Legal advice please virgin media want to boot me

[Arthurgray50@blu]

I was only trying to help.

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

I was only trying to help.

In your own special way.

It was kind of you to try and be helpful, Arthur, but unfortunately, your post was a little difficult to understand.

[starsailor123uk]

Originally Posted by 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

if you have agreed a price for a service then its a contract

VM can exit that contract by giving you 30 days notice

You can exit at the end of miniumum period

if they have changed the price on the matter

you can leave by using the relevant clause

If this is your preferred route I suggest you send a letter by recorded delivery detailing that and cancelling the DD saying you'll pay the agreed price until the contract is ended or resolved by CISAS

They can avoid a deadlock letter if that is wht you have reached or you reached 12 weeks from your original complaint.

YOu can't force them to honour the deal as they simply honour it the use the 30 day rule but by the same token they can't hold you to a deal you did not do!

[fedupstill]

if you have agreed a price for a service then its a contract

yes i agree with that they provide a service and i pay for that service at the agreed price for the agreed term (12 months)

VM can exit that contract by giving you 30 days notice

not always but yes

You can exit at the end of miniumum period

bit one sided that isnt it ? they get to decide but we cant

if they have changed the price on the matter you can leave by using the relevant clause

usually yes but im not allowed and have 10 months remaining see above being one sided

If this is your preferred route I suggest you send a letter by recorded delivery detailing that and cancelling the DD saying you'll pay the agreed price until the contract is ended or resolved by CISAS

They can avoid a deadlock letter if that is wht you have reached or you reached 12 weeks from your original complaint.

if i cancel the payments then im at fault and breached the contract ... CICAS wont help without a deadlock letter and they wont send mme one and as the final result hasnt be decided they cant help

YOu can't force them to honour the deal as they simply honour it the use the 30 day rule but by the same token they can't hold you to a deal you did not do!

i will and they changed the price not the services and the services i never asked for and had no need for but they were offered free so would you say no to a free V+ box and activation ?

as i said my original contract was over and id had a few months with no or limited service so i called up and the guy dealig with my fault/complaint was on holiday so i ended up at customer relations and THEY offered me the extra box and channels for a few pounds more than i was paying, 2 months after that and 2 payments later i had another fault and thats when the CEO interfered again and he decided that the offer i was given was to generous so he changed it to suit and said that customer relations should not of made the offer but as the extra box had been installed i had to keep it for the remaining contract (10 months)

now how can that be fair and apart from the legal action im taking (virgin media also admit they know theyll lose but wont budge) what else can i do ?

also worth reminding you that i only just had the fault fixed that started in november and took 8 months to replace a plastic tap in the pit 6 doors up from me ... any decent company would be saying sorry for being so thick and taking ages but not virgin they decide to increase the price because he " didnt like it " and tough **** if i dont like it.

[starsailor123uk]

Originally Posted by fedupstill

if i cancel the payments then im at fault and breached the contract ... CICAS wont help without a deadlock letter and they wont send mme one and as the final result hasnt be decided they cant help

You can't breach a contract if there is not one

A contract is only agreed when there is offer, acceptance and agreed consideration and terms. VM can only rely on the contract if they accept the agreed terms if they change them they have either set a new contract or altered the original one both of which mean you can exit.

On CISAS

http://www.cisas.org.uk/

Do some research. You don't need a deadlock letter ... you can wait 12 weeks ( 8 from 1/9/9 ) and then go forward without one.

http://www.cisas.org.uk/Rules.asp

c) Customers can use the scheme if:

* they have not been able to settle a complaint with the company within three months of putting it through the company’s own formal complaints procedure; or

* the company has agreed, in writing, that the dispute should be settled under the scheme.





CISAS, if all you have said is true and based on my experiences with othr services providers ( both otelo and cisas ) will probably come to one of two conclusions

a) the original contract stands and VM must give 30 days notice

b) the original contract did not apply and you can walk away

Also with regard to the discrepancy between VM's 30 day right and your 12 month one is about loss suffered. if you leave VM suffer a loss of income. If VM cancel the contract then you are no bound by any other arrangement and can find alternative provider.




The final thing I would say, and I am surprised that the your legal counsel has not raised it , is that the courts can take a dim view of litigation where there is an alternative dispute resolution process even where you have been informed incorrectly of your rights under it!

[fedupstill]

wont hurt to ask cisas thanks i thought i needed a deadlock letter

and i want a 3rd conclusion ... virgin media must honour the contract at the agreed price and also be nice to get support for any general questions but even when i suffered a total loss of service for 24hrs nobody would do anything as my account MUST be done through the CEO and i tried twice with no call back and after 6pm they close lot of money to pay when only the phone works and support refuse to support the paying customer.

an offer to end the dispute isnt an option im allowed either , virgin insist i pay the 10 months at the higher rate not agreed or breach the contract and theyll sell it on to a debt collection agency with extra costs added.

