Homeworks - What is it and will I be charged?

[banhamm]

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?

[Portery]

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

[milbers]

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.

[jem101]

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@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

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[banhamm]

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. 

[Andrew-G]

Both worrying and unsurprising to hear multiple reports of Homeworks being added to customers' accounts without their explicit approval.  VM's poorly trained and even more poorly supervised agents seem to delight in implementing contracts that differ from those agreed, if we are to judge by the routine reports of such activity in this forum.

However, to do that is a breach of consumer rights laws, and you should at least speak to Citizens Advice to understand your rights, and potential courses of action.

[banhamm]

It would be useful if a VM staff member could address some of the issues raised in this thread. Clearly there are multiple  concerns from VM customers about this underhand practice. I'm not being charged for it currently but reckon it would suddenly appear after three months. Shoddy. 

Thanks for the responses.

[NinjaMeerkat]

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@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

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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.

[jem101]

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@NinjaMeerkat wrote:

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@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

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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.

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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?

[M_star99]

whats homeworks?