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Original poster

To think Virgin media are utter bastards!

80 replies

Buddah101 · 09/08/2017 07:45

We have been with virgin media since last september in a 12 month contract, only having the phoneline and broadband with them, the internet in our area has been awful so we've always thought come the contract ending we would be leaving them.

Around the beginning of june we had a phone call from virgin, asking how our internet was as we had called so many times regarding it not working, on that phone call dp was asked how we were getting on with it and would he like them to bump up the speed of of our internet to see if that would resolve any problems - so he said yes, and actually wondered why we weren't on a better speed in the first place.

Queue us calling yesterday to give our 30 day notice only to find out that by him saying yes to faster speed we have verbally agreed to a new contract which now runs out next June. They are saying they also sent out a contract which we never recieved and believe me if we had wouldn't have got this far!

Now for the past 3 years dp has been recovering from a breakdown, he still suffers from depression & anxiety, he is not in a position to sign any contract or agree to anything. he is On medication daily and needs to be supervised when on them - not the behaviour of someone sound of mind. put together with yesterday his father went into a hospice so he is even more stressed than usual and this has caused him to be awake all night. The lady on the phone was so awful yesterday, talking over him and shouting at him - he doesnt get angry or raise his voice but he ended up crying and she still carried on regardless talking over him, saying on repeat i will not disconnect you until you have paid your contract off.

I feel they are utter bastards! weve put a complaint in but im asking for help is there anything else we can do, we really dont need this right now. It might not be much to any of you but right now this is the straw that broke the camels back.

OP posts:
Mojomarm · 09/08/2017 08:59

The 'no managers' line is utter bullshit - they tell EVERYONE that. Ask her if there's no managers to speak to, then who would she report a suicidal caller too? Or if there's no managers around, why aren't all the staff dicking about in the office cus there's no-one to watch them.

FayKnights · 09/08/2017 09:00

Good luck! You can bloody do it.
They are the worst company ever, I totally echo the sentiments above and would never use them again.
Keep a note of the times and who you speak to, they also like to pass calls between departments.

ElBandito · 09/08/2017 09:02

I'm really surprised by your experience NoddysBell . I've only ever spoken to Virgin Media once and that was when my Dad died
recently. The lady from the bereavement team insisted on staying on the line while she made the changes to the account and checked that everything still worked. Perhaps they've learnt from previous lessons now?
Having said that when dad changed to Virgin Media a few years ago everything went tits up!

Fluffyears · 09/08/2017 09:04

They keep overcharging us...total bastards! Our deal is fixed at £35 a month so explain to me how our last bills (which they never send out) have been £83 and £64. It's meant to be unlimited and we're never ducking in as we're working to pay their stupid bills!

Fluffyears · 09/08/2017 09:06

mojo I worked in a call centre and the mangers rarely take call. If you ask them about suicudal callers etc they'll just say it isn't relevant. You can ask for a call back x

Original poster
Buddah101 · 09/08/2017 09:10

mojomarm that made me laugh!

fluffyears thought it was just us they send nothing at all to!

Im waiting for dp to get back and am going to get him to call up again saying he has recieved this new letter about the price increase and would like to leave, if they refer back to yesterday's conversation going to get him to ask for a recording of the conversation again

Ive had a reply on facebook, basically just kept saying the same thing to cal the number,I said I wouldnt waste my time and would go straight to ofcom now and he replied this is the best way to get your contract cancelled - think he meant to keep calling but still funny!
Ive got on my old twitter account too and posted on there - hope i've done it right as not used it in a few years.

Its frustrating that they will only speak to dp who is the account holder and not me, he just doesnt get angry on the phone to them like I do.

OP posts:
Whitecurrants · 09/08/2017 09:12

We’ve been with them for years, mostly fine but hopeless at handling anything out of the ordinary and rarely call back when they say they will. As for the over-cheerful auto-answer woman with the throaty voice - I want to strangle her. I’ve normally had more joy with the UK call centers, but I guess you’ve spoken to them already?

Whitecurrants · 09/08/2017 09:13

Buddah your DH can authorize them to speak to you

Mojomarm · 09/08/2017 09:15

Fluffy doesn't surprise me that managers don't take calls. I can see why that's the case for some companies as they'd only ever be the ones who'd get spoken to! Just annoys me when I'm told managers aren't there when clearly they are. And promising callbacks from managers that end up never happening is a big bugbear of mine too.

Buddah do you have speakerphone at all? When DP gets back and makes the call, get him to tell the advisor that you're with him and you have his permission to speak to them too then go on speakerphone so you can both clearly hear what is being said, and you can support him on the call too.

