How is Virgin Mobile?

[Purseval]

Virgin Mobile has a special where you get unlimited text, internet, data and 300 talk minutes for $25/month or 1200 minutes for $40/month. I was thinking of picking up their 300 minute plan just to get the services but we could actually get a 1200 minute and a 300 minute and have that be priced about the same as what we pay now for T-Mobile's Friends and Family plan with no extra services. So how is their quality? Also when they say "unlimited" they actually mean either 3.5 or 5.5 Gigs/month (it's unlimited to a reasonable point or some babble like that) and then they start charging you extra. Has anyone run into problems with overrunning their limit? Also they only offer this plan if you buy certain phones to use it with, are the phones reliable?

A little tip I picked up from a MetroPCS saleslady when I was picking up a VM brochure at their store: if you run out of talk minutes before the end of the month you can't dial out or receive but your internet, text and data will still work fine

 

[Coll0610]

I had a whole reply typed with my internet died.

DS has had the 300 minute plan since the end of May and it works great for him. It's his first cell phone so he didn't have to port over a number. I activated his phone online and it was working in a few minutes. The web browser isn't great (he has the LG Rumor 2) but texting and calls work great.

I tried to port a number over from TracFone and gave up after 3 weeks. I called customer service at least 20 times. Most of the individuals I spoke with were polite and understandable but hopelessly uninformed. Every time, they told me my phone would be working in 24 hours but it never was. Hold times average 30 - 45 minutes and I was disconnected about 1 in every 3 calls. So, if you are going to try and port over a number or have to talk to their customer service dept for any reason, I would run the other way.

I still think the plan is a great deal and DS is still using it but it was so NOT worth the 3 weeks of my life. I stuck with it that long mainly because I didn't want to lose my phone number, and in the end I lost it anyway.

 

[Purseval]

Thanks for the answer. Maybe I'll just get the 300 minute plan and use it for the data/Internet stuff. $25/month would still be cheaper than adding those services to our T-Mobile account.

 

[cseca]

...

I tried to port a number over from TracFone and gave up after 3 weeks. I called customer service at least 20 times. Most of the individuals I spoke with were polite and understandable but hopelessly uninformed. Every time, they told me my phone would be working in 24 hours but it never was. Hold times average 30 - 45 minutes and I was disconnected about 1 in every 3 calls. So, if you are going to try and port over a number or have to talk to their customer service dept for any reason, I would run the other way.

I still think the plan is a great deal and DS is still using it but it was so NOT worth the 3 weeks of my life. I stuck with it that long mainly because I didn't want to lose my phone number, and in the end I lost it anyway.

Sorry for a bit of OT, but this is the same experience I had with tracfone. But it wasn't for porting # it was just to activate the phone.
Extremely infuriating... literally I spent close to 8hrs on the phone with their customer service trying to get it to work. Horrid!

 

[eowensby]

We have had Virgin for almost 6 years. I have never ever had a problem with them. My husband and I actually have the $25 plan you are talking about. It'be been great for us. We have the X-tc phones which I think are being phased out. Bought them in May and June from Target. It's nice to upgrade my phone whenever with Virgin. Service has always been great. They use Sprint's network.

 

[princess81499]

Just bought one for my DD (the $25 plan). This is her first cell phone and it was cheaper to do Virgin Mobile then to add her to my AT&T account. Very easy to get started. Bought the phone online (LG Rumor 2), activiated it when it arrived, and we are good to go!

 

[JB2K]

So how is their quality?

Their quality is as good as any other Sprint phone since Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint Nationwide Network to carry their calls.

If you have any friends using Sprint where you work/live/play, ask them how their call quality is...

 

[extremesoccermom]

We have been using Virgin Mobil for over 10 years.
We first started using it before they had the family plans everywhere else. I got one for my son and told him it was only for emergencies or to contact me after practice was over. (They didn't even have texting back then ). He was very responsible and used the phone accordingly it cost me $20.00 every 3 months.
When we add him to our family plan we gave the phone to my mother (73) for emergencies. We currently have the plan where they automatically charge my cc $15.00 + tax every 3 months. Again it is perfect as an emergency phone or when she goes out of town and needs to call home.
We were debating about getting one for DD16 this year since she is now in high school and busy with sports. However, she is not great about following directions and will call me to ask if she can have a piece of cake for desert after diner when it is only 9:00 am. We decided it would not be as good for her. Instead we added her to our family plan with ATT.
It really depends on how responsible your child is.

 

[did2008]

I would like to try it myself and on the Blackberry plan. It's an extra $10 for the Curve 8530 and $300 for the phone, but not bad considering I was paying $106 a month on Verizon for 450 minutes, unlimited text, unlimited data and a few extras. Even 1200 minutes is $50 a month on the Blackberry which is unbeatable by any provider postpaid or prepaid.

 

[carebee21]

We have had Virgin for almost 6 years. I have never ever had a problem with them. My husband and I actually have the $25 plan you are talking about. It'be been great for us. We have the X-tc phones which I think are being phased out. Bought them in May and June from Target. It's nice to upgrade my phone whenever with Virgin. Service has always been great. They use Sprint's network.

This is exactly what I have as well. It works perfectly for me as I mainly text and rarely make calls. It's so much cheaper than my old AT&T plan. I've never had any problems with service and such. I used the internet for the first time a couple weeks ago while we were out of town to check email and a couple other things, and while it's a bit slow (although that could be the phone and not the network) the time it took to access was still reasonable and much better than paying $14/night for hotel internet.

 

[ceecee]

Sorry for a bit of OT, but this is the same experience I had with tracfone. But it wasn't for porting # it was just to activate the phone.
Extremely infuriating... literally I spent close to 8hrs on the phone with their customer service trying to get it to work. Horrid!

So true! They outsource their calls and they do not speak English well at all!

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

We just bought 3 new phones from Virgin Mobile. The LG Rumor for my DS, it is his first phone, and the Rumor Touch for DH and myself. We activated DS's and my phone last week using the $25/month plan. So far I think it is great!

My Dh still had minutes to use up on his tracfone before we try and port his number over and activate the new phone. From the PP I am scared now! Dh won't be able to handle a delay like that! I hope it goes smoother for me

 

[gregokdisney]

I just started the Virgin Mobile $25 per month plan and I am very happy so far. It meets my needs perfectly. I have the Kyocera Loft phone.