Get me and RichieLee out of our Virgin contract!

[funke_munke]

Me and another member of this forum (RichieLee) just moved into a new house with two other people in Cathays, situated uber close to the center of Cardiff. We decided to get tinternet with Virgin due to it being so cheap and other people we know getting decent service. However we seem to have been struck with the 'insanely crap' bug that some people seem to be getting, and now four of us are sharing a 400kb line... Bit of a pain in the arse when you are paying for 4mb. We have signed up to a 12 month contract and desperately want to get out of it, all this was done last friday. Anyone have any idea if theres any chance in hell of us getting out of it at all? HELP!


Lies, bribery and the threatening of beatings are not below us!
DAMN YOU BRANSON!


Cheers

[0iD]

Tell me 'bout it In the same boat myself. Tried complaining that the service they provide hardly constitutes the use of the term 'Broadband'. It's more like snailband.

I hate VM, with a passion!

[jimbouk]

Did you buy over the phone or internet? You could try distance selling them. Phone them up and tell them you are sending a letter confirming you are cancelling the contract under the distance selling regulation (maybe doesn't apply but give it a go), send the letter registered post and cancel the direct debit with your bank.

[dave87]

Have you spoken to them to see if there is anything obvious wrong? I mean, give them a chance to fix it, if not, then bail. Worth a try imho.

[funke_munke]

If you read the other thread about Virgin in this forum posted by 0iD, you'll see it's a freaking pot luck nightmare with Virgin, which we didn't know about until we ordered the service. Also they are offering £85 for an engineer to come out and check the line... Which we don't have and wouldn't pay even if we did out of principle.

HOWEVER.

The sales rep who came round and sold it to us, did say that if we wanted to cancel we could lie and say we are moving to an area where cable isn't present (aka my old house which is down in our contract) and they theoretically have to cancel it. I only just remembered him saying this. Wether it works or not I don't know but I think we are going to try it! Anyone else have any easier suggestions in the meantime?

[TMD]

there is a 30 day money back guarentee...if you only sorted it out last friday...just call them up and tell them you aren't happy with the service...sorted!

[muddyfox470]

If you only signed up last friday, you have a 7 day cooling off period don't you? Or is this before the line is activated?

Either way you can complain that you are not getting the service you are paying for, and say they are breaking the contract if you know your line can support more than that.

Ian

[ikonia]

Let me get this straight......you've gone for a broadband package because it was the cheapest.....signed up for a 12 month contract, had poor performance for under a week and want to "get out of" your contract.

Is that the facts ?


What steps have you taken to resolve this ?

Either way you can complain that you are not getting the service you are paying for, and say they are breaking the contract if you know your line can support more than that.

No you can't. The ability to of a line to "support" more than that is very subjective, that is also not the deciding factor. You need to look at the terms and conditions of a contract very closley before signing up to one.

there is a 30 day money back guarentee...if you only sorted it out last friday...just call them up and tell them you aren't happy with the service...sorted!

Can you post a link to this, or even better quote the terms and conditions of this money back promise in the contract you sign ? That would be interesting reading.

[Blitzen]

Regardless of terms and conditions, if you buy anything of this nature there is ALWAYS a 'Cooling Off Period' where you can cancel, penalty free if you are not happy. It is usually either 7 or 14 days.

Seeing as how it was only installed last Friday then you would almost certainly still be in the timeframe to allow you to do this.

Phone them, tell them to poke it, cancel any direct debits, job done!

[Grey M@a]

There are four of you sharing the line? Is anyone hitting the cap of the download limit they imposed a few months back? If you hit more than 2gb in certain hours which I am assuming 4 of you will be they cap your line to deter you from downloading. They class it as their fair use policy due to those of us in the "high bandwidth users"

The 4mb line will cap out at about 580kb/s anyway. The 10MB lines were capping out at about 900 - 1100kb/s and the 20mb lines hit 2000+ so what's the problem with your 4mb line? Running within the limits of the line from your 400kb/s. If there are four on the line try bumping up to the higher lines You will be very lucky to get out of this contract due to "poor speeds" as you put it as your line is running fine for a 4mb line.

[5cupa]

do u have a link to anymore info on this bug. interested to read up on it

[TMD]

Can you post a link to this, or even better quote the terms and conditions of this money back promise in the contract you sign ? That would be interesting reading.

can't find the link on the website...but when i got my internet installed last month, in all the blurb they send you there was a letter headed "Your right to cancel" and it said the following:

"Dear Customer,
You recently entered a consumer hire agreement with Virgin Media and we would like to remind you that you have a right to cancel the agreement if you wish. You can do this by completing this form and either posting or taking it to Virgin Media at the above address. You have SEVEN WORKING DAYS (starting from the day after the contract is made) to cancel. You will lost this right to cancel if you allow us to install any equipment or you start using the services.

If you have received any equipment under this contract before cancellation, you are responsible for returning it to us at your cost. If we do not receive the equipment back from you, we may arrange for collection from your home at your cost.

In addition to your statutory rights, we offer a 28 day money back guarantee. The 28 day money back guarantee is available to new customers and existing customers taking a new service. Please call us on 0845 454 1111 within 28 days of service activation to cancel and we'll refund the 1st month's rental/package charge and any installation charge. You will only be charged for transactions (e.g. calls, text, purchases, service upgrades) not included in your package. Your statutory rights are not affected."

Tried to take a photo of the letter but it didn't come out clearly enough...

[TMD]

There are four of you sharing the line? Is anyone hitting the cap of the download limit they imposed a few months back? If you hit more than 2gb in certain hours which I am assuming 4 of you will be they cap your line to deter you from downloading. They class it as their fair use policy due to those of us in the "high bandwidth users"

The 4mb line will cap out at about 580kb/s anyway. The 10MB lines were capping out at about 900 - 1100kb/s and the 20mb lines hit 2000+ so what's the problem with your 4mb line? Running within the limits of the line from your 400kb/s. If there are four on the line try bumping up to the higher lines You will be very lucky to get out of this contract due to "poor speeds" as you put it as your line is running fine for a 4mb line.

i think the 4mb gets capped once you hit 750mb after 4pm. The 20mb is a 3gb limit after 4pm

[Grey M@a]

i think the 4mb gets capped once you hit 750mb after 4pm. The 20mb is a 3gb limit after 4pm

Yep thats it, now imagine four people on a line they are going to hit 750mb in minutes so I think their issue's are the throttling of the line not the poor speed of the virgin service. I hit my 3gb limit on my 20mb line and it caps down to a 5mb line speed which hits 500-600kb/s

[TMD]

Yep thats it, now imagine four people on a line they are going to hit 750mb in minutes so I think their issue's are the throttling of the line not the poor speed of the virgin service. I hit my 3gb limit on my 20mb line and it caps down to a 5mb line speed which hits 500-600kb/s

Very true. Also the way people have things setup such as a bit torrent program say, can affect the whole speed. If everyone is set to 5k upload...should speed things up a little.

[peterb]

If the line is only 7 days old, remember it can take 10 days for the line training period to complete before the final line speed stabilises.