Staggering bad service

huxleypiguk · 25-01-2011, 07:09

Over two weeks ago I tried to get a VM phone. I have an excellent credit rating and have paid my cabletel/ntl/vm on time and in full for something like 15 years, ie: pretty safe bet.

They took my order and someone waited it for it but nothing arrived. I phoned the call centre to be told to phone UPS. UPS had no record of a delivery. Phone back to CC and was told they had cancelled my order as I failed the credit checks !

No one called me to say so !!

Did an Equifax check and I have a rating of 500+ !!!!

Snotty mail to Neil Burkett with automated reply. Next day a courtesy e-mail from VM office to say they were investigating.

Since then and despite two e-mails asking for updates, nothing. Nada. Zip.

I am appalled at the lack of basic customer service from Virgin Mobile and wondered if anyone knows where I go from here ?

In the meantime, I have an offer from Vodafone for 20% off anything over Â£20 per month. VM have lost a customer and I will admit, I will be looking at some of those Sky offers before I bin them in future.

Basic CS training. It costs less to keep a customer than it does to go out there and get new ones. Needs to be tattooed on the inside of the eyelids of the Virgin Mobile staff !

Paul K · 25-01-2011, 07:34

500+ means nothing overall if there is anything on there that triggered alarm bells, did you check the full report for any erroneous entries etc?
Also I would suggest an experian check too as a comparison, some companies will have a minimum rating they want to see or will turn down any application with certain trigger failures in the report.
People with higher Equifax ratings than that have been turned down for things before, it depends on what is actually on the report sometimes more than the overall score.

royaltiger · 25-01-2011, 15:15

I would have thought you would have had confirmation of the order via post or email, This does not sound right to have an order cancelled after its processed, unless something flagged up later, usually credit checks take place whilst on the phone and doing the order, but it would have been good if they told you though they were cancelling.

weesteev · 27-01-2011, 14:51

I wouldnt trust Equifax as far as I could throw them. Experian always have a more up to date credit score for me and results of any credit I have applied for have always reflected the Experian file rather than Equifax.

Experian give you 30 days free at crediexpert.co.uk as well which is nice, but Paul has a point... dont just trust one credit agency as they all take data from different sources resulting in varying credit file results.

Also, how long you have paid your VM bill for is irrelevant, Virgin Mobile is a seperate entity with a different credit scoring system at the moment. Whoever processes your order will only have the results of the credit scoring to go by, no further detail is disclosed as to why you pass/fail.

HTH

royaltiger · 27-01-2011, 15:11

The problem with experian is to get your 30 days free credit you have to sign up and give credit details, although no monies are taken you have to remove yourself after 30 days trial otherwise you end up subscribing with money automatically taken from your account, I also understood that everytime you entered your account it affected your credit score. At the end of the day as long as you pay your bills you should have no problem.

hezzabell · 29-01-2011, 14:32

Virgin do not really do a credit check with Equifax - i know this as they refused me credit and refered me to Equifax to find out why. Imagine my surprise to find out that there have been no checks on my credit and my credit rating is excellent. Am now locked into battle with them until they sort themselves out and issue an apology at the very least. Standards have fallen to an unacceptably poor level, but it seems that this is a problem with all the networks. As consumers we are yet again being stuffed and with so few suppliers we are caught by the short and currlies. Rubbish.

Anyone else with this issue from Virgin - go to equifax.co.uk and get your credit report free, once you have established that Virgin are at it get onto their website and look for "contact us" at the bottom of the page and then click on "send us an email". Don't let them get away with it. It's your credit and your reputation they are holding in question.

weesteev · 02-02-2011, 13:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by hezzabell

Virgin do not really do a credit check with Equifax - i know this as they refused me credit and refered me to Equifax to find out why. Imagine my surprise to find out that there have been no checks on my credit and my credit rating is excellent. Am now locked into battle with them until they sort themselves out and issue an apology at the very least. Standards have fallen to an unacceptably poor level, but it seems that this is a problem with all the networks. As consumers we are yet again being stuffed and with so few suppliers we are caught by the short and currlies. Rubbish.

