Problems with Virgin Mobile 07804 prefix

ianonline

I recently picked up a couple of free Virgin SIMs with the £5 free credit.

I put one into my unlocked Moto C115 and it seemed to be working fine (I could dial out OK, and I tried dialling in from a landline & it worked fine - ie it would ring when switched on, or divert to voicemail if switched off).

However, when I tried to send a text message from my Vodafone mobile to the Virgin mobile number it seemed to be sent OK, but the Virgin mobile never received it, and if I try calling the Virgin mobile number from my Vodafone I just get a dead tone and a message saying "busy network" or "call failed" (this has been happening constantly for the past 3 days since I first tried it - regardless of whether the Virgin mobile is switched on or off).

I assumed that the problem must be between Vodafone and Virgin as it was OK dialling the Virgin number from a landline, so I gave the number out to a garage to call me on and when I rang them, they said they had been trying to call me (presumably from a landline) but just getting a dead tone.

I am therefore totally confused as the problem doesn't seem to follow any particular pattern - ie the problem seems to be when dialling the Virgin number from a Vodafone (I've tried two different Voda SIMS) and from SOME landlines :wall:

To be honest, I'm not too bothered as I'll just throw away the Virgin SIM once the free credit is used up, so it's not worth contacting Virgin and asking them to look into it. I just wondered whether anyone else had experienced this problem :question:

(BTW, I haven't yet tried the other Virgin SIM I received so I don't know if that one has the same problem):think:

reddwarf2002

I think I may have experienced a similar problem. A friend sent a text from a new Vodafone PayG sim to my Virgin Mobile sim but I never received it. So I think there may be some problems between these 2 companies? I've had the Virgin sim for 4 years so I think it is a problem with VodaFone ...

EDIT:
Correction - After confirming with my friend again it appears that my friend sent the text message to my O2 mobile (the number starts with 0784). I've had this number for over 1 year so can't see where the problem could be apart from the issue being a Vodafone one...

xycom1

It could be that the Virgin SIMs are on a new dialling code (e.g. 07xxx) which hasn't been registered by Vodafone onto their network. (Their net needs to recognise who (which network) all the codes belong to in order to know where to route the call).

This has happened in the past when I worked for Orange - O started using a new prefix on their PAYG SIMs and Vodafone hadn't registered it - therefore there were problems between these new numbers and Vodafone customers.

ianonline

reddwarf2002 wrote:

I think it is a problem with VodaFone ...

Yeah, that's what I thought, but when the garage tried to call me on the Virgin Mobile number today and they got a dead tone, that blew my theory to pieces :doh:

ianonline

xycom1 wrote:

It could be that the Virgin SIMs are on a new dialling code (e.g. 07xxx) which hasn't been registered by Vodafone onto their network. (Their net needs to recognise who (which network) all the codes belong to in order to know where to route the call).

This has happened in the past when I worked for Orange - O started using a new prefix on their PAYG SIMs and Vodafone hadn't registered it - therefore there were problems between these new numbers and Vodafone customers.

Again, a plausable theory (my Virgin Mobile number is 07804, incidently) but that doesn't explain why the garage couldn't call me from a landline

ianonline

I've been digging around trying to find some more info about my problem and I came across this record of one person's bad experience with Virgin Mobile entitled "Why I threw away my Virgin Mobile SIM chip":

http://www.seabhcan.com/dearvirginmobile.html

Obviously very frustrating for the person involved but also quite amusing to read (I especially liked the bit where he quotes from "that monty python sketch in the cheese shop") :rotfl:

reddwarf2002

Correction to the above post:

After confirming with my friend again it appears that my friend sent the text message to my O2 mobile (the number starts with 0784). I've had this number for over 1 year so can't see where the problem could be apart from the issue being a Vodafone one...

ianonline

xycom1 wrote:

It could be that the Virgin SIMs are on a new dialling code (e.g. 07xxx) which hasn't been registered by Vodafone onto their network. (Their net needs to recognise who (which network) all the codes belong to in order to know where to route the call).

This has happened in the past when I worked for Orange - O started using a new prefix on their PAYG SIMs and Vodafone hadn't registered it - therefore there were problems between these new numbers and Vodafone customers.

Well, Vodafone have confirmed that they don't recognise the new 07804 prefix - but they are blaming Virgin for not informing the other mobile networks about it (although I note that Orange DO already recognise the prefix so I think Vodafone are trying to pass the buck!).

I'm still however, confused that the garage couldn't dial the number from a LANDLINE (presumably there must be some local exchanges which also don't recognise the 07804 prefix)

This was Vodafone's response:

Thank you for your email regarding calls to a Virgin mobile starting 07804.

I have called our technical department today regarding this problem. You cannot call this number because it is a new Virgin number with the prefix 07804. Therefore Virgin will need to contact all other mobile networks and advise of this prefix.

Unfortunately in order to resolve this problem the Virgin network will need to update other networks with the information.

If there is anything else we can help you with, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours sincerely,

Sara Dono
Vodafone Customer Services

.... and yes, that really was the name she gave - do you think it's made up or could it be that there really is a customer service assistant called Sara DONO :think: :rotfl:

xycom1

LOL I really dono!

hehe

DonnyDave

According to Ofcom, 07804 was registered to T-Mobile in May 2005 (Virgin Mobile use T-Mobile's network). So why it's taken so long and why Vodafone don't use the lists provided by Ofcom, I don't know!

As for the garage not being able to call, perhaps they are on a cable line or a provider that has also not updated their lists of numbers.

ianonline

DonnyDave wrote:

According to Ofcom, 07804 was registered to T-Mobile in May 2005 (Virgin Mobile use T-Mobile's network). So why it's taken so long and why Vodafone don't use the lists provided by Ofcom, I don't know!

Yep - given that any Tom, !!!!!! or Harry can download the lists from the Ofcom website, there's no excuse why a telecoms provider shouldn't be aware of a "new" prefix. If anything, you'd think they would find out even before the information is in the public domain and there would be appropriate channels for the different telecoms providers to communicate with one another.

Not a very good advert if they can't even manage to communicate amongst themselves :wall: