Greetings Again Dear Readers, Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. The claim against Virgin Media was finally issued on 25th March 2008, was deemed as being served on 27th March 2008, giving Virgin Media until 10th April 2008 to reply. I phoned the Court up at 15:45 hrs on 10th April 2008 and was informed by the Court clerk that nothing had been received. The following morning (11th April), I filed a request for judgement at the Court. Saturday morning (12th April) I receive a letter from the Court informing me that Virgin Media (the defendant) filed an Acknowledgement of Service on the 11th April 2008 and that they have indicated their intention to defend part of the claim. I am beginning to think that ordinary people like you and I have to comply with a different set of laws from those that large corporations with lots of money have to comply with !! As far as I am aware, a deadline is a deadline, nomatter what. So, it will be very interesting to see what happens next!!!

Sorry about the glitch in the date readers, Virgin isn't the only company I'm taking on over these damm payments !! LOL Anyway, its corrected now !

Virgin Media PO Box 333 Matrix Court Swansea SA7 9BB 18 March 2008 Hello ******, (USING MY FIRST NAME AGAIN HERE, What's that I remember about familliarity breeding contempt) ??? Thanks for your recent query received on 06 march 2008, regarding the recent issues you experienced with the payment handling fee. I am sorry for any inconvenience or distress this matter may have caused you. After reviewing your account I would now like to respond to the points raised. All customers who do not pay their account by direct debit are charged a monthly payment-handling fee, currently (GBP) 5.00 There are significant costs in managing other payment methods each month so we encourage customers to pay by direct debit, which is usually easier and more cost-effective for both parties. however, we do respect some customers wishes to pay by other means and therefore offer a choice. We are also committed to offering monthly billing, which often makes household budgeting easier for consumers. Nearly three-quartes of our customers already pay by direct debit, which is now available to everyone. Many companies have a policy of offering direct debit paying customers a preferential rate. this is usually described as a "Direct Debit Discount" or similar. However, the net result is the same; customers not paying by direct debit pay more. We would prefer to be open and honest with our customers, clearly labelling this price difference as a charge on the bills of non-direct debit paying customers. Thanks for taking the time to express your concerns. I hope my letter has helped. Kind regards James Allen Virgin Media. Notice?? They STILL haven't justified their charging regime, and the tone of their letter is beginning to lead me to believe that they think that I'm some sort of retard, and not to be bothered with !! COUNTY COURT PAPERS ISSUED AGAINST VIRGIN MEDIA ON THURSDAY 20th MARCH 2008 NOW perhaps they'll take me seriously !!

Virgin Media PO Box 333 Matrix Court Swansea SA7 9BB 07 March 2008 Dear Mr ****** ****** Thanks for taking the time to contact us. We're just writing to let you know that we've received your letter regarding the recent problems you've had. We're really sorry that you're not currently happy with the service you're getting from us. I can assure you that when we contact you we'll do everything we can to ensure that's put right. We'll try to get back to you within the next two weeks to help you resolve your complaint but we're really busy at the minute so it could take a little while longer. Please just bear with us and we'll be with you as quickly as we can be. Regards Customer Support Team Virgin Media The usual load of Boloxnia that I've come to expect from Virgin Media !! Notice the bit about "we're really busy at the moment"?? A first-class example of HOW NOT to treat the people who pay your wages !!! LOLOL

VIRGIN MEDIA MATRIX COURT LLANSAMLET SWANSEA SA7 9BB 1st March 2008 DEADLINE 18th March 2008 Account Number:- ******** Dear Sir/madam, I would draw your attention to my previous correspondance sent to you concerning your late payment and non - direct debit charges, copies of which I have enclosed for your convenience. These charges are unfair as they do not reflect the true cost of processing my payment. It is simply a method of increasing your revenue. You will be aware that the law states very clearly that a penalty charge is unlawful and as such not payable. I have REPEATEDLY requested that you provide me with evidence to the contrary if you refute this, which you have singularly failed to do. In the absence of such evidence, any charges made against my account will be met with a demand for repayment and subsequently a claim through the county court should you ignore it. With regard to your "so called" preferred method of payment, I am doubtful as to the security of letting a company handle the processing and charging of bills, and subsequent debiting of funds from my bank account without due revision from myself. I would not allow the cashier in a store to take money from my wallet unsupervised, and I feel that the Direct Debit process is tantamount to this, something which I will not be penalised for. I have also enclosed a copy of my latest schedule of charges, showing the amount I require you to return to me, which is £393.00. I require you to repay this money to me by cheque, within 14 days of receipt of this letter. I will deem you as having received this letter on Tuesday 4th March 2008. You will, therefore have untill Tuesday 18th March 2008 to comply with my request. I believe this is more than enough time for a company of your size and resources to comply. In the event that you do not comply to my request, you will, regretably, leave me no alternative other than to seek redress through a County Court action against you. There will be no extension to this time limit. Yours sincerely, Mr *.*.******

Dear Readers, Had to put this one on the back-burner for a while, because of my on-going business with Messrs Barclay. This will explain the gap between my previos missif to Virgin Media and my next. READ ON DEAR READER !!!

