Virgin disabled my husband's only form of contact with family

My husband is deployed overseas for four months with the RAF. I am at home in the UK with our two young children. We are counting on him to have a functional phone to maintain contact because his wifi access is unreliable. He received an email from Virgin telling him that his old SIM card would soon stop working and that a new one would be coming online, which would need to be activated. My husband immediately explained his situation and asked not to be cut off. The message at his base is unreliable and takes an average of four weeks to reach him.

Virgin assured him that he would not deactivate his SIM card until he returned . Two weeks later he did and no replacement arrived. Virgin just offered to send another new SIM card to our UK address. When he returns to the UK in a month he will not be able to let me know his arrival time or the date he landed. These exciting details have now become stressful.AT, Lincoln

Military families sacrifice a lot in the national interest and it's depressing that Virgin Media doesn't couldn't have made such a small adjustment to keep you connected. In vain did I ask the company why the SIM card had to be replaced. You were told that it was for security reasons and that all customers were affected. It turns out that it was never possible for the old SIM card to remain active, but a well-meaning agent, assuming otherwise, canceled the replacement card to maintain service.

In fact, the move automatically cut off his service. Virgin tried to send a SIM card electronically, but your husband's phone was incompatible. Turns out the sims can't be activated overseas, so the canceled replacement would have been pointless anyway. The press office has promised to post a pre-activated SIM card to your UK address for forwarding. It reached her three weeks later, just in time for her return to the UK.

Virgin has offered £200 in compensation and advises customers who frequently find themselves in abroad to buy an international SIM card. to avoid complications.

DT from Banstead, Surrey is also cut off from family and friends because of Virgin. The widow, in her 80s and in poor health, transferred her phone and broadband service to the company, only to find that her 37-year-old landline number had been replaced. “I missed appointments with the GP, the optician and the hospital,” she says. "I'm too old to memorize a new number, and letting all my contacts know would lead me to next summer."

Shamefully, nothing was done to help after she complained to her old and new suppliers, but within three days of contacting the press, her old number was called back. Virgin has apologized and offered compensation and says it will act on DT's request that customers be asked upfront if they want to keep their phone number.

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