103-year-old mum told to pay extra ?20 a month for Virgin TV after box breaks down

A 103-year-old woman in Bristol was told she needed two new Virgin TV boxes and as a result would have to pay another GBP20 a month after her TV box stopped working. Edith Straker, who lives in Shirehampton, has two Virgin TV boxes in her home – one in her bedroom and another in her living room. Described as a regular watcher of television, her Virgin TV box started to randomly switch on and off and was no longer usable.

An engineer was called out and told her that she required two new Virgin TV boxes as they were no longer covered by the firm. Mrs Straker was also told she would require a broadband connection. Her son, Chris Straker, told Bristol Live: “About four weeks ago, the Virgin box started to switch off and when it didn’t turn back on, she phoned Virgin and got an engineer appointment.

“The engineer came on Monday (December 4) and he said both boxes need replacing as they are not supported by them anymore and they (the new TV boxes) need broadband and everything will be streamed so therefore the boxes needed to be changed. “She tried to speak to a call centre and I took over for her. I have called the call centre every time and it’s hopeless.

“You try telling a 103-year-old woman what broadband is. She doesn’t need it, and doesn’t have a smartphone or tablet.” The understandable frustration was obvious, especially when Mrs Straker’s phone and TV deal was due to increase from around GBP50 to GBP70 by adding on the broadband package, as well as paying an installation fee.

Her son Chris was unhappy with the “pressure put on mum to get the broadband and spend the money”. Chris, who had been dealing with the matter more than 150 miles away in Cornwall, wanted the boxes to be simply replaced with no broadband connection installed, with no extra fees. He added: “We all would be annoyed with this.

I have tried but I live nowhere near here so I cannot do anything but I can get frustrated spending hours on the phone and not getting anywhere.” Try BristolLive Premium for FREE with no ads and new features[3] since contacting Bristol Live, Virgin Media has investigated the matter and confirmed they no longer had stock of the same Virgin TV boxes that Mrs Straker had.

It is understood that when a customer needs a replacement box, they can either upgrade to one of their V6 or 360 boxes, which come with, and rely on, broadband services, and are not sold as TV-only. The customer services team has however offered and agreed a new 18-month contract with the new TV boxes at no additional cost. A Virgin Media spokesperson said: “Due to a fault, Ms Straker required a new TV box.

As we no longer sell the older TiVo box she had, she was offered one of our newer V6 or 360 boxes, which the vast majority of our customers already have and which come with our broadband services.

“We have agreed a new 18-month contract for Ms Straker at the same price she is currently paying, and we are now arranging for a technician to install her broadband and new TV boxes.”

References

1. ^ Bristol Clean Air Zone could be scrapped in ‘three to four years’ (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
2. ^ Teacher fantasised about sexually abusing teen and downloaded images (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
3. ^ Try BristolLive Premium for FREE with no ads and new features (www.bristolpost.co.uk)