Absolutely apalling customer service that's made me want to cancel my plan.
I've been using Virgin for 9 months, and the whole time they haven't been great. My WiFi is incredibly unreliable and constantly loses connection. However, I stuck with my plan as me and my housemates are only students and believed we couldn't reasonably afford anything better, and didn't want to deal with the hassle of cancelling and finding something new. Today I receieved an email telling me I had an outstanding balance in my account. This was 5 days after my bill (newly increased in price, may I add) had left by bank account via direct debit, and I could see the transaction in my banking app. Naturally I was confused and didn't want any late fees or restrictions, so I tried to log into my account for further answers. However, I'd forgotten my password and the password reset email refused to be sent to my inbox, no matter how long I waited or how many times I tried, so I called the customer service line provided. Unfortunately, instead of being transferred to a real human being, I had to deal with an automated voice. This was an absolutely abysmal experience, way worse than any other automated customer service line I've called before. Not only did none of the options pertain to what I was asking, the automated voice refused to transfer me to a real human until I could provide my password, which I kept explaining I couldn't do. The continued repeats of "please state your password" no matter how many times I tried to make it go back or change tactic were infuriating. I had to call three seperate times, twice asking specifically about changing my password, and the third I gave up and simply talked about the error in my balance. When I called regarding my balance, it gave me a solution completely unrelated to my issue, and then hung up on me. Not to mention each time I called it sent me a bunch of texts begging me to download their app and log in to my account. Eventually I had to give up on their phone line as it was getting nowhere and tried their chat system on their website. I had to again deal with automated answers trying to figure out what I was saying before I was finally connected to a real human. One person I was connected to never answered me when I asked them a question and I had to disconnect, and after going through three individuals I was eventually told that I couldn't log in because they were having issues with their website, and the outstanding balance was an error and the email was just "a reminder" (despire it coming 5 days after I'd paid the bill and specifically saying the words "you have an outstanding balance on your account"). This experience left me incredibly drained and frustrated. Once me and my housemates have moved out of this house I know I will be cancelling my plan immediately and telling everyone I know not to use Virgin. I already had an unfavourable opinion of them due to their terrible broadband service, but their abysmal customer service is the nail in the coffin. In fact, the only reason I'm writing this here is because they don't have a customer service email I can send this to. (Seriously? How am I supposed to talk to a real human at this company when your phone line is automated and refuses to connect me to a human, and the people in your online chat service ignore my questions.) Sorry, Virgin, but I won't be paying your fee hikes anymore if this is what they get me.Contemptible
I've been on the online chat for over 4 hours today trying to get a resolution. I renewed my contract on 2nd March, via the renewal email that I got from Virgin. I got an email today saying they'd be taking a payment of more than £50 above my usual cost. Contacted them and was told that I hadn't "accepted the order within the required 7 days". I asked repeatedly where in the email or the pre-contract info that it says I am supposed to respond at all, let alone within 7 days, and got absolutely no useful answers. "Maylem" was beyond unhelpful, patronising and ignored all of my questions. This exact thing happened to two of my family members in recent weeks. It's a disgusting tactic by Virgin aimed to trick loyal customers into falling onto an expensive rolling contract. When you get in touch with them, they say they can no longer offer you the original renewal price. But when I pursued this problem on behalf of my father-in-law, I got through to someone half-decent who said they'd honour the original renewal price by creating a new contract at the higher price with a recurring credit to his monthly bill to bring it down to the original price he was offered. The service from this dogsh*t company is utterly contemptible. I've now cancelled, but they're taking today as the start of my 30-day notice period, which means in a few days I'll pay over £140 for a "service" that's supposed to be £90. They're also having the audacity to charge a further "final" bill of £30 in May. New customers can get the same contract that I had plus an iPad for less than what I was offered at the original renewal stage. These forums (as well as others like Reddit) are absolutely littered with people like me who can't work out why their contracts suddenly massively go up in price only to be told there's some non-existent "you must accept within 7 days" thing in the contract. It doesn't exist. It does NOT say anywhere that this is a thing. Is it written in invisible ink? The first guy I spoke to online told me that "online renewals don't go through most of the time". Are they not a COMMUNICATIONS company? How is it that online renewals don't work most of the time? Virgin Media are a f*cking joke and I will be writing a complaint to the Communications Ombudsman. They're breaching Section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.Password reset link not received
I am unable to get through to anyone on the phone, no matter what option I select. The chat bot is AI nonsense and sends you in loops. The only promising thing offered was messaging on Whatsapp. No response or signs of receiving my messages. This is getting ridiculous quite frankly. I pay for a service and I am not receiving customer service. I have sent a reset link for my account password (not this account) and nothing has come through (FOR DAYS!). Sort it out VM.Symmetric speed saga
I was really excited to see symmetric speed available in my area (a XGSPON area) when it was first launched by VM. I requested it 5 different attempts via online chat with lots of different answers ranging from 'It's not available' to 'it will cost an extra £26/month'. After the 4th attempt I opened a complaint. The complaint responded saying I could have 1Gb + symmetric for a total of £45/month and asked me to reply - I did. Then today I get a phone call from a customer service person who rescinded the £45/month offer and said "It's not available, it's only available to 2k customers as a trial"... even though I told him if i go on the site and attempt to sign up as a new customer I have the option to select it, and none of the statements from VM or on ISP Review state it's a trial. He couldn't answer and just seemed keen to close my complaint. I said I was not happy with the non-explanation given, and then 5 mins later I get an email saying he's closed my complaint - even though I said i wasn't satisfied that the complaint had been dealt with. I've since reopened the complaint and am hoping it can get sorted by someone who knows what they're doing. My original install of VM was abysmal and resulted in a hefty charge to VM - I thought it'd be much easier than this to try and pay VM more money by getting an upgrade. The fact I've had to open a complaint to try and pay VM more money is ludicrous.