UPDATE
Dear Mr Law
Case No: 212133585 - Law v Virgin Mobile
Further to our recent correspondence we have received confirmation from the company that they are settling this claim in full.
The adjudicator has no power to award any more than what the customer claims on the application form. Accordingly, the Company has 28 days to comply with the settlement. Should the Company not comply with the settlement please contact CISAS.
However, please be advised that we will not be able to investigate against the Company before the 28 day period has passed, ie on or before 01/11/2013.
Should we not hear from you after this period, we will assume you are happy with the resolution and will close our files accordingly.
For anyone interested...
Dear Mr Law
Case No: 212133585 - Law v Virgin Mobile
Further to our recent correspondence we have received confirmation from the company that they are settling this claim in full.
The adjudicator has no power to award any more than what the customer claims on the application form. Accordingly, the Company has 28 days to comply with the settlement. Should the Company not comply with the settlement please contact CISAS.
However, please be advised that we will not be able to investigate against the Company before the 28 day period has passed, ie on or before 01/11/2013.
Should we not hear from you after this period, we will assume you are happy with the resolution and will close our files accordingly.
For anyone interested...
I wish to complain about my daughter’s Virgin mobile
account: account number FAxxxxx
I am a longstanding Virgin media customer. Some time ago was
called by Virgin and offered a £5pm sim card for use in the mobile of a family
member. I accepted the offer telling them my daughter needed a sim. At no point
during this sales call was I informed that more than £5 per month could be
spent on this mobile account, not even when I asked them to confirm £5 was all
I would pay.
My 13 yr daughter used the sim card and was indeed charged just
£5 until March 2013 when I was charged
March £15.35
April £100.10
May £150.15
These charges were due to large numbers of texts being sent
(see April breakdown attached). I was not aware any these additional charges
were made until I checked the account in May. I had received no alert that such
ludicrously large bills were being run up and nether had my daughter.
While the possibility of such charges was perhaps included
in the small print of something I signed subsequent to Virgin’s phone sales
pitch, my view is that Virgin failed adequately to alert me – even when
prompted - either to the £125 credit limit on that account or to the
possibility of such vast bills being run up by my daughter. Had I been made
clearly aware of the possibility of such bills when I agreed on the phone to
take the sim, I would not have done so.
Indeed I had believed – based on what I was told over the phone when I agreed
to take the sim – that no more than £5per month could be spent (I assumed,
based on what I was told, that once £5 limit was reached no more texts or calls
could be made that month).
After discovering these huge bills, I subsequently switched
my daughter to a new Virgin £15 unlimited mobile tariff. I made this arrangement
over the phone with Virgin. I was assured by a Virgin employee that this tariff
was unlimited and that no such additional charges could now be run up, as happened
on the old £5 tariff. I was quite explicit that such charges were exactly what I wanted to avoid in taking
the new account.
In fact, I discovered last week that I was then charged as
follows:
May £0.00
(due to credit from previous payment)
June £19.80
July £20.80
August £38.60
Again, the additional charges were due to texts being sent
from the phone (picture texts I believe).
The excess charges on old tariff = 265.60
The excess charges on the new tariff = £34.20
My complaint regarding the new tariff is, first, that I was
mis-sold over the phone the new tariff, and was subsequently unexpectedly
charged an additional £34.20. Moreover, around 6 weeks ago (I cannot provide an
exact date, but July or possibly June) I phoned Virgin to double-check I could
not be charged anything over £15pm and was, to my surprise, told that the new
£15 tariff still had a £125 credit limit attached to it. However, I was told
this was not a problem as the unlimited nature of the new tariff meant no additional charge could be made. I
insisted that they nevertheless reduce the credit limit to £15 so that I was
absolutely guaranteed no additional charge could be made. I was told by Virgin that
the credit limit was henceforth reduced.
As I say, last week I discovered the credit limit on the new
tariff account is still £125, and also that additional charges were made in
June, July, and even in August after I was told the credit limit had been
reduced to £15. The limit still stands £125 today, even after my subsequent
complaint. I was then told it could not
be reduced.
In my view, (i) Virgin failed adequately to inform me of the
charges that could be made on the old £5 tariff up to £125 (no mention
whatsoever was made of this possibility when the sim was sold to me verbally),
(ii) Virgin had a duty to at least alert me to the ridiculously large bills
being run up on this £5 account by my daughter for texts (neither of us had any
awareness that this was even possible), a duty they failed to discharge, (iii)
Virgin mis-sold me the new tariff over the phone, informing me, incorrectly,
that the unlimited nature of the new tariff meant that no such additional
charges could be run up, which in fact they were, (iv) Virgin failed to reduce
the credit limit on the new tariff, even after they said they had, allowing still
further additional charges to be run up.
