airmark
20-06-2009, 01:37
Hello,
I just sent this email to Virgin Media's CEO and some other email addresses I found by searching online. If you have the patience to read it and you have any suggestions on what I should do, please do advise.
Thanks
19 June 2009
Re Virgin Media account number xxxxxxxxxx
Dear Sir:
I am writing to formally complain about my recent experience with Virgin Media and request to cancel my service immediately, following two weeks of the most shocking customer service that I have ever experienced.
I have been a subscriber to your internet service for nearly three years and signed up initially because I was delighted with your flexibility which allowed me to have broadband service without a land line or television service. Until a couple of weeks ago, I had been satisfied with the service I received, which was your 2 MB, “Medium” package.
One day I happily received a communication from you stating that I was entitled to a free upgrade to 10 MB which seemed great. Soon after that I checked my account online and realized that there was a price hike associated with it. When I called customer service to ask why I was told that while the upgrade itself was for free prices had been raised at the same time. This was bad communication on your end telling your customers they’re getting something for free and then charging indirectly for it. Since it turned out that the upgrade was absolutely NOT free, I asked if it was possible to go back to the package I had before, i.e. not get the upgrade but not have to pay extra either, and the customer service representative said no problem, it would be done straightaway.
To my horror, a few days later I received a letter dated 2nd June confirming that my service had been changed, but I noticed that it had been changed to a different package to what I had before the not so free upgrade (2MB Small instead of Medium) AND with a 12 month contract, where previously I had only a month-to-month commitment. This was the first big mistake you made – intentionally deceiving your customer by signing them up to something they never asked for without telling them.
I then had to call you on the 6th June and ask why my package had been changed and I was told that I couldn’t have the 2MB Medium package because it was not available anymore. I should add that the package I’d been changed to was vastly inferior to what I had before, and I didn’t know why it was so incredibly slow. When I pressed the customer service representative to explain why I’d been changed to a different package to what I had before, I was told that the first customer service representative I spoke to was mistaken in telling me I could go back to that package. But despite the fact that he acknowledged this was a mistake on Virgin’s end, he said he still couldn’t do anything about it, except upgrade me to a bigger package (10MB Large package for £17). As a result of the Virgin Media representative’s mistake in communication I was stuck in a situation where I could either get a worse service at the same price or I would have to pay a higher price than before in order to get a better service. The very friendly sales representative said that I had the option to cancel anyway if I wasn’t happy with the service, so I could give it a go and see what I thought. With that reassurance and because I was finding the 2MB Small service very slow I agreed, even though I wasn’t happy with the fact that I had to pay more that what I would pay had I stayed with the free upgrade in order to get the same service, and all because of uninformed and/or poorly trained sales representatives.
The following day, 7th June, I noticed that the speed I was actually getting wasn’t 10 MB. I called technical support to try to work out why. They asked me to perform all of the standard checks to make sure my computers were connected to the internet, even after I explained that they WERE connected but that the data speed was too slow. After spending hours on the phone to them they were still not able to work out what the problem was and we eventually ended the call. After hanging up I did some research on the web and found out that Virgin, along with many internet service providers, do what is called “traffic management” or “throttling” and that was the cause of my slow internet speed. This was another mistake on your end – having poorly trained technical support staff that isn’t even aware of the standard practices of your company that affect your service.
Because I had been misled by customer service representatives in the past, the day after that, 8th June, I called back to double check that I would be able to cancel my service. As soon as my call was answered I asked to talk to a manager in order to ensure that I was getting the right information. I explained my situation to him, including my disappointment about the traffic management policy and he a) said that if I wasn’t happy with what Virgin offered I should go elsewhere and b) he assured me that yes, I had 28 days to cancel my service, no questions asked. I specifically asked to confirm the 28 day deadline for the money back guarantee and he categorically assured me that that was correct.
So I shopped around to find a better alternative. One of your competitors offered an 8 MB package with no traffic management for the same price (including the BT line that I also had installed in the meantime) and because I knew I had 28 days to cancel my contract with you and didn’t want an interruption in my service, I signed up. Today the competitor’s service was connected and so I called your customer service to cancel my contract.
