Virgin Media made me howl and cry down the phone

[AnyoneRememberMooncat]

Last weekend I spent 50 mins on the phone to renegotiate my contract which was coming to an end. I ended up agreeing to a telephone package I didn't really want (which I think the agent would get comission on) as it was the best price to get my broadband.

The next day I phoned up and spent another 50 minutes to cancel the package. The new agent put alot of pressure on me to sign up to something else I didn't want but I said no. I got a cancellation number to ensure the telephone contact was not going through.

I was so stressed out that I went into my virgin media account and was seriously thinking about leaving them because of the awful service. It takes ages to speak to anyone and when you do they are foreign so difficult to understand. Then they put you under huge pressure to sign up to something 'new' so they get commission and say you can't sign up to the same thing you already have.

In my virgin media account - I was offered a deal to stay on my same service at the same price. Great. Signed up to this. Got contract by email. Job done. Honestly felt ill at all the stress to basically keep the same service at the same price.

Today got phone adaptors through post and though WTF.

Went into my virgin media account which last weekend was showing the new contract I took out myself for broadband only at £29 per month.
Now my account is showing the telephone package the first agent 'sold' me.

Tried to call them - wait time horrific.
Tried to webchat them - wait time 57 minutes
In desperation phoned the I am moving house number and got through to someone british. I lied and said I was moving house (to my mums house which I have inherited) so I could get away from Virgin. I figured it was easier to do this and just go with someone else.

The man was nice and helpful (and british) and said all I had to do was give them proof of my new address to show I was moving there. At this point I burst into tears and howled down the phone. I admitted to lying and explained why.

I had a flashback to the movie 'The Firm' where Tom Cruise joins a law firm for a great job at a great package and then realised nobody is allowed to leave the firm alive.

Anyway the helpful moving house dept man has contacted IT to get everything sorted (hopefully) and has given me his ID number so I can refer to the phone call we had.

VIRGIN MEDIA - YOU ARE A FUCKING DISGRACE! (Helpful man James not counted in this)

@TheHangingGardensOfBasildon Thank you! I will definitely bear that in mind for the next time I switch. Just to add to my stress I've got my first actual break in forever booked away at the end of this month and the one thing my cat sitter really needs is a secure private broadband connection for her work. So I'm afraid to touch anything now and get it messed up again 😆No I definitely cannot imagine Vodafone doing that. They can't even keep their own app online!

You both know exactly what she meant so stop looking for racism where there isn't any

Oh gawd, I have finally reached the end of Virgin media contract, and steeling myself for the switch. Had technical issues with them earlier this year, nightmare .

I had to put the phone down on one of the operatives as she just couldn’t understand what I was saying. It only got resolved when I went to the billing team and said I would not be paying as not receiving service.

Think I am going to look at Plusnet, City Fibre.

OMG yes! It kept saying sorry for keeping you waiting, then it would say you are nearly at the front of the queue and then it would update to say your wait time is 57minutes. How can that be the front of the queue.

Pretty sure who ever is answering the webchats puts anybody complaining or trying to leave at the bottom of the pile but if you are wanting to upgrade you get answered much quicker

I already have a firestick, so no virgin tv. I don't use their email account. So it would just be the broadband I would lose if I changed company.

I have no issues with the broadband during the year - just annoyed by the constant 'inflation' increases and the renegotiating part.
Next time I will do it in my online account. I am speaking to nobody at virgin. They are not even getting a chance to tie me in knots. That's if I can get through in the first place.

sorry for the loss of your husband. Dealing with them would be the final straw after the death of a loved one.

Yes they try to sell you a 'new to you' product or a different package because that way they get commission.

I could never understand why keeping my existing basic broadband was more expensive than every other option till I realised they got no comission if I stayed the same so they made it impossible for me to get this option.

And yes - the last thing you need is someone you can't understand properly when all this is going on.

you're right they did used to be good. And from memory their call centres used to be in the UK as well. I object to our jobs being lost just as an additional complaint!!

Yes I tried the webchat yesterday and after 15 minutes, it updated to say my wait time was 57 minutes. I had already tried to call them and had been on webchat for 15 mins by then. Thus I was pulling my hair out.

I'm speaking to nobody next time. I am doing it in my online account and if I can't I will have to either leave or pay the rolling contract amount. An extra tenner a month for my sanity seems fair.

Not surprised you are raging. How dare they treat us like this.

I am on a pay as you go 02 sim and I get constant texts, calls from them re signing me up

Hell will freeze over before I do this. I currently pay £5 per month and I'm sticking to this.

Virgin are a catastrophe and an excellent example of why monopolies are terrible for the consumer. Open reach has operated the copper wire network for so long and so terribly, that when Virgin ran their own cables and offered actually fast internet they were an amazing thing. They were more expensive, but it wasn’t terrible- maybe 50% more expensive, but you were often getting 2-3x the speed so it was (at least partially) justified.

