Take the money and run, Virginmedia! ...or not

My dad, who was a very successful businessman, always used to say (often while standing in a queue for the till in a shop) that one key indicator of a badly-run business is making customers wait to pay.

No delay in meeting customers' expectations is good, but making people wait when they are ready to hand over the 'readies' is just plain stupid!

I wanted to give Virginmedia a couple of hundred pounds for their splendid services this morning. They do have an online payment system but it has stalled on me a couple of times in the past, leaving me unsure whether the payment had been taken or not, so I phoned the Virginmedia Payments line...only to find myself in a call centre queue of "over 10 mins".

Now, let me think......  hang about with a warm ear for ten minutes in order to deplete my bank account..... or maybe leave it for now..... hmm ......... tricky..........