Union busting & disgusting Virgin Media

The odious and disgusting Virgin Media empire has indulged in yet more bullying of its employees by ripping up agreements and derecognising the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

Virgin boss Richard Branson has personally fronted videos in the US attacking workers who want fairness at work.

Trade Union recognition is a basic human right and any decent employer should welcome unions with open arms.

Virgin Media is a monopoly utility in many parts of the Country and is obviously not to be trusted with this power. I hope (and expect) the next Labour Government to break up this serfdom.

Virgin must despise ordinary working people, so I hope the 6 million or so trade union members (and the millions more in non TUC affiliated unions) in this country will remember this when they decide what broadband media they have in their home. Or where they save, travel, bank or holiday.

Hat tip TUC Unionreps e-newsletter. 

Amazon.CON

On the day before the media reported that on-line retailer Amazon was being investigated because it paid no UK Corporation tax on sales of £7 billion I had my own little "run in" with them.

In August last year I bought a Sonic electronic toothbrush from "Amazon" for £65. A few weeks ago it suddenly gave up the ghost and stopped working. Tried to recharge it etc but nothing. Since there is still at least 4 months (arguably 16 months) of the guarantee to go I went on the Amazon web site to find out how to get an exchange or refund.

I then found out that I had actually bought the toothbrush from one of its "third party agents" called "Great Prices". I had to email this agent via Amazon which I did. Amazon then advised me that their email address of Great Prices was not working so my email was not delivered however Great Prices would still see my communication (somehow?). I waited a few days but heard nothing so tried again. Same response, so I contacted Amazon on-line and this reply above came back.

Amazon has completely washed it hands of the matter. They refuse to honour the guarantee of the product that had been sold to me on their site and they are even refusing to give me the contact details of their agent! How on earth am I suppose to try and claim my money back? They have since sent another email refusing to investigate my complaint against them saying this has nothing to do us Gov! I won't accept that excuse.  Amazon has made money out of this sale. If they host such agents and allow them to use their name and payment system they should protect their customers when things go wrong and not  run away and leave them in the lurch.

I will also have to try the manufactor and trading standards.

So do not buy anything from Amazon 3rd Party agents since if they disappear (or whatever) after 90 days then you have no come back. Actually we shouldn't be using Amazon at all.

On one level I suppose I should have known better. Amazon is an virulently anti-trade union employer and organisations that treats its workers badly also treat their customers with contempt as well. Reminds me of my ongoing fun and games with Richard Branson and Virgin media. 

It now appears that Amazon has been cheating British tax payers.  No surprise really.  

I will let you know how I get on with my quest for a refund.

No time to say goodbye to Virgin Media (and the bearded one)

I am finally free of Virgin Media and its anti-trade union bearded one! I think that I have been a customer of the cable company (in its various reincarnations) for about 15 years. You can click on the label "Virgin media" below for the back ground. When I saw that disgusting video Richard Branson put out attacking trade union recognition I felt I had no choice but to leave.

It has been quite a journey. I've been shouted at and threatened by their managers, my phone deliberately cut off, complaints ignored and then finally given 4 minutes notice by email that they were cutting off (again) not only my home telephone but this time my TV and broadband service in breach of my contract and against my express instructions!

They didn't dare charge me the £144 they had threatened, however to be honest that given that the senior management at Virgin are so nasty and malicious that I had half expected them to cut me off again. It's pretty pathetic and vindictive. But this is what you come to expect if you are a Virgin Media customer.

Anyway, I am still continuing the fight and have asked for clarification on their useless responses to date and have even asked to be put back on Virgin (I know, I know...but 4 minutes to get someone else is clearly inadequate) until I can get an alternative provider. We will wait and see.

I will post soon on how to to cancel your Virgin Media service. There are much better and cheaper providers out there. The real problem I think with Virgin Media is that it acts like a monopoly and that is why it has such a poor service ethos and is so expensive and unresponsive. I have some ideas on this front. So watch this space.

(ps I love this "Time to Say Goodbye" song and like to post it whenever possible)

Virgin Media Rubbish Service Update: Branson Brand did Cut off my Phone line for complaining!

Quick update on the latest old nonsense from probably the most badly run and vindictive private monopoly in the land.

I tried to cancel my subscription on Jan 3rd to Virgin Media following the nasty and despicable
attack by their brand owner and chief private shareholder, Richard Branson, on trade unions.

It ended up with me being shouted and threatened by one of their managers and my telephone line being immediately cut off. I made a complaint which I finally (despite two chase ups) got a response on Tuesday by email. They completely ignored pretty much all my points and told me that my service will be totally disconnected on 3 February and that I would be charged £144.

They also told me to ring a repair helpline to report my phone being out of order. Which I did today with a mobile. After the usual long wait and millions of menus and pressing alphabet keys on your telephone which they did not recognise, I finally got to their faults helpline. They informed me that there was a billing problem and that was why my phone was cut off so they transferred me to customer service. I treid to point out that I didn’t think this was the case since my other services were working normally (for Virgin). The customer services operative was very helpful but she could not explain why I was cut off since my account was up-to-date. Eventually (20 minutes wait) it was agreed they would transfer me back to repairs. Repairs could not understand why I had been cut off by them but said it was some sort of a “mistake”. After another 20 minutes they agreed to restore my telephone service in “2-24 hours”. I am pleased to say that 4 hours later it is now working.

