Complain about a product or service

Virgin Mobile

Michael of Glen Ellyn IL (10/27/08)
On September 22, 2008 duplicate charges were incurred for the payment of one monthly cellular fee. After attempting to resolve this issue with Virgin, I was instructed that a charge back authorization would be necessary from my bank, and that the issue would be placed under investigation. Paypal, nor my bank could understand why I would have to involve myself in such a process, which resulted in my first complaint to Paypal on September 24th. Services, to my surprise, were then disconnected without warning for one week. In that period of time, I was never contacted by Virgin as to the status of my concern, but only by text message stating I could use my phone again. No details were contained within the text stating the outcome of the duplicate charges.

Since then, I've had extensive contact with Virgin, and each time I've tried to resolve this issue there have been considerable inconsistencies in how the charges would be credited back to my account. The only consistent message I received was to call back weekly if the issue didn't resolve itself, call my bank, and finally that the issue could possibly take 30 days to resolve itself depending upon my bank. Thirty days have now passed, and a new billing cycle has now begun. No refund, or credit has been applied to my Virgin account, or checking account. Beyond this , I've filed a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau, as this is nothing short of fraudulent behavior.

I used additional funding to keep the phone turned on for business calls that would have normally been covered under Virgin Mobile's discounted monthly fee. It's a forgone conclusion that Virgin Mobile could expect users to become dependent upon their cellular phones for various reasons, that they can easily exploit circumstances such as mine and force customers to pay premium prices while creating just enough chaos to discourage the average consumer. Bottom line, you get what you pay for. Not only that, NEVER use your bank card for transactions. Visa/Mastercard offer stronger protections for scams like this.

Judy of Erie, PA October 24, 2008

Judy of Erie PA (10/24/08)
I purchased cell phones for my two teenage sons to use for emergency contact and to call for permission to go to friends, etc. We were on a pay as you go plan at .18 per minute for calls and .10 per text msg. According to the rates on the site: VirginXtras were 10 per day to browse + cost of application and VirginXL (web browser) 15 per day to browse + cost of application. These appeared to be per 1-day use charges. NOT SO!

I found out after months of questioning and scolding my sons about why their minutes were disappearing so quickly that once you download a ringtone, etc., that the daily WAP (web access plan) charge is activated and is charged every day thereafter until you catch the charge by looking at usage details online and then spend lots of time on the phone to cancel it. As a pay-as-you-go plan, there is no printed bill that would readily show you. What is especially disturbing is that Virgin Mobile included 1 free ringtone when we first set up the account, which triggered the charge to start. I have read back through both the original printed terms of service and the online current description of charges for the web access. Neither makes it clear that some continuing charge will result from a single download.

Economic: The extra charge mentioned above was almost as much as the phone usage charges (voice and text), effectively nearly doubling the cost of service. The supervisor that I talked to was only able to pull up 2 months worth of services. She refunded about twice what she could actually see in charges, but the problem actually started over a year ago. Because of how the extra charge was listed, as XTRAS, it is unclear that the charge is for an ongoing service.?

Other Consequences: I have numerous times scolded and grounded my sons for what appeared to be them playing online games on their phones late at night. They lost my trust for something they did not do. Now I have to get their trust back. That's not so easy to do with teenagers. The biling policy for this service (Daily WAP)is, I believe, intentionally vague and misleading, for purposes of perpetrating a fraud. Although the financial impact on any individual consumer is relatively small, it is the systemic setup (free ringtone download to activate service)and vague, hard-to-find explanations and cancellation procedures, that indicates an intent to defraud.

George of Evans, CO October 19, 2008

George of Evans CO (10/19/08)
On October 8th I went to Virgin Online to buy a Wild Card. Bad idea Website said they could not process the information, I was entering something wrong. No problem, it happens. I entered everything again, nice and slow, but again, I was redirected to a screen that said they couldnt accept my card, I had entered improper information. What? I pay bills, buy and preorder stuff from Amazon, bid on eBay, and basically do all sorts of money transactions online, so it seems to me something done gone wrong. I use a Greendot card for my online transactions so no one has access to my bank. I pull up Greendots site and log in.

Lowe-and-behold, 2 withdrawals for 95.75 have just posted. I dug around Virgins site until I finally found the number, waited about 20 minutes for someone to answer, then spent another 20 minutes explaining to a woman named Aisa, whose first language is certainly NOT English, what the problem is. About 40 minutes into my call, Aisa realizes that I aint screwin around, I want my money back on my card, and I want it now. She explains that it will take 3 to 5 business days for the return to take place. It only took 3 to 5 seconds for the money to be taken, why is the return trip any different? Just the way it is. Okay, Im ready to swallow this bad experience and stick with T-Mobile for now. Lesson learned.

Fast-forward to October 18th, still no money back on my card. Kinda upset. I call Virgin again, and this time make a bee-line for a floor supervisor named Norissa. Norissa feeds me the same manure her minion served up 10 days earlier, but Im having none of it. Money back; money back NOW! At the end of this 90 minute phone call, I have been unpleasant enough for Norissa to assure me that the money will be back on my card in 24 hrs.

October 19th, and no money. Next call brought forth a character named Emerson. Emerson has Norissas script, even delivers the lines with the exact same intonation. Impressive, really. Ill wait the 24 hrs, I have no choice. Thats what Virgin Mobile offers: No Choice Frustration. I decided to check out Consumer reports just to see if anyone had any similar complaints, and now my stomach, as well as my hopes for ever seeing my 191.50, have fallen right off the map.

I'm out 191.50, my blood pressure is higher than a 90-year-old man in a strip joint, and I'm still with T-mobile, whose coverage in northern Colorado leaves much to be desired.

Mel of Buckeye Lake, OH October 8, 2008

Mel of Buckeye Lake OH (10/08/08)
they say if you buy a 20 package of minutes you get 10 Cents per minute. I have tried and I am still paying 20 cents per minute, what up?

Now I dont want to use this phone....

A of Toronto, OTHER October 8, 2008

A of Toronto OTHER (10/08/08)
I bought a flashy Nokia that comes with 2MP camera, it just works for a few months then DIED! After much complaining, they agreed to take it back, and you know what, they kept telling me they'd send me an envelope so that I can send it back to Nokia for repair or replacement.

The envelope never come and after making 24 calls including demanded to speak to their supervisor, they just make empty promises and 6 weeks later, the envelope still never appear at my door step. And they will never let you speak to anyone in the warranty department, which prompted to think there is no such thing!

I therefore concluded Virgin Mobile Canada is a scam! Never ever buy anything from them because there is no warranty whatsoever. this I can testify!

Trellis of Decatur, GA October 6, 2008

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