Cancelling virgin media

Gordie1Gordie1 Posts: 6,993
Forum Member
Hi there, could someone please advise me here.

I am currently on broadband only with virgin media.

They are charging me £25 per month for basic internet
£5 for paying by bank transfer
£1.75 for a paper bill

last month i had a problem and forgot to pay my bill, so this month (monday just been), i paid in double to cover the bill, and the next.

The next day i was disconnected, i called (Tuesday) and was told it would take 5 working days for payment to be received by them, so that could be next monday and it wouldnt be reconnected by then.

However in the meantime i was using my phone as a wifi hotspot and am getting over a 10mb connection and its unlimited, thats fine for my needs, so now i think im going to leave.

So i called them back up monday, the guy i spoke to said i couldn't speak to anyone at retentions as they were closed for the day, (this was 9pm ), but said they would call me back at 13.30 next day (wed), i told him i wanted it put on my record that i wanted to leave in one month, he said he did that.
next day, no call came, i was busy last night, so have just called them up today.

Now they are saying that i cant leave until the money has cleared and that they wont take any calls i have had with them as notice, they say my account is locked and any notice will begin when the account is unlocked, and that will be when the money is recieved, the only way for me to know is to keep checking the internet or keep calling, then they will process my leaving from the date i call them.

Surely if i call a company and say i want to leave, they have to take my notice from when i call?

Basically they are trying to extract another weeks money out of me, way to keep a customer!!!

I really dont understand how when i pay my rent, electricity, gas, tv license, council tax, water all in this manner, is it in their account 10 minutes later, but virgin are claiming 5 working days.

Anyway, i MIGHT have been convinced to stay if they offered me a faster connection, for less money, but there aint a chance now.

I already pay the £15 per month for my mobile phone package and the unlimited data is included in that, so i could basically save myself £31.75 by cancelling.

Anyway rant over, do you think im being unreasonable to demand i cancel a month from monday just been?

Comments

  • John146John146 Posts: 12,926
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Gordie1 wrote: »
    Hi there, could someone please advise me here.

    I am currently on broadband only with virgin media.

    They are charging me £25 per month for basic internet
    £5 for paying by bank transfer
    £1.75 for a paper bill

    last month i had a problem and forgot to pay my bill, so this month (monday just been), i paid in double to cover the bill, and the next.

    The next day i was disconnected, i called (Tuesday) and was told it would take 5 working days for payment to be received by them, so that could be next monday and it wouldnt be reconnected by then.

    However in the meantime i was using my phone as a wifi hotspot and am getting over a 10mb connection and its unlimited, thats fine for my needs, so now i think im going to leave.

    So i called them back up monday, the guy i spoke to said i couldn't speak to anyone at retentions as they were closed for the day, (this was 9pm ), but said they would call me back at 13.30 next day (wed), i told him i wanted it put on my record that i wanted to leave in one month, he said he did that.
    next day, no call came, i was busy last night, so have just called them up today.

    Now they are saying that i cant leave until the money has cleared and that they wont take any calls i have had with them as notice, they say my account is locked and any notice will begin when the account is unlocked, and that will be when the money is recieved, the only way for me to know is to keep checking the internet or keep calling, then they will process my leaving from the date i call them.

    Surely if i call a company and say i want to leave, they have to take my notice from when i call?

    Basically they are trying to extract another weeks money out of me, way to keep a customer!!!

    I really dont understand how when i pay my rent, electricity, gas, tv license, council tax, water all in this manner, is it in their account 10 minutes later, but virgin are claiming 5 working days.

    Anyway, i MIGHT have been convinced to stay if they offered me a faster connection, for less money, but there aint a chance now.

    I already pay the £15 per month for my mobile phone package and the unlimited data is included in that, so i could basically save myself £31.75 by cancelling.

    Anyway rant over, do you think im being unreasonable to demand i cancel a month from monday just been?

    Sounds to me that Virgin are being pretty reasonable, as far as they are concerned you have an outstanding debt on your account, they say it will take 5 days to clear, when that 5 days is up and your account is 'live' again then perhaps you can cancel.
  • Gordie1Gordie1 Posts: 6,993
    Forum Member
    John146 wrote: »
    Sounds to me that Virgin are being pretty reasonable, as far as they are concerned you have an outstanding debt on your account, they say it will take 5 days to clear, when that 5 days is up and your account is 'live' again then perhaps you can cancel.

    Clear?.....there is no "clear", its a bank transfer, i pay everything i have (with the exception of car insurance) this same way, including paying money to my partner who is working away at the moment, the money is transferred within seconds or 2 hours if there is a hitch, where does a whole week come from, i think Virgin are inventing this to get an extra weeks money from me.

    I may have stayed with them....maybe, but not now.
  • dearmrmandearmrman Posts: 21,435
    Forum Member
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    Bank transfers can usually take anything from seconds up to 3 - 5 working days. We do a lot of bank transfers at work and not everything is instant.
  • albanyalbany Posts: 59
    Forum Member
    Gordie1 wrote: »
    Clear?.....there is no "clear", its a bank transfer, i pay everything i have (with the exception of car insurance) this same way, including paying money to my partner who is working away at the moment, the money is transferred within seconds or 2 hours if there is a hitch, where does a whole week come from, i think Virgin are inventing this to get an extra weeks money from me.

    I may have stayed with them....maybe, but not now.

    I think they mean it could take a few days for the payment to be reflected on your account. The customer services people will not have access to VirginMedia's bank account.

    In any case, if you paid all the utilities you mentioned by direct debit you would be saving enough to get your broadband effectively free.
  • artnadaartnada Posts: 10,113
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    The way you are paying for this, If you paid by DD (£60 per year) and stopped getting paper bills (£21 per year), £81 per year total, you could effectively get your broadband for free for three months per year!
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