It is quite clear that my phone was cut off maliciously for over 2 weeks purely because I treid to cancel my service and they are now intending to totally disconnect my service (without my agreement) and charge me £144. Needless to say I will continue complaining. Many thanks to everyone who have contacted me to share the awful experiences they have had with Virgin Media and suggestions on what to do next.

Virgin Media Complaint Update: Big Fat Zero

I made a complaint here on 4 January about anti-trade union boss Richard Branson and the treatment that you receive when you try and cancel your Virgin Media Contract. Following which Virgin Media apparently decided to cut off my land line to punish me for daring to make a complaint.  I made a further complaint here but once again, I have had no contact at all with Virgin Media. They are of course ignoring their own complaint procedure. But no surprise there. My phone is still not working.

I've just made a third complaint and have given them 72 hours to respond or I will make a report to the regulator. Not that they are at all bothered about this since the regulator is I understand pretty toothless.

I've had a quick look around Youtube and this clip by the CWU about Virgin Media plans to close its Liverpool office is one of the very few about Branson and Virgin Media that is not so rude as to contravene the Public Order Act. Sign the CWU petition against offshoring jobs here.

Virgin Media Sticky Fingers

Following Richard Branson’s ignorant attacks on trades unions I have been trying to cancel my cable service with Virgin Media without much success. So far I have been told various complete and utter porkies, threatened with a £141 charge, been shouted at and then my Virgin landline goes mysteriously dead.

The story so far is on Tuesday after various doomed attempts to cancel online (you can’t), I rang Virgin Media to find out how to stop my account. After the normal 15 minute wait and going through various menus and being cut off twice. I was finally connected to an operator who asked why I wanted to leave. I told him that Richard Branson had made a very anti-trade union video for Virgin America and as lifelong trade unionist I want nothing to do with him or any company associated with him. I was told firstly that Branson had nothing anymore to do with Virgin Media (He does, he owns the Virgin "Brand", I think 9% of shares and is their biggest single private investor). It was then claimed that Branson owns shares in BBC so will I boycott them? I said that he doesn’t have shares in the BBC, it is public broadcaster and was told again yes he did. I was also told that I either had to give 6 months notice or pay £141 to leave. When I said that this was unfair it ended up with me being shouted at! Then the following morning I found that my Virgin landline is suddenly not working.

I have been a customer of Virgin Media (and the previous cable companies they bought) for 15 years. I pay £70 per month. At times this has been a pretty miserable experience but this is really the pits. I have also worked in front line customer services organisation for over 20 years and have never come across such an appalling service or attitude.

I have made an official complaint about Branson and his remarks; about their so called “contracts”; the lack of supervision and training given to staff; called for the Virgin Cable monopoly to be broken up and for greater regulation and also that my phone is fixed. Needless to say some 48 hours later nothing has been done. I’ll post on future developments.

Virgin Scumbag Brand: My New Year's Resolution 2012

I have finally had it with Branson and the Virgin brand. Check out the Left Foot Forward exposure of Richard Branson the Union buster.  

He fronts a video to Virgin America Airline staff telling them not to vote to recognise a trade union.

Trade Union recognition is a basic human right and any decent employer should welcome unions with open arms.

I’ve moaned on this blog about the rubbish customer service I have received from Virgin Media but I have been too disorganised to do much about it. Now enough is enough. 

I will change my TV and Broadband supplier as soon as I can and will never use Virgin holidays or finance ever again. I will also display some suitable message while running the London Marathon next year but I would recommend that everyone leaves and boycotts any service associated with this completely vile individual.

Virgin Media – The Emperor has no clothes?

It seems like a rite of passage that bloggers will post angry rants about their ISP’s from time to time. Now this is my turn. On Friday my Virgin Media broadband went down. I phoned up and was told that there was an area problem and that it will be fixed as soon as possible. Fair enough, these things happen.

Saturday afternoon, still no connection. I ring up again and am now told it’s my (Virgin Media) cable modem that is at fault. They need to send an engineer and the earliest is Wednesday. Fair enough, not very happy waiting until Wednesday but after all - these things happen.

The real fun started when I asked to use my laptop modem to access the Virgin Media “dial up” Internet service. They refused saying that Virgin Media would not open any more new “dial up” accounts for customers. I pointed out that I was not a new customer (in fact if you include their predecessor companies NTL and Cable and Wireless customer – I have been a loyal customer for at least 10 years or more).

This is apparently irreverent. Due to a Virgin Media fault I will be without any Internet access for some 6 days. I asked was there any possible technical reason why I cannot have a "dial up" account. Nope – I just must wait until Wednesday. I then asked to speak to a supervisor. Nope – they are all busy and someone will ring me within 48 hours.

Not good enough I argued and told them that I will make a formal complaint and cancel my account unless someone could give me a good reason why I cannot use the “dial up” service.

Then I was told to ring a 0906 premium rate telephone number as they may be able to help. I did and it was unobtainable. I then rang the Virgin Media “Dial up” helpline directly (50p per minute) and was told that what I wanted was not a problem and he had my "Dial up" account set up and working within 10 minutes.

So if any of you reading this are with Virgin and your broadband connection goes down they can provide you with a "dial up" service (using it and listening to the sounds the modem makes has made me feel quite nostalgic).

I note from Which? (September 2008) that they had rated its service as “Poor” so I am not alone and many other customers think that Virgin media customer service sucks. I don’t blame the individual staff I spoke to rather management for providing bloody awful policies which front line staff has to implement.

I will fire off this rant to Virgin Media and unless I get a proper response I will take the plunge and move elsewhere. BTW Which? “Best buys” are Zen Internet and BE.