I'm posting this more as a steam-letting exercise for myself, but also a cautionary tale about the complete and utter chaos at the root of Virgin Media and 02 - and the most appalling customer service I have ever experienced.
I've been a customer of Virgin Media since it's inception and was with NTL World prior to this from as far back as 2003. Since 2007 I have had top tier everything - broadband speeds, TV packages etc...always scraping the top end of whatever is available although this has become increasingly harder to negotiate.
After using the "notice of disconnection" tactic along with a formal complaint, in November 2021 I was contacted directly by someone at Virgin with the ability to actually make a difference - they offered me the Volt Package at £89 a month for 18 months - including sky sports and everything - which I accepted. I was told this included a sim card with 02 - I told the agent I didn't want it, but he said I had to have it anyway.
I was surprised when 02 set up a direct debit and started taking £25 a month, but when I saw my Virgin Media bill for £64 it made some sense. When the sim card arrived, as I had no intention to use it, I put it away in a drawer and forgot about it.
Fast forward to March and I get the letter from Virgin all about the price increases. Conscious my contract was coming to an end anyway, I decided to contact Virgin to get a new contract which I did fairly quickly. I told the agent I no longer wanted or needed my O2 sim card and was willing to "give it up" to try and reach a comparable deal to now.
I was offered effectively the same package (minus sim card) on March 11 - paying £91 a month for Gig1, Maxit TV, Anytime Chatter plus all the Sky Sports and Cinema etc...which I agreed to.
I contacted 02 on March 14 to tell them to shut down the direct debit and stop charging me - the agent arranged a disconnection and told me that he would "waive" the £10 disconnection fee. I said I was happy to pay to the end of my Virgin contract.
Within the cooling off period I renegotiated to have Sky Sports and Cinema UHD added for an additional sum of £7 a month. (they told me they would add an additional credit of £3 a month)
Imagine my surprise when I receive a Virgin Media bill with no £3 credit attached and imagine my surprise when today a bill lands in my email inbox to tell me I now owe 02 the sum of £32...as part of my ongoing package with 02!!!!
I phoned Virgin and 02 up to cancel my contract - we have Lila Connect in our street now and I fancy a new telly off sky, so I decided given all this confusion it was high time to break links - mainly as I was sick to death of having to manage two business relationships with two companies apparently working together but unable to actually interface properly together.
When I phoned them earlier via 150, the Virgin agent refused to disconnect me and said that I needed to speak with 02 - against my wishes. I was then passed through several different 02 agents, being told all manner of weird and wonderful things - including telling me that I was wrong and that I had not, in fact, ended my relationship with 02 back in March and that I was very much still a customer - and also that I still owed 02 money whatever happened.
I spent the past one hour and 45 minutes on the phone earlier before eventually getting through to a customer service agent who agreed to cancel my 02 Sim Card with nothing being owed.
I raised a written complaint via the online portal. Finally today I spoke to an agent via 150 who has agreed to disconnect my Virgin packages in full - although obviously threatened me to return the equipment or face a £100 fine!!
I am so pleased to be free of this company. I have handed over tens of thousands of pounds over the years and have never been able to get anything like decent customer service, but tbf the broadband and TV services were always passable enough. But the complete and utter chaos and confusion over the 02 relationship has tipped me over the edge - is having one bill in one place too much to ask?
