Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

This morning, from about 20 minutes in, a BBC programme that highlights companies that rip people off had a feature about Virgin. The first case was about a woman that was moving who rang to cancel and then Virgin denied this ever happened. Instead they said that she rang to enquire about upgrading her package!! After the programme became involved they agreed to call off the debt collectors and deal with the cancellation properly.

The second case involved a price being agreed and then a higher price being demanded when the bill came, I think that many/most on here have had that trick played on us.

Rip-Off Britain can be seen here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0026qhc

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Both wanted to downgrade.
First case:- The ombudsman twice found in VM's favour.
Second case:- cancellation by e-mail is not valid.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Same point, I agreed an amount and had the pre-contract email agreeing to a price as stated. Then a day later another email with the contract came with a higher price than agreed.

I must admit I'm now getting stressed out with all the hassle it's causing. Something I could certainly do without right now.

Their customer service haven't learnt, and now even worse than ever. I'm just trying to hold it together before I say something stupid and something I'll regret.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

That's not as I remember the programme.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Perhaps you should look again , personally not that bothered. Would be interested what is correct though :D

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Others might be...

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Hence my last comment ;)

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

I remembered it and rewatched the programme to double-check before posting.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

When I used the chat I was able to save it afterwards, so no one could dispute what was said. I would think the same applies to using whatsapp.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

A TV programme dedicated to busting rip off companies is hardly going to feature someone complaining to them, them investigating it and finding that the complainant was lying.

A woman who no longer needed broadband because she was moving house would hardly enquire about upgrading her speed.

I suspect that much of this could be down to the offshore call centre staff twisting what's been discussed in order to boost their commission.

It was these that offered me X service at Y price, which I agreed to. Then my bill came and it was completely different to what i'd agreed to. I always say that I want things to be summarised on my notes, but this strategy no longer works as when I complained they had written false information on there to cover their tracks.

I stood my ground and eventually got it corrected and received some extra channels by way of an apology, so people mustn't give up when this happens or it will only encourage malpractice.

---------- Post added at 18:50 ---------- Previous post was at 18:50 ----------

This is essential when doing business with Virgin.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Where did I say either of them were looking to upgrade?
1st case:- If she had actually moved, then why did the ombudsman rule in VM's favour? VM wouldn't have contested it, if should could prove that she had moved and not simply planned to move. No mention of her actually moving.
2nd case:- She asked to reduce her package by removing the landline. VM said that wasn't possible. She was issued with a new 18th month contract(letter was in the programme) including M250 broadband. She found prices elsewhere that were cheaper and decided to cancel. She cancelled via email, which is not valid. The programme made a big deal about that. BT and Vodaphone also don't allow cancellation via email.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Sounds like she didn't read the contract. Make fuss and go on tv is the way to go. That will sort it :shocked:

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Your portrayal of the programme doesn't concur with my memory of this and you are well known for taking the polar opposite view to anything that you respond to, (I suspect deliberately), as well as having zero empathy or compassion for those in difficult circumstances. I'm wondering if, since the General Election, you're now obsessing over Virgin Media??

The best thing to do is to allow people to watch it themselves and form their own opinion.

If you are in any doubt as to whether Virgin is a good company or not, read on.

I've just been looking at the Virgin Media Community Forum.

They had an offer of TNT Sport for £5 on their streaming service (a £13 discount). When the bills came in, people were charged £16.20.

A number of people complained, some were ignored, whilst others were whisked into private conversations.

It was said that text messages had been sent out about this to everyone affected, but none were received. After this was complained about, a text magically appeared.

Instead of correcting the issue, customers still received incorrect bills and, believe it or not, late payment fees!!

The most shocking thing of all is that they then passed details of these ficticious late payments onto credit reference agencies, thus impacting credit scores for affected customers. This affected someone who had intended buying a car at the weekend.

When he complained, he was given an email to write to and was told that it would be at least two weeks before he would be contacted about such a serious issue. It clearly didn't take two weeks to erroneously report the customer for so called bad debt. What about anyone in the process of buying a house with a mortgage??

Yet another example of their atrocious incompetence by making a mess of something that should be so simple and then not dealing with it properly time and time again so that a much more serious situation arises.

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5...y/td-p/5508825

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Where I take the "polar opposite" it's usually because of the misinformation from others. I rewatched the segment before my initial post. It's called FACTS.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

It's called being contrary for the sake of it. You have form...

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Much like trolling topics, for which you have so much form. :dozey:

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Fibs were being told. Should they be allowed to continue?

