A result at last from Virgin Media

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To cut a long story short back in July i was told i could have a Virgin Media Freedom Netbook and 3gb dongle for free - needless to say it didnt work out that way and i ended up being charged £15pm for the dongle.

I complained over the phone, i logged complaints via the complaints proceedure on their website and i even logged it via the virginmedia.feedback Newsgroup. I got absolutley nowhere !

Eventually, today i emailed the CEO Neil Berkett - within 10mins of sending the email i got a phone call from one of Neils Representatives, within 5mins of speaking on the phone i got the package that i was promised - Netbook and dongle for FREE.
 
I find it utterly bizarre that companies get away with such things.

They're blatantly not legal, why do they still do it? Surely they're just making moves towards being sued?
 
Ok - The free netbook and 3G dongle I can understand, but why on earth would you think they would pay for your monthly data usage too? 3g ain't cheap and no business on earth would offer to give all that away for free without a very good reason (which I'm failing to see from your thread).
 
Ok - The free netbook and 3G dongle I can understand, but why on earth would you think they would pay for your monthly data usage too? 3g ain't cheap and no business on earth would offer to give all that away for free without a very good reason (which I'm failing to see from your thread).

Use your head a bit, he could be currently with VM for TV/Phone/Internet and they offered this as an incentive to stay?

It's not a case that he's just said "Can I have this for free please?".
 
I got the Freedom netbook and 3g dongle too. When did they say that it was free? The netbook was free when you subscribed to the service, but that was it. At the same time, I got 20mb broadband for £5 less that I was paying.

How did you manage to scam them?
 
Ok - The free netbook and 3G dongle I can understand, but why on earth would you think they would pay for your monthly data usage too? 3g ain't cheap and no business on earth would offer to give all that away for free without a very good reason (which I'm failing to see from your thread).


Ok, if you want the fullish story behind the FREE bit then here it is.
When i initally called the sales team i asked "what extra charges am i going to incur" and i was told "no extra charge". I asked this question several times and again was told the same thing. Towards the end of the ordering process the agent tells me "there will be a £15 per month charge for the dongle" To this i relpy "i am now confused as i have asked several times how much extra is this going to cost me per month on top of my current package and you told me nothng", she appologises. I tell the agent that i no longer want to proceed as i already pay on average £100 for my VIP package and i dont want to pay anymore thats why i asked several times "how much more per month is this going to cost me". I also said "if anything i should get the dongle for free (long shot) due to the amount i currently pay monthly" The agent said she would have to speak to her supervisor and put me on hold - when she came back she said "you can have it for free", i replied " i can have the dongle for free and that means no monthly fee of £15pm" she replied "yes"


So as you can see i was told i could have it for free. I did however have to re-enter into a 24month contract for the rest of my services.


PhillyDee - i didnt scam them in anyway. I went in blind as to what the package of the Netbook inluded. I saw the advert on their website "FREE NETBOOK". I asked the question to the sales agent of what extra it will cost me to be told nothing. Once i found out there would be a charge i told her i didnt want to proceed and merely suggested i should get the 3gb dongle for free at no monthly charge - she got the free dongle at no monthly charged authorised by her supervisor.

All ive tried to do since was to get the deal i was told i could have

It hasnt been as simple as it sounds, it took 15days to get the netbook delivered, i had two failed deliveries both their fault. I had spoken to at least 15 agents and spent around 6hours on the phone. I had numerous failed call backs. I spent 80mins on solid hold on one occasion only to be cut off after a futher 20mins and then having to call back an do it all again.

When i logged the complaint via the newsgroup (8 weeks ago) all i was getting told was that it had been passed to their manager, this was to be their weekly response everytime i requested an update - this brings me to today when i had fanally had enough and i emailed the CEO.
 
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Use your head a bit, he could be currently with VM for TV/Phone/Internet and they offered this as an incentive to stay?

It's not a case that he's just said "Can I have this for free please?".

I'm sorry but I've yet to come across an oncentive that gives away a netbook, a dongle AND free data package. That's just an economically unviable way to operate a business.

I've seen offers to get you to sign up to a monthly 3g package, but not just give it you outright. That's just daft.
 
To cut a long story short back in July i was told i could have a Virgin Media Freedom Netbook and 3gb dongle for free - needless to say it didnt work out that way and i ended up being charged £15pm for the dongle.

I complained over the phone, i logged complaints via the complaints proceedure on their website and i even logged it via the virginmedia.feedback Newsgroup. I got absolutley nowhere !

Eventually, today i emailed the CEO Neil Berkett - within 10mins of sending the email i got a phone call from one of Neils Representatives, within 5mins of speaking on the phone i got the package that i was promised - Netbook and dongle for FREE.



currently NTL have messed up my area, the fix date was 2nd November. im glad at least that someone's getting help.
 
So VM made a mistake and you got what you asked for 3 months later?

Amateur. :P You ring them up and ask for a better deal than you originally wanted, you usually get it off VM. :D
 
What is his email address?
I have been trying to complain about their shocking service for the past few months. (Their ADSL connects to en exchange that is so congested they admit it is unlikely to connect during the hours of 6-10)
 
I'm sorry but I've yet to come across an oncentive that gives away a netbook, a dongle AND free data package. That's just an economically unviable way to operate a business.

I've seen offers to get you to sign up to a monthly 3g package, but not just give it you outright. That's just daft.

As already explained i went in blind as to what the package entailed. I asked a valid question to the agent several times. I made it clear i didnt want to proceed once she told me there was a charge for the dongle. The agent offered it to me for FREE and i accepted that offer - that is the offer i accepted and got upheld.

I didnt ask for anything more than i was told i COULD have.
 
I just sent him a picture of me in a thong, and asked for free 50mb broadband for life :D.

...I didn't really......there is no thong !

Well this could go either way - if your a female then your probably going to get what ever you want, however if your male then you have probably just lost every service you had :D
 
Good on you, I hate it when some company pulls out of something they promised you.

I have had my fair share of problems with VM, now I can't complain with my free 20mb :p
 
Virgin Media are always trying to scam money.

We signed up with VM this summer in the FREE installation period, but was still charged the £30 installation fee. It wasn't until we waited 20 mins to reach the otherside of the world that we could slowly argue this point to the idiots on the other end. This also happened to 4-5 other households we knew. Terrible!
 
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