Man live-tweets his wife's four hour struggle to cancel a Virgin Media contract!

We’ve all had really frustrating conversations with a TV, internet or utility provider, but one guy decided to live-tweet the process of his wife attempting to cancel a contract with Virgin Media.

John Bull, his wife and everyone watching on Twitter went through a rollercoaster of emotions as they tried to negotiate with the company during the four hour (yes, really) call.

It came after two years of struggling without a “usable internet connection” and started like this…

Watching my wife cancel our @virginmedia contract. Think this is the happiest I've seen her since our wedding.

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

But it turned out the couple might have unknowingly signed up for a new contract.

Oh WOW. @virginmedia now trying to say we signed up for a new contract. By accepting their suggestion they up the line speed to try and fix

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Which neither of them have any recollection doing.

@virginmedia say the have a call recorded. But won't play it back to us. Say they might ring back "in a week" refuse to say a date or time.

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

@virginmedia "we sent you a letter" "we have all your letters. You didn't" "it probably got lost in the post" @MartinHoscik OUTRAGEOUS

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

So she asked to speak to the manager.

Apparently the only manager at @virginmedia can't talk to us. He's in a meeting. Until Wednesday. Long meeting that.

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Then they were told what the disconnection fee would be.

160 POUNDS! THEY'RE DEMANDING 160 POUNDS NOW @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Still no manager.

Apparently there is LITERALLY no one in the building who can talk to us. Who is RUNNING this call centre? @virginmedia is it communism?

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Oh no wait, there one is.

OH HELL WAIT. APPARENTLY A SUPERVISOR JUST APPEARED! it's like call centre pokemon @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

John’s wife was told they would have received an email notifying them about the change in contract.

Supervisor says letter doesn't matter as they emailed and it says new contract in email. it doesn't. @virginmedia pic.twitter.com/7mJuMU6eW0

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

But that doesn’t really matter.

Now he's changing his story. Says that the email doesn't matter. Demands £160 @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

John may have started losing hope…

Ironically this phone called is perhaps the LONGEST we've been stabily connected to @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

But his wife was not giving up.

There are managers on the floor now. but she is not allowed to speak to them. only her manager. @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

We're asking her to ask the Manager she can LITERALLY SEE when he will call us back. She won't. @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

And then after an hour and 20 minutes…

THEY HUNG UP ON US. THEY HUNG UP ON US. @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Many would have cried and given up, resigned to spend £50 a month for a bad internet connection for the rest of their lives, but not the Bulls.

Glass of juice ready for round 2. Important to stay hydrated when calling @virginmedia pic.twitter.com/k2U07AY3RF

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

LITERALLY all we want to do is cancel an imaginary contract. After being lied to and accused of 'playing games' @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Spirits were high, even though they were on hold.

WE'VE GOT THE GOOD HOLD MUSIC AGAIN. they clearly don't know it's us yet. @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

it's quite good and poppy actually. we're shazamming it. @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

David Guetta now. Maybe they should spend less on music licensing and hire some more managers @virginmedia #schroedingersmanagers

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Then they got through to Ally.

Hope she's had lunch already. #prayforally @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

They liked Ally but she had no manager they could speak to either and she said her hands were tied.

Now they're saying they're LEGALLY not allowed to let us out of the imaginary contract. @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

She could sign them up to a new contract though.

WE WANT TO CANCEL. STOP TRYING TO MAKE US NOT CANCEL @virginmedia.

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Or raise a complaint about the non-existent contract.

They're trying to make us accept a complaint case on the imaginary contract. @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Ally goes quiet when we say wouldn't this mean we accept that the contract exists? @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

But it wasn’t really Ally’s fault.

To stress, we quite like Ally. She's at least honest. @virginmedia should promote her, if their managers were actually real.

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

But no one would blame the Bulls for snapping with this happened for a second time.

AND THEY'VE TERMINATED THE CALL. @virginmedia time for a tea break. then we'll call back again.

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Round three, and this time Virgin Media have noticed John is tweeting the whole thing.

Hi John. I'm really sorry to hear about the issues you're experiencing. I'm confident we can get this sor… https://t.co/6xt7PB7iOu

— Virgin Media (@virginmedia) August 20, 2016

Oh no.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. YOU KEEP TERMINATING THE CALLS. @virginmedia https://t.co/ui7AAJ3jy1

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Finally they get through to Clare at the call centre.

Clare is the fragile flower of hope in the no-mans land of our @virginmedia battlefield.

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Come on Clare.

CLARE IS BACK. CLARE IS BACK SHE'S ASKING IF 30 DAYS CANCELLATION WOULD BE OKAY @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

And after four hours…

CLARE DID IT. CLARE CANCELLED OUR CONTRACT. WE'RE FREEEEEEEEEEEEEE! WE WON! @virginmedia pic.twitter.com/MbkjxpECDE

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Can't believe it. Feel like we've won an Olympic gold. We're going to the pub to celebrate. @virginmedia

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

The people following their ordeal were elated.

The crowds rejoice at this momentous victory! https://t.co/czB9Yqt8HL pic.twitter.com/TsDDNZCqEy

— ianVisits (@ianvisits) August 20, 2016

And they really did go to the pub to celebrate.

Fin. #yayclare #goodbyevirgin @virginmedia pic.twitter.com/1YV35CDvgG

— John Bull (@garius) August 20, 2016

Virgin Media have apologised for any frustration the couple experienced cancelling their contract.

A spokesman for the company said: “If a customer wants to cancel a service before the end of their contract then they are charged an early disconnection fee. Details of early disconnection fees are placed at the top of our T&Cs in clear English to help ensure customers have sight of them.

“The fee is dependent on the services the customer receives and the duration left on their minimum contract period for each of the services.

“At Virgin Media we work hard to deliver the best customer service. In the case of Mr and Mrs Bull, we apologise for any frustration they experienced.”

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