Customer Concern Concord Business Park Threapwood Road Wythenshawe Manchester M22 0BA 27 July 2007 Dear ****** (HERE THEY USE MY FIRST NAME AS IF THEY'RE MY FRIENDS.... Bit Bloody Familiar) Thanks for your letter dated 29 may 2007 about your request for virgin Media to supply you with copies of your bills for the last 6 years. I would have liked to talk to you about this but I have been unable to reach you as i have been advised that you have been unavailable when I have called. I am sorry for the length of time it has taken for me to answer your letter and that you have had to write to us to resolve this complaint. I am also sorry you believet the penalty charges for customers who do not pay by direct debit and our penalty charge for late payment is unfair. The request you sent to us on 16 April 2007 for copies of your bills was received on 3 May 2007. These were then sent to you on 12 June 2007, which was within the 40 day allocated timescale. There are significant costs in managing other payment methods each month and we encourage customers to pay by direct debit, which is usually easier for both parties. As stated in your terms and conditions under section F4 C: Virgin Media payments will provide you with payment handling services and unless you pay by direct debit you agree that Virgin Media Payments shall charge you a separate payment handling charge each month for processing your payment. If you would like to start paying by direct debit and save £60 per year I will be happy to set it up for you. It makes paying your bill completely hassle free and you'll receive your bill about 10 days before the money is debited. So, in the unlikely event you have any queries you'll have plenty of time to contact us. Also, in relation to the late payment charge please refer to section F3: You must ensure that your payments are received by Virgin Media by the due date for payment shown on your bill. If you do not pay your bills on time, you will be liable to interest or other charges for your default. We may also charge you the full amount of any bill and you may lose any discount we have given you. We will also suspend or cancel the services and charge you the costs of debt recovery proceedings to recover any debt you owe under this agreement. Therefore the charges that have been applied to your account are justified for payments that were late on the following bill dates: STATEMENT APPLIED REASON 7 January 2007 2 January 2007 No payment received for Decembers bill 7 April 2007 2 April 2007 No payment received for March bill 7 May 2007 3 May 2007 April bill not paid in full 7 June 2007 2 June 2007 May bill not paid in full 7 July 2007 3 July 2007 June bill paid late Prior to these dates there have also been late payment charges applied for reasons as stated above. I appreciate this may not be the answer you were looking for, however these charges are part of our tariff and will not be refunded. if you woukld like to have a chat about this I am available between 10am-5pm, Monday-Friday on 0845 650 3131 extension 6150. Kind regards Julie Adams Customer Concern

Customer Concern Concord Business Park Threapwood Road Wythenshawe Manchester M22 0BA 26 June 2007 DEADLINE:- 10 July 2007 Dear Miz White, Thank you for the copies of my account you sent, recieved on 15 June 2007. I would like to point out that you are again in contravention of the Data Protection Act 1998. I asked, in my letter to you, dated 16 April 2007 for copies of my account going back 6 years. You have only sent 3 years worth of copies. With the limited information supplied by your company, I have re-calculated the sum I require you to repay, which is £238.00 I have repeatedly asked you to justify the charges your company levies on customers who do not pay their bills by direct debit. This you have singularly and repeatedly failed to do. I would like to point out that I have made enquiries of every banking company in the United Kingdom. and NONE of them make any charge whatsoever for processing a bank giro payment. With this information in mind, I believe your so-called payment handling charges are nothing more than a scheme to extract a non-existant extra charge from your non direct debit paying customers. I have enclosed for your convenience a spread sheet setting out the payments you have taken from me and the dates they were paid. Bearing in mind that you have failed to comply with the provisions of the Data Protection Act for a second time, I have had to estimate the amount I have paid for the 3 years that you have not supplied notes for. I would be obliged if, in future, any dealings your company may wish to conduct with me are carried out by letter. I have no means of keeping a record of any telephone conversations. I require you to refund this money to me by bank cheque, and not as a credit to my account. I would expect you to make payment to me within the next 14 days. I believe this is more than enough time for a company of your size, with dedicated staff. I will deem you as having received this letter by 28 June 2007. You will, therefore, have untill 10 July 2007 to comply with my request. Yours sincerely,

Customer Concern Concord Business Park Threapwood Road Wythenshawe Manchester M22 0BA 11 June 2007 Dear Mr ****** Thank you for your request for a copy of the notes on your account which was received on 3rd May. If you have any queries with reference to the log notes enclosed then please write to me at the address below: P.O.Box 268 Wythenshawe Manchester M22 0JW I appreciate you taking the time to express your concerns and trust this has clarified our position. Yours sincerely Gemma White Customer Concern

