virgin media miselling

neil2332 · 19-02-2011, 16:35

hi just joined and was looking for some advice virgin media miselling please

I just went over my credit limit for virgin media and called them up to pay enough to get re-connected. I asked them why my bills have been so high for the last few months. I was orignally on a package that gave me xl broadband ,large telly and phone for £31.00 a month, I got a call last july saying would i like the xl tv for and extra 10 a month making it £41.00

The lady today told me i my bill was £66 a month . I was shock to say the least , I expalined about the deal and she said oh no , your bill was £49.00 a month so i asked why it was an extra £8 and why am i now being charged £66 , i was told oh cos you got the tv free for 2 months. I said that this wasnt right as i was sold the package at £41 and it was on going, as i would never had agreed to £66 as i cant afford that , they said if i didnt want to pay £66 i would have to cut my package. Ive asked to speak to a manager and was told they would have to call me back. I said i wanted a call back within 4 hours and a complaint to be put on my account , they have also been charging me £10 when my direct debit has failed a couple of times.

Has anyone been mis-sold like this and what have you done to get it sorted. Im also out of cash as id been charging my house mates , 2 of which have moved out only a tenner a month

of course it was all done on the phnoe so not in writing, so be warned peoples...

any advice is most welcome

Thanks

btw 4 hours is up and no call....

jb66 · 19-02-2011, 16:41

Go direct debit, save £5 a month

neil2332 · 19-02-2011, 16:43

Thanks for the reply , I already know this , but that still means I am paying £20 more a month than I was originally told and agreed to .

BenMcr · 19-02-2011, 17:56

Surely you would have noticed when the advance charges on the first bill didn't match what you had been offered?

neil2332 · 19-02-2011, 18:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr

Surely you would have noticed when the advance charges on the first bill didn't match what you had been offered?

I actually expect that kind of response from a member of virgins staff , that isnt advice or even at all helpful.

besides that is not the point , i foolishly trusted eveything to be above board, its only been the last 2 months that i thought the bills have been very steep. Wether I noticed or not , I have noticed now . The actual point is that I have been mis-sold something and lied to , yes , lied to by virgins sales team.

RobboEdin · 19-02-2011, 18:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by neil2332

I actually expect that kind of response from a member of virgins staff , that isnt advice or even at all helpful.

besides that is not the point , i foolishly trusted eveything to be above board, its only been the last 2 months that i thought the bills have been very steep. Wether I noticed or not , I have noticed now . The actual point is that I have been mis-sold something and lied to , yes , lied to by virgins sales team.

..of course, we only have your word for that so can't comment. You could equally well have mis-understood.

I'm with Ben on the fact that you should have noticed sooner. It's your responsibility to manage your budget.

PS I'm not a Virgin Media employee.

neil2332 · 19-02-2011, 18:28

i wouldnt bothering posting on here if i was not going to tell the truth , what would be the point of that when I am trying to get advice ?

---------- Post added at 18:28 ---------- Previous post was at 18:28 ----------

anyway looks like this is going to be one for oftel to sort out

RobboEdin · 19-02-2011, 18:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by neil2332

i wouldnt bothering posting on here if i was not going to tell the truth , what would be the point of that when I am trying to get advice ?

---------- Post added at 18:28 ---------- Previous post was at 18:28 ----------

anyway looks like this is going to be one for oftel to sort out

I did not say you were lying but we only have one side of the story.

Oftel or Ofcomm have nothing to do with individual complaints. You must first make your complaint to Virgin Media and then if you are not satisfied go to the appropriate ADR. See here:

http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2010/0...ms-complaints/

neil2332 · 19-02-2011, 18:42

it is ok I have spoken to a manager and they are looking to get me a recording \ transcript of the telephone conversation with the slaes person i spoke to , this i am sure will prove me correct and they will honour my the agreement.

Peter_ · 19-02-2011, 19:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by neil2332

it is ok I have spoken to a manager and they are looking to get me a recording \ transcript of the telephone conversation with the slaes person i spoke to , this i am sure will prove me correct and they will honour my the agreement.

I think you need to be aware that very few calls are ever recorded by Virginmedia and on average each agent has only two calls per month recorded for Training and Quality purposes only and after use they are deleted, so you will be extremely lucky if the call has actually been recorded otherwise they will only have what has been written in the account notes.

Do keep us updated as to the outcome.

saabmania2 · 24-02-2011, 06:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by neil2332

The actual point is that I have been mis-sold something and lied to , yes , lied to by virgins sales team.

Virgin Lied to there customers, now that would never happen!!

only joking i would actually be more shocked if someone ever got the truth out of them

mroebuck · 27-02-2011, 11:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by saabmania2

Virgin Lied to there customers, now that would never happen!!

only joking i would actually be more shocked if someone ever got the truth out of them

Totally agree!!!

TicTicBOOM · 24-06-2011, 15:43

I work for a majour phone network, I won't say who of course but i'll give you some tips on dealing with customer support. Always be polite, no matter what, even when you feel like screaming! I say this as an agent and as a customer it will get you what you want in the end, don't demand anything, this will set of an alarm bell in an agents head (this customer is getting nothing from me!) especially call backs because it probably won't come if you do, call back esculations can take 48 hours as managers have alot to deal with on a daily bases, just be patient.

You have obviously been mis sold and this kind of thing happens ALOT in sales because the staff are put under pressure to preform and if they don't, they get fired and can't pay thier bills. so always be extremely careful when dealing with a sales person, if you are agreeing to something over the phone ask them to send the detials through in an email while you are talking to them, read them over then agree, an email takes a few seconds to send and then you have something in writing as proof and then you can make the verbal agreement knowing you are safe while still speaking to the same agent. you can always ask for the agents first name also(they are under no obligation to give thier surname)

In regards to having the call pulled I can in all honestly say this is not going to happen, you have been fobbed off by the manager if it even was a manager, alot of centers allow agents to take calls as managers to speed up the process. in most call centers around about 33% of calls are actually recorded, they are held for 3 days, then they are NOT deletted but sent to a data protection manager where they will be stored for 1 year, you can request a TRANSCRIPT of the call at a cost to your self of ten pounds and this has to be requested in writing to the data managers office not from virgin (virgin will be able to provide you with the adress) however if you do this and prove you were mis sold virgin will have to reimburse the cost of the transcript.

you need to call them again and again and again, ask to speak to the manager again, if they say that hes busy, politly tell them you are happy to wait, be friendly with whatever agent you are speaking to as they most likely have the power to refund you anyways. if the manager states they cannot do anything ask to speak to the operations manager as you have a right to do this also. if he cannot help you can ask to speak to the call center manager and if he cannot help I would bring the complaint to an ADR or alternative disputes resolution try http://www.ombudsman-services.org/. it is also worth making ofcom aware of the fact that you have been misold, although they do not handle individual cases.

if you keep calling back, eventually they will get sick of you and give you what you were offered or a refund or account credit, or you will get through to an understanding agent who will actually help you and yes we do exist lol

anyways hope this helps ya!

Good luck with yer complaint!

joglynne · 24-06-2011, 15:55

Welcome to the forum TicTicBoom. Although I realise you are trying to help neil2332 this thread was last used in February and neil 2332 hasn't been back to our Forum since his last post on 19th February.

watzizname · 24-06-2011, 16:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by joglynne

Welcome to the forum TicTicBoom. Although I realise you are trying to help neil2332 this thread was last used in February and neil 2332 hasn't been back to our Forum since his last post on 19th February.

Still, it could prove useful to anyone else that finds this thread?