[fredalo]

Hi all,
I have read several posts about VM retention period and disconnection fees.. Please find below my story..

I relocated to thee UK last August and, after finding an house, I had to look for broadband services.

After some research I almost decided to go for VM, but I was not really convinced of the contract length. Therefore, I called them and a very nice guy assured me that if I was ever going to move in an area where VM cable services weren't available, I would have not be forced to pay any disconnection fee... He told me he was going to add this information on my account and blah blah..

After few hours I was a new happy VM customer...

Now, after 12 months, I need to move house.. My new house is in an area where VM cable services are not available.. So, I thought, let's call them to double check and, in case, to cancel the contract..

First person I spoke with was keen to accept my request, she offered me to consider ADSL VM services, but she said that, if I didn't want to accept, she would have cancelled my contract. Unfortunately she told me she needed to call me back to finalise this action..

After not receiving any call, I called them back the day after.. The second person had a different approach.. I soon found out that he wasn't very keen in accepting my request.. he told me it wasn't possible to cancel the contract and he apologied for what I was told by his colleague the day before and by the account manager who convinced me to sign the contract..

I told him that his apologies were very nice, but in regards to the account manager, convincing a client with lies is not only a bad practice, but a criminal offence..

To make a long story short, he didn't want to proceed with the termination of my contract, he passed me through his supervisor, who apologied and confirmed they weren't going to terminate my contract without a disconnection fee..

Anyway, I've learned some interesting information about VM contact center..

1- They are based in Manila, Philippines.. Therefore they store and process UK personal data outside of EU. This is in contrast with the Data Protection Act 1998.

2- They record and store all the phone calls to check what has been said - Therefore they store and process UK sensitive data (for example I gave sensitive information about myself during the call) and they don't record calls only on a random basis in order to improve the quality of the service, as they declare when you call them.

3) The supervisor admitted and adknowledged that, sometimes, account managers give incorrect information to clients in regards to disconnection fees.

I am going to report them to the Information Commissioner's Office, Watchdog and Ombudsman.. but, in the short term, I'm trying to find a solution to my problem (avoid paying the disconnection fee)..

Reading posts on this subject I found the following ideas:

1- upgrade my current virgin services and then cancel within a few days as it constitutes a new contract.

2- move to the new house, sign a new ADSL broadband contract, and then cancel within a few days.

What do you think?

Many thanks,
Freddy