ASK TONY: Virgin charged me £355 for a TiVo box I never had - but they refuse to believe me and won't refund my cash

I have had an account with Virgin Media for broadband for a number of years.

While doing a financial check on the services and utilities we receive, I discovered Virgin Media has been charging us for supplying TV channels via a TiVo box.

I have never had a Virgin Media TiVo box. Virgin Media insists it installed one last year, but I receive my TV channels from Sky.

I asked Virgin to inspect my property so it could see I did not have a TiVo box, but it refused, arguing I could hide it!

The only way to stop them charging us for TV was to cancel the contract and take out a new one for the supply of broadband, which we have done.

They will not discuss a refund for the overpayment for a service we never had.

J. W., London.

Accused: Virgin charged one reader £355 for a TiVo box which they never ordered or received

Accused: Virgin charged one reader £355 for a TiVo box which they never ordered or received

Your letter would be funny were it not so serious. In a nutshell, you tell me Virgin claimed to provide a service, charged you for it, forced you to cancel and restart your contract, then refused a refund.

This really sounds like a big company bullying a consumer.

Plus, their staff basically accused you of lying by suggesting you might have the TiVo box and be prepared to disconnect and hide it.

Once I made contact, Virgin apologised and returned the £355 in charges. But it made no mention of any compensation. This is something I feel you deserve given the way you have been treated.

When I pressed, Virgin still insisted its records ‘show very clearly that TiVo was installed in 2013 and still active in April this year . . . and we feel our offer of a full refund is more than fair’.

So if Virgin makes an error on its records - as you maintain it did - and takes your money, it won’t even pay enough restitution to cover your lost interest.

Incidentally, others should take a leaf out of your book and do periodic financial checks. You never know what anomalies it might turn up.

YOU HAVE YOUR SAY -  HOLIDAY CAR HIRE NIGHTMARES

Every week Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails. Here’s what you had to say about our exposé of the sneaky rip-offs you need to watch out for when hiring a car:

Renting a car is a nightmare and fills me with dread every time. I have been lucky in not having to pay any extra after hiring, but it spoils your holiday worrying about it. Hiring a car just seems to be a licence to print money.

T. C., Worcs.

I have often been supplied with a car with a half-empty tank. In Inverness last year, they charged me for returning the car to a different location (I hadn’t).

In Cannes in May, I was told I would have to pay extra for daily breakdown cover. This was a new rip-off to me. Well done for writing about this rip-off.

D. W., Glasgow.

I never have trouble as I always book in advance and have independent insurance. There’s never been any hassle or attempt to add extra charges.

The only downside is that by buying your own insurance they ‘block’ a deposit amount of around 800 euros on your credit card.

D. B., via email

Always assume the very worst will happen if you do any damage to a rental car. You should also get everything you are told about excess charges in writing, or even record it on your smart phone.

B. M., via email

The sales people are on commission - the more they get from you, the more they make. So, of course, they are going to sell you anything extra they can.

S. P., Norwich.

Always check the vehicle. I picked up a car at Heathrow and it had several bumps and scratches, none of which were mentioned on the rental document.

I made the staff member write down every tiny mark. He was not happy, but it saved hassle when I dropped off the car.

I. R., London.

Get to your hotel from the airport by taxi or train, then hire a car. The price quoted is what you pay, and they often let you pay cash. I’ve never had any come-back.

C. N., Bracknell, Berks.

Just say ‘No’ to everything they offer, be that insurance or ‘a car more suitable for highways’.

Also make sure you have taken out your own excess cover and examine the car from top to bottom, inside and out.

If there are any issues, do not leave the car park until a company representative has acknowledged them. Don’t give them an opportunity to charge you more.

M. D., Brentwood, Essex.

I had a pension policy with Aviva that was supposed to pay a monthly pension from 2009, but I have not received anything.

I’ve asked them to send me details of the pension and what has happened, but have heard nothing.

M. D., Crewe, Cheshire.

Sometimes there’s a simple explanation for problems and this is one such case.

You have not been receiving a monthly pension because you took the whole amount as a lump sum!

Aviva says you had a defined benefit pension - the sort that guarantees how much you will receive rather than being linked to the stock market.

You were given two options. The first was an income of £614 a year guaranteed for a minimum of five years, even if you died, plus a spouse’s pension after your death.