Brittbugs80 · 09/08/2017 09:21

Virginia are a bunch of absolute chuff nuggets. I'd ask for a recording of the conversation where the terms and conditions of new contracts were read out and accepted by you.

Plus, even if you did accept them without realising, doesn't long distance selling apply here? You get a cool down period in which to cancel a contract.

Plus if they are increasing their prices their prices, they give the chance to cancel. BT do that and I know Sky did.

And I'd complain about the numpty that reduces your Husband to tears too. Who the feck does she think she is?!

This is why I avoid Sky and Virgin. I can't explain where my dislike comes from though. We have BT phone and internet with the BT freebies box and pay £10 a month for Sky films (not hd though but the film's look ok) and £3 for the children's channels. Our total bill without phonecalls is £55 a month.

Original poster
Buddah101 · 09/08/2017 09:21

We were on speakerphone yesterday, the girl sounded all of 12 - no disrespect to her she's just doing her job but seriously made me pissed off the way she was speaking to him and I kept saying to her stop speaking over him and let him speak, she just ignored me she wouldn't let him finish his sentence and kept getting louder - can't say I didnt wish her a flat tyre on her way home yesterday!

I don't get how you can happily do that job though making people angry daily must make you miserable, would me anyway.

Im hoping that the threat of ofcom if they dont let us leave under this new price hike thing will have a positive outcome today

OP posts:
FreudianSlurp · 09/08/2017 09:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RolandRat · 09/08/2017 11:40

We had exactly the same trick played on us with our Virgin TV package. Basically you are penalised for increasing your package (and therefore giving them more money) by being locked into a new 12 month contract??? They also conveniently sent a new contract to us that we did not receive! And they mysteriously could not not access the recording of the phone call... in the end they agreed to reduce the cost of the package for the remainder of the 12 months, we cancelled no sooner it was up and I definitely would never go back to them regardless of price!

DopeyDazy · 09/08/2017 12:23

Glad i read this as VM are putting cable in round here all the roads are blocked as they dig and tarmac etc. No probs with that but reps are doorknocking offering introductory deals. I can safely to tell them to f.o. nicely of course

Cary2012 · 09/08/2017 12:27

I hate Virgin Media with a passion.
That's all.

Kariana · 09/08/2017 12:29

Just get dh to ring them and then say they need to speak to you and pass the phone over. That way they can speak to just you. Don't bother with speakerphone, it's awful for the person in the call centre to hold a conversation with someone on speakerphone (been there, done that). I'm not saying she wasn't horrendously rude or making an excuse for her behaviour but it will be easier for both parties to hear properly and listen on normal handset mode.

Kariana · 09/08/2017 12:30

Also I hate virgin media, we cancelled our contract, they didn't stop it properly and we ended up paying for 6 extra months (dh didn't notice). We tried to get a refund but they refused saying we'd never cancelled Angry

19lottie82 · 09/08/2017 12:31

Champagne That's terrible advice.Confused

OP DONT cancel the direct debit without sorting this out. I know it's tempting but it could lead to loads of grief further down the line if you ever need to apply for any sort of credit.

If you don't get anywhere with Virgin Media then go to OFCOM they are great at sorting issues like this out.

And champagne, yes a verbal contract does count! But they need to prove that the bill holder agreed to one.

bellsandwhistles89 · 09/08/2017 14:30

We had a similar thing, we moved and transferred our Virgin media package to the new address and asked if this would sign us up for another year which they confirmed it wouldnt. Turns out we have been signed up for a new contract at the new house and they wont provide the transcript of the call. As soon as we can we will be out, they are useless. DO NOT GET.

kali110 · 09/08/2017 15:48

ChampagneTastes
You could simply end up with a ccj and the baliffs at your door. Is it worth your credit being wrecked?

kali110 · 09/08/2017 15:52

Buddah101 they tell ypu to contact the nUmber as they have no access to peoples details. ( have no idea what the point of their page is really).
Don't think they really care if you put it on fb or twitter.
I'd go down the route mentioned, if you're price is going up, ( email) you have the right to cancel.

kali110 · 09/08/2017 15:52

Your*

Original poster
Buddah101 · 09/08/2017 20:13

Well spent a good 2 hours on the phone today trying to cancel under the point of the price hikes, 30 mins of that was waiting to be seen.

The outcome: - We are not eligible to cancel the contract as we have only renewed within the last 60 days. I fucking hate Virgin Media with a passion.

OP posts:
Mojomarm · 09/08/2017 20:37

What utter shits. But I'm not surprised sadly. You need to get in touch with Ofcom asap

kali110 · 09/08/2017 20:39

Then do whatwas said, ask for the recording where you agreed to the contract, request it under the data protection act or freedom of information act, you are entitled to ask for it, state you will put it in writing to them.