We recently upgraded from Ultimate Oomph to Ultimate Volt reveals that we also have Homeworks alongside the one gig broadband.
What is it as I don't recall Homeworks being mentioned during the call with the offer to upgrade and will I be charged?
Home works is chargeable but you do get a lot of benefits.
if you had an issue and you needed a tech you would get an appoint the following day
gadget rescue if you have any issues that’s out of vm scope gadget rescue are a team with vas knowledge of 3rd party software.
and fsecure a antivirus software
more info here https://www.virginmedia.com/help/broadband/homeworks
I also had Homeworks added to my account without my knowledge or permission. I lodged a formal complaint but had no luck in finding out how this occurred even though I provided VM with the details of the person who added it to my account. After some time and many hours spent trying to get to the bottom of it I managed to have it removed. Homeworks costs £9.99 per month and for it to be added to my account without my permission or knowledge is in my view fraudulent. As I say I have been given no logical explanation as to why it was added in the first place. Hope you have better luck than me.
Portery wrote:Home works is chargeable but you do get a lot of benefits.
Really? Such as?
if you had an issue and you needed a tech you would get an appoint the following day
gadget rescue if you have any issues that’s out of vm scope gadget rescue are a team with vas knowledge of 3rd party software.
Did you mean ‘vast knowledge of 3rd party software’? No please just stop I’m laughing so hard, not sure if my ribs can take it?
and fsecure a antivirus software
Well yes it is, although is it any better than what Windows comes shipped with for free?
more info here https://www.virginmedia.com/help/broadband/homeworks
Thanks all for your answers. Because my bill isn't broken down it just appears as an addition without a cost. I will query it with VM if I can get through to see what it is costing and get it removed if there's a cost. I am fairly confident I can survive without it as I have done many times over the years.
Portery wrote:Home works is chargeable but you do get a lot of benefits.
if you had an issue and you needed a tech you would get an appoint the following day
gadget rescue if you have any issues that’s out of vm scope gadget rescue are a team with vas knowledge of 3rd party software.
and fsecure a antivirus software
more info here https://www.virginmedia.com/help/broadband/homeworks
I've always thought that being on the Ultimate package gave you next day appointments anyway. That was certainly the way it was on previous top packages.
NinjaMeerkat wrote:
Portery wrote:Home works is chargeable but you do get a lot of benefits.
if you had an issue and you needed a tech you would get an appoint the following day
gadget rescue if you have any issues that’s out of vm scope gadget rescue are a team with vas knowledge of 3rd party software.
and fsecure a antivirus software
more info here https://www.virginmedia.com/help/broadband/homeworks
I've always thought that being on the Ultimate package gave you next day appointments anyway. That was certainly the way it was on previous top packages.
I believe, though, that there was always a statement in 'the small print' along the lines of 'subject to availability'. So all VM had to do was simply claim that they have a staff shortage through sickness and rather than tomorrow, how about a week on Thursday?
Come to think of it was there ever a means or promise of compensation if the technician didn't turn up the next day and/or failed to fix the problem? Or were there more than enough get-out clauses to make the thing fairly worthless anyway?
During a recent re-negotiation which is a whole other story I was also forced into having Homeworks added to the bundle, the reason being I was told it made the bundle cheaper and was free from 3 months. They said it can be cancelled at the end of the 3 months no problem, reading this forum and trustpilot it won't come as a suprise to anyone when it appeared straight away on my bill.
gsim1 wrote:During a recent re-negotiation which is a whole other story I was also forced into having Homeworks added to the bundle, the reason being I was told it made the bundle cheaper and was free from 3 months. They said it can be cancelled at the end of the 3 months no problem, reading this forum and trustpilot it won't come as a suprise to anyone when it appeared straight away on my bill.
It's all very underhand. I have read elsewhere on this forum that it is free for three months but when I asked for it to be removed, I was surprised to see that my original monthly cost negotiated in November 2022 reduced by £9.99 so clearly, I was being charged for it since day one.
Who is at fault here? The offshore sales team for mis selling or the onshore management not being in control of offshore work practices? Either way if this were to happen with your bank or insurer, such misleading tactics would be countered by those companies themselves or with heavy fines or censures issued by regulators.
