A dying man who contacted his broadband provider to cancel his service was left horrified at an online agent’s response when they suggested he buy a different package instead, repeatedly.
Richard Forde, 42, may have just months to live but says Virgin Media was insistent in trying to keep him as a customer despite him having cancelled and paid his final bill. He was forced to get brutal in the online chat, during which an agent spared no sympathy.
Virgin Media has issued an apology after attempting to lure the terminally ill father into buying a new contract despite him repeatedly trying, and failing, to end his existing deal. Even after he gave his 30-day notice, the terminally ill man was issued a fresh invoice of £245.
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From Birmingham, Mr Forde was baffled when his agreement persisted past his 30-day notice and a fresh invoice of £245 landed on his lap and was forced to start a live chat session with the provider.
(Image: PA)
Frustratingly, he had to clarify three times that his reason for severing ties with the media titan was due to his deteriorating health. Screenshots of the dialogue show him saying: “I’ve got cancer, like I said, I probably won’t be here much longer.”
Yet, the same agent continually probed Mr Forde about his motives for cancelling the service, reports Birmingham Live. In a blatant response, Mr Forde retorted: “I’m going to die. Is that better wording for you? Cancer. Untreatable. Terminal.”
In an astonishing twist, the representative responded: “You’ve mentioned you’re looking to cancel. My recommendation would be M250 broadband, weekend chatter, and Mega TV 3 all for only £64 on a new 18-month contract. What do you think? “.
Appalled at the level of insensitivity, Mr Forde rebuked the agent, blasting her with: “I’ve told you three times I’m dying of cancer and you still try to sell me a new contract. You should be ashamed.”
“I told them I was dying and they still tried to sell me a new contract,” he said. “I’d paid my final monthly fee of £68 at the end of March when I told them I was quitting, but they still kept adding on more money each month.”
Virgin later sent an apology to the father and agreed to erase his remaining balance which amounted to hundreds of pounds. Overwhelmed by this decision, Mr Forde said that he felt “relieved”.
A spokesperson for Virgin said: “We have a specialist bereavement team to handle sensitive issues such as this but, unfortunately, due to agent error, Mr Forde was not directed to this team. We have spoken with him directly to apologise and have waived all termination fees, cleared the outstanding balance and closed the account.”
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