Legal advice please virgin media want to boot me

[fedupstill]

Im in need of some help and advice if possible

can virgin change the price they offered me and set some very unfair terms that only apply to me ?
it all started in november when my perfect reliable service died and internet use and tv services stopped working most of the day after 50mb was available in my area ... the exact details here (understanding b/w graphs on 50mb) http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12...s-on-50mb.html

after it was sorted out i rang virgin to get my bills sorted out and they offered me compensation to clear the old balance and wipe the charges for service i hadnt recieved and then they offered an upgrade at reduced rate for loyalty or basically because i wasnt under contract so i accepted the offer and everything was fine until last few weeks .... V+ box would reboot when watching anything recorded or it would record the wrong programes and on-demand never works but they never bothered me so i wasnt fussed until my 50mb broadband started acting up and the modem would lose its lock and disconnect me until usually 30 secs later it would lock on and work ok until the next loss so i rang faults and had an engineer out on bank holiday monday so i didnt lose any wages and then it was escalated he said and again next engineer i booked for the following bank holiday monday . full details here (point virgin in the right direction) http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/11...gin-right.html

after all the messing about and numerous phone calls they say its my power levels and they cant or wont fix it but .... i was still prepared to put up with it and at least they admit it has issues
but after today they've changed their minds and decided i have my service to cheap so they now say that the deal THEY offered me cant stay and that the customer relations or retensions agent shouldnt of offered me the deal so the price has gone up and im also under a new contract so i must pay .... i agreed at the discounted price but now i cant have that price so how can i be under a new contract ?
on top of that i dont have any rights now that every other customer gets

* all contact with virgin media must be through the chief executives office with a flag on my account ordering people not to speak with me

* they wont fix the fault because ive been told they wont

* any future loss of service is tough and any credits due with no service wont apply

* stuck with a new contract for another 10 months

* as its the CEO office i cant complain and cant ask cisas for help because they wont dead lock me or send any letters

* cant go back to my old contract and services because the prices have went up and my price and package no longer exists

surely this is illegal aswell as very unfair and how can they apply terms that apply to me only ? i didnt even want the extra box or channels but as they said free V+ box and install i thought yeah why not and the extra channels were cheap so i thought its nice to have more choice .... then 2 months later they change their minds and not only do the freebies not work they aint free any more

[Tarantella]

http://www.which.co.uk/advice/taking...ourt/index.jsp

[caph]

If VM don't want to fulfill their side of the contract, they won't and no-one can make them, not even CISAS as I've already found out. I really do feel for you because I've experienced some of the same but not to the level you have.

As Tarantella has already suggested your only option looks like taking them to court.

This company really is a joke, and not a very funny one. OFCOM aren't much better for allowing them to carry on like this. And it's not the front line staff (whom I've found to be very helpful), the rot is firmly at the top with business decisions being taken that are deliberately breaching people's contracts for months on end.

[WHISTLED]

How much were you paying (for what) at this discounted rate?

---------- Post added at 22:25 ---------- Previous post was at 22:21 ----------

And what was the total accumulated value of credits you have received

[Arthurgray50@blu]

IF you have agreed a contract with VM, over the phone, it is termed as a 'verbal contract' and VM should have files on that, IF you have taken details from whom you have spoken too. You have a good case to to court, but be careful, big companies have ways of getting round this sort of thing.

[fedupstill]

IF you have agreed a contract with VM, over the phone, it is termed as a 'verbal contract' and VM should have files on that,

They dont dispute the services and price i was offered .... they say that at the time though my account was managed by the CEO and because it was customer relations who agreed the contract he was unauthorized to do so even though his manager also aproved it

I didnt even want the V+ box because i already had my downstairs box linked upstairs so what ever shows on the downstairs box also shows upstairs and im not lazy so i used to nip down and change channels or set a reminder to auto change at start
The extra channels are not worth having and never watch them anyways so ive gained nothing of any use to me but when something is cheap or free you dont mind taking them.

I just think its wrong to be offered something and then told i shouldnt have it but as i do i must keep it and pay fortunes for it maybe if i liked and used the new features or even if they worked regularly id be ok but they dont and when they do have a fault im refused an engineer because they cant fix the high upstream power without affecting other customers in the area

If it was part of the terms and conditions applied to all it wouldnt be so bad but its not .... its me only and they change them to suit themselves or screw me i cant win and if the agent wasnt authroized then how come the new contract is valid ?

[Mr Angry]

"if the agent wasnt authroized then how come the new contract is valid ?"

Therein lies the crux of your argument.

[Raistlin]

Agreed, the Agent wasn't authorised to offer you the contract on the terms that they did, therefore the whole contract should be invalid - ie. no obligation on their part to meet the price that you agreed to and no obligation on your part to continue to pay for the service.

Tell them that, by their own admission, the contract is void and demand that they release you from your obligation. If they fail then tell them that you're going to start court proceedings. Then go down to see your solicitor, explain the situation to them, and get them to write you a nice letter to the effect that VM have 14 days to confirm that you've been released from your contractual obligations on the grounds that VM themselves have failed to keep to the terms that they agreed - with a bit of luck that should get their attention.

[Arthurgray50@blu]

I agree partly with RobM CFT, What what would do is this, the agent offers you the deal, that is it, DEAL, if they go back on that deal, even though CEO can get involved you sue, l would, A deal is a deal to me, no matter who from VM, they are 'acting on behalf of VM' this is a contract, this is why my wife deals with it, ANY saleman who l deal with, l keep them to there promises, if they break that promise, bang, l go right to the top, not pen pushes, right to the top, and l reckon you should do the same.

Threaten them with legal action, that works.

[caph]

Originally Posted by fedupstill

im refused an engineer because they cant fix the high upstream power without affecting other customers in the area

I was told this by several engineers and it looks like this is complete garbage. It got to the point where the staff on the newsgroup were telling me to get the engineer to ring an area manager if they told me this again. As it turned out the problem was corrected at their end and I never had to tell the engineer how to do his job (of which I am glad). The bottom line is that you really need to check in to this more. Start a thread on the Virgin support newsgroup and query this point.

[fedupstill]

After speaking to a solicitor it seems i do have a valid contract and virgins poor internal communications process that allowed the price/contract to be made is not my fault and its not my responcibility to check agents have the authorization to make offers or deals

The bad news though means more time spent trying to get get virgin to do the right thing and my faults still exist ive watched my upstream power jump about all day and both tv boxes do the same aswell as pre rs errors and post rs errors that from reading about they are all related and the cause of my issues .... but i cant get it fixed or possible work arounds because im not allowed to talk to anyone or rather they cant talk to me

[m419]

Its funny I never have problems with my service from them and never have done, maybe they treat high spending customers better???

[AndyCambs]

I'm just wondering why your account has been flagged as "all contact with virgin media must be through the chief executives office with a flag on my account ordering people not to speak with me"?

The fact is that the person who offered you the favourable contract is an employee of VM, and as such the offer is from VM.

As has been pointed out, if VM are basically saying that they have no obligation to provide you with that offer, then you have no obligation on your side.

A county court can decide on whether a contract is unfair or not, you could go down that route.

At times VM can and do act like a bunch of cowboys who do not know what their right hand is doing, and then when the proverbial hits the fan they stand their ground lying " We never told you this and that "......

And here lies another example of their incompetency.

[bonzoe]

Since you have sought advice from a solicitor, who appears to back you, have you got him to write to VM on your behalf? That would seem to be the next step....

Just puzzled as to why your account has been marked fao CEO, is this because he is supposed to be looking in to the problem with the power levels?