An Open Letter to Virgin Complaints

[offkeysteve]

To whom it may concern,

I have sent this via email to the CEO and COO and have posted a letter of complaint to the Complaints Team.

Having exhausted all other avenues with the customer service team I am left with no other option but to write an open letter and post it on this forum in the hope that you will do the decent thing, respond and take action.

On the 17th November 2022 I contacted customer service to complain that our wifi service had been down since the announcement of a boost in the area. I was assured that an engineer would be in touch to schedule a visit, but this did not happen. Having contacted customer service again, they then confirmed that an engineer was scheduled to visit on the 22nd November. So I rescheduled my work meetings and stayed at home waiting for the engineer to arrive, which of course they never did. So that was fun!

I then attempted to call, message and text to get this issue resolved, but was never given a straight answer and many times was straight out lied to. One customers agent told me that the issue was due to the internet being down in our area, but yet the neighbour living below who is also with Virgin Media had their wifi working perfectly fine. Another time I was told that there was a fault with the router, so a technician was once again scheduled to come out. This time they did keep to the confirmed appointment time, but had no clue what the issue was and suggested I buy an independent wifi booster at my own cost to increase the speed! And I actually did this, despite already paying for a wifi service that I wasn't getting, but that also didn't work.

Despite it being a new year new me, the dreaded wifi service issues continued into January. So on the 4th January I gave notice that I would be terminating my contract which expired on 30th March 2023. I was then told I would have to pay an early exit fee, which is ridiculous considering I was paying for a service that I wasn't getting. When I objected to this, I was told to speak to the technical team who would "put a documentation on the account that you can get out of contract without paying any fee's". But having had enough of the constant lies I confirmed that I would like to exit the contract and would contest the termination fee of £88 at a later date. After much cajoling from the customer service team via whatsapp, they finally agreed to my request. 

Then a few days later someone from the Virgin retainment team called me offering me a new deal, which I turned down. They then said that they would send me a pod to see if that helped with the wifi service. I specifically asked if I accepted a pod whether it would mean I would be entering a new contract, to which they replied NO. They said I would have a week to see if the pod worked and if it didn't, I could could continue with the cancellation. But if it did work, I would continue with my existing contract and then once it expired, would be free to continue on a rolling contract rather than renew a new one.

A few days later I received the pod and it made no difference so on the 13th January 2023 I got back in touch with customer service to confirm that I would be terminating my contract. But was told that on the 10th January I had renewed service, which I of course had not agreed to! So the salesperson in the retainment team had lied to me, tricking me into a new deal that I had specifically said NO to. However under the terms of the 'pre contract', I had 14 days to cancel, which I immediately did. Once again the customer services agent attempted to pressure me into accepting a new deal, eventually  agreeing to my cancellation request.

Then on 1st February I received an email from BPO collections, a debt agency acting on behalf of Virgin Media's holding company stating that I owed £151.76. Upon eventually getting through to customer service, I was told it was a mistake and the fee was waived. This action was clearly carried out as a bully tactic as result of terminating my contract. And as a consequence, the stress of the aforementioned began to have a detrimental impact on my mental health.

I have now had to enter a new rolling contract at a cost of £165 up front fees in order to continue with the shocking wifi service that is once again not working.

So what do I need you to do next? I need you to reimburse me for the £165 plus the £88 early exit fee and for the last four months of my Virgin Media bill. I also would like acknowledgement of the shocking customer service I’ve received at the hands of Virgin Media and I need some compensation for the time I have spent trying to fix the problem Virgin Media caused. Please note that I have screenshots and evidence of all of the above and am willing to take this further.

I look forward to your reply,

Steve

[goslow]

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@offkeysteve wrote:

To whom it may concern,

I have sent this via email to the CEO and COO and have posted a letter of complaint to the Complaints Team.

<snip>

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You have referred to 'wifi' throughout your post.

Is your issue confined only to wifi connectivity within your home or is the problem affecting the VM broadband connection overall (so that wired devices are offline at the same time as those connected by wifi)?

[offkeysteve]

It's confined to wifi connectivity that affects my devices, including laptop, phone and TV.

[goslow]

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@offkeysteve wrote:

It's confined to wifi connectivity that affects my devices, including laptop, phone and TV.

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What version of VM Hub are you using?

[offkeysteve]

Hub 3.0

[goslow]

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@offkeysteve wrote:

Hub 3.0

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• So, in summary, you put in 30 days notice to leave (after long-standing wifi problems).
• You were advised of £88 of EDF (although VM told you they could be waived) but you said you would pay them with a view to claiming them back later and this was agreed with VM.
• After that you were contacted by VM and offered a pod on a trial basis and if the pod fixed the wifi problem you could continue on a rolling monthly basis and if it did not you could leave as per your earlier cancellation
• The pod did not work and you found out VM had signed you up for a new contract. VM then agreed to your cancellation.
• You were subsequently contacted by debt collectors (presumably for non-payment of 'renewed' contract)
• You are now signed up for a rolling contract which has cost you £165 in up-front fees.

This is quite a complicated sequence of events in quick succession of each other.

Reports on here suggest that VM regularly struggles to do one simple thing at a time, such as a simple cancellation. The 'creative' offer of a 'trial' pod from VM has only added to the confusion.

I can't work out how (or why) you are now signed up for another rolling contract with VM.

What is it you want to now resolve and close the situation?

You have mentioned a refund of the £165 for the rolling contract and the £88 for the EDF so presumably your are seeking to cut your losses, get rid of VM and recoup your money from the interim measures which VM offered to postpone your cancellation?

Or since you are now signed up again on a rolling contract are you trying to continue with VM and seeking to resolve the long-standing wifi issue?

[offkeysteve]

Thank you for your reply and succinct summary.

You are right, there were a number of complicated events in quick succession. But they need not have been, VM made them complicated.

I would like to resolve the longstanding issue and be refunded £165 for the rolling contract and the £88 for the EDF.

[Ashleigh_C]

Hi there @offkeysteve 

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

I am so sorry to hear that you have been experiencing these issues and have had this journey with us, I can fully understan how frustrating this must have been and it is not at all what we would want for you as a customer.

I would be happy to look into these issues and this complaint further with you via a Private Message. I will pop you a PM across now, please keep an eye out for the purple envelope in the top right corner of your screen alerting you to a new message.