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Taking advantage of the elderly! :(

sooby1969
On our wavelength

What's happened to Virgin Media? They used to be such a good company, who fought to retain their loyal customers.

 

After deciding to leave them due to escalating prices, we were eventually offered a ‘too good to miss’ deal called The Volt. For £44 a month, we have an ‘all singing all dancing’ TV, broadband and telephone package. However, this was agreed in January and we have yet to be billed correctly. I have had to make no end of phone calls and send emails, which had better result in next month’s bill being correct.

 

Imagine my disappointment upon learning that my elderly father was paying £65 a month for just a telephone and broadband deal (lowest speed broadband too) without any of the TV channels.

 

I rang them on 29th May for advice, and the best they could offer him was a £41 deal for the same package or a £31 deal if he took the ‘weekend calls only’ package. But the latter would be unsuitable for my 83 year old father, who lives alone, with his landline being his lifeline.

 

I therefore asked them to cancel his contract, we would go elsewhere, and was told we have to give 30 days notice. Fair enough. I said we would ring back should he decide to take any of the offered deals, but I never rang back.

 

I rang yesterday 16th June, to ask for the exact date he would be disconnected, but was told there was no note on the account to disconnect??? I told them that was their fault and that my father did not want another £65 bill. I was told by the lady in retentions that she would backdate our request to the 29th May when we last called, and we would therefore be disconnected 30th June.

 

An hour later I received a text to say my father would be cut off tomorrow, meaning TODAY the 17th June??? That would be insane, my father needs his services.

 

I immediately rang back and my call was picked up by an overseas call centre. After being on the call for 8 minutes and getting absolutely nowhere, I’m afraid I hung up with frustration. Why employ people unable to assist your customers?

 

I rang straight back again and got Tracy in Retentions. I explained the situation and she said the previous lady had obviously made an error, although she couldn’t explain how it had happened. But she again said she would backdate our request to cancel to the 30th May, and we would therefore be disconnected on the 29th June. She said I would receive a confirmation text but I am still waiting 24 hours later, so hope my father hasn’t been disconnected as I will be fuming.

 

I have 2 questions that I’d like Virgin media to answer:

 

1/ How has it taken 4 members of staff to help me and I still don’t know if it has been done correctly! It’s enough to lose total confidence in your supplier

 

2/ How can you offer me every channel under the sun, HD Sports, Netflix, a free Tivo mini box, fastest speed broadband and talk anytime for £44 a month, when you can only offer my dad a talk anytime and broadband deal for £41 a month. Are you suggesting all our extra’s are only £3 a month?

 

I am posting this as it’s pointless trying to speak to anyone who can help at Virgin Media on the phone. And incidentally, we have both been Virgin Media customers for 20+ years, so it’s not a new customer deal that I have.

10 REPLIES 10

Cardiffman282
Super solver

If you want a VM forum team response you will need to copy and paste the above on to the "Manage your account - cable" board.

Ps No one you speak to in the offshore call centres are employed by VM. They work for outsourced outfits in low wage countries. 

I'm not a Very Insightful Person (just a little bit, sometimes). I don't work for Virgin Media (but then nor do any of the offshore customer service agents).

Thank you ... I'll try there

' No one you speak to in the offshore call centres are employed by VM. They work for outsourced outfits in low wage countries. '

They also do not speak 'English' and all they can do is read from a 'script' which means if your problem isn't written on their script, they are unable to progress any further, as they cannot understand what you are talking about so cannot read any scripted replies....

(they 'usually' promise 'someone will call you back in 24 hours' but this never happens, as they only say this to get rid of you, as they can't help you...)

sooby1969
On our wavelength

Does anyone on VM read these messages - Like mine about taking advantage of the elderly???

Still waiting for a response, although messages posted AFTER mine have been responded to.

I want a better deal for my dad or a response that explains why he has been ripped off for months/years with substandard speed and an extortionate bill for the services he has. Do VM have no conscience?

goslow
Alessandro Volta

Your original topic, on a different forum, was move to this one and, shortly after, you posted a duplicate here which may have been moved/merged as it was a duplicate.

It can take the VM forum staff up to 2 or 3 days to make a reply. If other community members are posting on your topic it may slow a VM response but most topics get a VM reply within a few days. Bumping an individual topic may possibly have the reverse effect of that intended.

It has been highlighted many times over on here that, once a customer has completed a minimum term with VM, VM will keep increasing the price until the customer either calls in to renew or leave VM. 'Price walking' is pretty common across different business sectors. If you are looking at renewing for your father, new VM contracts will be subject to an annual 3.9% + RPI increase and early disconnection fee caps have now gone so you might want to include other suppliers in your search for comparison with VM when renegotiating for your father.

Hi sooby1969.

I am sorry to hear about the experience which you have had with us and that you have had to speak to multiple agents and we will feed this back to the relevant area of the business so that improvements can be made. We would always aim to give customers the best possible deal. All deals on the website are new customer deals only.

I will send you a PM so that we can confirm the disconnection for you.

Chris. 

Hi sooby1969, thanks for the reply. The forums are not immediate and we do aim to respond to customers as soon as we can. 

I have sent you a PM and reply when you have chance. 

Kind regards, Chris. 

Hi Chris,

Is your reply merely to get details to disconnect my dad? Not to offer a better deal or an explanation as to why I only pay £44 for a massive package, when you can only offer my dad a deal of £41 for just phone and broadband. AND why my dad's speed hasn't been upgraded automatically.

If you aren't answering my questions or offering a better deal, then your response is inadequate and I want it escalating please and as I plan to take your handling of this further.

Thank you

Sue

Hi Chris,

Is your reply merely to get details to disconnect my dad? Not to offer a better deal or an explanation as to why I only pay £44 for a massive package, when you can only offer my dad a deal of £41 for just phone and broadband. AND why my dad's speed hasn't been upgraded automatically

Thank you

Sue