Complain about a product or service

Virgin Mobile

Christina of Pine Beach, NJ October 25, 2009

Last Christmas I got my niece, Jennifer, a Virgin Mobile (VM) phone. On Christmas morning I spent over an hour on the computer trying to figure out how to activate that phone. On December 25, 2008 Jennifer made her first call. The problems started soon after. As with most cell phone companies we found the actual phones to be unreliable. In less than a year she is on her third phone.

Oh - and then there is the problem with payment. We are on a month-to-month system. Each month I put "top up" money on her account and each month on the 25th Jen uses the top up money to pay for the next months service. It was an OK system. It was only OK because oftentimes the VM website would work and I would have to call in a top up. The wait times are long, the system is automated and annoying and if even lucky enough to speak to a person they are in another country, don't always have a good grasp of English and are often not helpful and it times even rude. But it is Jennifer's phone and what she chose and I deal.

So I made the first big mistake. I topped up Jen's account before the 25th in August. I knew she was low on minutes and figured she could ass a few extra to get her to the end of the month. Jennifer made the 2nd mistake. Instead of adding extra minutes she took it upon herself to activate her new account month on the 22nd of August. I wasn't a happy camper! But Jen suffered the consequences and when her account ran out on September 22nd she suffered without her phone until the 25th of September. (Three days without a cell phone to a college student is like a month without food to the rest of us!)

So - that should have been the end of it, right? We should be back on the 25th of the month renewal cycle and all should be good, right? WRONG! Instead, Virgin Mobile decided this was a good time to activate a policy that resulted in them stealing my money. They say we now have to pay this month on the 22nd - and thereby get less than a month's worth of service!

Here's how it goes... I put money in the top up on the 24th of September. This doesn't mean anything. Top up money can be used to purchase service, ringtones, extra minutes, whatever. It is sort of like an online gift card. On the 25th of September Jen used the money in the Top up to pay for the: Monthly Plan ChargeCost Recovery ChargeFederal USF10 fee for Unlimited Messaging

Now, on the 22nd of October Virgin Mobile is sending Jennifer a message that her monthly service is up on the 22nd and needs to be renewed for her to continue using her phone. WHAT????? I mean seriously? So here I go - online - to see what is going on and I look at the payment history. Very clearly is shows that I Topped Up on the 24th and Jen PAID FOR THE SERVICE on the 25th. Awesome. So I call VM. OUCH!

First I talk to a rep - that first person that answers the phone that is rarely helpful. So of course after about 3 minutes I ask for a supervisor and I get Aileen (not sure of spelling). I fond out from Aileen that she is in Manila, Philippines. She identifies herself as a Supervisor in the Operations Department. She says - that there is a 3 day grace period and since we paid on the 3rd day - on the 24th of September we paid in the grace period and the service continued form there. HUH? 1st, Jen's service didn't continue. She had no service from the 22nd through the 25th. But then, we didn't pay for the service until the 25th which is outside this nebulous and never before reported grace period. Simple - well - sort of. But, NO!

So then I talk to: Rem - The Floor Manager Jhen - The Floor Supervisor and Reynaldo - The Senior Supervisor I get the same story over and over again - and as I am losing my patience (and you all know how quickly that happened) I am hearing - "since you paid on the 24th" - to which I reply "No, we didn't pay for the service until the 25th!!!" Time and time again.

So here is that I am offered. Jen can have 150 bonus minutes and 1000 text messages. She can use these up until the 22nd (today). And if we pay again on the 25th this may happen all over again. WHAT?????? Jhen says that maybe we can use the minutes and messages after the 22nd, and that my cycle date will change back to the 25th next month - but I paid for unlimited messaging and should have a cycle date of the 25th now - and shouldn't I get what I paid for? But I am starting to waver and ready to give up. I ask her to just send me an email confirming this and I will move on - but she won't do that. I just have to trust them. HA! And so I ask for a number for corporate - so that I can talk to someone else - maybe someone not in Manila. Maybe someone with actual authority to listen and (wouldn't this be wonderful) maybe someone that didn't keep talking over me.

And guess what... yeah - you guessed it - they won't give me a number for the corporate offices. Well the best thing that happened is that Jhen said (and I am using quote marks because I wrote it down word for word and confirmed it with her) "With the cycle date, when you pay on the 25th that is supposed to be your cycle date". Basically, VM knows they have handled this wrong.

Dorothy of Tucson, AZ October 25, 2009

On August 6th 2009, I had authorized with my Debit visa card 20.00 to be taken out of my bank account at the first week of each month for my niece's cell phone in California.(live in Tucson Arizona). Virgin Mobile took out 20.00 on august 6th,2009,and September 8th,which were authorized. my dispute is that Virgin Mobile also took out 20.00 on august 17th,24th, and september 17th which were not authorized, I spoke to Virgin Mobile September 17th,and I was told I would get a call back on this matter. Virgin never called me back.