I have formally complained to Virgin about this matter and
was told in a letter dated 30th August (Ref: COM100152869) that they would not
reimburse me the additional charges made on the old tariff. I have since been
told they will not reimburse additional charges on the new tariff (attached
email).
Comments
Recently I had complaint made again HSBC, with FCS. Although I won the case, I still feel defeated due to the cumbersome process and amount time & stress.
In general, you can expect call centre employees to be barely trained or untrained, hounded relentlessly to make sales (often under threat of losing their job), ludicrously poorly paid and to be spending a good portion of thier day being abused by the customers who call. I am not suggesting that people don't complain. They should certainly. I only suggest that folk have a little mercy on the phone jockey they talk too :)
1) Thirteen year old girls with cell phones.
2) Sales representatives.
Get your daughter a pay as you go phone, give her 15 pounds a month and make her recharge the account through a convenience store top-up. Do not attach the account to any credit card.
I too went to CISAS. EE's "legal" response was a complete mess; if that was done by a qualified lawyer I despair of university education.
Unlike R Karlmarx, I feel triumphant that I won and it has put me in a good mood for days.
14
Complained to CISAS and lost the case. Don’t know what to do please help any ideas
thanks
If you leave the light on when you leave the house you don't phone the electric company for a refund.
My second issue is since February I have been getting numerous Nuisance Calls per day, even though I have registered with TPS having communicated with them before this began to happen. Virginmedia take advantage of Direct Debit I have for years and take what they please, I am not having this, please HELP!!!
This is recently updated with optic fibre whatever speed I never asked for.
I tried to cancel via website my account in 2014 - after few months they told me - it was not possible - they kept stealing my money from my credit card monthly.
Then I tried via email - they said yes they did but then few months later they asked me to call them so they can only do via phone.
i did that in june 2015 and they confirmed that they canceled my account. but today i see they are still stealing again my money.
They are taking my money without my permission or legal right and without intending to return it.
I was patient enough to call then and they confirmed - they canceled few times.
Today 12 months later they are still stealing my money.
I'm planning to reporting to government.
July 18th mislaid my debit card at Victoria Station, reported it to bank 1.30am next morning once I got home off the coach.
Call centre ended the call. I switched of 'phone, but call somehow still continue for 10 1/2 hrs.
Virgin Mobile 'allowed' call to continue, even though no-one on the line. They now charging me just over £177 for that call, insisting that personal calls over 10 hrs are 'normal'.
Complaint to Virgin Mobile. Mothing
Complaint to Bank - they contacted VM who said I was liable.
More complaints to VM who said they'd contact me back. (Didn't)
VM suspended my 'phone since I was over my credit limit (Due to erroneous charge)
Complained to VM - call centre gave me some more minutes & 'unsuspended' me, said 'Deadlock Letter' in post
Have cancelled Direct Debit with VM since they have habit of taking money first, even if it's under investigation (Keeping payments on phone, just cancelled DD for phone usage).
Call centre in Phillipines. Contrary to Data Protection Act. EU has list of countries that Data is allowed to be shared with. Phillipines isn't on it.
Paul H
CISAS is a disgrace, they do not protect the consumers. I had approached them for my phone line issues against Virgin Media and CISAS dismissed the case for lack of evidence.
Totally biased verdict. Waste of time !!
I will escalate to CISAS when time comes.
I have cancelled my Direct Debit, then requested PAC code - Number now successfully transfered to another provider on a better deal and UK ONLY Call Centres. Virgin Mobile, in my view was the very best Mobile Company in terms of Market Leading Customer Service...but as more and more of its provision moved off-shore, the worse the wore they have become.
DO AS I HAVE DONE. CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT. GO ELSEWHERE. PERHAPS WITH NO CUSTOMERS THEY WILL LEARN.
It seems like Virgin Media right across the board are all nothing but employed career criminals robbing all their customers blind and making up high bills, lying and forcing people to pay their monthly high charges, or they display threatening, rudest behaviour.
They have done this to me and I am at the stage now, where I am going to sue them through CISAS, as I have more than enough proof that is what they have done to me and so many of their customers via all the bad reviews I've read on so many websites. Just put it like that VM will not be getting away with robbing me of well over £1000, as the charges have accumulated to now. No way will VM be getting another penny out of me, it's those career criminals who owe me the extortionate money back.
Thank you for all your bad commnents on here everyone, that will suffice to get VM sorted out once and for all. They think I'm backing down, then they have another thing coming. I do live up to my username. LOL!