Help with NTL / Virgin Offer

[rumpole69]

I too failed a credit check when I am in tip top financial health.

However, this did lead me to PREVENTING A FRAUD. I use Experian Credit Check and Virgin use Equifax. If you sign up for a year with Equifax you get 30 days free and INSTANT access to your details. You must then cancel with 30 days to prevent any charges!

I received a letter stating I had ordered a mobile phone the other day. There was no address and so I discarded.

Had I not checked out Virgin's check I would not have discovered that someone LOCALLY tried to use my correct credit card details to open an O2 contract account. Of course I have had to cancel my card(s) which is an inconvenience, but nothing major had happened.

Nobody is safe from identity theft. This was not from discarded information but from someone with access to a reputable telephone transaction.

Maybe you should all take a note and check your own details. FOR FREE!

If anyone does get any sense out of Virgin, let me know.

They were happy to take my money to purchase a telephone on pay as you go but NOT as a meagre ten pound a month NTL customer!

Maybe it is just an excuse to avoid giving out half price sim cards?

I would like to hear from anyone who has had such a decision overturned. They suggested I tried again before the end of the month, and then ("attempt" my words)to contact their finance department who may be in a position to overide the decision. Having worked in call centres in the past for ten years, I know bull**** when I step in it!

I have checked my credit report via www.garlik.com as it is free!

Guess what I am crystal clear no defaults or bad credit listed, yet Virgin failed me!

Funny thing is I passed a credit check with another mobile provider and I now have a Nokia N80 on a pay monthly tarriff!

[peaksoft]

I'm already with Virgin, paying £15 for 300 minutes/300 texts.

So when I read about the £10 offer for the same package for NTL customers on Saturday night, I called Virgin.

They said I had to call back on Sunday, as only customer services, and not sales, were working.

On Sunday, sales took me through everything, then asked for my NTL account number, the only record of which was 100 miles away. My phone number wasn't enough.

So I rang NTL customer services to get my account number (at 10.15am) only to get a recorded message saying that customer services were open only from 9am on Sundays. It seems they were, in truth, closed all day on Sunday.

And the offer expired at midnight.

[AndyCambs]

Originally Posted by peaksoft

I'm already with Virgin, paying £15 for 300 minutes/300 texts.

So when I read about the £10 offer for the same package for NTL customers on Saturday night, I called Virgin.

They said I had to call back on Sunday, as only customer services, and not sales, were working.

On Sunday, sales took me through everything, then asked for my NTL account number, the only record of which was 100 miles away. My phone number wasn't enough.

So I rang NTL customer services to get my account number (at 10.15am) only to get a recorded message saying that customer services were open only from 9am on Sundays. It seems they were, in truth, closed all day on Sunday.

And the offer expired at midnight.

It's highly likely to be extended...

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by acoolwelshbloke

Funny thing is I passed a credit check with another mobile provider and I now have a Nokia N80 on a pay monthly tarriff!

This is actually quite normal, and probably a result of the Credit Reference agencies not synchronising their records properly.

The same happened to me when I first got a Mobile. Went into "The Link" on Charing Cross station, and failed a credit check, so was refused a contract. I then went straight to "The Link" in Bromley, passed their credit check and was given a contract straight away..

[peaksoft]

Just in case the offer had been extended, I've tried twice to call NTL customer service for my account number.
Each time, immediately after the message telling me how valuable my call is, they cut me off.
I finally got the number, called Virgin, and was told the offer had expired.

Originally Posted by Stuart C

This is actually quite normal, and probably a result of the Credit Reference agencies not synchronising their records properly.

The same happened to me when I first got a Mobile. Went into "The Link" on Charing Cross station, and failed a credit check, so was refused a contract. I then went straight to "The Link" in Bromley, passed their credit check and was given a contract straight away..

I doubt it, I tried three times over several weeks and virgin failed me!

I contacted Virgin and was informed they were aware of a problem where people were getting refused due to the way they credit check and a fix would be in place soon!

And even if it was as you said it is still Virgin's fault as they choose to use a company who provides false or incorrect information!

I have had contracts with Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and three and have never failed or been refused!

Well stuff Virgin I am happy with what I got even though I pay more than £10

Their loss not mine!

[paulusrevelus]

i dont know F all about working this email forum yet as i use hotmail but am very impressed by your members depth of nolledge.
I have also been trying to access the famous half price virgin deal (with cheap lobster - Zoidberg perhaps?) with precious little luck so far.
I keep you apprised of my adventures as they happen

PS this is my first message on this e-mail site so-
'ALLO EVERYBODY' FROM THE REV. PAULUS

[1701-e]

http://home.ntl.com/html/bundles/virginmobileoffer.html offer on to 31/03/2007

[sct1l8]

You're certainly not the only one to fail the credit check on the "special offer" £10 a month SIM.

To start with, clicking on the link from the Telewest home page ("existing customers click here") to go to the Virgin website takes you to a page where you have to enter your account number, postcode and house number. Needless to say it is not possible to continue because a Telewest account number is ONE DIGIT MORE than the page allows you to enter.

Ringing Telewest does not offer much help (as it's a Virgin offer), however they will put you through free of charge to 0845 6000 789 to speak to someone at Virgin. Apparently they try to do it there and then for you, tell you "you're entitled to two deals per household" and that your order "has gone through" blah blah blah. A few seconds later you get an email saying "unfortunately we can't accept your order at this time" - followed about a minute later by another message saying they received your order (Virgin must be using some sort of a time machine as the message with the order arrives after the order has been declined).

Although Virgin did ask for date of birth and address, it mysteriously asked for your bank details again (I was under the impression that this would be billed on my Telewest bill but apparently Virgin would like their own £10 a month direct debit). Calling back you get a very grumpy operator (listening to a radio in full blast at the background) who finally tells you to contact Equifax. Needless to say there is nothing wrong with your Equifax report.

It all sounds to me like a marketing ploy by Virgin to get customer details (why I do not understand as since they've now control both ntl and Telewest they already have those details).

Previous experience with "free SIMS" seems to indicate that if you live in a block of flats you'll likely never get one (1 per household, or, according to Virgin, two per household, is no good in a building of 10-20 flats - and everyone has a mobile those days). If Virgin were serious, first they'd know how many digits a Telewest account number is, and second they'd send the SIM cards to cable customers no matter how many people have mobiles in the building!

In the end of the day, it's Virgin who will lose business with customers flocking to other networks blaming Equifax for what is just Virgin's lack of market awareness!

[lil_phil]

There appears to be alot of intelligent people on here that reply with some valid answers, however we all have to respect the way a corporate firm works. Unfortunatley the call centre staff will not be provided with every little peice of information in the whole company as this would be impossible to communicate every day! If there are issue with the credit check information, maybe we should bear with it to get the offer. No staff should guarantee anything, however they should be able to re-assure you based on the information they have in front of them.

There are alot of things for Virgin to fix, maybe we could give them a little longer than 18 days to sort NTL out?