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New contract different to the one agreed

Anonymous
Not applicable

Hi there, 

I called customer services to arrange 3 sim contracts today. I clearly stated that I would like the following plans, as shown on the VirginMedia website:

Sim 1 Unlimited texts and calls. 8GB £9 per month 

Sim 2 Unlimited texts and calls 20GB £10 per month*

Sim 3 Unlimited texts and calls 20GB £10 per month *

* £2 per month family discount as our family have Virgin media broadband. All sims to be capped at £0 so the children can’t spend more. 

The customer service agent repeated the details of these contracts several times and I reconfirmed verbally too.

What I received via email was nothing like the contracts I agreed: 2GB and 5GB tariffs, at greater costs, with no family discount. 

I tried contacting customer services to explain that this email and the contracts themselves were not correct, but I have not been unsuccessful. I spent one hour on the phone trying to speak to someone, one hour over the Message chat (no one responded). I also sent texts to the messaging service number which I saw on here (again, no one responded). 

What should I do next? All I want is confirmation of the contracts we agreed. If these contracts cannot be honored, I would like the contracts cancelled. 

Whi else should I contact and how?

Many thanks 

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions

Andrew-G
Alessandro Volta

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and information either written or verbal that is supplied by the company is contractually binding if you relied upon it.  Or put another way, the law says VM now HAVE to honour the agreed contracts.

Possibly the forum staff will intervene and save the day (don't accept any compromise on what was originally agreed), although response times are longer than usual at the moment - can be as much as four days.  Or, if you've got the time and fortitude, you could raise a formal complaint with VM in writing, and if/when the company fail to handle that properly, escalate to the industry arbitration scheme CISAS who'll sort it out and probably give a few quid compensation for the hassle.

But at the end of it, do you really want to give your business to a company who behave like this and have such dubious customer service?  If it's only a good deal because of over-promising and under-delivering, and by stripping customer service back to the most awful offshored menagerie, imagine what happens if you have a problem...actually, you don't need to imagine, you've already found out.

 

See where this Helpful Answer was posted

13 REPLIES 13

Andrew-G
Alessandro Volta

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and information either written or verbal that is supplied by the company is contractually binding if you relied upon it.  Or put another way, the law says VM now HAVE to honour the agreed contracts.

Possibly the forum staff will intervene and save the day (don't accept any compromise on what was originally agreed), although response times are longer than usual at the moment - can be as much as four days.  Or, if you've got the time and fortitude, you could raise a formal complaint with VM in writing, and if/when the company fail to handle that properly, escalate to the industry arbitration scheme CISAS who'll sort it out and probably give a few quid compensation for the hassle.

But at the end of it, do you really want to give your business to a company who behave like this and have such dubious customer service?  If it's only a good deal because of over-promising and under-delivering, and by stripping customer service back to the most awful offshored menagerie, imagine what happens if you have a problem...actually, you don't need to imagine, you've already found out.

 

Angela_d
Joining in

Agreed price for broadband last night on phone but contact is different , higher price and changes to package 

removed service and higher price 

feel like I’ve been lied to and conned

 

Angela_d
Joining in

Hi Beth 

no one has been in touch , although I also filled in a complaint 

my issue is with my broadband not sim 

the price offered to me ( and which I accepted ) is not what was in the contract that was sent 

only a small increase but still ...

seems an unfair tactic especially at a time when it is impossible to get reply from anyone 

 

Hi Angela_d,

 

I am sorry to hear that you also have the same problem but with your cable services, I'd really like to get to the bottom of this for you. 

 

I've sent you over a PM so I can take some further details, please check out the purple envelope for a message from myself 🙂

 

Thanks,

 

Beth

Beth

Hi,

I'm having the same experience as Angela_d and I have to say that I am quite shocked.

To recap, I received an e-mail informing me that my contract (broadband) had ended and that I could call 0345 454 1111 to discuss changes.

On the phone I was told:
- *certain change* of monthly price for 18 months
- same broadband service

I asked three times for confirmation, before accepting: the price would change, but the package was going to stay the same.
I received a new contract via e-mail with: HIGHER PRICE CHANGE, REDUCED (halved) SERVICE!!
(the e-mail ironically starts with "Hi Silvia, Thanks for making those changes to your Virgin Media package.")

I don't usually complain or fight over prices, despite the frequent service disruptions, but this is actually unacceptable (and sorry if I sound upset).

I find it quite shameful to receive a contract to which I have NOT agreed to.

Hope someone will be in touch to solve this mess.

Regards,

Silvia

Note for self: NEVER discuss contract changes on the phone.

Hi silviagoldhawk,

 

Thank you for your post and welcome to the community. 

 

I'm very sorry to hear about the issues you've had with your package. 

 

When you spoke with the team did they advise how this can proceed?

 

^Martin

Dear ^Martin,

Thank you for your reply.

When I spoke to the team, I was told that I would receive my new contract in the next days, stating the new terms we had agreed on the phone.
I received the contract via e-mail, but it differs considerably from the terms agreed on the phone.
There is no further communication since then, apart from your message.

I decided to file a complaint, because I feel I am now bound to a contract I haven't agreed to.

Regards,

Silvia

Thank you for that information. 

 

I would like to see if we can assist with this. 

 

I will private message you to get some details. 

 

^Martin

Hi again,

problem solved by customer service in 5 minutes.

From my little experience:
- help with technical issues: both the customer service and the community are very helpful
- help with contract issues: customer service, definitely. (The waiting time might be long, yeah...) I guess it's just a different job, that requires different skills and approaches. This time I spoke to someone more experienced.
I also think the normal "state of things" for customer service is "to be overwhelmed", so it helps to remain patient, whatever the problem. Kindness would help as well.

I would like to set the balance right and APOLOGIZE for the tones of my first post. (Should have written a "post to myself" first, to vent my frustration, and then a more constructive one here to ask for advice xD)
Especially, I directly assumed that the new contract I had received was intentionally different from what agreed on the phone, instead of thinking it could be a mistake. This would have been a much better start, at least it would have given me the necessary calm to decide on how best to proceed - and I could have spared myself two days of useless back and forth. Sadly.

Regards,

Silvia