The worrying thing about this, after hours of being transferred around the various departments I think the re-negotiaion was all done onshore.
Hi banhamm,
I'm really sorry that Homeworks was added on without your knowledge and for the poor experience you've had so far trying to sort this. I'll be more than happy to look into this for you and get to the bottom of what's happened.
I've sent you over a private message so I can take some details, please look out for my message over at the purple envelope.
Thank you
Hi Beth
I too have discovered that Homeworks was added to my package without being told it was an additional £9.99 a month and at the time I was trying (and succeeding) to get my costs lowered. I have just discovered this and have subsequently cancelled Homeworks. My question is am I entitled under the circumstances to obtain a refund?
Thanks
Chris
I've had this added to my account today....it was mentioned but no mention of the £10 a month...... now the battle to get it removed
They slip it into the sales patter but don't mention it's chargeable, I've had it added to my account today without being told it's chargeable
I have had it removed, seen my package price go down by £10 a month and been refunded for the three months I was charged for it and given £5 (whoop whoop!) for my inconvenience of hours spent on WhatsApp and chasing promises of repayment.
My advice is to not bother with it and if it is mentioned during re negotiating a contract tell them you don't want it at all and ask for it to be removed. Check the renewal letter and ensure it hasn't been added to the Broadband section in small print. If it has, ask for it to be removed within the 14-day cooling off period. The "free for three months" doesn't seem to be true as I have been refunded for three months of my new contract.
Thanks for the update and glad to hear you have been able to get this resolved. We're sorry for the experience as it's not the level of service we aim to provide.
If you need further assistance, please don't hesitate to get in touch here on the forums.
Rob
I just had something very similar happen to me, but this was blatant fraud. Not even mis-selling because I didn't ask for the thing!
Have had intermittent internet that drops out constantly over the last few weeks. Virgin say it is not a problem, because nothing appears off their end. It's intermittent, so by definition... sigh.
I called to sort this out and immediately the guy tried to upgrade me, to which I very firmly said no - because I'm not going to upgrade a service that doesn't even work. He tried to say that there are too many devices connected - but there aren't. Yes, we may have 10 things connected but we're only using one or two at a time. It can't even manage to stream a show without it pausing all the time when nothing else is connected!
So, asked for an appointment - "we can see there's nothing wrong". Said right well I'm calling you because there IS something wrong, so I need a technician please. Went away to talk to manager.
Came back and said they could send a technician out but I would need to pay £9.99 for it. Thought this was weird but just wanted the problem fixed, so said fine. They said ok, someone will be there 8-12 tomorrow and we be charging £9.99 for the home works.
Of course I agreed, thinking "the home works" was another way of saying "the technician visiting" - not the name of a service package I've never heard of! He then mentioned if I call back after the engineer comes, they can waive the charge or something? Asked for clarification, that if I call back when the engineer has left I won't have to pay? He then confirmed.
After looking this up after, I found out that CALLOUTS ARE FREE! And I recognised the phrase "home works" he used, but of course it was HomeWorks, the £9.99 per month package! Sure enough, I just received an email a few hours later to thank me for my upgrade and my bill is now almost £50 instead of the £30 I was paying before, with a random £7.99 charge!
I'm SO angry, this company are sharks and con artists. You have to be so careful when you call them, as they'll try to sneak a sale in for their commission in the most vile ways. I will be calling them back tomorrow and making sure this is removed from my account and hoping they don't cause me any more hassle - all when the internet STILL isn't fixed!
Hi TheMooks,
Thanks for your post and welcome to the community.
Sincere apologies for the issues faced with Homeworks, just from checking our service I can see that you have been in contact.
Has this matter been resolved?
Let us know,
Our Hub5 has died over the weekend and we work from home. The only way we could get a Tech to come out was to agree this charge. It makes sense to have it , so I will abstain for now on its morality, but shouldn’t this be the level of service we should be getting anyway ?
As I understand it and from the weekly VM marketing email sent out last week, faulty equipment should be mended for free. It sounds like you’ve been pressure sold or even mis-sold Homeworks and I would query this and ask for a refund. Unacceptable.
