A widower from Ely has endured a distressing four-month ordeal with Virgin Media, being forced to repeatedly explain his wife's death while the company failed to transfer his account or offer him a cheaper deal.
A Painful Process Begins
Eighteen weeks after his wife's sudden death, the customer, known only as GP, contacted Virgin Media to transfer their shared phone and broadband account into his name. He also requested to move to a cheaper package, as the provider's website indicated this was possible during such changes.
Instead of a straightforward process, he was given incorrect information. He was told he would have to cancel the existing contract and wait 14 days without an internet connection before signing up anew, which would have left him unable to work from home. The only other option presented was to transfer the existing, more expensive package to his name and wait 30 days to change it.
The Cycle of Incompetence
Choosing the latter option, GP waited the 30 days. Upon logging into the Virgin Media app, he was distressingly greeted by his late wife's name. Customer service via webchat directed him back to the bereavement line, where he had to explain his situation all over again.
He was then informed he could not switch to the cheaper package because the system had not been updated to reflect his ownership of the account. A promised callback within three days never materialised. This cycle repeated itself three weeks later, with another webchat directing him to the bereavement line and another explanation of his wife's passing.
For three months, he was left paying £69.21 a month for his old contract instead of the £33.99 package he had requested, effectively paying twice what was necessary.
Apology and Resolution
The situation was only resolved after the Guardian's Consumer Champions column intervened. Virgin Media called the customer within hours of being contacted by the newspaper to apologise and blame the failure on new staff providing wrong information.
The company clarified that he should have been able to close the old account and start a new deal with a potential service interruption of just one hour, not 14 days. A Virgin Media spokesperson stated: "We apologise for the delay in resolving his query. We've now agreed a new package at a lower monthly cost."
This case highlights a severe failure in corporate bereavement protocols, causing unnecessary financial strain and emotional distress to a customer during an already difficult time.