These unauthorized transactions caused my account to be overdrawn 245.00,and i was charged 70.00 over draft fee. I spoke to Virgin Mobile today 10/24/2009 ( Pamela),and she states the transactions were not in their computer, but yet the transactions were on my bank statements for August and September. I was advised by Virgin Mobile to report this to you. I requested a statement from Virgin Mobile stating that the transactions on august 17th,24th, and september 17th were not authorized. although Bank Of America credited me for these overdrafted fees,I was sent a letter from Bank Of America requesting proof that that these transactions were not authorized. thank you...

Brian of New Carlisle, IN October 11, 2009

I had 98.00 in my Virgin Mobile account so I ordered a Slash phone and they sent me the wrong phone and charged my PayPal account through my wifew account on Virgine Mobile. I informed them of the mistake and they sent me the right (Slash) phone but said that I also ordered the (ARC) phone but I did not nor did my Wife because she just recieved a new Clamshell phone a month or so ago. Pay pal would not do anything about it. So when I went to call up my wifes account on line, I found out that they cancelled hers because they said she had been deliquint a few months ago, mind you her phone account had an extra 23.00 in it that we just topped up with a few weeks ago. Now they did cut her phone off for a few hours until I re-topped up her account. Well they cut her phone off after they asked me for both account numbers and passwords. They still will not take the wrong phone that they just sent me and they have not returned the 42.00 back into my Pay pal account. I have all the proof copied from our accounts on Virgine Mobile. P.S. We have been Virgine mobile customers for at least ten years.

romeo of las vegas, NV October 8, 2009

cut the services...i thought my virgin mobile phone is prepaid.start september 27 is cut the service.i call *86 they said send the ID.and my debit card copy and i send it also the top up card one of 50 dollor and 20 dollors.they say the suspention will be remove on 5 days now is 8 days.

glen of great yarmouth norfolk, United Kingdom October 6, 2009

I am writing regarding my mobile virgin account that was never resolved as I work away. It's all to do with a complaint that I made regarding a limit that was put on my phone bill. I never put a limit of over 600 pounds. I was talking to someone at virgin to confirm that I can use my mobile phone as a modem and he said yeas. I went on line then I went on virgin web site to check to see how much it cost. it cost about .40 pence.

So I had no problem I have never missed payment and had my phone for years but I went on line used my phone as a modem and watched just one documentary that lasted for about 20 mins that cost me about 200 pounds. I can't remember how much now. I phoned virgin up to explain that I have put a limit on my phone to be cut off if I go over it but you did not do this then [they] charged me a lot of money that I could not afford to watch a movie that should have been cut off when I reached my limit.

I don't mind paying my bills but I can't pay for something that I was told I can use and no one told me that I can not watch tube. I want to pay but I need [them] to come up with something reasonable as company is partly to blame. if [they] kept your promise to shut me of when I reached my limit I could have played my bill but [they] let it run on. I could buy the film for 5 pounds no one would ever watch a movie for 200 pounds that must be obverse. But [they] have been totally ruthless and took no responsibility for lending me into believing that you would cut me off. I put a credit limit on my phone of about 50 pounds maybe a 100 I can't remember but please look at records.

Like I said I will pay some of the bill. I can't pay it all at once and cannot be expected to pay all that money for watching one documentary. anyone could see that is a mistake. This is going to affect my credit rating for 6 years. that does not seem fare. I am 50 years old. there is not much I can do about this. I can't afford to go to curt or get a solicitor. I can only agree to make payments on it if [they] come to some kind or reasonable agreement

Fannie of Houston, TX September 15, 2009

Paid for my daughters phone on Aug 11, 2009. I was double charged for the payment. I called and asked to be credited back for the additional charge. Place call at least 3 more times and was given a reference number, advised that someone would call me back asking for reference code number to credit me back for double payment. Did not get a response so I called my bank and they reversed the charge. On the same day they reversed the charge Virgin Mobile decided to credit my account back.I called Chase and ask them to do a reversal charge and was told that it was done and was given the authorization code to verify. Now Virgin Mobile still want release my daughter phone number and they have been reimburst for the 68.68 plus they have the payment for September of 68.68. They have sent this over to there Fraud department and is wanting me to send them my bank account information via fax or email. Would not give me a phone number to speak with anyone just wants me to send my information blindly. Please forgive me for not being trustful to them but look what has happen so far. I have spoken with a lady name Genesis. A gentlemen name Tom and a few others. None of whom wanted to help me but just rush me off the phone. I have been trying to correct this issue since August 11th and now we are a month later and still the issue has not been solved. A supervisor told my daughter today @ 4:25 PM our central time 9/14/09 that he would put a note on the account to charge back at Virgin Mobile USA to see what is going on with her phone account.She was on the phone with them for approximately 54 minutes and 21 seconds. By the time I called, I was told by Tom that the account had been sent over to there fraud department.

Achal of Kolkata, India September 13, 2009

Money is being charged in my phone for giving missed calls. Money is no problem but then money should not be diminished by missed calls.

Theresa of Philadelphia, PA September 10, 2009

I have never had a more frustrating experience in all of my life. I enrolled in the pink slip protection program after being laid off in June. I talked to an advisor and followed the procedure to file a claim. I was told that as long as I was on a plan with two consecutive months of payment I would be eligible. Not a problem. I had been a customer on a plan for quite some time. They told me that the process would take about 30 days and I was also told to pay July (which i did) and disable my auto payment at the end of July so I would not be charged for August.

