General : Virgin up to their usual tricks.

[RichardCoulter]

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

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

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

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

[peanut]

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.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by nomadking

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

That's not as I remember the programme.

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

That's not as I remember the programme.

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

[peanut]

Originally Posted by Itshim

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

Others might be...

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by peanut

Others might be...

Hence my last comment

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

That's not as I remember the programme.

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

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.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by nomadking

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

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 ----------

Originally Posted by Paul

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.

This is essential when doing business with Virgin.

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

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.

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.

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by nomadking

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.

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

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by nomadking

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.

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

[nomadking]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

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

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.

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by nomadking

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.

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