Getting DSAR from Virgin

[MP12345]

I have been trying since last October to get a DSAR from Virgin Media. It seems that they are a law unto themselves and that the actual law is something that they don't need to abide by?

Previous request have been ignored/cancelled by them without ever contacting me. The last time they claimed to have sent DSAR by email on 13/12/22 before admitting that this wasn't correct. In fact the email that they sent me on that day was to thank me for the chat we'd had that day to resolve my complaint! A chat which we didn't have and, strangely, it seems that VM have no record of either. 

On 1st Jan 2023 another DSAR request & complaint was raised. Yesterday morning 7/1/23 my phone rang briefly, I could see it was VM but they hung up before I could answer. 5 minutes later I received an email from VM claiming that they had tried to call me and would call back "within the next 24 hours". Of course there has been no more calls. And to add insult to injury I now see that the open complaint has been closed! Apparently my issue has been resolved! This is news to me.

How do VM think that they can get away with these underhand tricks?

Of course it has now been so long (beginning October 2022) since I originally requested a DSAR that they will claim no longer have the records that I was particularly interested in. (loss of my home landline due to a VM error).

But that is hardly the point is it? If a customer requests a DSAR then legally VM have to provide it.

[Andrew-G]

VM's handling of DSAR are like everything VM do - slipshod, poor designed, inattentive and careless.   You really should complain to the ICO. 

VM were warned about their non-compliance with DSAR requests last year, and the ICO stated that if the complaints continued then enforcement action would be taken (paragraph towards the bottom of page 3).  Typically that'd be a civil monetary penalty of several hundred thousand pounds, plus formal undertakings to improve the processes.  Any further ICO investigation will also be gratifyingly intrusive and expensive for VM - I work for a (different) regulator, and I've worked for a number of big, regulated businesses, and I know for a fact that any investigation by a regulator is about as welcome by a company as a visit from the grim reaper.

[Ayisha_B · Accepted solution]

Hi @MP12345 👋,

Welcome back to our Community Forums and thanks for your post. 

My sincere apologies for your poor experience. This isn't the level of service we aim to provide at all!

You can make a request here but appreciate you've tried and it's been ongoing for a while so I'll pop you a PM to confirm some details and we'll take it from there. 

Please keep an eye out for the purple envelope icon in the top right hand corner of your page for my message.

Many thanks