I was appalled when I was told that I could not cancel my contract. The reasons given were as follows: The right to cancel within 28 days only applies to a “new service”, and my having received a new contract for a different internet package did not constitute a “new service”. I received a letter which states this, however nowhere does it define what new means and even though I read the letter carefully, there was no doubt in my mind that this letter was consistent with the 28 day promise I had been given on the phone. And why would you send me a letter stating terms that do not apply to the contract that the terms accompany? Isn’t that misleading?
In my view, signing up for a new contract for 10MB broadband, whereas before I had 2MB broadband, constitutes a new service (in fact it required my modem to be reset in order to commence). In Virgin Media’s point of view, it’s not a new service, and you claim that is an undisputed fact that is not even subject to interpretation!
When I mentioned the fact that in our telephone conversation on the 8th of June, the customer service manager told me that I indeed had 28 days to cancel (so at the very least it is subject to interpretation if even people within the company can interpret it differently), I was told that either a) I am lying or b) that person was wrong. For the indirect accusation that I was lying, I proposed to find the recording and listen to it, at which point I was told that only some of the phone conversations are recorded for training and quality purposes. So obviously this particular conversation was (very conveniently) not available. On the second case (the manager was wrong), why in the world you have company representatives (not to mention supervisors/managers) answering the phones if their word cannot be trusted as fact?
At the end of the phone call the customer service representative said he would contact the previous manager to verify that he had indeed promised me that I had 28 days to cancel (again indirectly accusing me of lying) and we would go from there.
To sum up: I was signed up to a 12 month contract for an inferior service without my knowledge and consent. When I complained about it, I was penalized for it by being given no option but to have to sign up for a more expensive service, with another (false) promise that I can cancel within 28 days. I had this confirmed by a manager the very next business day after the new service (or new “package” according to your terminology) started. And when I called to cancel, you didn’t acknowledge your past mistakes and instead tried to hide behind ambiguities in the wording of your letters in order to deny me what you had promised me before.
I spent two hours on the phone today talking to various customer service representatives and throughout this time I found a complete unwillingness of your staff to acknowledge that Virgin had made a catalogue of errors. Instead of wanting to serve me, they instead wanted to prove me wrong and find ways to avoid giving me what is due. I truly don’t understand why you have this mission of punishing your customers instead of listening and understanding their point of view. Surely your motto must be “the customer is always wrong”. I can assure you I shall NEVER purchase anything from Virgin Media again, and furthermore I will share this letter with as many fellow consumers as possible so they can avoid the nightmare I have suffered as your customer.
Sincerely,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
P.S. Another appalling practice is your undue badmouthing of competitors. When I mentioned that I moved to O2, the person in customer service had the nerve to say “you will notice that you will be lucky to get even 1MB although they advertise 8MB”. I can imagine that many uninformed customers would fall for this, however as I said, I have the service up and running already and the speed I am getting is actually 9.5MBit (i.e. above the advertised!) and that’s constant, with no limits and no traffic management (that obviously your representative forgot to mention). When I pointed it out to him, he said “oh, ok, you must be the exception”!!! I found this extremely unprofessional.
PPS. In this letter I am copying every email address @virgin domain that I could find on the Internet and I will also be sending it via post, in the hope that it will reach someone responsible enough to take ownership of the complaint. It is very sad (especially aspiring to be a leading media and telecom company) that you don't have an official email address for communicating with your clients but rather point to a semi-useless form on the website (useless since it doesn't allow enough text to be inputted). I will also be posting it in web forums with the dual goal of finding some help in my case and educating others about the way you choose to do business.
---------- Post added at 00:37 ---------- Previous post was at 00:17 ----------
Well I would expect that Virgin will release you from your contract. Hope you enjoy O2.
I fail to see how that is a bad thing, since you were previously paying £18 for a 2Mbit package?
I was actually paying £10 (I was on a promotion) and was told that after the upgrade (the free 2Mb->10Mbit one) it would go to £15. And that would be without any minimum term contract, just month-to-month. So, after having gone through the unintended signing up to the 12 month 2MB Small package and then being told that it would in the end cost £17 to get what to 10MB didn't sound very good. In addition to that (I forgot to mention it in the letter), when the paperwork actually arrived, it wasn't even £17, but rather £18! Not that an extra £1 makes such a huge difference but it's another big drop in an already overflowing glass (and yet another misrepresentation of clear facts - in this case a simple number - from the sales team)
I just sent this email to Virgin Media's CEO and some other email addresses I found by searching online. If you have the patience to read it and you have any suggestions on what I should do, please do advise.
