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WARNING TO NEW VIRGIN MEDIA CUSTOMERS – YOUR ACCOUNT COULD BE SUSPENDED SUDDENLY WITHOUT ANY NOTICE WITHIN YOUR FIRST 6 MONTHS OR MORE, PERHAPS EVEN STRAIGHT AFTER YOUR INSTALLATION:

As a brand new customer of Virgin Media, I ordered the top package for TV (XL + movie channels with V+ box), telephone (XL) and broadband (XXL up to 50Mb/S). On the scheduled installation date the engineer arrived and I rechecked the services I was getting when the engineer even said that I could expect speeds of around 40Mb/S on my up to 50Mb/S broadband service.

When I noticed my broadband speeds were slower than 20Mb/S (sometimes much less at busier times), I immediately rang Virgin to to complain to find I was in fact only given the 20Mb/S service instead of the 50Mb/S that I’d ordered. I demanded the 50Mb/S service that I’d asked for, but initially the operator said, “there’s nothing I can do”, this was because the 50Mb/S has different equipment and another engineer visit was required. I had to complain to a manager when I finally got told I could be upgraded to the 50Mb/S because of the mistake, but I had to argue not to pay the £35 installation charge again that I’d already paid once, but the manager agreed to credit this back to my account. Unfortunately I had to wait almost 2 weeks for another engineer to visit to upgrade me to the 50Mb/S service when it all went completely wrong from there on.

The 2nd engineer visited and installed the new equipment for my 50Mb/S broadband service and all was okay for literally JUST 5 MINUTES when I suddenly couldn’t connect, I rushed out, but the engineer had already gone. My Internet wasn’t connecting at all, I tried everything to no avail and then I called Virgin to complain. I was shocked to be told that I’d now gone above my credit limit and therefore my account had been suspended when I’d literally only made £10 worth of chargeable telephone calls. My bill was due by direct debit to be paid in a couple of weeks from this time and therefore my account should have been in perfect order. I complained, but the operator said that I would have to pay a £20 activation fee for the 50Mb/S that hadn’t even been mentioned or agreed at the time of sale. I decided to complain later as I needed my service up and running very urgently, so I reluctantly paid on the promise that my service would be back up within 2 hours. I repeatedly stated how urgent it was and that I needed my Internet back up quickly and was assured I would be back on-line within the 2 hours, I asked for my service back immediately as it wasn’t my fault, but I got nowhere.

Unfortunately I had to go out that evening to a scheduled appointment, but on returning home I found my Internet still wasn’t back on over 12 hours later. I then decided to watch TV, only to find my TV had been suspended too, including my recorded series which had been lost because of this problem and they won’t have been recorded either. I called Virgin again to demand answers as to why even after paying the agreed £20, I still wasn’t on-line, but customer services was shut and technical support were extremely unhelpful in every way telling me that my account was suspended and there was nothing they could do. I was treated like I hadn’t paid my bill when this certainly wasn’t true. I’d done absolutely NOTHING WRONG and Virgin Media were totally and utterly out of order suspending my account in every respect without any warning or notice. I demanded to speak to a manager to no avail and in fact technical support were quite rude throughout, I think they assumed I hadn’t paid my bill and had heard it all before.

It’s been absolutely disgusting the way I’ve been treated as a new Virgin Media customer and I’ve read on-line about numerous complaints about other new customer’s who have also had their accounts suddenly suspended without any warning because they’ve gone over a credit limit which wasn’t even specified by Virgin in the first place. Then these unfortunate customers are expected to pay money immediately to get their services back on without any apologises what-so-ever, in fact they’re treated like they haven’t paid their bill. After making this unexpected and unscheduled payment, customers often then they have to chase Virgin and sometimes get messed about waiting without the services they’re paying for without an offer of compensation for the extreme inconvenience or even an apology. What’s more, what if someone hasn’t budgeted to pay Virgin Media all of a sudden when they suddenly decide to suspend their account for this reason? Customer’s might well have the money to pay Virgin on the agreed payment date, but then through absolutely no fault of their own, they’d have to make do without any services for quite sometime if they can’t pay then, this is absolutely scandalous.

At the time of writing, I still haven’t got any Virgin services what-so-ever (I’m using a friend’s Internet to write this) and I’m absolutely itching to speak to their customer services as soon as they’re available at 8am when I will be making a formal complaint to a senior manager, especially when I’ve already paid £20 extra to get my services back on that most certainly wasn’t agreed at the time of sale. I will also be demanding compensation for losing my recorded programmes and all the inconvenience as well as being treated like a piece of ‘dirt’ by their technical support department like someone who hasn’t bothered to pay their bill.

PAY YOUR BILL OVER 2 WEEKS IN ADVANCE OF THE DIRECT DEBIT DATE SAY VIRGIN MEDIA, THEN WAIT UP TO 24 HOURS FOR THE SERVICES TO BE RESTORED:

The following day at 8am I called Virgin Media to demand answers. I got told that I’m still over my credit limit. I explain that I was told that by paying £20 I would be turned on within 2 hours, but I got told this was in fact wrong and that I’d have to pay my entire bill that isn’t due for over 2 weeks to get my services back on. This is absolutely scandalous as nothing has been mentioned about doing this and the e-billing system clearly states that this payment is due in over 2 weeks by direct debit. Luckily I had the money available although I was budgeting for it to come out of my next pay, but I still haven’t got my services on after paying it in full and I’m now told it could be 24 hours or longer without any compensation what-so-ever. I’m now waiting to speak to a manager to make a formal complaint, but I’m forced to wait for one to call me back (if they ever do), it’s disgusting the way I’ve been treated and anyone else in a similar situation. I wouldn’t mind, but absolutely nothing has ever been mentioned about paying a bill early or credit limits.

