Bill goes viral on Facebook after Virgin charges man £10 for being dead
Published: 2013 April 25 20:22:35 (5611 Views)
A broadband bill sent to a deceased man, which included a fine for late payment, has been shared more than 53,000 times by Facebook users.
Social media experts say it is a reminder of the importance of responding quickly and publicly to complaints made on social networks.
The man's son-in-law, Jim Boyden, posted a photograph of the bill, along with a message addressed to Virgin Media, on the social media network.
Virgin Media said sorry to the family.
Alongside a £63.89 charge the bill stated "D.D Denied-Payer deceased", a reference to the fact the dead man's bank had refused a direct debit payment.
Under this Virgin added a "late payment charge" of £10.
"We obviously apologise for the bill and have spoken to Mr Boyden to bring this account to a close more sensitively," a spokesperson told the BBC.
"I've just placed a little reminder on their Facebook page. This actually amused me to start off with, but their complete lack of response irks me somewhat," Mr Boyden said.
Virgin Media have now publicly apologised on the site.
While the unfortunate action of bills being sent to those who have recently died is far from new, the viral nature of this complaint should serve as a warning to companies, said one social media expert.
"A lot of people as a result of seeing this will now think, 'I had that problem as well' - it can mushroom. Companies need to recognize that people have more power than they used to," said Dr Lisa Harris, head of the digital marketing masters programme at the University of Southampton.
In an updated statement for the BBC, Virgin Media said the account has now been closed.
"We offer our sincerest apologies for the wording that appeared on the bill. Automated responses from banks should not appear on customer bills and we're investigating how this happened," said a spokesperson.
"We have a team in place to ensure bereavements are managed sensitively and will ensure this wording is removed from our billing system. As soon as Mr Boyden brought this to our attention, we looked into this matter straight away and can confirm the account has now been closed, with all late payment charges removed."
- BBC/Mirror
Social media experts say it is a reminder of the importance of responding quickly and publicly to complaints made on social networks.
The man's son-in-law, Jim Boyden, posted a photograph of the bill, along with a message addressed to Virgin Media, on the social media network.
Virgin Media said sorry to the family.
Alongside a £63.89 charge the bill stated "D.D Denied-Payer deceased", a reference to the fact the dead man's bank had refused a direct debit payment.
Under this Virgin added a "late payment charge" of £10.
"We obviously apologise for the bill and have spoken to Mr Boyden to bring this account to a close more sensitively," a spokesperson told the BBC.
"I've just placed a little reminder on their Facebook page. This actually amused me to start off with, but their complete lack of response irks me somewhat," Mr Boyden said.
Virgin Media have now publicly apologised on the site.
While the unfortunate action of bills being sent to those who have recently died is far from new, the viral nature of this complaint should serve as a warning to companies, said one social media expert.
"A lot of people as a result of seeing this will now think, 'I had that problem as well' - it can mushroom. Companies need to recognize that people have more power than they used to," said Dr Lisa Harris, head of the digital marketing masters programme at the University of Southampton.
In an updated statement for the BBC, Virgin Media said the account has now been closed.
"We offer our sincerest apologies for the wording that appeared on the bill. Automated responses from banks should not appear on customer bills and we're investigating how this happened," said a spokesperson.
"We have a team in place to ensure bereavements are managed sensitively and will ensure this wording is removed from our billing system. As soon as Mr Boyden brought this to our attention, we looked into this matter straight away and can confirm the account has now been closed, with all late payment charges removed."
- BBC/Mirror
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