An Open Letter to CISAS and Virgin Media
Case Number 212140893
CISAS – Thank you for your letter of 27th March 2014 confirming you have rejected my claim for compensation and an apology from Virgin Media. You have asked that I advise you on or before 8th May 2014 whether I accept or reject your decision. I reject your decision, and here are some of the reasons why:
Virgin Media stated to you that ‘the service was fully installed onto the customer’s Mac Book laptop on 16th December 2013. The connection was tested via an Ethernet cable, it did not connect wirelessly as this is the customer’s responsibility.’
Virgin Media’s statement is untrue. Although I was in the house on December 16th 2013 when the engineers arrived, I left to travel to meetings in London while the engineers were installing the TV and broadband services. I took my Apple Mac Book into London with me – so it would not have been possible for the Virgin Media engineers to connect it to their Superhub router with an Ethernet cable as they say they did. Furthermore, my Apple Mac Book doesn’t have an Ethernet connection on it, so the Ethernet cables subsequently provided by Virgin Media on December 30th 2013 cannot be physically connected to my Apple Mac Book.
Virgin Media states that ‘broadband has always worked on a wired connection’. Virgin Media’s statement is untrue. On several occasions when I telephoned Virgin for technical support, even though we had a computer directly connected to the Superhub it still wouldn’t access broadband without the Superhub being reset, and we often had to reset the Superhub several times in any one day.
Virgin Media states that it ‘cannot support a 3rd party router’, even though the temporary fix installed on December 30th 2013 and the subsequent temporary fix installed on the 14th February 2014 both rely on third party equipment, namely a d-link router. I’m still unsure why I should accept a solution which relies on equipment that Virgin Media says it does not support?
There are other inconsistencies in their defence. Don’t get me wrong, I expect Virgin Media to defend their position, and I don’t expect them to resort to lying to you.
In most of my telephone dealings with Virgin Media the staff have been friendly. They’ve been rude about each other on occasion and they’ve been civil to me. Over the telephone they have acknowledged that a) their service has not been adequate and b) they have acknowledged that on several occasions they’ve not done what they said they would (escalated matters, returned phone calls etc). The engineers who were sent to site have also been friendly, although some of their proposed solutions (including leaving an ethernet cable trailing from an upstairs bedroom all the way down the stairs to the TV) were dangerous and impractical. I am really disappointed that Virgin Media has seen fit to be untruthful in their written defence. I’m also disappoint that CISAS has seen fit to believe Virgin Media unquestioningly, even though independent review sites such as TrustPilot rate Virgin Media so poorly.
In their letter to me dated March 28th 2014 Virgin Media say ‘We’re disappointed we couldn’t reach an amicable resolution.’ I too am disappointed, but based on the fact that Virgin told lies in its defence to the adjudicator, and the adjudicator didn’t challenge any of the discrepancies between us, I am not surprised.
I have no further recourse via CISAS and I have more pressing business than to pursue Virgin Media further. This has been a fascinating lesson in how the odds seem stacked against the consumer, and I hope that by publishing my earlier blog post and this response to your adjudication, I can at least highlight that Virgin Media is a company willing to lie to the adjudicator in the event of a complaint about the service it provides.
Update
Given the attention this post is getting – I want to add something further in the interests of being balanced and open. I let Virgin Media’s CEO office know I was going to complain to the adjudicator, and I told Virgin Media I was seeking compensation of £1,000 and an apology. Virgin Media then offered to credit me three months off my bill. I declined, and they increased the offer to five months. I said if they would confirm that offer I would withdraw my complaint. Virgin Media then emailed me to say they would credit my account for five months of service charges, but not the whole bill. I responded saying that did not reflect what I thought we had agreed and they stuck to their guns. At that point I declined their offer, which may have been foolish given the farce which has continued to play out. Apologies for not including this beforehand – on reflection I think it is relevant.
Nice one Doug
Virgin on the ridiculous about sums them up. They are only interested in extracting as much cash as they can for a shitty service and then resort to telling a pack of lies to try and make it look like you’re somehow at fault. Hang on maybe you are at fault, you invited them to become your Broadband supplier, ergo it’s all your fault. Nice one Mr Branson another tipperty top company bearing your brand logo.
Strike a blow for the little people young Snoopster!
Steve
Hi Steve. Many people will think I was crackers to go this far. I’ve had a lot of doubts along the way – and let’s face it, this is only broadband – there are far more important things to be dealing with eh?
Nevertheless – it has been an interesting experience to be involved with and I hope that by sharing it – others may think twice before getting involved with a company that is prepared to lie to the adjudicator. Lest we forget, I took this right to the top of Virgin Media before going to the adjudicator – I think that says something interesting about their company culture?
…but would you work there?
Hi Ken. Based on my experience – no – absolutely not. My dealings have gone right to the top of the organisation, and if Virgin Media deems it OK to falsify information at any level, and particularly via the CEO’s office – that tells me everything I need to know about how they do business. I appreciate you asking the question.
Thanks Doug – it was a serious question though, as this is a great example of where the consumer brand experience affects employment choices, albeit an extreme one.
I concur Ken – I took it completely seriously, apologies if I didn’t give that impression. I think you are right, and I think this is a good example of just how closely the employer/employee/customer experience are linked. Cheers – Doug
No apologies necessary old bean, just wanted to make sure you didn’t think I was being, god forbid, flippant! I think this goes deeper than just a “simple” consumer experience, as the way they have behaved, for me, really displays their true values as a company. I had a quick look at their careers pages, and found a values part http://careers.virginmedia.com/about/our-vision-values.html. This is the real challenge when setting company values – are they really embedded, or are they something snappy (or not so snappy!) drawn up by the marketing intern and slapped up on the website? I suppose if I was looking for a positive, at least their values don’t contain the word “collaborative” *shudder*
Hi again Ken. More good stuff thanks. I too checked their values out – and one of them is:
Straight Up. We play it straight. Honest and decent, we want to do the right thing for the customer and believe that what is good for profit can be good for people and the world we live in.
Well they certainly blew this one out of the water in this case!
You should make your own website off the back of this and allow it is a platform to name and shame the worst service providers.
How did I get here? I’m currently being shafted by Virgin Media and wondering if its worth pursuing CISAS based upon the above?