if Toob was no good then I could swap back with no issues.

I now find that someone has decided that I have taken out a new contract. I did not consent to this. I made a written complaint stating the scenario that was obviously completely ignored as the reply just repeats that I am now in a new contract, and they refuse to deal with me in writing. 

I have had to undergo brain surgery, and a side effect of that is short term memory loss. So to ensure things run smoothly I record every phone call, in and out. So Abdul, and his offer are now immortalised on digital media. If Virgin was to check their recording then they would realise the situation. But if there is no recording then there is no possible proof of consent. However, I can produce a copy, and it proves that someone is lying. I will not pay for a contract I do not want nor agreed to. I have replied to the email demanding written contact, so that everyone has a copy of what is going on.

If anyone from Retentions reads this then please deal with it. Your ref is C-3103231119

[Cawsie]

You've got a cooling off period. If you're still in it, send a recorded delivery letter to Virgin with your wish to cancel as you're in the cooling off period.

[japitts]

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@customer---X wrote:

We agreed that he would freeze that offer, and that if I wanted to stay, I could call.

---

As a rule, retentions offers are "of the moment" - and if you don't accept it there & then, it should be considered lost.

The only way I see that an outbound retentions offer is saved, is that it's accepted and - if necessary - revoked under 14day cooling off.

[spell]

1. ---

   @Cawsie wrote:
   

   You've got a cooling off period. If you're still in it, send a recorded delivery letter to Virgin with your wish to cancel as you're in the cooling off period.

   ---

   Which would imply that the OP accepts being in a contract which he/she is not. The proper and decent thing to do is for VM to apologise and sort it out but unfortunately that is unlikely to happen unless they are forced by the Ombudsmen procedure - the call recording will be like gold

[Kath_F]

Hi customer---X, 

Thanks for taking the time to post about your issues in the Community. ⭐

We're sorry to hear that the contract was unintentionally accepted. Taking a look at things this end, we can see that the team have replied to your complaint in writing as requested. 

When we make changes to a package, you need to accept things in order for us to proceed. I suspect there has been some confusion here though and unintentionally accepted the offer when discussing things with Abdul. 

As you're still within your cooling off period, please get in touch with the team on 150 / 0345 454 1111. They will be able to revert the account back to how it was and re-instate the disconnection for you. 

If after trying the new provider you're unhappy and you decide you want to stay with us after all, then you can do this by cancelling the disconnection again however you should be aware that any offer already made will be invalid. The team would offer anything that's available at the time. 

Please keep us posted on how the phone call goes and if you need any further help, you know where we are. 

Thanks,

[customer---X]

Kate.

The only reply in writing was to my original complaint. This reply states that they will not deal with me in writing for changes. I don't want changes. I want correction. The email states that I have accepted the new contract, which is a lie. You (Virgin) have no proof I did, but I have proof I did not.

Why is the onus on me to correct a situation that was instigated by you?

Why was Abdul ringing from a personal number? Was this to avoid a recording being made?

Why are you telling me that I "unintentionally accepted" the contract when I can prove I did not, and I have mentioned this several times?

If I was "..not happy with the services that you have received from us with regards to the package pricing." why would I agree to a new contract that does not even give me a third of what the new supplier can offer?

Why did Abdul agree to freeze the offer, if, as you mention, "however you should be aware that any offer already made will be invalid." So what is the company policy? Is Abdul the liar, or you? Considering the scenario, I would believe the former.

You made the mess. You tidy up.

Quote

We’ve looked into it and here’s what we found:
Thank you for taking time to contact us (MY NAME). We deeply value your business with us. It is important you know that we're committed to providing you with the highest levels of service. Our team is working hard to get to you as quickly as they can. Thank you so much for your patience and understanding. We have received your complaint regarding the recent problems you have been experiencing. We are sorry that you are not happy with the services that you have received from us with regards to the package pricing. As I checked our records, I see that you have accepted a new contract on 31/03/2023 up until 29/09/2024 at a monthly rate of 24.00GBP . As you would like to make changes to your current package and for any amendments, I would like to request you to get in touch with our customer service team on the below mentioned number. As unfortunately I would not be able to make changes over an email as we would require you to be present over the call for security purposes. For any further queries Kindly use this link https://www.virginmedia.com/help/live-chat to chat with our technical service team. You can choose to have a look at our website https://www.virginmedia.com/help . We appreciate the time and patience you have invested in writing to us, we are looking forward to helping you at the earliest. Stay safe, Take care.

End quote

[bk881]

What an absolute shambles. Thank God for your recordings; I'm going to do the same in the future. This is just typical, deceitful VM behaviour. Had similar things happen to me in the past and no-one takes responsibility for anything. Nice to see their complaints procedure is as useful as ever after waiting a day and an age for a response. 

[Kath_F]

Hi customer---X, 

Thanks again for coming back to us on this one. 

As you'd be cancelling under the 14 day cooling off period, changes are needed which we would need permission for which is why the team wouldn't have been able to complete things. I understand the frustration here but you need to call the team to get things sorted. 

Calls are recorded and agents do use business mobile phones as well as landlines especially now as we do have some agents working from home. Calls are still recorded and stored and you can view information on how to request these here. 

The complaints team would have looked into your concerns regarding Abdul and internal feedback would have been provided. Any offers are only guaranteed at that moment in time. Agents can save offers that they've given however when calling back, it may no longer be available. 

I am using the wording that you've unintentionally accepted the contract as we are unable to do this from this end. Before proceeding, you would have needed to have given permission so it could be that there has been a misunderstanding but either way to get things resolved now you will need to give the team a call. 

They can then put you back on the original package and get the notice period reinstated for you. 

Many thanks, 

[jpeg1]

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@Kath_F wrote:

As you'd be cancelling under the 14 day cooling off period, changes are needed which we would need permission for which is why the team wouldn't have been able to complete things. I understand the frustration here but you need to call the team to get things sorted. 

---

But as the OP has already explained several times, they cannot cancel the contract under the 14 day rule because they never accepted any contract. So there is no contract to cancel.   It really is that simple.

[bk881]

Exactly. The whole point is that they never gave permission in the first place.

Not sure why the complaints department can't just ring OP up to resolve this. I've had the complaints department reply by email to me in the past saying that they tried to call me when they clearly didn't so this is possible. The whole passing security thing is just an excuse. Also this happens far too often to be just a simple misunderstanding.