Thread: 500M 500mb Question
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Old 01-10-2019, 00:20   #275
roughbeast
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Re: 500mb Question

Finally, VM have updated their FUP calculator for Roam Like Home in the EU. This now applies transparently to the truly unlimited SIM that comes with the Oomph package. Previously the calculator asked us to enter what we may be charged for our unlimited SIM, e.g. £32.00 for the standalone SIM. This gave an EU roaming cap of 13.75GB. For those with an Oomph SIM there was no contracted specified cost for our SIM. It was was an embedded cost so the FUP calculator didn't work. I discovered the nominal cost of £32.00 here in this forum!

Some of you may recall the contradiction I encountered when sold my Oomh unlimited SIM. I along with many others was told, by the sales team, that my SIM was also unlimited in the EU. After a trip to Keffalania we clocked up something like 160GB of data in two weeks, using my phone as a mobile hotspot. (Two teenage sons!!) My bill was as expected, £0.00. It was only when I celebrated this fact here that the contradiction arose. Folk told me I should have been charged and my limit was 13.75 GB, as if I was paying £32.00 a month.

Repeated calls to various VM departments revealed complete disarray across VM. Some said FUP meant I should assume that my SIM cost £32.00 even though, nowhere in my Virgin Mobile or Oomph paperwork did it state that. My mobile account stated that my SIM cost £0.00 a month.

Another department, after checking with a manager, said that the Oomph SIM was not affected by FUP. Later in the conversation another manager thought my SIM was subject to FUP, but agreed that the current FUP calculator was misleading and that I shouldn't be charged.

My next conversations were with the Oomph team, based in Sheffield, the ones who set up my Oomph 500 package. The first operative, after checking with two managers, including the department big chief, declared that my SIM was unlimited in the EU and not subject to FUP. It was 'unique'! I reported this conversation to you guys here and on the official VM support site. Again I was told here that the Oomph team was wrong and shouldn't be selling the SIM as unlimited in the EU.

The op in my next conversation with the Oomph team gave the same view. This SIM was unlimited in the EU. He said the FUP didn't apply and FUP was becoming AUP anyway (Acceptable Use Policy) He speculated that all other departments would be requiring training packages to get them on message.

To cut a long story short, within the next couple of calls I decided to raise a formal complaint. This triggered a conversation with management and complaint management staff. They agreed that something had gone wrong and they would investigate. They agreed that whatever the outcome I would not be charged. They had automatically recorded all my conversations and confirmed that I had been given different advice by different departments.

Three weeks ago I had the definitive answer. It appears that the Oomph sales team and ops, including managers, had got it wrong and had been mis-selling the SIM. They were wrong, not the rest of VM. It was also agreed that the contractual paper work, the FUP calculators and guidance on various VM web pages made it impossible for customers to discern what charge there would be for excess use, if any. They required urgent updating. I would not be charged retrospectively for data use over 13.75 Gb.

It appears that VM have now updated their guidance for FUP including the FUP calculator.

https://store.virginmedia.com/FUP-Calculator.html

My advise to anyone who was sold a 'truly unlimited' Oomph SIM as part of the whole Oomph 500 package, and has taken it at face value by caning their connection in the EU, is to call the Oomph department and complain that you have been misled. You should not be charged for excess data use in the EU, even if it appears months later in your mobile bill. Threaten, as I did, to go to the ombudsman if they try to charge you.

This is by far the worst case of disarray and incompetence I have come across in my long years with VM. I have asked for a written apology admitting where the fault was and what VM intend to do to prevent further inter-departmental disarray. No chance. I have had apologies over the phone, admitting fault, but the only written apology was very non-specific. "We are sorry that there has been some confusion..." That's as good as it gets. Corporate cover-up abounds. No apologies, either, were forthcoming for the hours I spent waiting in a queue to speak to a human.

No doubt the next time I bring up this subject, it will be to report that VM mobile have attempted to charge me for excess use of data in Greece.
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Last edited by roughbeast; 01-10-2019 at 00:31.
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