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Missold re waiver of early disconnection fee

Hm53
Tuning in

My daughter contacted VM via webchat following expiry of her previous 18 month contract. She was interested only in a monthly rolling contract as she would soon be moving in with her partner who already has broadband. VM constantly recommended an 18 month contract even though she reiterated this many times. 

She was advised to take out an 18 month contract on the assurance that the early disconnection fee would be waived when she cancelled in a few months time. The waiving of the fee was confirmed more than once by the Virgin representative and she has kept a screenshot of the webchat.

Now they are saying she has to pay £284 disconnection fee. They say that they can't supply to her new address anyway so once she submits proof of living at that address she will get it back.

As she is moving in with her partner it will be a while before she has anything proving her new address as everything is currently in his name etc. She is unlikely to have proof before the deadline they set.

My question is can she refuse to pay the disconnection charge on the basis that a contract was entered into via the original wedchat and VM are now breaking this contract. Is this a case of misselling?

  • Grateful for any advice.

 

 

 

 

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Accepted Solutions


@Natalie_L wrote:

I am afraid your daughter should not have been advised the fee would be removed at the point of sale as this is not something we offer as a full contract term would apply. 

If you daughter is planning to move and the home does not have our service available, the termination fees would be waived on the basis she can provide documentation showing that she live at the new address. 

When the account is disconnected for the move, she will receive an email with all the information regarding this and full details on what to send over to have the fee waived. 

Please let us know if you have any questions. 

Thanks, 

 


Yes, I've got a question!  Please, miss!  Miss Natalie! Over here!  Miss! 

My question is why you just don't sort it out and waive the disconnection fee as your agent promised, rather than forcing the customer to use the clunky, poorly designed process for out-of-area moves?  The same clunky, poorly designed process that'll probably mean the customer is out of pocket for weeks and waiting either on a refund of charges, or worse, a refund of the huge early termination fees.

The fact that the agent "should not have been advised" this way is utterly irrelevant, they DID advise that, the customer relied upon it, and it's now legally part of the contract.  I've posted a link earlier to the actual text of the legislation, since that's evidently not enough I'll quote it verbatim here:

50  Information about the trader or service to be binding

(1)Every contract to supply a service is to be treated as including as a term of the contract anything that is said or written to the consumer, by or on behalf of the trader, about the trader or the service, if—

(a)it is taken into account by the consumer when deciding to enter into the contract, or

(b)it is taken into account by the consumer when making any decision about the service after entering into the contract.

Now, there's not much room for manoeuvre is there?  Where "not much" means "none whatsoever".  If the agent shouldn't have said that, that's VM's problem for employing offshore workers on a pittance and then not training them properly, but the company has chosen that as their preferred customer service model, the company can now suck it up and enjoy the consequences.  As it often has to.

I suggest to Hm53, see if the forum staff are going to stop posting corporate waffle that doesn't address the issue, take some ownership and get this sorted.  If they're not going to, then your daughter will have to pay whatever VM demand by way of termination fees (and monthly charges during their failure to cancel at first request), and claim that back using VM's comedy out-of-area moves process.  Assuming they don't screw that up, then she'll get the money back in a couple of months, because VM never refund customers promptly for end of contract credits, but potentially she'll be giving VM an interest free loan for a month or two, at a time when she's got other expenses, and other priorities.

In that case, she raises a formal complaint.  Step 1: Write to Virgin Media, Sunderland, SR43 4AA, ask for say £150 compensation plus the refund of any additional monthly payments from when she first contacted VM to cancel as per the contract she agreed.  Likely this complaint will be fobbed off, that's all that VM's complaints team actually do, so step 2: When she gets the "resolution" letter she replies by rejecting it, asking for a deadlock letter, and Step 3, then escalating the matter to Ombudsman Services, seeking compensation as requested from VM, plus a further £70 for their poor handling of the complaint (and including the failure of staff in this forum to resolve).  If the complaint is accepted by the Ombudsman, then Virgin Media get hit with adjudication case fees of around four hundred quid, that would be a well deserved slap if things get that far.

So back to you Natalie_L, on behalf of Virgin Media, how do you want this to end? 

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10 REPLIES 10

newapollo
Very Insightful Person
Very Insightful Person

Hi @Hm53 

The accepted documents showing the new address are :-

bank statement, driving licence, insurance policy, mortgage information, rental agreement or utility bill

Would it be possible for your daughter to provide one of the above?  A bank statement would possibly be the easiest to obtain

Dave
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Andrew-G
Alessandro Volta

My question is can she refuse to pay the disconnection charge on the basis that a contract was entered into via the original wedchat and VM are now breaking this contract. Is this a case of misselling?

It's certainly a breach of contract and consumer rights, because the agent promised that, and your daughter relied upon the information; as a result it becomes part of the contract regardless of VM's wrongful attempts to evade that obligation.  Consumer Rights Act 2015, Section 50 para 1a.  Read it here.

I'm sure the forum staff will sort this out for here (subject to you being able to identify the account in question), because the alternative is to make a formal complaint, wait for VM to botch the handling of that, and then you have VM expensively flattened by the Ombudsman Services dodgy company mangler.  And that would mean VM having to honour the agreed terms, pay compensation on top, and pay the several hundred pounds case fee that the ombudsman charges VM for an adjudication.

The only one she will be able to change to her new address is bank. But she doesn't move for a couple weeks and by the time she can get the proof she may have missed the deadline. Why should she have to do this though?