Anyone else with this issue from Virgin - go to equifax.co.uk and get your credit report free, once you have established that Virgin are at it get onto their website and look for "contact us" at the bottom of the page and then click on "send us an email". Don't let them get away with it. It's your credit and your reputation they are holding in question.

Hezza, Virgin use multiple credit reference agencies and are likely to use either Equifax or Experian, both are independent but widely recognised credit reference agencies.

What do you think emailing Equifax is going to achieve, they hold credit records that are submitted to them by other financial institutions. If you apply for credit then your provider will check amongst potentially multiple credit agencies... i dont see what your argument is for and what point your trying to prove? What should people email Equifax about, and what are they looking for on their credit file?

hezzabell · 02-02-2011, 20:09

Hi Weesteev,

I thought that my message was perfectly clear, but to explain further -

It was Virgin who told me to go to Equifax in the first place and on two seperate occassions during this issue that i am having with them. It was Virgin who told me that i had failed a credit check and it was Virgin who gave me the contact information for Equifax. On checking with Equifax i established that my credit rating is excellent - of course, i knew that save from fraudulent activity, this would be the case.

My point, Weesteev, is that Virgin deceived me with misinformation.

To update this account of customer services at Virgin i am happy to let everyone know that i have received both email and telephone confirmation from Virgin that they had not in fact made any credit check on me - indeed, why would they credit check a long-standing customer with no history of poorly servicing any of my financial obligations. Furthermore, Virgin have admitted that this whole scenario is completely down to an "internal error" that they are now rectifying.

My message to others who have been at the receiving end of such incompetence and downright untruthfulness is that they not give up, that they follow through by obtaining all information necessary to assert the facts and that they proceed to disabuse Virgin of their misconceptions.

Weesteev, if we as customers who are treated badly do not act when necessary in a constructive way to foster better service, and relations, then we not only let ourselves down but we actually facilitate the continuation of quite frankly reprehensible customer service to the detriment of all customers and indeed to the detriment of the CS staff who have to deal with the consequences of poor service, whether perceived or actual.

huxleypiguk · 04-02-2011, 16:52

I have now written to Virgin Mobile and outlined the whole thing. I have also said that if I do not hear from them within 7 days I will escalate this.

My guess is that the "internal error" is simple. Someone couldn't be bothered to change my delivery day to a Friday so cancelled my order.

I await a reply with interest.

hezzabell · 04-02-2011, 17:11

Hi Huxleypiguk,

Good on you. Hope things are ironed out to your satisfiction. Don't expect things to move too quickly if my experience is anything to go by - they have told me that my orders cannot be progressed until March - apparently their system must reset itself first! Imagine that, a company admits it is in error and then advises that it is powerless to override computer processes to resolve their error.

Good luck anyway.

hezzabell · 07-02-2011, 10:34

Hi Huxleypiguk,

Just to let you know that Virgn have had their 7 days to reply to me and they have failed - wow, there's a surprise.

I have emailed Neil Berkett. It has become a point of principal now and i am seriously considering leaving Virgin.

huxleypiguk · 11-02-2011, 07:03

Fired off one last mail to Neil Burkett today with a copy of my letter attached.

I think the next move is Watchdog. They like bashing the mobile companies and would take up this story with relish.

Peter_ · 11-02-2011, 07:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by huxleypiguk

Fired off one last mail to Neil Burkett today with a copy of my letter attached.

I think the next move is Watchdog. They like bashing the mobile companies and would take up this story with relish.

The correct email address is neil.berkett@virginmedia.co.uk which is in the public domain.

huxleypiguk · 11-02-2011, 18:30

Turns out that we had an "outstanding balance" with Virgin Mobile from a phone some years ago. This was one we had and didn't work due to lack of signal and VM took it back. Seems no one wrote off the balance.

A really good guy is now investigating why no one called me and explained earlier.

So I am now sorted, but in the meantime VM have lost business. I hope they give the agent in the Sales Centre a serious kicking !!!!

Scary · 11-02-2011, 19:36

my broadband and tv went down today, so i rang up and got through to india, after proforming some tests he said that its not working because the vplus box is not picking up the satalite, i said to him the box doenst recive satalite transmisions do you mean its not finding the exchange he said there the same thing, i beg to differ mate ones in space and the other is down the road.