Virgin Media PO Box 333 Matrix Court Swansea SA7 9BB 07 June 2007 WE'RE SORRY TO HEAR YOU'RE UNHAPPY Dear Mr ****** Thanks for the letter you sent to us on 6th june 2007. We're on the case and a member of our team will be in touch as quickly as possible. It normally takes us less than 10 working days to reply. But we wanted to let you know that, right now, we're a little busier than usual so it may take us up to 15 working days to get back to you. Once again, I am sorry you had cause to complain, we will be in touch shortly. Thanks for taking the time to write to us. Yours sincerely Ryan Pursey Customer loyalty & resolution manager Virgin Media

VIRGIN MEDIA MATRIX COURT LLANSAMLET SWANSEA SA7 9BB 29 May 2007 Deadline 12 June 2007 Account Number:- ******** Dear Sir/Madam, On 16 April 2007, I sent you a request under the Data Protection Act 1998, to supply me with copies of all my bills for the past six years. The 40 day deadline expired on 28 May 2007. You are now in contravention of the afore- mentioned act. Because of your blatant inability to comply with the law of England, you leave me no alternative but to estimate what payments I have made to your company. As stated in my letter dated 21 March 2007, I believe that your penalty charge for customers who do not pay by direct debit, and your penalty charges for late payment do not reflect the true costs incurred by your company and are, therefore, unlawfull under Common Law, Statute and recent consumer legislation. Because of your inability to supply me with the requested statements, I am requesting that you repay the sum of £410.00 forthwith. (£5.00 X 12 Months = £60.00, £60.00 X six years = £360.00, plus £50.00 in late payment charges, Total £410.00. I expect this money to be repaid to my account within the next 14 days. I believe that this is ample time for a company of your size, with dedicated accounts staff. Yours sincerely

VIRGIN MEDIA MATRIX COURT LLANSAMLET SWANSEA SA7 9BB 16.04.2007 28.05.2007 40 day deadline Data Protection Act 1998 Subject Access Request Dear Sir/Madam Account Number:- ******** Please supply me with a complete list of my account charges and/or a complete list of monthly statements relating to the above account since 1st, January, 2000. I enclose the statutory maximum fee of £10 , [Cheque No 202712] , for which I require a receipt . You have 40 days in which to comply. Furthermore, if I discover that you have levied disproportionate penalties against me, then I shall be reclaiming them, and also reclaiming the enclosed £10 Data Protection Act subject access request fee. If there is specific information which you require in order to satisfy yourself as to my identity, please let me know by return. However, please note that the above address is the one which you normally use to communicate my private business to me and which you have hitherto found to be acceptable. Yours faithfully,

Ref: 417595 Customer Concern Concord Business Park Threapwood Road Wythenshaw Manchester M22 OBA 18 April 2007 Dear Mr ******, Thank you for your recent letter received 23 March 2007, regarding the payment handling charge on your account. I would like to apologise for the inconvenience this issue has caused. With regards to our payment handling charge, there are large costs to manage accounts that do not pay via direct debit each month and unfortunately we can not cover all these costs. We aim to provide a value for money service we do need to pass on some of our administration costs to our customers who pay using other methods than a direct debit. The majority of companies add these administration charges on to their customer's bills. However they tend to mask the charges under a different banner. We prefer to be completely honest with our customers on what they are paying for. If you wish to set a direct debit up on your account, please contact our customer care department on 150 free from your Virgin Media line. Yours sincerely, David Botham Customer Concern Advisor Customer Concern

Virgin Media PO Box 333 Matrix Court Swansea SA7 9BB 27 March 2007 WE'RE SORRY TO HEAR YOU'RE UNHAPPY Dear Mr ****** Thanks for the letter you sent to us on 26 March 2007. We're on the case and a member of our team will be in touch as quickly as possible. It normally takes us less than 5 working days to reply. But we wanted to let you know that, right now, we're a little busier than usual so it may take us up to 10 working days to get back to you. Once again, I am sorry you had cause to complain, we will be in touch shortly. Thanks for taking the time to write to us. Yours sincerely Ryan Pursey Customer loyalty & resolution manager Virgin Media

Greetings Dear Readers, Well, "The Game's Afoot" !! Enjoy !!! For those of you who are unfamiliar with my previous tales, I have posted the links for your convenience: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclays-bank/15987-druid-barclays-bank.html?highlight=The+Druid http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/barclays-bank/133344-druid-additions-fees-tale.html?highlight=The+Druid VIRGIN MEDIA MATRIX COURT LLANSAMLET SWANSEA SA7 9BB 21 March 2007 Account Number:- ******** Dear Sir or Madam, I am writing to protest about your penalty charge for customers who do not pay by direct debit. I think this charge is unfair and does not reflect the true cost of processing my payment. It seems to me simply a way of increasing your revenue. Provided I do so on time, it is my right to pay my bill however I choose. Why should I pay more just because I don't use your preferred payment method? I urge you to reconsider this unreasonable charge. But if you insist on continuing with it, I would expect you to demonstrate that the charge is justified. You will be aware that the law says penalty charges must be fair. I do not believe that this is the case with yours, but look forward to hearing your explanation. Yours faithfully,