Hidden £35 installation fee

[Sickas]

Signed up for Broadband last week with advertised free set up promo. Got bill today with £35 activation charge which was never mentioned anytime during the sign up. Called customer services but that was a waste of 45mins of my life. How can you charge a fee for something you never mention. Asked to cancel but told I would still have to pay charge

[LittleMick73 · Accepted solution]

Hi the setup fee is separate from the activation fee. Regards Micky 

[Sickas]

It may well be but it was never mentioned when I signed up. Just bad practice from a poor company. No wonder they score so badly on customer satisfaction

[-tony-]

afaik if you cancel within 14 days there is no charge - who did you speak to - if it was offshore then anything is possible as a made up story - follow this 

dial 150 or 0345 454 1111 and follow the prompts to - 'thinking of leaving us' - dont worry about that they do much more - open 8am -10pm 7 days a week - should take you to a UK call centre

theres a freephone number 0800 052 0422. You need option 4 to speak to retentions

if you get offshore then either hang up or tell them you want to give cancel under the 14 day terms - they will huff and puff and likely offer you all sorts of deals - have non of it until you speak to someone in the UK - once you have that you are likely to get some common sense - you can carry on and cancel or negotiate to stay with the £35 removed

if you want to take it further you can raise a complaint and when they do nothing or close it go to the regulator and complain via them that a charge was added that you were not informed verbally when you signed up - also add some amount - £50 is a nice round figure for compensation for wasting your time and stress - afaik your legal position is solid - VM cannot add charges that were not shown or indicated

hopefully staff here will pick this up and they will resolve it - but dont accept a compromise - demand the charge is dropped

[Sickas]

Cheers Tony I'll try that.

Spoke to offshore and then put thru to retentions but also offshore. Insisted I would have to pay charge. I'll try that number and insist on UK help

[jbrennand]

Or try this...
_______________
TO CANCEL

1) Call 150 from a VM phone or by dialling 0345 454 1111 options 1,1,4,4, from any phone - they are still picking up (in the UK too) - calling at 08.00 is the best time to get through with short wait times.

"TOP TIP: If you're struggling to get through or are tired of waiting in the queue - you can try Virgin Media's cancellation and retentions department directly on…. 0800 952 2277 or  0800 052 2001

2. Cancel in writing to…

Virgin Media
Sunderland
SR43 4AA

Include dates, name ,address and all account details. They say to also include your phone number so they can call you to confirm - probably to make you an offer to stay.

Do it by registered mail with a receipt for signature on arrival.

3. Or if a new customer in the 14 day period - completing the cancellation form you should have been given as part of your welcome pack and returning this to VM at the address specified on the form (as long as its in Sunderland!)
________________________________
Whatever you do DO NOT cancel your direct debit until the final bill has been settled or...

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Community-Natter/new-credit-file-default-affecting-mortgage-app...
________________________________
See the link -

https://www.virginmedia.com/shop/the-legal-stuff/terms-and-conditions-for-fibre-optic-services#end

[Kain_W]

Hi Sickas, 

Thanks for your post and welcome back to the community!

So sorry for the confusion caused here.

I've dropped you a PM so we can discuss further.

Thanks,