Virgin mobile seems to be fleecing my dad!

[shortwoman68]

My father went on holiday to Barbados on 12th March prior to lockdown and was due to return on 13th April however due to lockdown returned on 12th June.  Duriing this time, my father called family and friends in the UK as apart from Barbados this is where many of us reside.

My father used whatsapp to make his calls as they are free. 

 

When my father returned to the UK, he found that virgin mobile had debited £156 from his account when his contract is £8. 

He immediately queried this and was told that it was he made calls to Jamaica.

My father informed them that he did not make any calls to Jamaica as he does not have any reason to (my father does not have any family or friends in Jamaica). 

They stated that these calls were made therefore they were added to his bill. 

 

My father stated that all calls he made were via whatsapp and to the UK or members of family in Barbados and he noticed that he was also charged for some of these even though they are free.

 

Virgin admitted to charging him for some of the free whatsapp calls.  

My father has asked them for an itemised bill however they informed him that there were no numbers listed. 

They also said that that as well as making calls he received calls which my father disputes. 

To date they are still unable to supply the numbers that they state were called and received on his mobile. 

Virgin offered my father £50 as a good will gesture which he declined as they have taken over £100 from him.

 

They have now sent him a deadlock letter stating that my father did not inform them that he was going abroad, which incidentally my father travels almost yearly to Barbados and never has the need to inform them as he does not use international roaming only whatsapp.,

 

he did not look at the international roaming policy or self-care on how to manage his account, which he has never needed to do as he only uses whatsapp when he is abroad, 

 

they state that they have provided my father with full details of his account which is untrue as he is still waiting for the itemised bill they refuse to provide with incorrect charges.   

 

They have rudely concluded that after checking my fathers account they suggest that he manage his account through the self-care service which I am guessing is an online service.

 

My father is 78, has never had a good memory and is not computer literate however he is very careful with the way he uses his mobile phone and uses whatsapp to call even family members in the UK or his landline when he has free hours.   

 

As my father has some bills from last year, he checked them this week and found that virgin mobile has over charged him every month from between £10 to £30. 

 

He is very upset by this and also that he did not think to check the amounts that virgin was debiting from his account on a monthly basis. 

I have advised his to stop his direct debit and change to another provider but where do we go from here.?

 

 

[dx100uk]

1st port of call is to send them an sar.

 

dx

 

[shortwoman68]

Thank you.  Can I ask whether the SARs request covers itemised bills as my father would like to know the numbers he is being charged for as he is also being charged for making free whatsapp calls.

 

 

[dx100uk]

they must fwd everything they hold on him and relating to him..

 

did you read the sar link?

you can specifically add you want xxx info as well as the general sentence already there

 

but whatever numbers they are is surely immaterial in a way, as he says he never made the calls 

even if they give them, what use are they to the claim he did not make the calls ?

 

dx
 

 

[slick132]

You should access the relevant phone bills and go through them carefully to see if YF made phone calls that he was perhaps unaware of.

 

Bills should also show if YF was using data beyond his Contract allowance with WhatsAp pictures, videos, etc. It's easy to make a  phone call instead of a WhatsApp call, and vice versa.

 

Info from the SAR will hopefully give more info.

 

From recent personal experiance, I can confirm Virgin are useless at resolving CS issues. You need to be v persistent to get a complaint looked at by someone higher than standard CS ops who have very little authority to make refunds, award compensation, etc.

[Andyorch]

If you stop the DD this will certainly register a default and trash his credit files..have you set a cap on his account.?

 

Andy

[shortwoman68]

Thank you for all your help, the bank has assisted with this even though they are now saying he owes them more money.  Strange that they are charging him for calls in a country that he was never in and were all made via whatsapp but we are taking this further. 

[dx100uk]

what you mean - he has his money back ok now?

 

 

[shortwoman68]

He explained what happened to his bank who refunded his money

however they did state that virgin may contact him for the money back. 

 

He has further spoken to virgin customer service (as they contacted him) about it and even though they agree verbally, that all the call charges are via whatsapp, they sent him a bill. 

 

They have sent 2 further bills, one for £25 stating that he made a call whilst in Jamaica, where he did not travel to and could not due to covid restrictions and another for whatsapp calls. 

 

Of course, they are being disputed and my father is waiting for a letter in order to send a complaint to CIFAS.

[dx100uk]

CIFAS?

[shortwoman68]

Sorry CISAS