You're not the only one.
As you've cancelled the direct debit, be aware that if the forum staff can't get things sorted quickly there's a notable risk VM's systems will request payment of the non-return charge, it will be refused by your bank, and VM's systems will notify credit reference agencies that you have defaulted against a credit agreement. If that happens its a serious problem for you - VM won't care, nobody will phone, nobody will get in touch, they'll just smear dirt on your credit history and farm the alleged debt out to a debt collection agency with added late payment charges. I would strongly recommend you check with a credit reference agency like Experian to see if VM have reported you as a later payer or defaulter, allowing time - perhaps a few weeks - for any such action to occur. If they have, then since it's down to their own crap systems and poor choice of logistics contractor, then you need to get heavy to have them clear that off the slate, otherwise that'll linger on your credit history for the next six years, potentially affecting loans, mortgages, credit cards, car finance, new energy and phone contracts, even showing up in pre-employment checks.
So, in summary, see what the forum staff can arrange - they will do their best, subject to VM's crummy systems and processes. Then, assuming that all sounds good, leave it a month and then check your credit history. If there's any wrongful entries, you notify the ICO that VM are processing inaccurate data, and separate to that you raise a formal complaint with VM,which you'll need to do by donkey post, in which you ask for compensation for their poor performance and wrongful processing of data (say £120), the cancellation of the alleged debt and recall of any scumbag debt collection agency, and correction of the inaccurate credit history data. If they don't do all of those, you reject their resolution letter and ask for a deadlock letter, and with the deadlock letter you take the same complaint to the industry complaints adjudicator, CISAS.