That's what I was thinking. She has spent a lot of time trying to get her point across to no avail. Hopefully it can be resolved easily but if not I am grateful for your confirmation that it is a breach of contract and what the next steps are.

Natalie_L
Forum Team (Retired)
Forum Team (Retired)

Hi Hm53,

Welcome to the Community and thank you for posting. 

I am very sorry to hear of your daughters experience, this is not the level of service we expect offer and we apologise for any failings. 

I am afraid your daughter should not have been advised the fee would be removed at the point of sale as this is not something we offer as a full contract term would apply. 

If you daughter is planning to move and the home does not have our service available, the termination fees would be waived on the basis she can provide documentation showing that she live at the new address. 

When the account is disconnected for the move, she will receive an email with all the information regarding this and full details on what to send over to have the fee waived. 

Please let us know if you have any questions. 

Thanks, 

 

Nat


@Natalie_L wrote:

I am afraid your daughter should not have been advised the fee would be removed at the point of sale as this is not something we offer as a full contract term would apply. 

If you daughter is planning to move and the home does not have our service available, the termination fees would be waived on the basis she can provide documentation showing that she live at the new address. 

When the account is disconnected for the move, she will receive an email with all the information regarding this and full details on what to send over to have the fee waived. 

Please let us know if you have any questions. 

Thanks, 

 


Yes, I've got a question!  Please, miss!  Miss Natalie! Over here!  Miss! 

My question is why you just don't sort it out and waive the disconnection fee as your agent promised, rather than forcing the customer to use the clunky, poorly designed process for out-of-area moves?  The same clunky, poorly designed process that'll probably mean the customer is out of pocket for weeks and waiting either on a refund of charges, or worse, a refund of the huge early termination fees.

The fact that the agent "should not have been advised" this way is utterly irrelevant, they DID advise that, the customer relied upon it, and it's now legally part of the contract.  I've posted a link earlier to the actual text of the legislation, since that's evidently not enough I'll quote it verbatim here:

50  Information about the trader or service to be binding

(1)Every contract to supply a service is to be treated as including as a term of the contract anything that is said or written to the consumer, by or on behalf of the trader, about the trader or the service, if—

(a)it is taken into account by the consumer when deciding to enter into the contract, or

(b)it is taken into account by the consumer when making any decision about the service after entering into the contract.

Now, there's not much room for manoeuvre is there?  Where "not much" means "none whatsoever".  If the agent shouldn't have said that, that's VM's problem for employing offshore workers on a pittance and then not training them properly, but the company has chosen that as their preferred customer service model, the company can now suck it up and enjoy the consequences.  As it often has to.

I suggest to Hm53, see if the forum staff are going to stop posting corporate waffle that doesn't address the issue, take some ownership and get this sorted.  If they're not going to, then your daughter will have to pay whatever VM demand by way of termination fees (and monthly charges during their failure to cancel at first request), and claim that back using VM's comedy out-of-area moves process.  Assuming they don't screw that up, then she'll get the money back in a couple of months, because VM never refund customers promptly for end of contract credits, but potentially she'll be giving VM an interest free loan for a month or two, at a time when she's got other expenses, and other priorities.

In that case, she raises a formal complaint.  Step 1: Write to Virgin Media, Sunderland, SR43 4AA, ask for say £150 compensation plus the refund of any additional monthly payments from when she first contacted VM to cancel as per the contract she agreed.  Likely this complaint will be fobbed off, that's all that VM's complaints team actually do, so step 2: When she gets the "resolution" letter she replies by rejecting it, asking for a deadlock letter, and Step 3, then escalating the matter to Ombudsman Services, seeking compensation as requested from VM, plus a further £70 for their poor handling of the complaint (and including the failure of staff in this forum to resolve).  If the complaint is accepted by the Ombudsman, then Virgin Media get hit with adjudication case fees of around four hundred quid, that would be a well deserved slap if things get that far.

So back to you Natalie_L, on behalf of Virgin Media, how do you want this to end? 

Hi Nat

Thanks for your response. While my daughter is attempting to sort out some proof of new address in time it is not acceptable just to say she shouldn't have been told this. If she had been moving to an address that VM does supply you would be expecting her to pay the fee. On that basis she will be submitting a complaint.

 

Can someone advise best way to make a complaint about this as a contract was entered into on the basis of the conversation and this contract has been broken. My daughter has clear documentation. She may well be lucky to avoid the fee as VM don't supply to her new address but this is not the point. VM need to be accountable for tactics of outright lies and pressure selling.

 

 

-tony-
Alessandro Volta

@Hm53 wrote:

Hi Nat

Thanks for your response. While my daughter is attempting to sort out some proof of new address in time it is not acceptable just to say she shouldn't have been told this. If she had been moving to an address that VM does supply you would be expecting her to pay the fee. On that basis she will be submitting a complaint.

 

Can someone advise best way to make a complaint about this as a contract was entered into on the basis of the conversation and this contract has been broken. My daughter has clear documentation. She may well be lucky to avoid the fee as VM don't supply to her new address but this is not the point. VM need to be accountable for tactics of outright lies and pressure selling.

 

 


make any complaint in writing - afaik the online process is at best flawed or does not work - if @natalie gets back to the thread then maybe she will sort it as Andrew suggests or maybe she will ignore all thats been said as its not what she thinks she is paid for but she may then offer to raise the complaint

all the above is VM at its best - read worst and the reasons that both Andrew and I are no longer customers but try to help those who are

____________________

Tony.
Sacked VIP

Hi @Hm53 

Thanks for coming back to the thread. I will send you a PM now to assist further

Best,

John_GS
Forum Team


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