Virgin charge man £10 for being dead
VIRGIN MEDIA have had to tug at their sweater and say sorry after they sent a bill to a dead man. Initially, Virgin were unhappy that the man had missed his broadband bill date, and promptly sent him a late payment bill… however… they also included the word ‘deceased’ on it, which suggests they knew he’d already joined the invisible choir.
The bill was uploaded to Facebook by the man’s son-in-law Jim Boyden and reads: “D.D Denied-Payer deceased“. Virgin added a “late payment charge” of £10 for being dead.
“We obviously apologise for the bill and have spoken to Mr Boyden to bring this account to a close more sensitively,” a spokesperson told BBC News.
Boyden also posted a message to Virgin, apologising for his father-in-law having “the unheard of nerve to be dead and therefore being unable to pay you”, adding: “I am intrigued – how exactly did you imagine him paying this extra fine from beyond the grave?
“I’m simply not paying it, as ever since passing away, I have noticed a sharp decrease in the amount of television my Father in Law has been watching. I simply cannot think why that would be.”
Virgin Media later apologised to Mr Boyden on Facebook, stating: “We offer our sincerest apologies for the wording that appeared on the bill. Automated responses from banks should not appear on customer bills and we’re investigating how this happened. We have a team in place to ensure bereavements are managed sensitively and will ensure this wording is removed from our billing system.”
“As soon as Mr Boyden brought this to our attention, we looked into this matter straight away and can confirm the account has now been closed, with all late payment charges removed.”
Maybe they could offer the dead man a free upgrade..?
Posted: 26th, April 2013 | In: Reviews, The Consumer Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
