Unable To Cancel Virgin Media Services

[Ricky_Italia]

Hi

I recently took out Virgin Media services on 20th August for a flat that i'm moving into. The earliest installation date they could give me is 10th September.  I've planned moving into the flat around Virgin Media's installation timeline.  I need internet access in order to work from home.  

Virgin have sent me multiple text messages to confirm that they need to do external work prior to the engineer visit on 10th September which I have confirmed multiple times.  On my Virgin Media online account the pre-install work date keeps changing and yesterday when I visited the flat to pick something up there was a Virgin Media van parked nearby the flat.  It seems like they are facing some issues with the pre-install to the flat. 

Today I received a phone call from Virgin Media with an automated message telling me that there is a problem with the pre install work and that I need to contact Virgin Media. 

I called Virgin Media (took 20 minutes to get through to someone) and after running through their tedious security checks and explaining the issue to them I was told that I need to speak to the install team and they put me through. After waiting 30 minutes I finally got through to someone and mid way through explaining the issue to them the call got disconnected.  

I called Virgin Media again and went through the same process (20 minutes to get through to a human being followed by 30 minutes for their installation team). I was so frustrated that I told the customer agent that I want to cancel the installation and the services entirely which I am in my rights to do so due to the cooling off period and the fact that my Virgin Media services have not yet been installed. I need access to the internet and can't wait for Virgin Media to continue messing me around. I can easily get fibre-to-the-cabinet in my flat from BT, TalkTalk, Plusnet etc as the provisions are already in the flat.  

I was told only the installation team can cancel my order. So I proceeded to wait 20 minutes again to get through to the installation team. After explaining my situation to the agent he was very rude and kept on telling me that my installation date had not changed. He kept on going on about a link which I need to click on in my email for the pre-order documents. I told him that there is no link in my email. When I told him that all I want to do is cancel the services and if he can please help me, he proceeded to hang up the call on me. 

I am apalled by the customer service from Virgin Media and will be contacting my bank to cancel the direct debit so they can't try to take any money out of it. Meanwhile i've lost 2 hours of my time today going round in a circle with Virgin Media's customer service teams who are not very customer friendly at all. 

Does anyone know if there is a different number I can call in order to speak to someone at Virgin Media who is actually able to cancel the install and cancel the services?  

[jem101]

I believe that 08000521734 is the number for the pre-install team.

However you do have another option which is to simply do nothing other than sign up for another broadband provider. You were given a firm install date of 10th September, under the OFCOM code of practice which VM signed up for, you are entitled to compensation of £5.25 for each day that they are late in actually getting you set up. They will often make excuses about 'it not being our fault guv - so we don't have to pay out', or compensation only applies if there is a Z in the month, or some equal rubbish - simply not true, they are liable, although you may have to jump through a few hoops to get them to pay up. You can always come back here for advice.

Now the point here is that they could literally take six months to get it done (record is still, I believe 13 months), and each day you earn another fiver. In the meantime you have another internet provider so can get on with work. Your contract with VM doesn't start, neither can they take any money from you until the installation is working. And even if they were to get it done in say, the next two weeks, you immediately cancel without penalty within 14 days, but you know that the cable is all in and working it you want to give them another go in the future.

[Ricky_Italia]

Thanks for your reply. I’ve called the number which you specified and the agent on the phone told me that the Virgin Media services have been cancelled now. 

[Kath_F]

Hi Ricky_Italia, 

Thanks for your post and welcome to the forums. It's great having you on board with us in the Community although I am very sorry to hear there was a delay with your installation. 

Due to the way we provide our network, there are a few occasions where further work is needed before we can confirm your installation date. We try and get this organised to be done before the installation date but sometimes this just isn't possible. 

I can only apologise that it's led to your cancelling your installation but we also understand that you need to do what's right for you. When cancelling an account, any work needed for the pre-install is cancelled so if you do decide to have Virgin Media in future, it's worth noting there will likely be a delay as the same work will still be required. 

We wish you the best of luck moving forward with your new provider. 

Take care,