To be fuming at Virgin Media

[ImNotAFlower]

Signed up with Virgin Media seven months ago for fibre optic broadband and tv, really pleased with the service, and then found out our landlady was selling our house.
We have ended up buying a new build property (long story) We knew that there was no fibre optic availability on the new estate yet but that broadband was available. No problem we thought, we will downgrade (who can see what is coming next?)
Oh yes there is broadband availability but not with Virgin Media. So we contact them to ask what next. They advise we close the account then talk to the finance department about how to repay them as we are required to pay until the end of the contract. Felt a bit put out by that- they can't provide the service but we still have to pay.
Anyway we come to terms with that only to find out tonight that we had to close the account because we moved BUT because we closed it and weren't in any arrears we cannot pay them back in instalments they want the whole lot within a month.
The only way to pay in instalments is to let it go to debt collectors.
I am so angry. My husband has taken to twitter to try to solve it but seriously I would like to throttle the person who wrote their policy!!!

[pennygirl26]

i also work for virgin. they will not accept installments in any circumstances. it isnt something they are able to offer. if the contract is broken they will expect contract to be paid in full. i deal with this on a daily basis. also the other person who said to send your details will lose their job if found out.

[ImNotAFlower]

They are if you owe them money ie are begin on monthly payments

[ImNotAFlower]

*behind

[madreloco]

Only if you still have a contract with them, not if you have ended it Standard practice to require full payment when you have severed the contract.

[ImNotAFlower]

Nope apparently if we had closed the account with arrears they would have offered a payment plan for the whole lot, that is what the supervisor I spoke to told me.

[madreloco]

Even if that is true, it doesn't matter. You are being held to the contract you signed up to, including the lump sum repayment. You need to get over it.

[19lottie82]

OP - yes but if you were in arrears it would have already had a negative impact on your credit rating.

[Shakey1500]

It's correct but it does sound unfair and "not cricket". Is there anyone that could lend you the amount?

[Littletabbyocelot]

But the ts and cs someone posted said the most they can charge you is the full amount you would have paid MINUS the savings they make by not providing the service. So by charging the full amount they are either a) saying it costs nothing to provide their services and its 100% profit or b) breaching their own terms and conditions.

[DEATHcameforSirPterry]

I'm not sure if this was the right way to go but we had a similar situation. We moved out of rental accomodation to go abroad for a short while and owed them for the remainder of the contract. We could afford half one month and half the second month but they wanted a lump sum. We paid just the half and by the time they had processed it and sent out reminder letters and final demands it was the second month so we then paid the balance. Nothing more was said. They happily let us sign up again a year later and it doesn't appear to affected our credit rating.