3 Month Virgin User -- I QUIT!
I am posting this so that hopefully anyone who is looking for information about Virgin does not have to go through the same crap I did.
Obviously, this is a cheap phone service with not the best reception, nor the best selection of phones. If you need top of the range reception and a top of the range phone, obviously go to Verizon, etc. and get a Blackberry, etc... Everyone who goes to Virgin is, I presume, looking for a no frills company with no frills phones and cheap monthly bills.
With that in mind, here is my experience.
I selected Virgin because I thought they had cheaper phones than MetroPCS, and more coverage area. (Im in LA, CA). I got an LG slider phone with qwerty keyboard (forgot the model#) which works OK for what it is. At the end of the first month, I spent 3 hours trying to trick Virgin into topping up my service. For some reason, the website would not recognize my PIN, even though I had them Email it to me and even re-set it. Their customer service is worse than useless. It seems to be geared to 12-year-olds, although no offense to teenagers. They have it set up to sound like their national phone number is a voicemail for some employee named "Alex", who of course does not exist. The voice recognition system does not work, and one cannot use 1 & 2 on the keypad for "yes" & "no" answers. Finally after major drama I got the damn service paid for another month. The end of the 2nd month, I topped up my service $60 (I chose $50 per month unlimited calling plan) and Virgin unceremoniously cut off my service 3 days after the debit cleared my account. After many Emails, they said it was my fault because they chose to somehow charge me 20cents per minute instead of sticking to my $50 unlimited plan, so therefore I had used up the $60 in three days and they wanted me to send them $50 to top up the service again. I lodged a complaint with California Public Utilities Commission and switched to Metro PCS. I believe it is illegal to switch customers to totally different plans without even asking them, but even if it is not, that is totally dodgy and shady as a business practice. Thats the long version -- the short version is, DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH VIRGIN MOBILE UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET RIPPED OFF. Thank you.
Obviously, this is a cheap phone service with not the best reception, nor the best selection of phones. If you need top of the range reception and a top of the range phone, obviously go to Verizon, etc. and get a Blackberry, etc... Everyone who goes to Virgin is, I presume, looking for a no frills company with no frills phones and cheap monthly bills.
With that in mind, here is my experience.
I selected Virgin because I thought they had cheaper phones than MetroPCS, and more coverage area. (Im in LA, CA). I got an LG slider phone with qwerty keyboard (forgot the model#) which works OK for what it is. At the end of the first month, I spent 3 hours trying to trick Virgin into topping up my service. For some reason, the website would not recognize my PIN, even though I had them Email it to me and even re-set it. Their customer service is worse than useless. It seems to be geared to 12-year-olds, although no offense to teenagers. They have it set up to sound like their national phone number is a voicemail for some employee named "Alex", who of course does not exist. The voice recognition system does not work, and one cannot use 1 & 2 on the keypad for "yes" & "no" answers. Finally after major drama I got the damn service paid for another month. The end of the 2nd month, I topped up my service $60 (I chose $50 per month unlimited calling plan) and Virgin unceremoniously cut off my service 3 days after the debit cleared my account. After many Emails, they said it was my fault because they chose to somehow charge me 20cents per minute instead of sticking to my $50 unlimited plan, so therefore I had used up the $60 in three days and they wanted me to send them $50 to top up the service again. I lodged a complaint with California Public Utilities Commission and switched to Metro PCS. I believe it is illegal to switch customers to totally different plans without even asking them, but even if it is not, that is totally dodgy and shady as a business practice. Thats the long version -- the short version is, DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH VIRGIN MOBILE UNLESS YOU WANT TO GET RIPPED OFF. Thank you.
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