My father died in July 2014 and I am acting as his main executor. Virgin Media owes £16.19 to the estate for a credit on his mobile phone account and, while there is no dispute about that, I cannot get the money!
It is a small amount but is now a matter of principle. Virgin has received proof of probate and an original utility bill as requested. Both documents have been acknowledged and returned.
I spoke at length on the phone to a woman – who promised to sort things out and add compensation for my time, expense and stress – in early December but have heard nothing since.
I have written a strongly worded letter demanding this payment but still no reply, no response. Please help.
CB, Bucknell, Shropshire
The sticking point here was that your father’s name was exactly the same as your own and, as doctors, you also have the same title. What are the chances of that? Unfortunately, this played havoc with Virgin’s internal systems and the company claims it did not want to cause offence, although it failed to explain why it struggled to arrange payment when the issue was clearly not a difficulty for other companies involved in settlement through probate.
Virgin Media said: “We have apologised to CB for the late payment … and have compensated for the time this has taken.”
We understand it has agreed to give you £75 to make amends.
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