I called at the end of July to check on the status and they applied a credit to cover my claim and then said it was okay for me to disable my auto payment. Come September 1st they did not activate another credit. I called the company and I was informed that they never received my paper work for the psp programn and that I was to get a PIN by e-mail that was how the program worked. They informed me I needed to refax my information. It took talking to six advisors and alot of time on hold to get to this point.

I followed up on the fax the next day and I was then told that I was not eligible because I did not have two months on a monthly plan. Unreal. I was not told any of these important "little details" and I was being denied service because the mistakes the advisors made. I finally talked to a supervisor. What a joke! She said that although I was given bad information there was nothing she could do about it. I pressed her until she told me that I was approved and I should receive the PIN in a week. Suprise no PIN.

I could not get through to customer service so I sent a fax to the psp department and then I received a call from Kerstain. She apologized for the inconvenience and the bad information from the advisors and the supervisor but she would basically do me a favor by approving my application that would take another 30 days. They put 100 minutes on my account because I am now paying 20 cents a minute because of their bad information.

My plan has 700 and another plan for texting. BIG DEAL! I knew from the very beginning that I would have to follow their advice to the letter in order to get the three months covered and I did. They got me anyway. The hold times are unbelievable and the advisors are not trained. When they get called on this they LIE and then make you feel that it was your fault and they are doing you a favor to fix it. There's a lot of competition out there but I'll be darned if I'm going to make a switch before I get my three months that I qualify for. The advisors and the supervisors could care less. They are trained to say no and lie, lie, lie.

Stephen of Chesterfield, MO September 8, 2009

I bought my phone and signed up for a 29.95 monthly plan at a Radio Shack store. Radio Shack took my Visa info and charged the 29.95. Virgin Mobile activated the phone and I tested it and it worked. A few days later I logged into my Virgin Mobile on-line account and discovered that I had 9 left and they were charging me at .22 per minute instead of the monthly plan. They said the total for the monthly plan was 34.08 and since that amount was not charged, the default of .22 per minute was in affect.

I went back to Radio Shack and we resolved the problem with an additional 4.13 charge. Radio Shack apologized for the inconvenience and remarked that the total charge was not very clear.

Things were ok for a couple of months but the next time I looked at my Visa statement I noticed that Virgin Mobile had double billed me (25 Aug 2009 had two identical charges of 34.08 posted). On the same day I called the Virgin Mobile contact number and reported this to the user support representative. At that time, the representative told me that they only saw one charge for 34.08. I asked her for the transaction number and she gave it to me.

I then called my Visa card bank and told them what had happened. They agreed that I was probably double billed and would investigate it. On 28 Aug 2009 I looked at my Visa account on-line and saw that Visa had reversed one of the charges of 34.08 to Virgin Mobile and thought the issue was resolved. However, the next (29 Aug 2009) my phone stopped working and I could not log into my on-line account.

I called Virgin Mobile support and asked them why I couldn't make a phone call. They said that my account was on 'hold' due to non-payment. Of course this was not the case since according to Visa, Virgin Mobile had my original 34.08 on 10 Aug 2009. The Virgin Mobile representative then said I'd have to reverse the 2nd 34.08 from my Visa bank to Virgin Mobile and once this payment was received, my phone would be automatically re-activated and they (user support) would immediately refund me the 2nd 34.08. I felt very uneasy about doing this but wanted to get my phone working.

So, I called my Visa bank and told them what Virgin Mobile had suggested. They agreed to reverse the reversed 34.08 charge so Virgin Mobile would receive the payment. On 2 Sep 2009 I saw the 2nd 34.08 charge to Virgin Mobile appear on my on-line Visa bank statement and tried to make a call but could not. I immediately called Virgin Mobile user support and was told to wait for a few days and try again. I did this but still could not make a call.

As of today, 8 Sept 2008, I can't make a phone call or login to my account and was asked by user support to send an email describing the issue to fraudalert@virginmobileusa. At this point I am waiting for Virgin Mobile to respond but frankly am not optimistic about hearing from them. I even called their New Jersey headquarters only to converse with a phone bot and leave a message. I have also spoken the the regional manager of Radio Shack to alert them about a mounting volume of Virgin Mobile complaints. At this point I would advise everyone to stay away from Virgin Mobile.

Annette of Kansasville, WI September 8, 2009

I cancelled my account with them in March. They began charging my card again in June and July. I have called 5 times to resolve this issue. I have demanded to speak with supervisors. I have been lied to by them. They have fraudulently added phone calls THEY placed to the closed account to a phone that doesn't exist.

They refuse to refund the money, then they said they were sending a check, then I rcvd a message congratulating me "for making the switch" to a new plan, then they stated they refunded one month to a bank account they know is now closed. they charge .15 a day to my active account every single day at 3:15 in the morning. There is just too much to write about! I am out 206.88. I believe they are funding other things illegally when you multiply how many people they have done this to, it adds up to millions.

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