Hi Southyjd,

I'd just reread your posts again as I had missed / misunderstood the post about payment.

I think that it is unreasonable to demand payment for an unseen bill (unless you are able to confirm this online) which could have a number of items that are not agreed.

Making a demand for an immediate payment when you have not reached you limit is extreme, how can they expect you to pay for something at such short notice. Typically you would have longer. (at least 7 days by DD)

I think that you should investigate the Virgin complaints process and follow this.

If you fail to make any progress i.e. get an apology and compensation for this additional distress - there are some key words which I cannot recall - you should escalate this to a senior executive.

You could also complain to a regulator (FSA / FOS / OFTEL?) and the OFT.

Sparky

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/4344890/Virgin-the-worlds-best-passenger-complaint-letter.html

I can see the benift of warning the customer that they approaching the limit but to say if no payment is made today you will be cut off in 24hrs i think is unfair. They were going to cut the line in 24hr with no payment. It says there is a credit limit but does stipulate how much or that there can be a limit. The can base a credit limit on a credit report but i have a perfect credit score, never missed a payment.

I have checked with BT and they have no credit limits.

Good advice for future yes and thank you all.

Hi Southyjd,

I think that they have taken a responsible approach to this to warn you of the bill and that there is a risk that the services would be stopped if you went over their limit (250) which you were getting close to.

I think this is a good thing rather than leave it till the due date for the bill to warn you of this in case you weren't aware.

However I do agree that should not have to make any payment until you reach the limit (though this is up to you) as services could be stopped.

The other posters have also given some good advice that would help you save money on your calls without tying you into any deals. I have to speak to customers in Oz and use a google found cheap call operator on my home phone or mobile for a fraction of the price (or free on my inclusive mobile call minutes).

I've found skype less reliable.

Worth bearing in mind for any other calls that you could be saving yourself a lot of money rather than just using calling direct from virgin (though we all appreciate that the cost was not your first consideration).

I hope it all works out for him (and you with Virgin)

Sparky.

Hey,

I spend around £100 a month with them anyway. Yes i have doubled it but only due to circumstances. I understand they want to protect themsleves but if they look at it case by case there are valid reasons why the international calls being made to such a high volume. The calls to oz were never that high before, only recently due to the illness, also there is no point taking out the extra package due to they are back on monday because he needs to be in hospital here. We have a perfect record or paying on time and in full.

If i was splitting up with a partner and he/she were make huge phone calls to get back at me i would understand they would want payment becuase it may never be paid, but its not like that at all. He is ill and they both need support.

Their terms state

"

1. Enforce credit limits on you for any of Virgin Media Ltd's and/or Virgin Media Entertainment's and/or Virgin Media Payments' charges (to the extent that Virgin Media Ltd and/or Virgin Media Entertainment and/or Virgin Media Payments believe is reasonable in the circumstances), restrict the level of services we and/or Virgin Media Entertainment provide to you, only allow certain methods of payment and/or suspend some or all of the services at any time when you reach the limits until we have received the full payment of any charges you owe under these agreements "

Im sorry but what conditons do they want from people so they can carry on using their services without being haselled becuase of a larger bill than normall, especially after everything was explained to them.

Hi Southyjd,

sorry to hear about your daughter's boyfriend's struggles with lymphoma etc.

Our daughter is just back from being over in Oz for 1 year and we just spoke with her on Skype and it didn't cost us anything - skype to skype over the PC. Never used a phone at all in the whole year. Crystal clear reception, in fact I have a very good friend in New Zealand and we speak all the time and sometimes I think he's only in the next room. You may like to give it a try, I've also now started trying their service which allows me to phone via Skype to real landlines etc and it's brilliant as well, but you do have to pay for that, I think I pay about £7.99 a month (unlimited calls worldwide) or something like that, again v.easy to use. Hope it may help with comms while getting through this rough patch.

Hope you get sorted with Virgin in the meantime!

All the best.

Thanks

Zimstar

Hi

Actually I can understand Virgins point on this. This is to protect them from consumers building up a large account, which they then refuse to pay. All they are asking you for is a sum to reduce the outstanding on your account. This may well be in line with Virgins terms and conditions, so complaining to Trading Standards may prove fruitless.

Do Virgin now offer a service to reduce the cost of international calls? My sister has a home phone, with talktalk, where she can make phone calls to Australia at certain times for a certain length of time for FREE. I think BT also offer a reduced rate service for making international calls.

There are also some international dialing service providers that can reduce the cost of your calls. By using this, you can use your existing phone and don't have to change number or pay any additional contract fees. You dial the international number via a service, where you input an access code. I note that calls to Australia using this method, can reduce the call from a landline to 2p per minute. Do a google or cheap international calls. moneysavingexpert has a guide on this. This will save you a load of money.

Huckster

I'd check within their terms and conditions.

Where do i stand with them charging me for a bill not even due?

Dear Sir/Madam

On the 6/10/09 I received a phone call in the morning to say “ Due to the high usage of overseas calls to Australia and your bill now approaching £200 we need a payment of £110 to keep your account running, otherwise all services will be cut. You have nearly reached your credit limit” Apparently there is a credit limit of £250. I pay for the phone line I should be able to use it how I wish and how much I wish.

Needless to say I was appalled. I have paid on time and in full by direct debit every month since being with you. I tried to explain to the caller that the reason why I am making all of these phone calls is due to a family crisis in Australia and I need to keep in contact. My daughter’s Boyfriend has suspected lymphoma so obviously I am extremely distressed for them both. After this was explained no exception was taken at all and the fact I will be cut off if I did not pay was repeated.

This months bill is due to come out on the 12^th for around £89 which of course will be paid so I can still see no reason why there is cause of concern to my account. I have been forced to pay a bill I have not even seen yet! This is totally unacceptable. I am considering going to trading standards with this incident.

Later my son rang up and tried to ask some questions. The result was you would not cut off all services just international calls which of course are what I need to make considering the circumstances.

You are leaving me no option but to cancel all services due to the service I have received from yourselves. As far as I can see I have been a perfect customer, taking out a reasonable package and paying on time and in full every month.