Thanks
19 June 2009
Re Virgin Media account number xxxxxxxxxx
Dear Sir:
I am writing to formally complain about my recent experience with Virgin Media and request to cancel my service immediately, following two weeks of the most shocking customer service that I have ever experienced.
I have been a subscriber to your internet service for nearly three years and signed up initially because I was delighted with your flexibility which allowed me to have broadband service without a land line or television service. Until a couple of weeks ago, I had been satisfied with the service I received, which was your 2 MB, “Medium” package.
One day I happily received a communication from you stating that I was entitled to a free upgrade to 10 MB which seemed great. Soon after that I checked my account online and realized that there was a price hike associated with it. When I called customer service to ask why I was told that while the upgrade itself was for free prices had been raised at the same time. This was bad communication on your end telling your customers they’re getting something for free and then charging indirectly for it. Since it turned out that the upgrade was absolutely NOT free, I asked if it was possible to go back to the package I had before, i.e. not get the upgrade but not have to pay extra either, and the customer service representative said no problem, it would be done straightaway.
To my horror, a few days later I received a letter dated 2nd June confirming that my service had been changed, but I noticed that it had been changed to a different package to what I had before the not so free upgrade (2MB Small instead of Medium) AND with a 12 month contract, where previously I had only a month-to-month commitment. This was the first big mistake you made – intentionally deceiving your customer by signing them up to something they never asked for without telling them.
I then had to call you on the 6th June and ask why my package had been changed and I was told that I couldn’t have the 2MB Medium package because it was not available anymore. I should add that the package I’d been changed to was vastly inferior to what I had before, and I didn’t know why it was so incredibly slow. When I pressed the customer service representative to explain why I’d been changed to a different package to what I had before, I was told that the first customer service representative I spoke to was mistaken in telling me I could go back to that package. But despite the fact that he acknowledged this was a mistake on Virgin’s end, he said he still couldn’t do anything about it, except upgrade me to a bigger package (10MB Large package for £17). As a result of the Virgin Media representative’s mistake in communication I was stuck in a situation where I could either get a worse service at the same price or I would have to pay a higher price than before in order to get a better service. The very friendly sales representative said that I had the option to cancel anyway if I wasn’t happy with the service, so I could give it a go and see what I thought. With that reassurance and because I was finding the 2MB Small service very slow I agreed, even though I wasn’t happy with the fact that I had to pay more that what I would pay had I stayed with the free upgrade in order to get the same service, and all because of uninformed and/or poorly trained sales representatives.
The following day, 7th June, I noticed that the speed I was actually getting wasn’t 10 MB. I called technical support to try to work out why. They asked me to perform all of the standard checks to make sure my computers were connected to the internet, even after I explained that they WERE connected but that the data speed was too slow. After spending hours on the phone to them they were still not able to work out what the problem was and we eventually ended the call. After hanging up I did some research on the web and found out that Virgin, along with many internet service providers, do what is called “traffic management” or “throttling” and that was the cause of my slow internet speed. This was another mistake on your end – having poorly trained technical support staff that isn’t even aware of the standard practices of your company that affect your service.
Because I had been misled by customer service representatives in the past, the day after that, 8th June, I called back to double check that I would be able to cancel my service. As soon as my call was answered I asked to talk to a manager in order to ensure that I was getting the right information. I explained my situation to him, including my disappointment about the traffic management policy and he a) said that if I wasn’t happy with what Virgin offered I should go elsewhere and b) he assured me that yes, I had 28 days to cancel my service, no questions asked. I specifically asked to confirm the 28 day deadline for the money back guarantee and he categorically assured me that that was correct.
So I shopped around to find a better alternative. One of your competitors offered an 8 MB package with no traffic management for the same price (including the BT line that I also had installed in the meantime) and because I knew I had 28 days to cancel my contract with you and didn’t want an interruption in my service, I signed up. Today the competitor’s service was connected and so I called your customer service to cancel my contract.
