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Virgin are money grabbing scum.
talentedmonkey
Posts: 2,639 Forum Member
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What is the point in having credit, it obviously dosn't work. I am on Big Kahuna package, made a payment of £80 at start of month, owed a few quid from previous bills. I have a limit of nearly £300. I was told that as long as I make payments regulary and do not exceed this credit limit then services would be uneffected.
However this morning I woke up to find that the services had been suspended, i checked account calling 150 and was told I still needed to pay £25, WTF. Money grabbing scum.
So I have all my services suspended beacuse my £80 was not enough and obviously for whatever reason they ignore the credit . I only owed about £60, so I am no where near the limit.
I now have the annoyance and inconvenince of waiting goodness how long for everything to come back online, i have important emails to deal with, but guess what they suspended my email accounts as well.
Nasty money grabbing scum who do not care About customers. Its not like i am not paying them money. So much for customer loyalty which is a mythical thing that companies do not notice or care about.
However this morning I woke up to find that the services had been suspended, i checked account calling 150 and was told I still needed to pay £25, WTF. Money grabbing scum.
So I have all my services suspended beacuse my £80 was not enough and obviously for whatever reason they ignore the credit . I only owed about £60, so I am no where near the limit.
I now have the annoyance and inconvenince of waiting goodness how long for everything to come back online, i have important emails to deal with, but guess what they suspended my email accounts as well.
Nasty money grabbing scum who do not care About customers. Its not like i am not paying them money. So much for customer loyalty which is a mythical thing that companies do not notice or care about.
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Thats correct.
There is a credit limit but it is there PURELY if you can't afford the full amount THAT month.
i.e its not there so you can have £100 worth of services for £40. Talentedmonkey is in arrears with VM and they (talentedmonkey) owe VM money, if you can't afford Big Kahuna then don't go for it. Don't try and go for it then not pay..... I don't walk into Harvester and have a £20 steak and go, "Sorry lads heres like a fiver, I'll pay the rest when I can?" they'd be like sod off!
This is why I pay by Direct Debit, its automatic, it pays em in full, and keeps my account in excellent standing, so when it comes to deal time, I get rewarded.
To the op, I don't know what you are moaning about?
owed a few quid from previous yet say you owe them £60?
Paid £80....
so how much is your package each month?
edit: Either £40 + £16 = £56 (half price deal) or £66 normal price. so if you owe them £60 odd then that's nearly a months service no wonder they suspended it.
And for that, they are money-grabbing scum?
It's not. You have to pay your oustanding bill, in full, or get suspended.
The credit limit is simply there to stop you spending too much on chargeable items, such as OD films.
What it means is if your monthly bill is £80 then you can run up additional costs of another £220. For example you could order 55 films at £4 a time. If you then tried to order a 56th film it would say no, because your credit limit has been reached.
Of course once the bill was due at the end of the month you would have to pay for those 55 films plus your monthly charges (I.e. £300).
So what Virgin Media are actually doing is following the terms and conditions of their contract. What you are doing is misunderstanding the phrase "credit limit".
PS- from personal experience I know that this isn't an immediate thing. My bill is generated on the 15th of the month (say 15th November) and the bill becomes due on the 5th of the following month (5th December). If the bill isn't paid then when the next bill is raised on the 15th it will show an outstanding balance, but your services still wouldn't be suspended. They only get suspended if it's still unpaid 10 days later, on the 25th December (35 days after being generated, 20 days after being due).
PPS - I also know that after paying the outstanding bill services are restored within 12 hours, although they say within 24.
PPPS - As someone from VM explained it to me a year+ ago.
I agree.
My services got cut off once, and that was because the Direct Debit wasn't setup properly their end. swift call soon fixed that.
Cut long story short I had quite a few one of installation charges and other crap lobbed onto the bill, I asked to pay this EXTRA over a couple of months, was told "no problem" , but they went back on that this month, which is why I was not a happy bunny, I can afford the package by the way, its just where I am starting a new job I have a bit of a cash flow issue as I will not get my first pay until Feb,
Virgin knew all this, I arranged it all, but they decided they want all the charges and fees in one go, even though I paid £80 which is a few quid EXTRA from what Big Kahunu is.
So yes I see thier true colours now, that they do not care about individual customers and only care about money. It also rankles as I have been with Virigin from day 1 they took over NTL, as I was an existing NTL customer.
I've heard of people that don't pay the entire amount at once but I don't get the point of this at all.
My bills come in at around £126 per month and I pay it automatically without having to arrange payment. It is far easier to do it that way. I couldn't be bothered having to pay each bill individually.
