Housemate refuses to pay debt for his phone calls.

Chinasko · 22-09-2011, 17:02

Hello there! Before anything, thanks a lot for reading this email.

I used to be a Virgin Media customer until they suspended my account due to some bills discrepancies.
I live in a shared house with 3 other people. It turns out that one of them made some phone calls in April and May which should have been included in his Talk International service but, due to a mistake from the Virgin Media automated system, they charged him for them. The amount of the phone calls made in April was included in the bill I paid in May and the amount of the phone calls made in May should have been paid in June but it never happened as I had no other option than to cancel my direct debit since my housemate refused to pay. And I did understand why he refused because I would have done exactly the same. It was a mistake from Virgin Media, not from him. He called them many, many times and he had to repeat the same story over and over again to no avail. He also sent some letters to the Complaints Department and some emails with the same results.
After some time, we received a letter from a company which works for Virgin Media saying that they would recommend them to take us to court if we did not pay in a few days. My housemate insisted on not paying and he said that he would not mind going to court because he is sure about winning the case.
The fact is that I am the account holder and all those letters are addressed to me but the thing is that I am not responsible for that debt as I did not make those phone calls. My question is: is there any way of anyhow changing the name of the person who owes that money? He is happy to do so as he accepts all this is because of him. By the way, he got an account with Virgin Media last month but he had to cancel it after some days because they asked him to pay for that debt which is on my name since he has been living in the same house I live in for more than 4 years. The amount of the debt comes only from phone calls he made to his country. The fact is that Virgin Media have already got him involved on this issue but the debt is only on my name.
Can you please tell me what we can do to change names on this issue or to make him the only responsible? I do not want to have my name on a "black list" and I do not want to go to court for a debt which does not concern me. Is there any paper or any document we could fill out to sort this out?
I have to say that I was happy with Virgin Media but because of this problem I cannot have their services any more and it looks like I will never be able to have them back as my name is on a "black list".
I have decided to go to the Citizen Advise Bureau to ask for some advice and I will talk to a lawyer if necessary but I want to get some advise from you guys first, if possible.
I really hope you understand the situation and I really hope you can tell me what I can do. Thank you very much.

jb66 · 22-09-2011, 17:09

Your the account holder, your responsable

Chinasko · 22-09-2011, 17:21

Thanks a lot for your answer.
I know that. Of course I am responsible and both my housemate and me are aware of that but we were wondering if we could do anything to change that. Difficult, I know...

**Rob** · 22-09-2011, 17:26

Whilst an account is in dispute there is no way a company is going to agree to any change of name since they'd then be accepting a change of liability.

Unfortunately the VM contract is with you the account holder, not somebody else who had your permission to use the phone, but with whom VM had no contractual relationship.

Your only chance would be, assuming it does go to court, that somehow some legal argument enables the other guy to become a co-defendant.

Realistically you need to look at why the account wasn't billed as you expected as it is that which is the only defence you would be able to offer.

Chinasko · 22-09-2011, 17:36

Thank you very much Rob. You are very kind.
I know exactly what you mean. You are right.
As regards "Your only chance would be, assuming it does go to court, that somehow some legal argument enables the other guy to become a co-defendant., that is exactly what he told me. As I said, he is happy to go to court but I am not, of course, although I will have no other option...
If he is able to become co-defendant, he will do the talking but if he is not able to I will have to and the thing is that I would not care much about the result as he told me he will pay if we lose the case. I just care about not having my name on a "black list".
I told him to look for some advice because he has evidence on the VM mistake (although they do not accept it) but he did not pay attention to me. I have the feeling that he thinks they will not take us to court, that they are only threatening us to do so...
Thanks a lot again, Rob.

**Rob** · 22-09-2011, 19:25

Problem is before it gets as far as court, there will have been debt collection agencies floating around. I don't know whether they can put the debt against your name on a credit reference list, without it having been enforced at court level first, especially if you are disputing it, but fundamentally it's your credit rating at risk, especially if it were to go to court and you lost.

v0id · 23-09-2011, 17:12

I bet your credit file has already been updated with the missed/late payment.

Serena83 · 24-09-2011, 21:09

I actually was searching the internet to see if someone else had this issue with Virgin Media. I signed up for Talk International when I became a VM customer (for the 2nd time after vowing to never go back due to their horrible service, stupidly) and it was left off my account. They claim there is no record of me signing up for Talk International, although my husband remembers me doing this as well and I never would have not added the service, since I call abroad often. I should have looked at my contract when I signed it, but didn't expect them to do this on purpose. Apparently, this is very common. They must do it, because people assume they're getting discounted calls and then rack up charges before realising what has happened. They're crooks!

Anyway... I found calling Virgin Media and getting irate helps. I spoke to 5 people at their call centre (and I was on hold for an hour!) who kept telling me I never signed up for Talk International, and finally after getting very angry and nearly screaming they decided to believe me. I felt terrible, but it worked. They added it to my account despite having a special 1/2 price deal that doesn't allow any changes and they even gave me the correct price for calls I already made. I don't know if it's too late for you to do this or not.

tizmeinnit · 25-09-2011, 00:39

Is there anyway Virgin can put a security code on the line so you have to a passcode in before dialing so the housemate can not use the phone in the future?

BenMcr · 25-09-2011, 11:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

Is there anyway Virgin can put a security code on the line so you have to a passcode in before dialing so the housemate can not use the phone in the future?

Yes it's called Call Barring and is £2.05 a month