My wife died suddenly 18 weeks ago. I contacted Virgin Media to have our phone and broadband account transferred from her name to mine. The company's website said I could make changes to the package at the same time, so I asked to be upgraded to the half-price deal.
I was told that I would have to cancel my existing contract and wait 14 days before signing a new contract. This will leave me without an internet connection and I can't work from home. Another option is to transfer the existing package into my name and change it after 30 days. I chose the latter.
Thirty days later, I logged into the app only to hear my late wife's name, which upset me. Web chat brought me back to the grief line. I had to explain again that my wife had died. I was told that I could not be upgraded to a cheaper package because the system had not yet been updated to my name. They promised to call me back in three days. It never came.
Three weeks later, the web chat redirected me to the bereavement line to repeat the whole process. I was again told that the system had not been updated. It's been three months since I first contacted Virgin and I are paying double what I need. I can't stand the call this is a line of grief and the need to explain once again that my wife has died.
GP, Eli
Corporate incompetence or callousness? It's almost the same thing when they drag you out for so long and painfully.
Not to mention having to repeatedly tell strangers about your wife's death, you'll have to pay £69.21 for your old, now unnecessary contract, instead of the £33.99 a month for the package you asked for.
Virgin called you a few hours after I contacted you and accused the new staff of giving you incorrect information. It turns out that you should have been able to close the old account and start a new trade with a potential service interruption of an hour rather than 14 days.
A spokesman said: “We apologize for the delay in resolving his request. We have now agreed on a new package with a lower monthly cost.”
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