Poor service and possible scam going on.
Complaint
Morwenna Wilson
Country: United Kingdom
Having been unable to receive or make calls for nearly two weeks, on Thursday 3rd January 2008 I telephoned the network support line for help.
I got through to a gentleman initially who said I had telephoned the wrong number and he could not 'put me through'. After telephoning again and waiting through a lengthy automated service, I was put through to a lady (in India and heavily accented) presumably in the technical support dept who asked me to hold to ask a colleague to see if they could help. After holding for approximately 5 minutes, I put the phone down and rang again. I went again through the automated service and was put through to a gentleman who said I came to the wrong number despite having rung the number I had been asked to ring before. I rang again and was put through (after another 4 minutes) to a lady who went through a series of questions as to why my phone could not be working. I told her the line rang from an outside line but not in the house. Furthermore, there was no dialling tone from either my old reliable phone or from the new phone I had bought (to check that it was not my phone that was faulty). Thus, it was impossible to make or receive calls. The lady warned me that I could be charged £75.00 for an unnecessary call-out charge, until I informed her that I had tested the line with three different working phones and still no joy. She, therefore, booked me an engineer.
All week I have been trying the phone in the hope that it would come back to life. To no avail. An engineer was booked to come today - 10th January 2007 between 4pm and 7pm but they would ring to confirm. No call came. I telephoned them my mobile phone - my land line remained dead. I waited in till just before 5pm and rang the 'Technical support number' for Virgin Media as listed on Directory enquiries, on the Internet and on Virgin Media forms. The gentleman told me he only dealt with B.T. phones lines and not Telewest or Virgin phone lines. Then he said he dealt only with Virgin Media. I told him he was a Virgin Media customer. He insisted I was with B.T. and could not help me as he only dealt with cable. When I told him that it must be cable as I was with Virgin Media, he told me he did not deal with cable but only British Telecom customer. This is bizarre because Virgin Media and British Telecom are two entirely different companies and you don't generally work for both or say you work for the other when it suits you.
He gave me another 'Technical support number - Premium rate number' for Virgin Media phones. The gentleman who answered said he only dealt with cable broadband and not telephones and gave me a number to ring in India and did not know why his number was given also despite it being registered with 118118 as 'TECHNICAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT FOR VIRGIN MEDIA'. I then phoned the same number I had rung in India last week. I went through the automated service and waited for my call to be answered.
An Indian lady answered - no surprise. I asked her to check on the time that the engineer would be calling. Without going through to the department I had been sent to last week she informed me with little or no detail about me that no engineer had been booked to come out for me. Furthermore, she had no record of any of my calls or attempts at getting through last week and again on Monday this week. I told the lady that I would be cancelling my contract as I had not had the use of my phone for almost three weeks and my calls to try to rectify it were at a premium rate, which should be reimbursed. As soon as I put my mobile phone down (which is not a Virgin Media phone), Lo and Behold my land line phone gave a little 'peep'. I lifted the receiver and the land-line purred and I was able to ring out.
I feel I have been given the run around and that the phone line was deliberately disconnected for no other purpose than to force the customers to ring the PREMIUM RATE technical support numbers which they warn charge at an unspecified amount before they allow you to commence your complaint. THIS IS FRAUDULENT.
I got through to a gentleman initially who said I had telephoned the wrong number and he could not 'put me through'. After telephoning again and waiting through a lengthy automated service, I was put through to a lady (in India and heavily accented) presumably in the technical support dept who asked me to hold to ask a colleague to see if they could help. After holding for approximately 5 minutes, I put the phone down and rang again. I went again through the automated service and was put through to a gentleman who said I came to the wrong number despite having rung the number I had been asked to ring before. I rang again and was put through (after another 4 minutes) to a lady who went through a series of questions as to why my phone could not be working. I told her the line rang from an outside line but not in the house. Furthermore, there was no dialling tone from either my old reliable phone or from the new phone I had bought (to check that it was not my phone that was faulty). Thus, it was impossible to make or receive calls. The lady warned me that I could be charged £75.00 for an unnecessary call-out charge, until I informed her that I had tested the line with three different working phones and still no joy. She, therefore, booked me an engineer.
All week I have been trying the phone in the hope that it would come back to life. To no avail. An engineer was booked to come today - 10th January 2007 between 4pm and 7pm but they would ring to confirm. No call came. I telephoned them my mobile phone - my land line remained dead. I waited in till just before 5pm and rang the 'Technical support number' for Virgin Media as listed on Directory enquiries, on the Internet and on Virgin Media forms. The gentleman told me he only dealt with B.T. phones lines and not Telewest or Virgin phone lines. Then he said he dealt only with Virgin Media. I told him he was a Virgin Media customer. He insisted I was with B.T. and could not help me as he only dealt with cable. When I told him that it must be cable as I was with Virgin Media, he told me he did not deal with cable but only British Telecom customer. This is bizarre because Virgin Media and British Telecom are two entirely different companies and you don't generally work for both or say you work for the other when it suits you.
He gave me another 'Technical support number - Premium rate number' for Virgin Media phones. The gentleman who answered said he only dealt with cable broadband and not telephones and gave me a number to ring in India and did not know why his number was given also despite it being registered with 118118 as 'TECHNICAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT FOR VIRGIN MEDIA'. I then phoned the same number I had rung in India last week. I went through the automated service and waited for my call to be answered.
An Indian lady answered - no surprise. I asked her to check on the time that the engineer would be calling. Without going through to the department I had been sent to last week she informed me with little or no detail about me that no engineer had been booked to come out for me. Furthermore, she had no record of any of my calls or attempts at getting through last week and again on Monday this week. I told the lady that I would be cancelling my contract as I had not had the use of my phone for almost three weeks and my calls to try to rectify it were at a premium rate, which should be reimbursed. As soon as I put my mobile phone down (which is not a Virgin Media phone), Lo and Behold my land line phone gave a little 'peep'. I lifted the receiver and the land-line purred and I was able to ring out.
I feel I have been given the run around and that the phone line was deliberately disconnected for no other purpose than to force the customers to ring the PREMIUM RATE technical support numbers which they warn charge at an unspecified amount before they allow you to commence your complaint. THIS IS FRAUDULENT.
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