A couple thought they were saving money by switching broadband companies but ended up with a £500 charge.

Julie Roberts-Marley and Simon Marley, of Middletune Avenue, Sittingbourne, switched their broadband and landline provider from Sky to Virgin Media on March 28 for a cheaper deal.

As part of the switch-over, they had asked to keep their landline so the hospital could contact them in an emergency.

Julie, 52, who had a frontal lobe stroke and is medically retired, needed to keep the same number as it is linked with her CPAP machine which uses mild air pressure to keep her breathing airways open while she sleeps and monitors for any irregularities.

The readings from the CPAP machine are monitored by the hospital which calls the landline immediately to notify her if anything is wrong.

The couple were given a temporary number while Virgin made the switch, which they were told could take five to eight days.

Ten days later this has still not happened. On April 10, they called to cancel the contract but were told it would be sorted within 72 hours.

By Monday, April 15, the issue still hadn't been resolved. When they called again to cancel they were told they were outside of the "cooling off period" and would incur a £459 early disconnect fee and a £50 administration fee.

In total, they spent seven hours calling the company on their mobile phones trying to resolve the problem and have called the level of customer service they received “abysmal”.

Simon, 55, who used to be a manager for Network Rail, said: “We don’t deserve this. Virgin hasn’t provided the full service they promised but they’re prepared to charge us – money is tight and now we’ve got to find £500.

“They’re a big company, and we’re just little people and they know we can’t afford to pay for it.

“They mess you about after promising the earth.”

Virgin Media, which disputes the couple’s assertion that they called to cancel on April 10, saying that request was only made on April 15, has now waived the fee after KentOnline got in touch about the problems.

A spokesman said: “We’ve contacted Ms Roberts-Marley to apologise for the delay in processing the number port.

"Whilst we can find no evidence to suggest Ms Roberts-Marley was ever without a working landline, we have agreed to waive all early disconnection fees as a gesture of goodwill.

"She’s happy the matter has been resolved.”

But the couple now want to warn other consumers to make sure “no one else, especially those more vulnerable, go through the stress of this situation”.

Julie told KentOnline: “If we can stop another person from having to do this ordeal, and it has been an ordeal, then my time and energy, and it’s a lot of energy for me, has been useful.

“I just want to forewarn other people because the bulk of people that find they need a TV package are someone like us who are disabled and are at home all day.”

‘They’re a big company, and we’re just little people and they know we can’t afford to pay for it…’

The couple have since gone back to Sky and were told the request to port the number came through from Virgin Media but three days later it was cancelled because the telephone number they have is not transferable.

The Virgin Media spokesman, who stressed that at no point were the couple left without a phone line, confirmed the initial request to change was denied and the second request failed.

Julie said: “Sky gave us more information about the request of the telephone number than Virgin did.

“Sky has a disability team and has given us a new package which is much better than we had before.

“It’s taken over our lives just trying to get something as simple as a telephone line which is vitally important for us because of my disability.

“Technically our contract hasn’t gone live because we don’t have a phone line."

Simon, who suffers with a heart condition, said: “Something like this, with the threat of having a £500 bill, for some families could push them over the edge.”