Moving house with Virgin Media

Ok, I know I am not the only one (already read some stories) but just for my peace of mind I am going to post my story here just to release some steam.

I moved house in the beginning of August and it's 10th of September now and I still don't have my internet and TV working, even though ....quote... Moving with Virgin Media couldn't be easier ....end quote...

First time I called I was given installation date of 23rd of August ... very long wait, but what else was I supposed to do. I waited patiently and on Friday 20th of August I had a letter from Virgin Media waiting for me saying that due to some construction work they need to do my installation date had been cancelled... HANDY as I just that day had asked Monday off from work so I can be home for the installation.
I called Virgin Media and I was told that they would call me back as soon as possible to let me know when they can continue with the work.
to my surprise few days later they did call me and advised me that my new installation date would be 8th of August... Over a MONTH later from my moving date. I talked with the installation department and they told me that no construction work was actually even required that it had been a mistake. You can imagine how happy (not!) I was to hear that.... but I figured that as long as I just get the internet working I can wait a few more days (or two weeks in this case).

Well... 8th of September came and I had taken again a day off from work. I sit home the whole day as engineer was supposed to come between 1 and 6 (very handy time frame for us working people...). Time passed and when it was 20 to 6 I called Virgin Media to ask about the installation. I spoke with a young girl who replied to me (with a bit of an attitude) that the engineer still has 20 minutes, so I should just be patient.

Well, I waited 20 minutes patiently and when 6pm came I was absolutely fuming. I called Virgin Media and asked why the engineer had never showed up. The man I spoke to to my surprise and shock horror told me that MY ACCOUNT HAD BEEN CANCELLED. He didn't know why and said he would pass me to someone else who could help me... The next person I spoke to (Lisa I think) told me that my account had been cancelled because someone in my address (I live in a flatshare) had opened an account with Virgin Media. She couldn't explain how it was possible and why no one had bothered to contact me about it. She said she would pass me to someone who would be able to help... Then I was passed from one person to another for a GOOD HOUR and then the story started to get quite funny and very unprofessional. One person was determined that my account was cancelled because the construction work was never finished, one person said that my account wasn't even cancelled... I asked to talk to the supervisor of the customer service department for several times and every time I was just passed to another useless customer service rep. who would platantly lie to my face. One especially rude one was a woman called Nadine who was absolutely shocking to a paying customer on the phone... Imagine a chavy accent telling you that you have made up the whole story...

ANYWAYS, after endless calls yesterday and today (and a few feedback forms) I contacted directly the chief executive of Virgin Media and now I have had someone who seems to know what they are doing to look into this matter.

Hopefully I will have my internet and TV working next week but I am not holding my breath.

Virgin Media has always been good to me in the past but this experience has really made me wonder...

IMPORTANT THING TO CHECK!!

When they have fitted the services at ur new houses check they have also moved ur billing over also. I moved in Nov 2008 and in March 2009 recieved a nasty letter from them stating i owed them £147 cos i hadnt paid since Nov 2008. They claimed i had cancelled my direct debit and my argument was where had they been until now to contact me as i hadnt noticed because i had been busy sorting other things out.

Turned out that they had forgotten to transfer the billing over, the DD was active in the bank but not at Virgins end. This also happened to a mate of mine who moved last year in Basildon in Essex so check str8 away.

Don't you look at your Bank Statements ? You would soon have realised that Virgin were not taking your DD if you did

i dont get bank statements i do it all online..

+ as i said i had just moved so i was sorting everything else out + i was involved in a car accident and was getting over that.

Oh dear oh dear and during all the time you were recovering from your car accident you never went online to check your banking ?

Sorry - that really does not make sense - unless you were in hospital the whole time from November to March.

I'm afraid I don't have much sympathy.

In reply to a post by goldenoldie:

I'm afraid I don't have much sympathy.

Wow, what an ass.

Is it reasonable to expect everyone to continually monitor their bank statements to make sure companies are actually charging them? No.

It's Virgin's responsibility to ensure that they are being paid, not yours.

Is it reasonable to expect everyone to continually monitor their bank statements to make sure companies are actually charging them? No.


erm yes actually it is.....whats wrong with you..?

Surely everyone wants to know that what's supposed to go out of your bank account goes out ?

Don't you check that your salary / pension or whatever is paid every month ?

Could I have your bank details please so I can boost my pension with a monthly contribution from you ?

I can see both sides of the argument here. I check my online statement regularly but only to ensure that nothing is going out that I don't expect to go out. I must admit I don't check to see that the gas, electric, phone, broadband etc etc have been payed. maybe I should : )

Steve

dont worry about it matey, theres always one ass in in a crowd and we found ours here