Virgin Mobile Users-- Tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly. . .

[ekatiel]

Thinking of switching from At&T to Virgin. Want to hear what your experience has been like with Virgin. We currently have "dumb" phones on AT&T and pay $70 ($60 for DH's line and $10 for my line on a family plan with 550 minutes). We also pay circa $30 a month for our home phone. Considering dropping the home line, and buying two $40/month Virgin plans with 1200 minutes each. We would get the LG Optimus V phones (currently $199 a piece-- this is the part that's hard for me to stomach!), which are android phones. This would save us $20 per month PLUS we'd have data on our phones. It sounds like a great deal, but I want to make sure people are happy with Virigin before we jump ship. The reviews on CNET don't look so hot (2 out of 5 stars), but AT&T's reviews on CNET aren't much better (2.5 out of 5 stars). Thanks for any input! --Katie

 

[lukenick1]

My dh and I made the switch a few months ago and we couldn't be happier! We both got LG Optimus phones which were $149 each 3 months ago. The phone is great, the service is great and you can't beat the price for what you get! I say go for it! Any questions, let me know.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

All good here. Had a few small problems but CS took care of it quickly.

 

[ekatiel]

Thanks for the replies. We're taking the plunge. DH is on his way to Bestbuy right now. . . . One question-- How do we pay for the service?? Do we need any of those "top up" cards, or is there a way to have the charge drafted from our bank account monthly?? --Katie

 

[mrsannb]

We have pay by the minute and they just charge our CC every time we need to top up. We'vehad VM for a few years pretty happy with it, but occasionally we don't get the calls or notification of a call till hours later, and sometimes don't get messages at all. I wouln't want it as an only phone but is great for our needs.

 

[torinsmom]

I have the monthly plan you are talking about, and I just pay with a credit card online each month. I get a text a few days before the new month starts as a reminder. I have been on this plan for almost a year and have had no problems whatsoever. I find the service and coverage to be better than what I had with AT & T. My son has the $25 plan, and combined, I am saving about $40 month and that service didn't even have text and data included! The phones are more expensive only because you are not locked into a contract.

 

[Tinkerbelle99]

We are in the midst of making the change over from TMobile to Virgin. We were carrying 4 lines. We spun off two lines, they went to the Virgin $30 paylo plan (1500 mins/500 txt) on the $15 LG phone. We ported the two numbers over. so far so good.

I ported over my # to virgin too, I got the LG Optimus V on the $25 beyond talk plan. I was a former blackberry user, who didnt think she would like android....I LOVE IT!!! my plan is unlimited data/txt/web, but only 300 minutes. the minutes are an issue for me, as do need way more and I will be bumping up for more minutes. i promised DH i would try the 300 minutes, so i am...but knew from the get go it wouldnt be enough.

we are switching over the last line, DH's, on Monday.For no real reason, other than we wanted to make sure the transition would be smooth and it has been. he will be going to the $30 paylo plan on the $15 LG phone.

So its been a week and we are very happy. we are getting so much more for so much less. even if i bump up to the complete unlimited plan, i will still be ahead of what the same features would cost w/tmobile.

virgin uses the sprint towers and we have not had an issue with calls. my brother has had sprint for years, so i knew first hand that he gets service EVERYWHERE.

porting over the numbers was a breeze. Customer service said it could take up to 3 days for tmobile to release the numbers to them. but luckily, in less than two hours we were up and running with our old numbers on our new virgin service!

 

[MomToOne]

I've had Virgin Mobile for probably 10 years now. I am on a pay-as-you-go plan, since I really don't use my phone much.

Things were great for the first 9 years. Then last year was an absolute nightmare. Somehow they messed up something on my account, and the auto-top up feature suddenly wouldn't work. I called about it over and over and over and over - each time, they would swear up and down that the problem had been resolved, but the next time it was due to top up, it would fail again. At one point due to the auto-top up failure, my service was suspended - and let's just say it wasn't at an opportune time

After reporting the problem so many times - by calling in/demanding to speak to managers, by submitting problem reports online, even by posting messages to one of the reps they have on face book! - and getting no where, I finally filed a complaint with the FCC. That FINALLY got their attention. Their "executive escalations" desk called me, and literally within minutes they were able get the problem fixed. Hmmm. Funny (not!) that they could fix it but NO ONE ELSE ever could over the 9 months I had been trying.

It all left a very bad taste in my mouth, but since things are finally working and they are still the cheapest plan for me, I am still with them. But I do look around every month or two to see if someone else has a new plan that might be cheaper.....

So - moral of the story - as long as things don't go wrong, they are great. But when things go wrong, be prepared to battle and battle and battle to get things fixed!

 

[Bungle]

I have the optimus and LOVE it!

I've been with virgin mobile for years but when I got my new phone I upgraded to the $25 unlimited web/text 400 minutes plan because that suits me just fine. My husband has the next tier up.

I can't imagine ever paying more for a phone. I've heard with some plans/phones on other carriers you have to pay for data too.

We have our charges on recurring debit so every month it is taken from our account.

 

[ekatiel]

Posting from my new phone. The data works great, but it is dropping calls inside my house. Any suggestions? Katie