Virgin Media

[Roseformeplease]

TURN MY BROADBAND BACK ON VIRGIN MEDIA

Are a disgrace. Can anyone help

Call themselves a media (communications) company yet cancel my full paid up account without contacting me. So, when I call I am told they have the address wrong, so someone else now has my account in a different flat in the building.

When I call, in spite of paying monthly for 6.5 years, they seem to have been unable to contact me when someone wanted to take over my account.

And Virgin let them. They closed it down and re-opened it in someone else's name. No password protection seems to have been used. They didn't give the billing address. They just got broadband while my account was cut off.

Angel (not her real name, but the one she gave me) in Customer Services has spent an hour trying to make out that the faulty address is my fault - despite engineers finding number 2 for 6.5 years; despite the signal going to number 2 for 6.5 years; despite me paying regularly for 6.5 years for number 2 - you think I live in number 4. Apparently they can't just switch it on again, although switching it off seems to be easy enough.

£51.76 per month. Every month. For 6.5 years and then someone moves in nearby, fancies a bit of broadband (although why they chose Virgin I will never know, now I know how Virgin treat existing customers) and Virgin just switch it on for them, and off for me.

Fraud? Robbery? Or just incompetence? Or all of these.

Eagerly awaiting a call from Bernie who was too shy to talk just now but is winding himself up to calling by 1.25pm.

And why can't they sort it immediately you ask?

Well, because they have "existing customers" (i.e. The bastards who stole my broadband) who need to be contacted. As a "new customer" I must understand that they have to "perform checks".

If anyone wants to share this, I would be very grateful.

Anyone with any idea how to get this sorted?

NB. The fragrant Bernie still hasn't called. Now 8 minutes later than promised.

Blimey, you progressed all the way to an L.

T for Tom is close.

Took me over a month to even get the box delivered. I should have seen it as a warning sign It was delivered about 4 times and taken away, they say no one in, I say I bloody am. Disabled, go out maybe once a month, definitely there! Finally got it by watching out of my 4th story window and yelling at the guy who walked up to the door and walked away....

Then over a year of faults meaning I had to stop streaming, basically lost contact with the outside world. Trying to explain to someone, costing a fortune on mobile, that net is my only link with outside. When it was finally sorted I had a happy year with minimal drops but now I'm stuck on fairly reliable service (sky) thats too slow to do anything with.

VM are the worst company I've dealt with. We had cable TV and phone service when this area was first cabled. all was good for many years, through several company takeovers until VM came along. We hadn't had any complaints at all during our 14 or so years of cable. Then, within six months of VM taking over, we had problem after problem. Right up to the day they cut off our phone die to the 'exceptionally high usage' When we queried it, we were told our bill for one month was nearly £500! When they sent the itemised bill, it showed that we were being billed virtually 24/7 and, for several calls, apparently we were calling more than one number simultaneously. They refused to see that their bill was an impossibility and we ended up losing the account and going to a different provider - not before they'd taken us for around £700 in total. Unfortunately due to dh's job we had to pay as he could not take a chance that they would issue court proceedings for an outstanding debt. Despite many letters and e mails, nobody ever accepted the bill couldn't be correct or that they had not adhered to their own t +cs. Despicable company.

Lynne did ring back. But not yet sorted......Now at 48 hours of trying to get this sorted and 6 hours of phone calls. 5 e-mails (all unanswered) to the CEO. Several tweets and about 10 posts on their Facebook page.

In Australia we have a Telecommunications Ombudsman who gets shit like this dealt with. Diarise everything and forward to the British equivalent.

Op this is the address that the ceo team bumped me on to who actually resolved my complaint [email protected]

You may have been there already, just thought I'd mention

No, thanks very much. No reply from the CEO so will try that one tomorrow.

I had a long telephone last night with someone called Tim! Tim, I hear you cry, that is practically the end of the alphabet - he must be really powerful. He was extremely rude and very loudly talking over me at times. He was not interested really in hearing my problem and just kept telling me he had to call the people who (stole?) my broadband and tv and then once he had spoken to them (which he doubted would happen as "why would they answer a withheld number") then I might be able to progress towards getting it back. I asked, repeatedly, to speak to someone else, or a manager and was repeatedly refused. I eventually asked him if he was Customer Services trained which he said he was. I told him I wanted to make a formal complaint and he eventually put me through to Customer Care (different department - lovely people who listen) where I spoke to Chloe. She was lovely. Suggested it was now being dealt with my the Fraud Department.

But, still no broadband or tv. Repeated requests to turn it back on while they investigate have been ignored.

Thanks to a PP I have now sent a long e-mail to the ExecutiveTeam which has not bounced back (but then nor did the ones to Tom Mockridge CEO) so maybe there will be a reply. I mentioned that there was a Mumsnet thread in case anyone else wants to take the chance they read this and let them know any further issues you have.

You actually couldn't make this up! I would get broadband from someone else but that would require complicated installation which will cost me a lot of lost bookings in the flat as I will have to book it weeks ahead and will not be able to guarantee broadband for some time.

And breathe.

I am getting older and find this kind of stressful dealing with a big corporation really does stop me from sleeping. I am struggling to get past it some times and my dreams are full of things going wrong!

Thanks for all the support.

I am desperate to leave Virgin but don't know who for as they all seem bad to me. Could I ask the people who have left Virgin who they went with instead? I live in NW London btw. Thank you.

I would start kicking up about data protection, identity fraud and getting authorities involved. Tends to light a fire under them.

Thanks *Starry" will do that.

*FrenchJunebug" I would love to leave them too but the old cable system is in place in the flat so any new provider would mean engineers' visits and more disruption for guests. So, I am trying to get it fixed as, while frustrating, it is (I hope) quicker than the alternative. However, a friend has suggested JohnLewis broadband as being good and reliable.

In Australia we have a Telecommunications Ombudsman who gets shit like this dealt with. Diarise everything and forward to the British equivalent.

There is no equivalent in Britain. We have OfCom, but they're useless.

Update!!!!!

Rang, as instructed to speak to the "Fraud Team" and spoke to Sangeeta who was lovely but clearly new to the job. Told her I needed Fraud. She spent ages taking advice but their phone system (yes, their phones!!!!) is not working properly- can I phone again tomorrow.

No reply from Executive Team

Also e-mailed rude Tim but have only just done that so will update if I get a reply.

Their customer services are appalling, that's true. When I had them my service was excellent for the most part, but when something went wrong they were terrible at sorting it out. For instance, the time my broadband went down for three weeks. It took a dozen phonecalls for them to even send someone out, each time I rang it was the same "try turning it off and turning it on again" bullshit.

The engineer who came out was great and solved my problem in about five minutes (including the time it took him to walk to and from the cabinet down the road), but their phone support is completely useless.

Was considering taking a contract out with them but after reading this definitely won't be. Sounds like you have received appalling customer services and the fact that you keep having to chase them up is disgusting. They are blatantly trying to bluff their way out of the problem rather than actually deal with it. You have my sympathy.

Rude Tim rang. Still rude and abrupt but he has clearly been belligerent enough with his colleagues to get it sorted.

Still not sorted administratively but, he says (waiting for confirmation from tenants) it is now on again!!!!!

So, yay for Tim. I nearly had to go all the way to the Zs but T for Triumph!!!

Still not actually working. It should be, apparently. Now they say there is a fault in "the area". Had a great deal of satisfaction when they sent me a survey about my "experience of VM customer service".