Virgin media late payment charges

[sarahlou85x]

I have been a customer with virgin for about 5 years now probably more actually and in that time I must have incurred a late payment charge of £10 every single month due to getting behind a month and never being able to afford the full 2 months at once does that make sense?

 

I am aware I should have gotten up to date etc etc. I do pay the bill every single month with a late payment applied. My bill is never less than £90 a month so I qould consider myself a valued customer, they have had 1000's off me!

 

Even if it has been my own fault on occassion I must be owed a fortune and I want it back!! I emailed them to ask for a list of all my charges from when I joined them including none direct debit fees as I believe these charges are unlawful and do not reflect the true cost to them for me going over drawn.

 

Here is my reply

 

Dear Sarah

Thank you for your mail about late payment charges applied to your account. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused.

On the 6 June 2007 Ofcom launched a review, over the whole telecommunication industry, of additional charges that can be added to customers’ accounts.

Additional charges can be added by service provides to customers accounts above those they already pay for the service.

These charges should only be as much as it costs for the provider to chase and collect late payments.

These additional charges can be due to a number of factors, including:

• Not paying by direct debit;

• Late payment;

• Having service restored after it has been restricted or suspended following late payment; or

• Early termination fees (terminating a contract within the specified minimum contract period).

After receiving a number of complaints about these additional charges, Ofcom have decided to launch a review. They will look into a number of factors regarding these charges including customers’ awareness of them and their attitudes to these charges. The review will consider whether the charges or their levels are unfair and what action, if any, is necessary.

We have given Ofcom, the regulatory body for Virgin Media, a breakdown of our charges and at the moment they are happy with the current charge.

Sarah, if there's anything else we can help with, please send us a >letter, e-mail or call our team for free on 150 from any Virgin Media >phone. Alternatively, you can call us on 0845 454 1111* from any other >phone. We're available Monday to Sunday from 8 am to Midnight and we'll >be happy to help. > >Kind regards, > >Julian >Customer Service Advisor >Virgin Media > >*For details about how much it costs to call our team, visit our website >at virginmedia.com/callcosts.

 

What could my next step be? Even if I only get a couple of 100 back I will have succeeded!

 

Thanks for reading..

[silverfox1961]

Hi

I would be writing back to VM and ask them to break down this statement

 

These charges should only be as much as it costs for the provider to chase and collect late payments.

 

No way does it cost £10 to press a few buttons. Ask them for a full breakdown of the actual costs incurred. They won't!