Overcharging Vulnerable Customers £168 a month?!?
My uncle (88 years old), like many fixed income elderly people, is struggling to pay his bills. Having been asked to look at his accounts I was SHOCKED to learn that Virgin Media is charging him £168/month for a basic service (broadband, telephone and no frills TV). This was all set up by his wife who died in 2016, despite several calls and requests Virgin continue to take money from his account. I'd like to also point out his Wi-Fi and telephone line haven't worked for over a month and Virgin refuse to discuss this with me. My uncle is also deaf and very vulnerable, it's a horrible situation and I'm not sure what to do. By all accounts, Virgin have taken over £15k since 2016 for a service that either doesn't work and/or for my uncle to listen to BBC Wales once a week on a Sunday evening, that's all he uses it for! Without the phone line he can't receive calls from the hospital or doctors and of course family. 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 £60/month. Looks like I’ll have to move them to a more trustworthy provider. However, I feel Virgin Media owe my uncle compensation for the money they have continued to take from his account in return for nothing. They should be ashamed of themselves 😠 UPDATE 4 months on Virgin Media are STILL taking £168 a month from my uncles account. Because his wife set up the account in her email address, and he doesn't know the details, Virgin have refused to help. But they happy to take his pension money from HIS account though. Not one person at Virgin has been willing to assist with this situation. There must be 1000's of elderly people who are being taken advantage of by Virgin, why is no one able to help!