Then people started relying on internet more and more, and fast, low latency, stable connections weren’t really optional. Openreach had maintained but absolutely failed to invest in the old copper network to any significant degree, and if you wanted better than 70mbps, Virgin was the only option. Their prices started going NUTS. By the time i left, i was paying £70/month just for 200mbps internet (which was asymmetric, only about 10mbps upload).

hyperoptic, community fibre, and a whole host of small, cooperative fibre to the premise internet companies have completely revolutioned the industry. Community fibre runs glass fibre right into my house, i get symmetric gigabit internet for £35/month.

The day i got to call Virgin and tell them to cram their internet up their arse was a glorious day. They even offered to price match for 6 months to get me to stay. And, had they offered at my last contract renewal a competitively priced product, i would have been inclined. The fact that they had been ripping the shit out of their industry monopoly for YEARS only to treat their customers like dirt was awful. Community fibre are great. Gbps internet, cheap, stable, extremely low latency. I love it.

Yes that was going to be my last port of call. Writing a hand written letter to the postal address provided and sending by tracked delivery.

No email address to contact them. Obviously they think have to post an actual letter is more inconvenient and it is!

Yes I've been with them for many years and this is the worst it has been.

Glad you found a happy ending with Sky.

I know - it's all such a terrible waste of time.

Never thought to use vodaphone. Will keep them in mind.

Glad you 'escaped The Firm' eventually

no wonder more and more customers are becoming abusive. I mean there is no excuse for abuse but they are literally driving people mad.
I mean to have reduced me to blubbing tears over broadband. It was that or utterly losing my shit at the person I eventually got through to.

Yes the british agent gave me his name and his ID number so I could quote him if I had any further problems. The foreign agents I couldn't even spell their names to write them down.

Do you know what - I actually did feel like I had been violated in some way. That sounds so overly dramatic but that's how I felt. Bullied, ripped off, taken for a mug, treated like dirt.
Virtual bullying - is spot on.

Glad you escaped and are happier with your new provider. Suprised VM have any customers left.

I'm having an almost identical issue with BT! I just wanted a rolling contract as mine was coming to an end and I'm moving next year into my partner's house. They told me a rolling contract didn't exist and talked me into signing up to a very expensive 12 month contract, saying they were doing me a favour as they usually only do 24 months. Then I read the small print and discovered I'd be on a rolling contract now if I kept my old one. Phoned up to cancel the new one and they did everything under the sun to talk me out of it, lots of lying. I had to get really mad at them in the end and said I have the legal right to change my mind within 14 days!! It's still showing my new contract on my account so I've cancelled my Direct Debit and I won't be paying them a penny until it changes :(

I honestly do not care if the person who answers the phone is male, female, black, white, green with purple spots, a talking monkey as long as I can understand them, they can understand me and they can fix the problem.

As I am british I generally understand other brits better than say someone sitting in India who speaks broken english and is reading from a script. I don't think it's too much to ask for when the service is being provided in the UK, to have a english speaking person dealing with problems.

A british raised Indian person with a british accent who I can understand and who can understand me is fine. Said for clarity before some smart ass jumps on to say they were born in India but raised here and speak perfect english.

thanks for the info. Another vote for plusnet then.
Will have to seriously consider them for future.

This is very tedious. As is being put through to an overseas call centre.

You think that's bad?

Virgin Media told me I owed them £600. I didn't and could prove I didn't. This came after my internet kept dropping out repeatedly,l.

They said it dropped out due to non-payment. I had to go through their dispute system and send them bank statements showing the payments had been made. This debt would've been months worth.

I then spoke to someone asking to be put through to complaints after I received an email, 6 weeks on, asking for all the proof again as they said they'd not received it. They had already acknowledged receipt. It was a joke by this point and the calls continued and our whole service was shut down.

The girl I spoke to said she couldn't put me through to complaints. I told her this was ridiculous, someone should be able to get the situation resolved. So she said she would put me on hold but first said "if you just pay the debt it would be sorted".

Then she goes quiet so I assume I'm on hold.

I wasn't.

I then heard her saying to a colleague " ugh, I've got some right c**t on the line, fucking bitch, needs to pay her fucking bill the skanky cow" then something was said I couldn't hear, she giggled and then "I know right, wants to talk to someone higher, you'll still need to pay you scruff, get your benefits to pay, I swear I'm sick of these dossers. I'm gonna keep her on hold for a bit, fucking stupid skank".

I then heard "oh fuck" cos she realised she wasn't actually on hold and "I don't know, do you think she could hear?" Followed by someone else say "doubt it".

After a while whilst the hold music was actually on, she comes back on, sweetness itself

To which I say "so my benefits claiming scruff self, apparently, would very much like to speak to someone higher up and I suggest you find someone, before my non-benefits claiming arse puts this all over social media. And yes, I could hear you very clearly "

She openly squeaked and I got put through.

I ended up having to go to the Daily Mail to get it sorted and received a very large amount of compensation, at which point I left them.

They are vile. Whether you speak to the British team or not. Leave them @AnyoneRememberMooncat

That is utterly disgusting.

Just when I thought they couldn't sink any lower.

dear lord. Okay you're the winner of the Virgin Nightmare Competition. So sorry