Just a question but have you been abusive when you call them?
When I used to work for BT some accounts were flagged as only to be dealt with
by a senior manager not a csa if the customer was very abusive.

Also is there any reason why you couldn't cancel the new contract within 30 days of it becoming active?

[starsailor123uk]

Originally Posted by dgardner

Just a question but have you been abusive when you call them?
When I used to work for BT some accounts were flagged as only to be dealt with
by a senior manager not a csa if the customer was very abusive.

Also is there any reason why you couldn't cancel the new contract within 30 days of it becoming active?

I wondered similarily You gt more with a smile and big stick than simply a big stick and I suspect that if you have seriously "p***sed" them off then I could understand why they act in this way ( not condoning just understanding )

I don't know the facts so can't really comment. Ask for a deadlock letter. if not coming tell them you are going to cisas on the 1st september 2009 ( thats 8 weeks away so that is the latest )

seek legal advice about payments ( the alternative to cancelling the DD is to use the DD guarantee which is lawful and allows you to legitimately recall a DD as the price charged is not as documented ( if bank asks for details provide copy of agreement )

[fedupstill]

Just a question but have you been abusive when you call them?

abusive no and definatly not to the agents who get paid very little to do a crap job the so called big chiefs however .... hmm abusive no but maybe a bit arsey but wouldnt you if you were told there isnt a fault and compared to an old lady who cant use her telephone ?

I suspect that if you have seriously "p***sed" them off then I could understand why they act in this way ( not condoning just understanding )

not my fault they take huffs easy :lol: they spent months and months telling me that it was my equipment at fault and that the virgin network is perfect and then i found this place and proved it wasnt me at fault and then they spent weeks trying to findit and spending fortunes trying to work out why ... then the tap failed and caused a total loss of service and they replaced it and magically its fixed so never mind the old woman who cant use her phone what about the CEO [insert word here] whos super duper fault finding team cant find faults

so arsey yes but not abusive and i think after 8 months im allowed to unless anyone thinks that 35 visits @ 4 hour windows = 140 hours of my life wasted and the hours spent on the phone is part of the award winning virgin media service sales promise to customers ?

One person's "arsey" is another's "abusive"

[fedupstill]

arsey or abusive it wasnt offensive and was justified

anyways as menioned above about finding a suitable alternative or a solution i asked for a new contract without the expensive freebies and couldnt find a suitable offer so now ive been given 30 days notice :o if they cant rip you off they dont want your money ... i hope all new customers take warning and dont think your contract will help because it wont virgin media do not follow the law and thats a FACT

[vbnmu]

Are you in the process of claiming for the services that you paid for but never quite received?

[fedupstill]

Are you in the process of claiming for the services that you paid for but never quite received?

no they GAVE me extra tv channels and a free V+ box that was fine for 2 months .... then they decided they were not longer free and increased the price by £24 per month and told me i cant get rid of them as im under contract and its tough ****

however i have now ditched virgin robbing ****s media and will be driving over to have a face to face chat at their homes :d childish yes but sometimes people can be pushed to far and hopefully they will think twice before messing customers about like i was in the future

[alanasomething]

I don't think there is such a thing as people not being allowed to speak to you? I know when anyone calls me the only people I can't speak to are staff incase I know them, and beyond cable, but only because I can't get into their accounts to change anything. If you had done anything wrong, maybe abused an agent over the phone numerous times, or shouted racist abuse or something I think that's the only way they can flag you, and even at that, you have to go pretty far, and they just disconnect your account, they don't even bother giving you services anymore.

Can you not write to head office?
(NCLC
PO Box 333
Virgin Media Ltd
Matrix Court
SWANSEA
SA7 9BB)

or email them? they have to deal with you, you are still their customer. If they want you in their contract, then they have to deal with your calls.

[Arthurgray50@blu]

The chance of getting any response from VM that way, is remote. The way l would do it is write and record delivery a letter directly to Niell Burkett, the guy who runs VM.

I have dealt directly with him in the past, and the problem has been resolved, the biggest problem with VM is there CS, which is rubbish to say the least, and nine times out of ten, you will be directed to Delhi, in India, and they cannot help you, as they won't understand what you are asking, I have dealt with them before.

I think that if they changed there way towards customers, then VM could be a good company, and it is rare for me to say that, you ask one CS ass. one thing and they will tell you something different from someone else.