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

As previously explained, my memory of the programme differs from yourself and people are free to watch it to ascertain who is correct.

---------- Post added at 19:25 ---------- Previous post was at 19:24 ----------

Nonsense.

---------- Post added at 19:29 ---------- Previous post was at 19:25 ----------

Exactly. I have (genuinely) never seen him post anything in support of what anyone has posted, he always takes the polar opposite view and has zero empathy or understanding towards anybody who has/is experienced/ing a difficult or upsetting situation.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Not completely relying on memory. I rewatched the programme to double check. Have you done that?

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

People are free to watch it to ascertain who is correct.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

You already said that, no need to keep repeating it.

In fact there is no need for these petty arguments at all, move on, all of you.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

The programme is made to give 'shock value' to make it interesting - facts will take second place to that.

There is no evidance either way that the call to cancel did/did not happen.

Occasionally I side with the supplier in these programmes - and wonder why they even keep the customer and don't let some other supplier take the heat!

VM are NOT the worse tv/phone supplier I've dealt with.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Have to say I have had problems in the past, however I am still with them. The grass etc.Seems people like Richard complain, every other day but still are customers, if I am incorrect please accept my apology. If you don't like what's on offer walk.:shocked:

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Out of interest who have you used who has been worse than VM ?
For me BT were terrible also but that, thankfully, was a very long time ago.
I'm still with VM for now because (for once) i managed to get a good deal that suited my requirements but I still think their customer service is dire.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Some people have no choice but to use Virgin, hopefully this will change in time and I can close the last remaining account that I have with them.

---------- Post added at 13:47 ---------- Previous post was at 13:41 ----------

It certainly is. What sort of company is so inept that a customer ultimately had his ability to obtain credit to buy a car impacted. His crime? He subscribed to TNT Sports!!!!

Furthermore, when he complained about this outrageous situation, he was treated in such a cavalier manner that he was told that it would be at least two weeks before his issue would be looked at. No sense of urgency, no eagerness to at least try to make amends. Nothing.

They aren't fit to be in business.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

:tu:

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Sorry that is the biggest load of rubbish I have seen here. You and everyone else has multiple choices of whom supplies bb, tv or phone
Please don't make yourself appear more stupid than you already have by asking for examples. :shocked:

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

You are incorrect, not everybody has multiple choices of phone, TV or broadband supplier. In fact, some places have zero choice of TV & broadband, not sure about phone.

Your manners appear to be deteriorating.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

This is not relevant to your statement.
Those places will not have the option of VM either.

If they have the choice of Virgin then they also have other choices.
There are no areas where Virgin Media is the only choice, which is what you implied.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

There are some places where Openreach isn't available, but Virgin is. In some areas the speed of the available alternatives isn't high enough for their needs, so it's a Hobsons choice.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Name one.

Irrelevant again, Internet is available, they have a choice.

---------- Post added at 00:06 ---------- Previous post was at 00:01 ----------

Just a reminder btw that you can almost certainly get Satellite Broadband anywhere in the UK, plus 4G, 5G and local Wifi systems in some areas.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

At times I have to disagree with . In the case I
Totally agree 👍

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

There was a post on here from someone who couldn't get Openreach who was asking for advice because Virgin were asking for extra installation costs.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Openreach do not provide telephone services to the public.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

BT.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

I call BS on this one Richard. BT and KCOM have universal supply obligations for telephony and broadband.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

I doubt he'd lie about it and then come on here, write a long post about it and then carry on a conversation for ages.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Its the internet, people do that all the time.
What they say, and reality are often not the same.

Also, as I already pointed out, there are always other alternatives (mobile, satellite).

I'll say again, there is no area in the UK where Virgin is the only option.
Just because the options are not to your (or others) liking doesnt mean they dont exist.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

How does satellite broadband work? I may look into that.

I can understand that a satellite sends incoming data, like satellite TV, but how is outgoing data dealt with?

Surely it isn't unlinked back to the satellite as TV stations are, as wouldn't people need massive dishes in their gardens??

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Elon will sort it for you:
https://www.starlink.com/gb

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

In my time at BT, there were some new build housing developments where the developers wouldn’t allow BT to cable the estate and had an exclusive deal with VM instead.

Few and far between, but it did happen.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

That wouldn't stop other ways of getting service. Just being noisy when was this:confused:

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Mostly in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

£393 installation charge and £75 a month :shocked:

Re: Virgin up to their usual tricks.
 

Makes virgin look cheap:D