Question about Swapping Phones on Virgin Mobile

[ekatiel]

DH and I got new phones today. We've been with Virgin mobile for almost 2 years, so we still pay the $40/month rate for 1200 minutes. In trying to activate the new phone, I noticed that I now have to go to their new rates ($45/month for the same plan). I don't have a problem with paying the new rate, HOWEVER, in order to activate my phone, I have to pay the new rate today, losing all my plan minutes from this month. Since my plan month just restarted on 2/15, that's almost a whole month that I'll lose. I tried to call customer service and got disconnected (no surprise there). I wouldn't mind paying them $5 to make up the difference in plan prices for the rest of this month, but paying them twice in one month just to switch phones is uncool. Do I have any other options besides waiting it out and activating the new phone on 3/14?? Looking for anyone who's been through this. --Katie

 

[kellia]

Nope, when you add the new phone, you start a new month and lose all your old minutes. Happened a couple times to us- since dd and dh are always breaking theirs!

You have to activate it online yourself or they'll charge you a fee if you just call. However, I've never been able to activate one without having problems and have to call and have them fix it! Good luck, I love their service other than when setting up a new phone!

 

[PelletierBears]

We've had Virgon Mobile for several years and have switched phones without losing our minutes. You have to log into your account and choose Swap Phone from the right side menu.

Hope that works for you!

 

[ekatiel]

We've had Virgon Mobile for several years and have switched phones without losing our minutes. You have to log into your account and choose Swap Phone from the right side menu.

Hope that works for you!

The problem is that we can't "swap" phones b/c we have to change plans, since our $40/month plan is no longer offered. --Katie

 

[ceecee]

We got DD an iPhone for Christmas and kept her Virgin Mobile acct (they grandfathered it) she didn't lose any minutes that month but then she only had 10 left!!! We have the 200 min with unlimited texting and it went up to $30 from $25.

 

[SwimBikeRun]

Did you get the iPhone through tmobile or apple? Thinking of getting one. Finally!

 

[NotUrsula]

The problem is that we can't "swap" phones b/c we have to change plans, since our $40/month plan is no longer offered. --Katie

Yes, the plan is still available if you are grandfathered in, but there is a catch to that: for grandfathered users, you can only keep your old plan if the new phone you switch to was being sold before that plan stopped being sold.

We've been using Virgin since the mid-90's, and we still have the old $80/yr pay-by-the-minute plans on most of our phones. I have the grandfathered $25/mo unlimited plan for my smartphone, and I just switched phones without losing it -- the catch is that I had to switch to a phone that was available when the plan was, which means one that was being sold before May 27, 2012. (I changed from an Optimus V to an Optimus slider, because the camera on my V went bad.)

Apparently you purchased a new-model phone that was introduced after that change date, and that means that you can't retain the grandfathered rate. If you can return the phone and get a different one that qualifies for grandfathered plans, you can still keep the old rate.

PS: iPhones are a special case; Virgin is running a special rate of $30/mo only for iPhones. To qualify to use an iPhone on Virgin, you MUST buy a Virgin-branded iPhone. The only choices are iPhone4 versions, and they sell for $350 (8gb) and $450 (16gb).

 

[Goobergirl]

Is there a way to find out which phones were available prior to May 2012 or is someone aware of which ones they were? Thanks!

 

[NotUrsula]

From the horse's mouth (aka virginmobileusa.com):

*The following smartphones launched before May 1, 2012 and are therefore not subject to the new device upgrade rules at this time: VentureTM, LG ® OptimusTM Slider, HTC ® Wildfire STM, Motorola TriumphTM, LG ® Optimus VTM, Blackberry ® CurveTM 8530.​

http://virginmobileusa.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5667/related/1

 

[ekatiel]

I don't mind paying the extra monthly fee. I mind having to pay the entire fee right now to be able to use the phone right now. I just paid our $40 for the month on 2/15. Now they want me to pay ANOTHER $45 in order to use the phone right now, meaning that I will pretty much pay for this month twice. I would be happy to pay the additional $5 in order to upgrade to the new plan for the remainder of the month, and then pay the $45 on 3/15 for the new month. They are telling me that can't be done. It really irks me that they want me to pay 2X for this month just to use my new phone. --Katie

 

[Free4Life11]

I just swapped phones and no, there is no way around it. All I can recommend is wait until the day before your plan is up before swapping phones. Sorry!

 

[HM]

Can't you just wait until your March date comes around and switch then? Does your old phone still work?

 

[ekatiel]

DH just got off the phone with a manager. It's all fixed. They credited the $40 charge back to us that we paid on 2/15 and charged us the $45 instead. It did take a while to get a hold of a manager, but at least it's fixed . --Katie