Virgin are literally holding people to ransom over providing their services when they’ve done absolutely nothing wrong, treating them like they haven’t paid their bill when it’s not even due for weeks. I would have thought much better from a company like Virgin Media, I’m shocked how they can get away with this. Virgin seriously need to review and change their system to clearly warn people about their credit limits at the time of sale. If upgrading a service puts a customer over the limit, they should be asked to pay extra when ordering instead of being unexpectedly cut off literally straight after the installation engineer leaves. If Virgin treat customers like this when a bill payment isn’t even anywhere near due, I’d hate to see what they’re like if you need more time to pay your bill due to financial problems.

MY SERVICE ARE FINALLY TURNED BACK ON, BUT I’M FAR FROM SATISFIED – IMPOSSIBLE CREDIT LIMIT ACCOUNT RESTRICTIONS WILL BE IMPOSED FOR A MINIMUM OF 6 MONTHS SAY VIRGIN:

I managed to eventually speak to a Virgin Media manager after lots of attempts calling their customer services as no-one even bothered to call me back as promised on 2 occasions despite being clearly promised. Every time I called, I had to again listen to the same long recorded message that wasn’t in the slightest bit relevant to myself which I couldn’t even skip, before going through numerous menus. I finally got all my services turned back on around 18 hours after the wrongful suspension in the first place following being forced to pay close to £145 when it wasn’t even due by direct debit for over 2 weeks including an extra £20 that wasn’t even mentioned at the time of sale for the activation of the 50Mb/S broadband broadband service. Apparently my credit limit is set at just £120 when my services already cost £86 a month which leaves me only £34 for telephone calls or extra paid services a month which is absolutely ridiculous, especially when nothing has even been mentioned about this at the time of sale or until my account was indeed suspended. Virgin just won’t increase this virtually unusable credit limit for at least 6 months which is absolutely scandalous and it’s just not acceptable. As soon as my account goes as much as a penny over this very low credit limit, my services will be barred and suspended again where I’d have to go though the whole punishment process of complaining yet again as well as making another unscheduled upfront payment.

No compensation has been even offered for all the inconvenience and stress I’ve been through when it’s entirely Virgin Media’s fault. I’ve for-instance lost an episode of a series I was religiously recording which failed thanks to Virgin’s unjustified and sudden account suspension without any warning, plus I’ve been bored out of my brains without TV or Internet while at home. I had to inconveniently visit a friends home to access my essential on-line services that really couldn’t wait until Virgin decided to reinstate my account that shouldn’t have been suspended in the first place. When they failed to reinstate my services as agreed after initially phoning and paying £20 by card, I had to then wait all night until 8am the following morning when their customer services re-opened again to find out that they wanted a lot more money upfront to reinstate my account because the previous Virgin customer services operator clearly didn’t have a clue what they were talking about. I’m now £20 out of pocket permanently that wasn’t agreed or mentioned at the time of sale. I’ve made numerous time consuming calls to Virgin to sort out the problem that they’ve directly caused. I’ve been ultimately forced to pay a total of £145 that wasn’t even due for over 2 weeks when I would have been paid again, yet the customer services manager amazingly asked me when I could make yet another payment! Remember that some people simply wouldn’t have this kind of money available until the agreed direct debit payment date, they certainly shouldn’t be suspended until then because Virgin suddenly decide to demand it! It looks like I’ve got to keep paying Virgin well in advance to avoid future suspensions. Since Virgin Media have proved that they can’t be trusted, I’ve also got to watch that Virgin don’t try to also take the same payment again by direct debit in just over a couple of weeks at the time of writing when my first bill is really due for payment and I’ll have to watch out for this again every single time I’m forced to make unscheduled advance payments in future to prevent repeated account suspension until my credit limit finally increases after 6 months minimum. Keeping a very close eye on my account which is extremely awkward and inconvenient to say the least. The whole low credit limit situation really isn’t fair or right and should have been made clear when I was originally sold the service!

I’m totally shocked at how Virgin have literally blackmailed me to pay a large amount of money that’s not even due until I get paid next to get my services turned back on at their convenience, NOT mine, plus I didn’t budget for this very early payment. I’ve been punished and treated like I haven’t paid my bill throughout when this certainly isn’t the case. I’ve now written a formal complaint and I will go higher than Virgin Media if necessary until I’m completely satisfied, plus I’m demanding compensation for the stress and inconvenience caused. If anyone else experiences similar unfair treatment from Virgin Media due to imposed credit limits or otherwise, please persevere and continue to complain until you’re absolutely satisfied as this is the only way Virgin Media will ever stop treating their customers in this scandalous and extremely unfair manner.

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This article is my own personal opinion and is without prejudice to Virgin Media or any other organisation. My full legal disclaimer applies to this article, any comments and all other articles on this website.

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