For goodness knows how many years I paid it all in one go with Direct Debit, I did not have enough money to pay the £180 which was result of installation fees and other one off bits and bobs I got cahrged with, I asked if I could pay these off over few months, as there is that credit thing they let you have, and there I will stop as I already repeating myself.
Thats right, but it can be used that way.
That's exactly what I do mines £122...
Wow you lot are being harsh and pretty damned arrogant!
The poster has clearly explained their issue a number of times:
a). They CAN afford "the package" - for the avoidance of doubt: The monthly subscription.
b). This has been increased due to a number of one-off charges this month.
c). They wish to spread these costs over a slightly longer period than is usual.
Whilst that may not be "standard" process, it is something companies who want to show their customers they go the extra mile will do. Any competent CS department will consider the risk vs reward:
Risks -
*Possibility of bad debt may increase.
*May set a precedence.
*Systems may not be geared up towards offering such facilities.
The former is the largest risk but spread over a short period of time, with adequate account history, should not be a major issue.
Precedence can be handled by dealing with such requests on the merits.
All systems can be manipulated to produce the desired results.
Rewards
*Improves individual customer satisfaction and loyalty resulting in a higher probability of retaining them beyond the contracted period.
*Drives positive commentary online and recommendations to friends and family.
*Ensures customers can pay regular amounts on time.
Ultimately, in such a competitive marketplace, companies are being increasingly judged on how far they go to work with their customers individual circumstances - rightly so.
So lets cut out the tedious fanboyism as it does nothing to add to the credibility of your comments.
It's not intended to be though, and will be entirely at the discretion of VM (and therefore could be withdrawn or modified at any time)
I used to work for BT as an escalations manager and the majority of complaints that came through were because customers had been cut off for non payment even though a lot of ISP's give at least 3-4 weeks grace period to pay it off.
I don't understand how people feel they are entitled to continue getting their services and not pay their bills. May I suggest if you find the package a struggle you should try lowering it to a more affordable package? You would have known about the install costs etc when taking the package out and make allowance for such charges.
The credit you talk about is for things like the calls you make. You are given a certain limit before they cut you off. These credit limits are there to protect you from massive bills resulting in using your phone too much or using paytv services.
Virgin Media are not robbing scum, they expect you to pay for the contract you agreed, if anything you're robbing them.
I see your inability to listen, read and understand what is being said is typical of majority of customer service these days and plays a huge part in people being screwed over.
How many more times do I have to say it, but I wont, I suggest you go back to my last post and read it. I see some people actully do understand what I am saying.
Learn to read what I am saying and not what you think I am saying.
If they had been nice to me and had not cut me off and instead demanded another £25, then I would have no reason to slag them off, Product is good, but like most comapnies the customer service is crap as they proberbly pay minimum wage and just get anyone the agency sends.
Loyalty counts for nothing and is a mythical part of consumerism. Companies like to give the impression they really do care, but they do not, Virgin do not care that I have just signed up a new contract with them, that I have been with them since they took over NTL, that I have paid in full every month for past 7 years, that they have taken around £6,000 off me in that time, so when they cut me off for just an extra £25 that they thought I should have paid, then Yes I will rant about it.
If so, I can see your argument. If they agreed to spread the payment then cut you off when you didn't pay that one off payment in one go, they should not have suspended your account.
However, I would certainly not describe the company as 'money grabbing'. Obviously, you've not had any dealings with Sky! If the scenario I have painted above is correct, it is more likely to be an administrative error or misunderstanding.
I'm guessing that includes line rental, and I've always known Virgin aren't exactly good value. But still, my God. Oh well, if you can afford it, fair play
Mine SHOULD be in 3 figures, but I have a partner discount. Which is why I have the package I have. Had I not had that discount I wouldn't be on the package I'm on!
What's a partner discount, is it some business thing? How much of a discount do you get?
So therefore after those one off charges, they can't afford it. So why apply those changes be it in calls, TV or whatever.
Unless it was calls that were needed for legal reasons even then that wouldn't push the bill up that much.
Nothing to do with Fanboyism.
Simple Equation
Has Package
Cant Afford Package
Wants to keep package
doesn't want to pay for package in full.
Sorry no matter what way you look at it, extra charges have been occurred by the customer. The whole risk vs reward thing doesn't wash on me.
Hey I have £100 of weekly shopping here Sainsburys, but i only want to pay like £20 today then another £20 next month if Thats Ok...... doesn't work.
VM have a credit limit but its not to be abused.