I was appalled when I was told that I could not cancel my contract. The reasons given were as follows: The right to cancel within 28 days only applies to a “new service”, and my having received a new contract for a different internet package did not constitute a “new service”. I received a letter which states this, however nowhere does it define what new means and even though I read the letter carefully, there was no doubt in my mind that this letter was consistent with the 28 day promise I had been given on the phone. And why would you send me a letter stating terms that do not apply to the contract that the terms accompany? Isn’t that misleading?
In my view, signing up for a new contract for 10MB broadband, whereas before I had 2MB broadband, constitutes a new service (in fact it required my modem to be reset in order to commence). In Virgin Media’s point of view, it’s not a new service, and you claim that is an undisputed fact that is not even subject to interpretation!
When I mentioned the fact that in our telephone conversation on the 8th of June, the customer service manager told me that I indeed had 28 days to cancel (so at the very least it is subject to interpretation if even people within the company can interpret it differently), I was told that either a) I am lying or b) that person was wrong. For the indirect accusation that I was lying, I proposed to find the recording and listen to it, at which point I was told that only some of the phone conversations are recorded for training and quality purposes. So obviously this particular conversation was (very conveniently) not available. On the second case (the manager was wrong), why in the world you have company representatives (not to mention supervisors/managers) answering the phones if their word cannot be trusted as fact?
At the end of the phone call the customer service representative said he would contact the previous manager to verify that he had indeed promised me that I had 28 days to cancel (again indirectly accusing me of lying) and we would go from there.
To sum up: I was signed up to a 12 month contract for an inferior service without my knowledge and consent. When I complained about it, I was penalized for it by being given no option but to have to sign up for a more expensive service, with another (false) promise that I can cancel within 28 days. I had this confirmed by a manager the very next business day after the new service (or new “package” according to your terminology) started. And when I called to cancel, you didn’t acknowledge your past mistakes and instead tried to hide behind ambiguities in the wording of your letters in order to deny me what you had promised me before.
I spent two hours on the phone today talking to various customer service representatives and throughout this time I found a complete unwillingness of your staff to acknowledge that Virgin had made a catalogue of errors. Instead of wanting to serve me, they instead wanted to prove me wrong and find ways to avoid giving me what is due. I truly don’t understand why you have this mission of punishing your customers instead of listening and understanding their point of view. Surely your motto must be “the customer is always wrong”. I can assure you I shall NEVER purchase anything from Virgin Media again, and furthermore I will share this letter with as many fellow consumers as possible so they can avoid the nightmare I have suffered as your customer.
Sincerely,
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
P.S. Another appalling practice is your undue badmouthing of competitors. When I mentioned that I moved to O2, the person in customer service had the nerve to say “you will notice that you will be lucky to get even 1MB although they advertise 8MB”. I can imagine that many uninformed customers would fall for this, however as I said, I have the service up and running already and the speed I am getting is actually 9.5MBit (i.e. above the advertised!) and that’s constant, with no limits and no traffic management (that obviously your representative forgot to mention). When I pointed it out to him, he said “oh, ok, you must be the exception”!!! I found this extremely unprofessional.
PPS. In this letter I am copying every email address @virgin domain that I could find on the Internet and I will also be sending it via post, in the hope that it will reach someone responsible enough to take ownership of the complaint. It is very sad (especially aspiring to be a leading media and telecom company) that you don't have an official email address for communicating with your clients but rather point to a semi-useless form on the website (useless since it doesn't allow enough text to be inputted). I will also be posting it in web forums with the dual goal of finding some help in my case and educating others about the way you choose to do business.
---------- Post added at 00:37 ---------- Previous post was at 00:17 ----------
Well I would expect that Virgin will release you from your contract. Hope you enjoy O2.
I fail to see how that is a bad thing, since you were previously paying £18 for a 2Mbit package?
I was actually paying £10 (I was on a promotion) and was told that after the upgrade (the free 2Mb->10Mbit one) it would go to £15. And that would be without any minimum term contract, just month-to-month. So, after having gone through the unintended signing up to the 12 month 2MB Small package and then being told that it would in the end cost £17 to get what to 10MB didn't sound very good. In addition to that (I forgot to mention it in the letter), when the paperwork actually arrived, it wasn't even £17, but rather £18! Not that an extra £1 makes such a huge difference but it's another big drop in an already overflowing glass (and yet another misrepresentation of clear facts - in this case a simple number - from the sales team)