Anyone have Virgin Mobile?

[Coll0610]

We're finally getting DS a cell phone. DH and I have tracfones which work great for us, but DS wants a full keypad phone with tracfone doesn't have. I was thinking about moving us all to a Verizon family plan but then I checked Virgin Mobile. They have some new plans called Beyond Talk which include unlimited text, web and email plus minutes. For 300 minutes, it's $25 a month. Does anyone have this plan? It sounds too good to be true, but I can't find a catch. Am I missing something?

 

[joy@disney]

My husband and I have been using Virgin Mobile for over 10 years now. We don't use this plan. We just use the pay as you go plan. We pretty much only use our phones to communicate with each other, so don't use a lot of minutes.
We do use the 1,000 text for $10 a month for our DD, and the 200 text for $5 a month for our DS.
If you are looking for a catch, I don't think there is one. What they state on the website has always been true for us. The only problem we have had is with coverage. I don't think it is as good as say ATT or Verizon.

 

[rszdtrvl]

My son and I use the "pay as you go" plan with Virgin Mobile. In all honesty, their connection is way better than any other company in our area. We rarely have dropped calls, and rarely have no bars.

I have been with VM for about 5 years, and just recently got my son his own phone.

As soon as DH's service plan is up on his Sidekick with T-Mobile we may end up with a family plan though.

I have not had any troubles with Virgin Mobile and highly recommend them!

 

[enchantingodin]

I've been using Virgin for about a year and a half now. Coverage is good in my area. Plan rates are the best I could find for what I need. I use a monthly text plan and pay as you go talk minutes.

But I too was thinking of getting this new plan once the Rumor Touch comes out. I currently have the X-tc. It's a decent phone - dropped it a few times. Opps. And it came right back.

My only complaint with virgin is that it's VERY difficult to get an actual person on the phone for assistance. Well if you follow the prompted numbers anyway. I found I had to ask for something different completely, then finally got someone.

 

[Amber1111]

We had Virgin Mobile for a while a few years ago until we wanted to get "cool" phones. VM didn't really have any nice phones back then - not sure what they have now. But, we never had a problem with their customer service, and their phone service was a lot better than Sprint who we had switched to. Their coverage area was huge.

 

[taymaesmom]

We used them for many years too and were in IL. We tried t-mobil and tracfone and didn't have great service here but had wonderful service with virgin. We didn't have that plan but the ones we did use were exactly as stated, no hidden fees. We really like them and only switched to a more permanent plan when dh wanted a blackberry.

 

[BrettAZ]

Nope. My mobile has been used again and again, so it can be a ........

 

[MomToOne]

I have used them for years (6 or more), on the pay as you go plan.

I love it, it really fits the way I use my phone - which is not very often. They don't have smart phones, which is fine for me but some folks wouldn't be happy - I have a Rumor2, which is one of the best phones they offer for the pay as you go option.

Coverage is great for me, they use the Sprint network I believe.

Customer service is OK. I haven't had many problems where I had to deal with them. I did have a problem recently, though, where my auto-top up didn't go through correctly for some reason and my account was disabled for a day (you have to have at least $15 put on your account every 90 days to keep it active) . I was able to re-enable it almost instantly just by manually topping up, then I contacted customer service via email to see what was going on. They never really told me what happened, but gave me a credit of a feature that meant I didn't even have to top up for another year, other than to pay for minutes. Since I use maybe $20 of minutes all year long, that's great for me!

 

[beccab]

I have a VM pay as you go. I LOVE not paying the $130+/mth for the family plan I used to have. I purchased the VM x-tc phone for $100 in Aug '09. I bought a $50 pay as you go card( I can't remember how many mins.the card was for) and I buy $5.00 text msg mins each month. For some reason, I received bonus mins (don't know why) that are good until 10/2010. I have 400+ mins left. I haven't topped up since I bought the phone. So since Aug I have spent a grand total of $100 for service. Like pp said, it is hard to get an actual customer service rep on the phone. The big negative is the customer service but for the great price, I am willing to put up with it.

 

[JB2K]

I was thinking about moving us all to a Verizon family plan but then I checked Virgin Mobile.

For those inquiring about Virgin Mobile, remember these phones operate on Sprint's nationwide network, meaning if Sprint works fine in your area, VM will, too...

 

[luvmy3]

For those inquiring about Virgin Mobile, remember these phones operate on Sprint's nationwide network, meaning if Sprint works fine in your area, VM will, too...

Also, if Verizon works better in your area check out Page Plus Cellular or Straight Talk (owned by Tracfone, works on Verizon network, found at Walmart). Both of these are pre-paid, no contract. You can use a Verizon phone on PP (cannot be one of the prepaid in the blister pack).

PagePlus has a deal that gives you 1200 minutes 1200 Texts and data (don't know how much) all for $30 a month.
Straight Talk has a plan that gives you 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and data (again, don't know how much) for $30 a month, or unlimited minutes and text for $45.

ETA I forgot to say my dd has Virgin Texters Delight, she pays $15 a month for 1000 texts, calls are billed seperately and they are either 5 or 10 cents a minute. They have the same thing with unlimited texts for $20 a month. She wants a qwerty phone and since we get horrible coverage at our house from any carrier other than Verizon I am looking into PP or ST for her (and dh and I too).