Feeling let down by virgin media
I'm writing this form post to ask if there are any forum moderators who can help regarding a resident incident I've had with virgin media. For the past 6 months, I've been in and out of hospital but mostly an inpatient. I've struggled to keep up to date which admittedly, is my own fault. But due to health complications things like bills ended up falling to the bottom of my priority list after I became bed bound several times. I got in contact with Virgin Media on the 11th of December, and worked out a deal in regards to my situation where I would pay a certain amount contributing to my ongoing usage (with a downgrade in speed) and the rest would go towards my debt that had unfouurnatley mounted up during my health crisis's. After happily accepting this amount, I proceeded to pay a initial fee of £55, and agreed monthly going forward that I would pay £58 on the 22nd of each month. Virgin are now arguing that I was also actually due to pay the £58 on the 22nd of December, as well as the initial £55 I had paid on the 11th of December. As someone with autism and difficulties with communication, it was made clear to me that the £58 payments would start the month after my initial payment, which was for £55 on the 11th of December. I am now getting texts threatening the virgin are going to suspend my services. They say that the call outlined it would start in December, not January. As someone who also suffers from Functional Neurological Disorder, this could have been a simple mistake of communicating the months in which I believed the direct debit payments would start from. I phoned virgin media, only to be met with hostility about "missing" the initial payment on the 22nd of January. I have explained to the numerous times, very upset, that £55 was the most I could afford during January, but I would be happy as agreed to proceed with the £58 payments moving forward monthly starting from the 22nd. After speaking to several managers, they were all telling me to expect to be disconnected. In anger, I said I will happily chargeback the initial £55 I gave as it seems unfair that it wasn't made clear to me that the payments would start in January, given that I had already paid £55 on the 11th of Decemeber and that was a struggle considering my finances. They said they don't play games, and if I was to do that they would close my account for fraud. I don't really know where to go from here, as I will need to take it up with the ombudsman service, but soon I will be disconnected from my broadband services and I'm mostly left bed ridden so I will find it hard to come to some resolution of restoring my internet access. I really need some advise, or possibly help from virgin media in resolving what should and could have been a simple misunderstanding. If anyone can advise, please do so as VM have left me feeling worried about not being able to communicate with anyone even after attempting to follow the agreements made by them. I have made a complaint, but the outcome has been said that on the phone supposedly the rep said payments would start from the 22nd of January, which I wouldn't have agreed to as I could only just manage £58 a month going forward in January, after my initial payment of £55 in December. Also to note, they were suppose to send out a clear billing email detailing when the payments where expected to be made and for how much on the date I made the initial payment, but it never arrived in my inbox.Overcharging Vulnerable/Elderly Customers
My Grandparents, like many fixed-income elderly people, struggle to meet their bills. Having been asked to look at their accounts I was SHOCKED to learn that Virgin Media is charging them £116/month for a basic service (broadband, telephone and no-frills TV). This is up from £107 two months ago. It looks like Virgin think the elderly and vulnerable are easy money - and knowing that as a group they are reluctant to change - consistently overcharge them. For the basic service they are receiving they shouldn’t be paying more than £40/month. Looks like I’ll have to move them to a more trustworthy provider.