mis-sold contract

[rhamatalah]

I was given a phone call yesterday by virgin media as my contract is up for renewal in July. I was offered the same contract  (tv+ cinema+kids)+landline + boosted broadband speeds for £77 for 18 months. The price was meant to be fixed for 18 months and all discounts would end on 10th september 2023.

I received my contract through a few hours later but the agreed £77 was only until July 2022 at which point the price would increase to £82 due to one of the discounts not being applied for the full 18 month term and only 4 months This is not what was agreed and I know virgin media will have recorded that conversation.

I then spoke to someone from the retentions team (Gerard) who said it was a mistake and guaranteed that this is not what the contract says on his end, and that the contract would be £77 for the full 18 months. However he was very sheepish on the phone when i asked for the updated written contract to be emailed, especially when i asked if he had done anything and he said no- it was just a mistake so he didn't need to do anything.

fast forward 12 hours and new contract not received and the contract online is  still the incorrect one. 

I am actually quite livid about this whole situation. If you are going to phone somebody up and give them a contract a) make sure its correct and b) I shouldn't have to chase virgin media to correct their mistakes.

Can forum admin help before I have to make yet another phone call!!?

[japitts]

A few bits about how this has come about don't quite add up - it's odd for outbound retentions to call 4 months before your minimum term expires, and technically of course, you don't need to "renew". That's just a word for agreeing a new minimum term in exchange for a new promotional/time-limited discount.

Edit: There's often mention on these boards of "email confirmations" - this is usually just the standard PDF version of your updated contract, that's also avalable online via your myVM. Certainly nothing hand-typed.

That said... forum staff can help with billing queries, but not package changes. Which this sounds like.. wait until you get a response, but please don't be surprised if you're asked to call in, I suspect you will be.

[-tony-]

bottom line is legally VM must offer you what ever was offered - not in the email but the verbal offer - but getting to that can be protracted and involve OFCOM

search for posts telling you how to get things moving there are a few mostly by @Andrew-G - its all laid out but hopefully staff here can get things sorted without you needing to go through the process

but again your side is clear - its all down to you really but if you want to push it you should get to the offer that was made not some lesser offer or compromise

[Andrew-G]

@japitts it's odd for outbound retentions to call 4 months before your minimum term expires

I agree, but I've seen it mentioned a few times before.  I think it is done opportunistically when the retentions team don't have enough inbound calls or outbound 30 days notice "please don't leave" calls to make, a bit like the way CS chat is only available when the agents aren't busy on voice calls. 

The reason for doing this at all is that it's a fab way of getting somebody locked back into a new 18 month contract when their negotiating power is poor.  In any retentions negotiation, the only leverage a customer has is "I'll leave without a good deal", but that's a powerful weapon if used appropriately.  In this case the OP can't do that because they're in contract for the next four months, so VM can offer what may be a far less attractive deal than they might have got by last minute negotiating, or even cancelling and hoping(!) for a 30 day outbound retention call.  However, if the OP wants to take the offer that's their choice, the issue here is yet another "didn't get the deal I was promised".

I presume the rise in reports of botched re-contracting is in large part because the idiots that run VM have told all the retention staff they're being outsourced to Sitel.  I wouldn't be motivated in their shoes.  

[Lee_R]

Hi @rhamatalah thanks for posting and welcome to our community.

I am sorry to hear of any mis-selling that may have taken place.  I would like to help you raise a complaint.  I am going to send you a private message.

Regards

Lee_R

[-tony- · Accepted solution]

---

@Lee_R wrote:

Hi @rhamatalah thanks for posting and welcome to our community.

I am sorry to hear of any mis-selling that may have taken place.  I would like to help you raise a complaint.  I am going to send you a private message.

Regards

Lee_R

---

a complaint is one thing that may or may not need to happen @Lee_R a better solution is for the team here to resolve this and yes i know you cannot help with account problems but thats not 100% true - you can in some cases and i would suggest this is one of them

[Andrew-G]

I'd agree with @-tony- here.  My experience of VM complaints handling is that it is simple an exercise in intentionally fobbing off customers rather than taking the complaint and dealing with it.  On the other hand, it is a necessary step before taking matters further. 

[rhamatalah]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

Extremely helpful- especially for future dealings.

It looks like Virginmedia wants to apply a rolling discount for the next 18 months which will cover the cost so the price will remain what its meant to be (thanks to the power of this forum),  but any more problems, i have all the evidence I need to launch a full complaint.

[Lee_R]

Hi @rhamatalah

Just a quick note to confirm you're satisfied with the response and efforts of the forum team?  Remember if you ever need assistance in the future, our fantastic community and forum team are always willing to lend a hand.

Regards

Lee_R
 

[rhamatalah]

satisfied now. thankyou very much.
kind regards x