TiVo : Is it still difficult to leave Virgin Media?

[Rillington]

After 20 years, I have decided to leave Virgin Media and have signed up with Sky and I think I need to give 30 days notice to leave Virgin Media.

I recall that Ofcom got involved over VM making it very difficult for customers to leave, whether it be online or over the telephone. Is this still the case? It would be good to know as I will be making the cancellation call next week.

I've never found it difficult as such, whenever Ive wanted to cancel something its ultimately been done.
They will usually try and talk you out of it with offers and discounts, you just have to be insistant and stick to your request.
My Mum cancelled her phone line the other week, similar story.

[nialli]

I left after more than 25 years last summer. Went to Sky for all services. Cancelled over the phone when my contract was up and insisted on having the termination in writing, which they promptly provided. I was out. VM made one attempt in the thirty days to get me to reconsider but I already had Sky Stream and Broadband working by then and I told them they were wasting their time and mine.
You have to be firm and clear. The OFCOM investigation will probably work in your favour, too

[jfman]

Left in September giving notice on the WhatsApp chat. No problems a couple of poor retention offers and I didn’t get the usual call back but hey ho.

Using 5G for broadband at the minute and it’s pretty good.

[Rillington]

Thank for you the replies.

Will I get any form of email confirmation that I have given notice and would I be able to see any evidence of this on my account?

[jfman]

I did get a “disconnecting your Virgin Media services” email confirming my last date exactly a month later etc.

[nialli]

I got a confirmation email from disconnections@account.virginmedia.co.uk thirty days before my departure date. It all went smoothly from there - on the day of termination I got an email asking me to prepare my V6 boxes and SH4 for collection, which happened a fortnight later. I'd heard horror stories, particularly on VM's own customer Boards, but I can't complain how it worked out for me. Good luck!

[Rillington]

Thank you. And did these disconnection confirmation emails appear automatically, and did they appear immediately?

[Rillington]

I have now given notice. The call handler accepted my reasons and did not try to dissuade me, which I appreciated. It was done in 10-15 minutes and the email confirmation of the disconnection followed around 30 minutes later.

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by Rillington

I have now given notice. The call handler accepted my reasons and did not try to dissuade me, which I appreciated. It was done in 10-15 minutes and the email confirmation of the disconnection followed around 30 minutes later.

They'll be ringing you, they hate to say goodbye

[Halcyon]

It's not that difficult, it depends who you talk to.


For example my Dad is moving house and was mid contract. He was told he would need to pay to come out of contract.


Phoned up a day later and a much better response....they realised he can't get Virgin Services where he is moving to and if they cant provide service then you can cancel without incurring fees.


So it depends who you get through to.

[Rillington]

It shouldn't be like that but it often is. Maybe I got lucky...

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Halcyon

It's not that difficult, it depends who you talk to.


For example my Dad is moving house and was mid contract. He was told he would need to pay to come out of contract.


Phoned up a day later and a much better response....they realised he can't get Virgin Services where he is moving to and if they cant provide service then you can cancel without incurring fees.


So it depends who you get through to.

Apparently the way they work it is that they charge people a cancellation fee and then refund it when they've made you jump through hoops and finally accept that they can't provide a service at the new address.

[Rillington]

They seem to make you wait a month, possibly longer, to receive money VM owes to when you leave as several weeks have passed since the VM service was switched off. I was told that you will not get any money owed via BACS transfer for 28 days, although I'm not sure whether this is 28 calendar days or 28 working days.

The cynic in me tells me they do this to pocket the interest and also to try to get you to call back maybe so that they can try to get you to return but I see no justifiable why VM takes 28, possibly 42 days, days to return money owed to you after you leave them.

As Mr K said, they seem to hate to say goodbye.

[nialli]

Their own administration systems are every bit as as inefficient and clunky as you’d fear