wiggles
01-03-2007, 00:10
Hello all. I’ve been lurking around the TV forum for quite a while but have not posted before. Apologies for this long post but my problems with Virgin have been going on for ages and it’s difficult to summarise.
I wondered if anyone else had a similar problem to me in trying to take up the Virgin £10 p/m mobile offer.
I have been an existing NTL customer for years on broadband and telephone. When I saw the Virgin Mobile offer, I decided to get the TV as well and downgrade my landline telephone package from the all inclusive calls to the basic line rental. My thinking was that I could use the ‘freeââà ¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ minutes on the mobile for outgoing calls and would therefore not need the inclusive landline calls.
I was also an existing virgin mobile customer for about 6 years on a direct debit monthly pay as you go. I wanted to keep retain this account as it was.
I kicked off the process in October last year by getting the TV and changing the landline package. I then rang Virgin Mobile and my order was taken including credit card details. I was told the phone and sim would arrive in a couple of days – I also received email confirmation of this. It never arrived. I rang back and was initially told that my order could not be traced – even though I was able to provide the email reference. To cut a long story short, I got stuck in a vicious circle of banging my head against a brick wall. Each time I called and explained the situation, I was told that there had previously been a problem with the system that had been fixed and I would need to put another order in – which I did. Each time I asked to speak to a supervisor I was fobbed off with excuses. In the end I put 7 orders through and have all the email references for them. All orders were done over the phone with credit card details supplied.
This process of repeated orders and calls to Virgin went on into December. Eventually I did get to speak to a supervisor who was able to trace all the order details. He assured me he would fix the problem and call me back – needless to say it never happened.
In between all the phone calls and over the weeks, I started emailing Virgin about the problems. I was assured that it would all be sorted out but nothing happened. Then in January they ‘upgradedâà ƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ my old virgin account to the £10 deal without my permission – I had already made it clear several times that I wanted that account left as it was and they were supposed to send me a new phone in any case.
The only reason I knew it had changed was because I got a text message about it. At this point I raised a formal complaint with Virgin about all the problems with my orders and the change to my existing account. I then got a text message to say that my package had been changed back. However, they must have changed it to the wrong tariff because in February my direct debit was for over £50 for the mobile compared to the usual £2 to £3 p/m. Unfortunately they never sent me an invoice so I could not see what these charges were for. At this point, I was worried that things were getting out of hand. I called to close my account and was told that I had accumulated another £30 of mobile charges. I paid this by credit card and closed the account. The advisor I spoke to was very apologetic and could see the full history of all the orders. When I closed the a/c I explained to him that I was at the end of my tether with the whole process and I would be continuing my complaint.
A few days later I received letter of apology from Virgin. They apologised unreservedly for their errors and went on about human failures and how rare this sort of problem was, that as a result of it they were retraining etc.
Unfortunately, they seemed to miss the whole point of my complaint in that they still did not send me a phone and sim or offer to reimburse me for any of my landline call charges which would not have occurred if they had sent my order on time or explain why my mobile charges had suddenly increased so dramatically.
I’ve given up trying to call customer services as you just get put on hold for ages. I’ve sent a further letter of complaint in response to their apology asking for reimbursement for the call charges to date and for the mobile and sim I’ve been promised so many times.
I’m so sick of the whole thing that I would have long since dropped all my Virgin Media services but I’m too far from the exchange for any decent ADSL service and I feel so ripped off that I’m determined to get some of my money back.
By the way, I was assured on my 3rd order that this was nothing to do with the credit check problems and that I had passed the credit scoring.
I wondered if anyone else had a similar problem to me in trying to take up the Virgin £10 p/m mobile offer.
I have been an existing NTL customer for years on broadband and telephone. When I saw the Virgin Mobile offer, I decided to get the TV as well and downgrade my landline telephone package from the all inclusive calls to the basic line rental. My thinking was that I could use the ‘freeââà ¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ minutes on the mobile for outgoing calls and would therefore not need the inclusive landline calls.
I was also an existing virgin mobile customer for about 6 years on a direct debit monthly pay as you go. I wanted to keep retain this account as it was.
I kicked off the process in October last year by getting the TV and changing the landline package. I then rang Virgin Mobile and my order was taken including credit card details. I was told the phone and sim would arrive in a couple of days – I also received email confirmation of this. It never arrived. I rang back and was initially told that my order could not be traced – even though I was able to provide the email reference. To cut a long story short, I got stuck in a vicious circle of banging my head against a brick wall. Each time I called and explained the situation, I was told that there had previously been a problem with the system that had been fixed and I would need to put another order in – which I did. Each time I asked to speak to a supervisor I was fobbed off with excuses. In the end I put 7 orders through and have all the email references for them. All orders were done over the phone with credit card details supplied.
This process of repeated orders and calls to Virgin went on into December. Eventually I did get to speak to a supervisor who was able to trace all the order details. He assured me he would fix the problem and call me back – needless to say it never happened.
In between all the phone calls and over the weeks, I started emailing Virgin about the problems. I was assured that it would all be sorted out but nothing happened. Then in January they ‘upgradedâà ƒÂ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚¬Ã¢â€žÂ¢ my old virgin account to the £10 deal without my permission – I had already made it clear several times that I wanted that account left as it was and they were supposed to send me a new phone in any case.
The only reason I knew it had changed was because I got a text message about it. At this point I raised a formal complaint with Virgin about all the problems with my orders and the change to my existing account. I then got a text message to say that my package had been changed back. However, they must have changed it to the wrong tariff because in February my direct debit was for over £50 for the mobile compared to the usual £2 to £3 p/m. Unfortunately they never sent me an invoice so I could not see what these charges were for. At this point, I was worried that things were getting out of hand. I called to close my account and was told that I had accumulated another £30 of mobile charges. I paid this by credit card and closed the account. The advisor I spoke to was very apologetic and could see the full history of all the orders. When I closed the a/c I explained to him that I was at the end of my tether with the whole process and I would be continuing my complaint.
A few days later I received letter of apology from Virgin. They apologised unreservedly for their errors and went on about human failures and how rare this sort of problem was, that as a result of it they were retraining etc.
Unfortunately, they seemed to miss the whole point of my complaint in that they still did not send me a phone and sim or offer to reimburse me for any of my landline call charges which would not have occurred if they had sent my order on time or explain why my mobile charges had suddenly increased so dramatically.
I’ve given up trying to call customer services as you just get put on hold for ages. I’ve sent a further letter of complaint in response to their apology asking for reimbursement for the call charges to date and for the mobile and sim I’ve been promised so many times.
I’m so sick of the whole thing that I would have long since dropped all my Virgin Media services but I’m too far from the exchange for any decent ADSL service and I feel so ripped off that I’m determined to get some of my money back.
By the way, I was assured on my 3rd order that this was nothing to do with the credit check problems and that I had passed the credit scoring.