The second was a tax-free lump sum payment of £5,526 plus a spouse’s pension after your death. You opted for the latter.

Your money was paid, but keep a record because the spouse’s pension is active and will be paid to your wife if you die before her. Aviva admits it has let you down on the customer service side by not providing a written explanation when you asked for it.

For this it is making a generous goodwill payment of £150.

In terms of goodwill payments, the financial services sector can teach the energy and telecoms sectors a thing or two. Squeezing any sort of goodwill payment out of telecoms firms in particular, even for appalling service failures, can be like getting blood from a stone, as shown by today’s Virgin Media letter.

An Aviva spokesman says: ‘Our customer had been in touch with us a number of times to request clarification in writing. We apologise that we did not do this sooner and for the inconvenience caused.’

STRAIGHT TO THE POINT 

I booked to go to Cuba with Thomson. On the website it said our visa was included in the price of the holiday.

But then we got an email to say we had to contact the embassy to get our own, which we did at a cost of £128.45.

It turns out the visa was included in our holiday booking all along. I think Thomson should refund this money.

D. M., by email.

Ordinarily when you book a holiday through Thomson, you are expected to organise your own visa.

But when travelling to Cuba and Cape Verde, where the visa process can be complicated, it includes it in the price of the holiday and organises it for you. Thomson apologises for giving you the wrong information and has refunded the cost.

I recently paid off my mortgage with HSBC and was expecting to be sent my title deeds.

Customer services told me my solicitor holds them, but I haven’t used this firm for years. How do I get them? I’m worried about proving I own the house.

S. G., Norwich.

HSBC should be able to tell you the name of the solicitors you used if you want to see the documents. 

But if you just want to prove you own the property, you can download the deeds from the Land Registry for £3 at gov.uk/search-property- information-land-registry or call them on 0300 006 0411.

My wife and I are about to turn 80. What is our personal allowance this year and can I transfer some of my wife’s to top up my own?

D. P., Doncaster.

The standard personal allowance is £11,000 per person.

The marriage allowance means your wife can transfer £1,100 of her personal allowance to top up yours — which can save you £220 a year. She must earn less than £11,000 and you must earn between £11,001 and £43,000.

I received a frightening voicemail from HM Revenue & Customs stating it was planning to sue me for tax evasion.

I was asked to call an 0161 number to speak to the officer dealing with my case. Is this genuine?

C. C., London.

No. HMRC says this is a scam. Do not phone back. The crooks leave a voicemail and ask customers to call back on 0161 850 8494 and press ‘1’ to connect.

That’s a Manchester number, but those who have returned the call suspect they are being redirected overseas.

Criminals will try to make you hand over your financial details to raid your account.

I took AA breakdown cover last year on a promotion, setting up a direct debit. When the renewal arrived, the cost had gone up substantially, to £188.30.

This was unattractive not least because I was covering a Suzuki Burgman 650cc maxi scooter that hardly comes out of the garage.

I phoned the AA and was offered a reduced renewal figure for a contract without the unrequired elements of cover (such as Home Start), but I said I wouldn’t decide there and then.

I was told the revised offer would stand, but if I wished to take it up I would have to phone as I had already said I wasn’t going to renew. I arranged cover via my motorcycle brokers and didn’t phone the AA again.

Some weeks later, the AA took £188.30 from my account. Despite sending them several messages, I have still not received a refund.

J. B., Chesterfield, Derbys.

One reason many organisations offer a first-year discount if we sign up to a direct debit is that they hope we won’t make the effort to cancel.

AA has looked at your case and confirms that when you bought your motorcycle, it included free AA cover. After this ended, you bought an extension at the introductory rate.

Then when you called to query the second year premium, AA found a way to reduce the price - as so many organisations do if we make the effort to call.

However, this is where your version of events and that of the AA differs.

AA says its call handler advised you that you would need to call back to cancel the cover or to take up the offer.

It is possible you misunderstood and you didn’t call back, which triggered the direct debit at the original premium. However, AA has now cancelled the cover and refunded the premium.

A spokesman says: ‘We are very sorry to lose Mr B as a customer and to hear he is disappointed with the way his complaint has been handled.’

The lesson here is that if you want to cancel, make 100 per cent sure your message cannot be misunderstood. That’s particularly important when an offer to renew is left in limbo.