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Old 29-12-2016, 11:24   #1
Shahbahraz
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Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 2
Shahbahraz is an unknown quantity at this point
Seeking Karen Ingham's Email

I see from her LinkedIn profile that Karen Ingham is:

"Responsible for helping lots of wonderful people in four countries to have fabulous conversations with customers"

Sadly, these commendable sentiments have, in my case, translated into frustrating conversations with people in at least two countries, and spending considerable time trying to understand a billing system that, to me, verges on unconscionable.

I would mail her via InMail, but I don't think that's the appropriate channel. However, I am trying to contact the Customer Head for clarity on the situation, which I outline below.

I work largely from home as a Consultant; having been recruited to return to the UK in a senior government role.

I rely on a VM internet connection, which to date has at least been reasonably reliable, if not the fastest. Last night, 28 Dec, the services were 'restricted' - all internet access blocked. I checked my billing cycle, and was fully paid up. I rang VM - and despite the frustration of the automated system, managed to get through, and get it turned back on. As I said, I was fully paid up to date. I was given no indication of why it had been restricted at all.

This morning, 29 Dec, service restricted (aka blocked) again; this time, when I called I was put through to Collections which appears to be Philippines based. It seems that although I was fully paid up to 28 Dec, a new set of phone calls made overseas over Christmas, post 8 Dec, but not included in the 28 Dec Bill, had exceeded some limit, and VM decided I had run up too much of a bill so they 'helpfully' stopped my service.

Effectively they suspended my service (which I rely on for my 'Digital'
job) for non-payment of a non-bill that did not yet exist and was not due for a month.

I don't mind paying, (and did so, they were commendably prompt in the service being restored), but that was 29 minutes 43 seconds this morning after the 10 minutes last night, because:

1. It seems VM left hand doesn't know what the right is doing, why do I have to call twice to get a service restored?

2. It is less like a billing service than a credit arrangement - this was never made clear when the product was sold to me - I was advised I would simply be debited the owed amount at the end of each month.

3. There is no prior notice of suspension before this happens; yes it would seem that you could monitor your usage daily, and 'top-up' as required. This is not how I expect a reputable company to behave with an internet/home phone/TV bundle.

4. There is no way to know whether you are reaching any notional 'limit'
thanks to the impenetrable (and utterly outrageous, > 1 GBP a minute!) billing charges VM applies for a range of phone calls from the home phone.

I found this quite an incredible way to do business, and surely the suspension of a service without prior notice is unconscionable?

What if I had been in the position of being on a tight budget over the holiday season, and had my critical internet service (on which I rely for my employment), withdrawn without notice, potentially for up to a month, and with no means to pay, before the next direct debit was due?

It would seem to me that arbitrarily suspending a service agreement without notice would be skirting perilously close to a breach of what used to be the Trade Practices Act. So that's why I am trying to find an email address for Karen Ingham.
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