Raw Deal: We made sure Wendy got the ‘enticement’ she’d been promised

THE buzz phrase for all firms these days is “repeat business”. Everyone wants your custom and, once they’ve got it, they want it again and again.

They try to “lock you in” as a customer and keep you paying – and they want your friends, family, neighbours and acquaintances too!

To keep you they sometimes offer incentives.

And that’s what happened to Wendy Gregson, of Blackburn, Lancashire.

Wendy wasn’t a Virgin Media customer, but her son-in-law Jason was.

Jason saw a Virgin Media advert that said if he could persuade any of his friends or family to join him at Virgin Media, they’d apply a £50 credit to his next bill.

He immediately thought of his mother-in-law, because another enticing detail was that Wendy would also get a £50 rebate on her first bill.

The instructions were quite simple, but clear. All Jason had to do was visit Virgin Media’s “Refer A Friend” web page, fill in the details and it would all happen automatically.

The deal was set up on August 24 last year.

When there wasn’t a rebate on her September bill, Wendy queried why. She was told that despite the enticing advert promising “£50 off your first bill”, the rebate wouldn’t happen until a minimum of 30 days after the Virgin Media installation, so she’d have to wait to see the reduction on her October payment.

But October’s bill came, and again there was no reduction.

Wendy again got on the phone to the Virgin Media helpdesk.

She was asked to send them the email that had been sent to her – from them – promising the £50. She was also asked to give her account number, and Jason’s account number.

It had all sounded so easy when the offer was made. There was no mention of delays or waits after the installation or having to chase them for action.

The people she was speaking to about her bill didn’t seem to know anything about the £50 rebate offer their own firm had been advertising.

After emailing her details she was told someone would look into it and she would be called back.

Worse, after talking to her son-in-law, he checked his bank account to discover he hadn’t been given the rebate either.

To cap it all, Wendy’s promised call back hadn’t happened – and it didn’t ever happen. Jason spent quite a while explaining the problem to a succession of call centre workers, and that didn’t get anywhere either.

Wendy knew what to do, though. She got in touch with Raw Deal.

We got on to Virgin Media and asked what had happened to these two £50 rebates.

The firm looked into it and resolved the matter swiftly.

A spokesperson told us: “We have contacted both Mrs Gregson and her son-in-law to apologise for the error and have arranged for the £50 credit to be applied.

“We have also offered Jason an additional gesture of goodwill for his poor experience while trying to resolve this matter.”

So all’s well that ends well, but there is a lesson here for all of us. If you are offered an enticement to move your phone, broadband or TV account – or any other type of offer – make sure you get it.

Some might shrug their shoulders and just forget about it but Wendy did the right thing by holding Virgin Media to their promise.

Raw Deal would urge all customers to always get every single penny promised to them.

Wendy said: “Thank you so much for your help.

“You managed to do in a few days, what we had failed to do in several weeks.”