Wrongful charges

[Martin342]

For four months now Virgin Media have been charging me for a streaming service they claim I registered to my Virgin Media account. That is simply not the case. I have provided evidence in support of the fact that I do not have the streaming service they claim including a member of their own staff agreeing with me, yet they still raise the charge on a monthly basis and even on my latest bill accuse me of underpayment which is totally incorrect.

I have raised formal complaints including to the CEO and seemingly by way of refunds they imply that they have messed up and have given assurances that the “rogue service” they claim I have will be removed from my account.

However, that is not the case. In my latest bill they have raised the charge again and as mentioned above have wrongfully claimed I have underpaid on my account. My question to the Forum is “ how many other Virgin customers have suffered or are suffering from such shambolic incompetence from Virgin Media trying to resolve issues?” Reading this Forum I know that I am not the only person/customer this has happened to. Virgin Media needs to be called out for its shocking service, especially when as a broadcast company their “annual increase” in fees is by far the largest of all providers.

I am now approaching BBC Watchdog to draw attention to the situation. I am preparing my case for the Ombudsman but in the meantime Virgin threaten suspension of service if payment is not made in full. I have invited the CEO to visit me and share my experience of his company’s incompetent customer service. I wonder if he’ll accept!!!!

[Ashleigh_C]

Hi there @Martin342 

Thank you so much for your post and welcome to the the community forums, it's great to have you here.

I am so sorry that you have faced this issue with your service and and these charges, and thank you for letting us know. 

I would be more than happy to check on the progress of this complaint with you via a private message and see what has happened so far.

I will pop you a PM across now, please keep an eye out for the envelope at the top of your screen alerting you to a new message.
 

[Martin342]

For four months now Virgin Media have been attempting to steal money from me for a service I do not nor never have had via Virgin Media.

It started in December 2023 and through myriad emails and complaints from me I thought that at the end of last month the issue had been resolved. “Why?” you might ask. Answer, simply because I received an email from VM and also a letter (26/3) telling me that the non existent service they had been charging me for had been removed from my account and no further charges would be raised in connection thereto.

Tell that to Virgin Media Billing Services who for the 5th month running have tried yet again this month to raise a charge and create yet another theft. To all Virgin Customers I would simply say do not trust Virgin Media Billing Services at all. Vigorously check your monthly bills. 

The Post Office is currently being slated for its treatment of its sub postmasters over Horizon. In my book Virgin Media Billing Services are no better in the way they treat their customers. For the 5 month in a row I have had to raise a formal complaint, copying in the CEO but alas at the moment nothing seems to change despite whatever they may say to me via email or indeed formal correspondence. Indeed their actions are a direct contradiction of their comments to me.

I ask again via this forum just how many of us are there that Virgin Media Billing Services are overcharging for non existant services, and just how long are they going to try and continue to do so illegally.

I’m at 5 months and counting. Can anybody better that?!!

[Martin342]

aha! Another customer facing seemingly fraudulent charges from Virgin Media Billing Services. They have been and still try to do this to me for 5 months now and I don’t even have the service they are trying to charge me for. My advice is raise a formal complaint, copy in their CEO, cancel your direct debit (as I have done) and make manual payments of what you believe to be the correct sum. Officially bottom of the list of Media Service providers for customer service it’s pretty easy to see why. They’re absolutely shocking.

[Ashleigh_C]

Hi there @Martin342 

Thank you for popping back to us, we have been chatting via a PM, if you do need us to take another look at all please do pop back to me and I'll be happy to check again. 

[Martin342]

Hi Ashleigh, I can’t stress enough how angry I am with Virgin Media Billing Services. I have a letter from Virgin Media dated 26/3/24. It tells me that the rogue Netflix service that I have never had has been removed from my account and steps taken to assure that no future rogue charges for Netflix streaming service would be raised on my account(note the date of the letter!). It also confirmed the number of credits I have received to correct the situation. Why then does a further charge appear on my April bill and why do Virgin Media Billing Services claim there has been an underpayment on my account. Nothing could be further from the truth. I even have an email from Virgin Media in late March. It’s headed “Your Netflix Account has been removed”, so I ask again, why then does a further charge appear on my April bill? 
From reading posts on this forum it seems pretty clear that I am not alone, yet nothing appears to happen. Virgin Media Billing Services seem to be acting independently of the rest of the organisation and the fact that I have a letter and an email telling me that steps have been taken to eliminate the rogue service and charge from my account takes this matter to a more serious level. Virgin Media Billing Services actions are at odds with the content of the correspondence I have. That to me makes it an active attempt at theft. That I cannot let go without response. I am now actively seeking to publicise the seemingly fraudulent activities of Virgin Media Services and ensuring that as many directors and head of Virgin Media Services departments as I can contact are made aware of the shocking performance of Virgin Media Billing Services. 
I will manually pay the £43.52 charge which I accept but most certainly will not be paying the £54 plus that Virgin Media Billing Services have billed me for.

[Robert_P]

As Ashleigh was previously assisting you with this we'd ask for you to contact her via Private Message again for further assistance, this will help for continuity.

[Martin342]

Thank you Robert. Whilst I will try and contact Ashleigh via a private message ( if I can figure out how) I’m minded to say that the more I broadcast on a public forum hopefully the true extent of Virgin Media Billing Services shambolic behaviour will become evident to existing customers who can the warn off any  friends or associates thinking of subscribing to Virgin Media. 
This has been ongoing for 5 months Virgin Media has given me written assurance late last month that action had been taken to rectify the matter and I would see no further reference to rogue services and rogue charges on my account. Clearly Virgin Media Billing Services seem incapable of understanding what that means. 
Let me make it quite clear. I have never had nor will ever have the service I have now for 5 months been wrongfully charged for. I think therefore that it is important that existing and future customers  are made aware of what can potentially happen when you are a Virgin Media Customer. 
May I ask that Ashleigh contact me direct on the email address associated with my account when I will gladly continue to highlight the number of times Virgin Media has contradicted itself in handling this issue.

I do appreciate that a number of people have tried to be helpful but when Virgin Media Billing Services totally ignore the assurances given to me by a Senior Manager in your Resolutions Team and continue their seemingly fraudulent activity surely you can understand my anger.