I have always admired the way that Richard Branson managed to control the Virgin group which consists of over 100 small companies and thousands of employs all over the world. Most of the companies in the Virgin Group are based on JV agreements with established brands and Richard Branson normally makes sure each company is managed by the best of the best.
I recently changed my broadband provider to Virgin as I was paying a little to much to my old provider and thought it would be a good idea as it was part of the Brandson empire and should have had a good level of customer service.
Signing up was easy ad as normal they sent out a free modem etc and connected me in less than 6 days (not bad service so far) . The service ran perfectly for 60 days until last week when I got a letter in the post from a debt collection agency!
It turns out Virgin had the wrong bank details and I owed then £42 which if not paid would result in the disconnection of my service. I called the number in the letter which took me to a company called Garlands who deal with Virgin customers.
The girl on the phone explained to me that they had sent an email a few weeks ago that I had somehow missed but it was no problem as I could set up a new direct debit online and continue using the service as normal. On the letter I received it told me I could pay the outstanding debt by Switch or Credit Card which I tried to do but was told by the operator that they don’t accept Switch (the only card I had on me at the time)
After getting nowhere with the operator who was convinced that my letter was wrong I decided to call it a day and call back after dinner to talk with someone who might accept my payment.
By the time I got back and called in the office was shut (again her information was wrong) so I tried to log in and set up the Direct Debit but for some reason I was locked out of the system. I waited a couple of hours and once again tried to log in only to be told I was no longer a Virgin Broadband customer.
On Monday morning I called Virgin Broadband who told me that my service was disconnected, my account cancelled and I have been fined £50 for closing my account within 12 months. I explained to the Virgin Broadband operator that I had called in less than 30 minutes of learning about the bill, offered to pay and due to the incompetency of the Garland agent I could not make any payment. He told me that I was now out of contract and he would transfer me to cancellations for a MAC code which resulted in a 20 minute wait before I had to hang up and go out.
On Tuesday morning I called in and was told I would be called back by a Garlands agent who tuned out to be the rudest person I have ever spoken to EVER! This woman who I understand is called Joanne Appleton told me I never spoke to anyone the previous Friday and that If I had it would have been on her system. She also told me If I never paid up I would be in big trouble and she would make sure I am reported to every credit agency on the planet etc. I explained to her that I was unhappy at her attitude but again I was told I am in the wrong and she was implying I am a lier. Once again I had to leave the call without a resolution to my problem .
Later on Tuesday I called Virgin again and spoke to a girl who was a little more helpful who took payment (BY SWITCH) and told me she would reactivate my account within 7 days. I left the conversation a little happier knowing that something was being done at last.
On Friday I called up for an activation date but was told that nobody had ordered a reactivation and that it would now take 7 - 10 days to get up and running again. I asked the chap to sort the issue and to be fair on Saturday I did get a new order email 24 hours later.
Virgin Media really need to get some communication between departments, train staff correctly and let Richard have a chat with that woman who called me a lier before she destroys the brand reputation anymore.
I will keep everyone posted about the progress of the order and what Virgin have to say!
Popularity: 23%
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:03 am
Sounds like an absolute nightmare!
On the few times we’ve had to call Virgin Media customer service, we’ve ended up somewhere in India and fair play to them, they’ve normally got the matter resolved quickly.
We’ve got an outstanding query regarding our billing though which the last call left us fuming as the rude woman on the other end just shouted and took what sounds like a similar attitude to Joanne Appleton.
Just going to wait until next month to see what the outcome is before trying again…
October 24th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I recentally moved house and was a virgin user, i was told that i would need to reconnect under a new account in my new house. They told me an enginer would come between 8 and 12pm, which i made sure because i was at work on the afternoon, and you guessed no one came. I rang up and they said it was booked in for the afternoon slot, which i know it wasent. Anyway as i still had the old equipment plus cables already installed all i needed was a quick start pack and it would arrive on the tuesday. Took the day off as someone had to sign for it, and you guessed it dident come, they said it was fault with the mail it would come wednesday and you guesed it never, i made 15 phone calls to be told that it had been signed for and registered under someone else, another lady said it will come tomorrow and another lad said i can use my old equipment and dont need to reconnect. Thursday came and it arrived and you guessed they failed to give me a modem the set top box, the CD and a cable was missing so i had to wait until the monday to get the rest. Got the net installed and the television but a week later my landline is not on, just rang again and they said it should be on and i put you through to our faults team, still waiting to get through! VIRGIN YOU ARE PANTS!
December 12th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
Hi. In my case, VM sent me a letter asking if I was moving, because someone had applied for their services at my address. I called them back informing that I was not moving or planning to move. I was assured it would be sorted out. Two weeks later I found my account disconnected, spent 2h on phone trying to sort it out. Operators tried to tell me I applied for disconnection. I had to apply for a cancellation of the cancellation. It didn’t help. I called again, was switched through about 10 different people and then back to the main switchboard. Got so $^%$ angry that gave up and wrote a letter requesting explanation of the whole thing. Now I am waiting… It hasn’t got to the office yet, probably.
December 21st, 2007 at 12:41 pm
Virgin are the most frustrating company to deal with. My wife and I moved house recently and we have spent at least 5 hours on the phone trying to sort out some services (boradband, phone, TV). After 4 weeks of waiting and no service we received a bill for services redered! i could go on and on and detail each frustrating call with these people but we are too exhausted. suffice to say, we will never EVER be using Virgin in our house. BT on the other hand have been excellent, so far!
yours,
annoyed, disgruntled and defeated customers
March 18th, 2008 at 6:29 am
Wow, never thought Virgin was such a company.
July 7th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
When it came to moving out from uni and disconnecting our line, Virgin were nothing but a nuisance, VERY rude on the phone including threats about reporting to various credit agencies. Had always paid all bills in full and on time, I’m never going near them again. Performance was rubbish when initially installed, but was flawless after a few months - but their customers service is the worst I’ve EVER dealt with, a real shock infact.
Avoid.