Virgin mobile, credit limit and equifax!

juca

I just want to put out there something i found out today regarding the above, when i got a second contract with virgin ( for my daughter ) i requested that when the texts and/or minutes are used up that she would not be able to use any more,as she would be charged, Virgin state they dont do this ( but i know other mobile companies do) what they do do is set a credit limit, which is £20 ( and that depends on which call centre you get put through to, one stated the minimum was £50!! ) so once you go £20 over your allowances your account is suspended, well,to my horror the latest bill was £71 and suspended, why i asked when i had a credit limit of £20? the answer.....i had a credit limit of £50!!! because as it turns out it was increased without my knowledge or notification by Equifax,who Virgin allow access to their customers and automatically increase your credit limit if you meet Equifaxes criteria!!! Virgin say they have nothing to do with this but only allow Equifax access to customer accounts....this credit limit can happen anytime, which would result in me contacting virgin every month to check it hasn't increased because YOU DO NOT get any notification this is happening.
As you can imagine i am so peed with this as my latest bill should only have been around £40 ( line rental + £20 credit limit ) I have no choice but to pay the bill but i wanted to inform people that this happening.
Another thing is apart from the credit limit i also asked for some sort of early warning as to how close my daughter is close to using up her allowances, and they said they could....but alas no text ever gets sent ( i know what your thinking but you try and get a teenage daughter to constantly check her allowances!! ).
So if you have a Virgin mobile for someone else PLEASE be aware this happens. For the record i am considering my option to stay with them when my contract expires next month.

SnowTiger

juca wrote: »

I just want to put out there something i found out today regarding the above, when i got a second contract with virgin ( for my daughter ) i requested that when the texts and/or minutes are used up that she would not be able to use any more,as she would be charged, Virgin state they dont do this ( but i know other mobile companies do) what they do do is set a credit limit, which is £20 ( and that depends on which call centre you get put through to, one stated the minimum was £50!! ) so once you go £20 over your allowances your account is suspended, well,to my horror the latest bill was £71 and suspended, why i asked when i had a credit limit of £20? the answer.....i had a credit limit of £50!!! because as it turns out it was increased without my knowledge or notification by Equifax,who Virgin allow access to their customers and automatically increase your credit limit if you meet Equifaxes criteria!!!

Sounds like you were given some duff info by the call centre bod. Virgin Mobile may use data from a credit reference agency to set and amend credit limits, but I doubt the whole process is out of their hands.

Anyway, seems like what you're really after for your daughter is a pay as you go product.

Think yourself luck: my Virgin Mobile credit limit is £125. Amusingly, I haven't used the account for about two years. It's on a plan that doesn't charge any line rental.

You can check your credit limit and usage by logging in to your account at http://www.virginmobile.com/.

juca

I asked that question and virgin said they have no say in the credit limit increases all they can do is put it back to the minimum limit....thing that sticks in my throat is that theres no notification ( it may be in the small print somewhere but who reads that deep into T&C's ) also because the account is suspended they cant do anything until its been paid.
PAYG is what im going to insist on when the contract term is due to finish.

gjchester

juca wrote: »

I just want to put out there something i found out today regarding the above, when i got a second contract with virgin ( for my daughter ) i requested that when the texts and/or minutes are used up that she would not be able to use any more,as she would be charged, Virgin state they dont do this ( but i know other mobile companies do) what they do do is set a credit limit, which is £20 ( and that depends on which call centre you get put through to, one stated the minimum was £50!! ) so once you go £20 over your allowances your account is suspended,

The only network that does this now is Tesco. Billing is never really real time, and they don't monitor peoples credit accounts.

Three say they do it but then state in there T&C you should not rely on the service as they don't guarantee it.

js78

SnowTiger wrote: »

Sounds like you were given some duff info by the call centre bod. Virgin Mobile may use data from a credit reference agency to set and amend credit limits, but I doubt the whole process is out of their hands.

Anyway, seems like what you're really after for your daughter is a pay as you go product.

Think yourself luck: my Virgin Mobile credit limit is £125. Amusingly, I haven't used the account for about two years. It's on a plan that doesn't charge any line rental.

You can check your credit limit and usage by logging in to your account at http://www.virginmobile.com/.

What tariff is that? No line rental!