I thought it’d had all been sorted out after my last set of ranting.
But it would seem not. I’ve now been cut off. Or at least TV and phone have, broadband (oddly) still seems to be working. As before I’m not going to let this rant pollute my main blog, so you’re going to have to click if you want to read more.
But Virgin Media really do suck…
Broadband’s been working, the TV’s been OK, we’ve not really used the phone.
But I’ve had a couple of snotty(ish) letters saying that I’ve not paid my bill. This is really strange as I’ve set up 2 direct debits to pay for the service, I’ve got letters from Virgin that show this, and they’re showing up on my bank account:
Last week I got a final demand pointing out that my credit rating might be at risk. This made me a little cross and I didn’t want to have my credit rating ruined so I got ready to pick up the phone again. You might have read how much I don’t like being on hold to Virgin before, for me it’s really a last resort…
Anyway conversation goes a bit like this:
Me - I’ve got bills, but I’ve got 2 direct debits set up, why?
She - There’s no direct debits on the system
Me - well how come I’ve got these letters? Were they done by hand on a typewriter? And who set up the direct debits I can see on my bank account?
She - I’m sorry sir they’re not on the system
Me - They must be on a system somewhere, or at least have been on a system somewhere at some point. I’m sorry I can’t tell you where. Would you like me to send you the letters so you can see them?
She - But they’re not on the system, you can pay by debit card now if you like
Me - I would not like, I don’t want to pay twice
She - has money come out of your account yet?
Me - not sure
She - well can I suggest you check
Me - good idea, but can you put a note on my account to say that we’re looking into this so that I don’t get cut off, or get a bad credit rating
She - of course
Me - fine, I’ll look into it and get back to you
So, nothing solved, and 2 mystery direct debits floating in the ether…
Last night I went back through all my paperwork and realised that Virgin Media have given me 3 different account numbers. All in the same name. All at the same address. At last I though, I’ve managed to figure out why Virgin can’t sort out my bills. I’ll give them a call and try to clear it up. I wish I hadn’t bothered.
Offshore call centre, so the call was trickier anyway. But basically the upshot of the conversation was that it’s my fault I’ve got 3 numbers. 2 of the numbers aren’t Vrigin account numbers they’re NTL numbers. When I pointed out that NTL doesn’t exist any more I was told that they’re ex-NTL numbers. Anyway the guy was useless and pretty rude. He also told me the account was due for disconnection. I was pissed off and realised he couldn’t do anything to help so I gave up.
Saturday morning I called again. Again through to an offshore call centre. I did start the call by asking if there was a UK call centre open as I thought my problem was particularly complex. The lady assured me that she’d be able to sort it out (I guess they hear that kind of request all the time) - anyway after 15 minutes of repeating the stuff from last night she puts me through to the UK call centre.
35 minutes on hold. I managed to make breakfast, eat it. Go to the loo and write up all of the above. A pretty productive 35 minutes I thought…
Ultimately I got through to someone who seemed to know what they were doing. They could at least get access to all 3 of my accounts. I’ve got 2 broadband ones and a TV and phone one. I feel honoured. Upshot is I had to pay with my card to get reconnected. And I now have 3 direct debits set up with Virgin Media.
The customer experience is just really bad.
Crackunit is 
3 Comments
Hey I used to work for Virgin so thought I’d leave you some advice.
Sorry you had such shit service, sounds to me like they duplicated your accounts - if you need to get through to them DON’T give your account number, give your postcode and house number - this way they will see there are 3 accounts in your name.
if you call before 1pm you’re likelier to get through to a uk centre. To be honest you’re better requesting a manager callback right away with tricky things (or lie and say you were promised one) as all the managers who do these are English and they will be calling you.
Cancel your direct debits at the bank and pay via card for a month or two. This gives the unused accounts time to become inactive. Then set up a direct debit.
Hope this is of use.
Iain Tait - I got a strong sensation of deja vu when reading your piece on Virgin Media. Apart from the bit about direct debit - I didn’t the b******s near my account - it is all pretty close to my own present experience, right down to the three account numbers and the stupid conversation with a lady in India. A pox on Virgin Media.
Hate them. And finally snapped. They are such imbecilic goons I’ve resorted to getting an aerial socket fitted so I can bypass the need for them entirely.
http://ewarwoowar.typepad.com/25letters/2008/12/virgin-media-really-suck.html