Virgin Mobile - unbelievable mess

Harald

Hi
I want to describe my case just to warn you if you dare to be a Virgin Mobile client - be warned.

I was tempted by £12 a month tariff (1200 mins, unlimited texts, 1GB of data) SIM only tariff.
Ordered my SIM on September. Package has been delivered 2 days later. Was looking just fine - pay monthly welcome pack, with all papers, invoice, welcome letter. Nice.

Installed my SIM in my phone, logged in to network, so far, so good. Logged in to online self care but couldn't find any info about my allowance. So I used code from the phone and.. received an info there is no money on my account. What money? It's pay-monthly SIM!!!
It wasn't.

These monkeys send me payg sim in pay-monthly package!!!
So I called 789, explained the problem and heard it will be sorted in 24 hours. It wasn't. Five days later (and five calls more) it was finally a pay monthly SIM. But without any tariff attached - no minutes, no texts, no data. Just nothing.
It took another 3 days to do it right and finally it was pretty much what I ordered a week earlier. Except my mobile number.
Then I made one of my biggest mistakes last year - gave them my number with PAC code. And heard it will be ready in 24 hours.
It wasn't.

Took 10 days (TEN DAYS) to port in my number!!! Can't remember how many calls I made. These muppets lied to me it is some technical problem and IT department is looking into it (whatever it means). My old SIM card stopped working in ninth day so I assume they did not sent proper data to my old network (T-Mobile).

In the middle I was so tired so I decided to run away from Virgin Mobile but I was told the porting is in progress and my number can be lost if I cancel. I decided to give them a chance.
Finally my number was ported in. I thought I can stay with Virgin for a while and see how it working. But then I realised there is no tariff attached to my account. Again!!!!

Next minute I requested PAC code to port number out. Signed another contract with another network and gave them PAC number. My new SIM card was working with my number in lest than 24 hours. Unfortunately, Virgin SIM was working with the same number. It happens when porting number, for a short time.

But in this case it had two SIMs with the same number for another 10 days (TEN DAYS - again). I had to carry two phones as some incoming calls were routed to old SIM, some to new one.
Finally Virgin SIM stopped working and all incoming calls were redirected to new sim in another network. I thought finally, after whole month of struggle with Virgin is over. I was wrong.

But before I continue, need to explain costs. Because I had so many problems I was offered £12 discount for the first month (they're so generous) and within this month I cancelled my order, because Virgin Mobile failed to deliver what I ordered. No to mentions breaking all rules of numbers portability. So it was clear for me I don't have to pay a penny for this horrible month.

Let's go back to my problems.

There is some trick with mobile numbers. I received Virgin SIM with mobile number, let's call it number A.
Then I ported in my old mobile number, let's call it number B.

Two weeks after my Virgin SIM has been disabled I received e-top-up card with number B on it. They just ignored simple fact the number has been ported out. Then they issued an invoice for £12 with number A on it. They also ignored cancellation of my order.

So I wrote a letter explaining everything and demanded to cancel all invoices, cancel my account etc. There was no answer.
Two weeks later received a call from VM (they called number and they asked about situation - so I explained how unbelievable mess they have in papers. I heard "sorry for that" and was promised everything will be sorted out. A week later they issued another invoice.
I gave up, just ignored.
Month later they called again with information there is £36 on my account to be paid and if I can pay it with card. I did my best to stay polite and explained what they can do with invoices.
Same day I filled complain to CISAS. I asked just for a official letter from VM with clear statement that they did not delivered what I ordered, I was struggling for months because of unbelievable mess in their papers etc.
I took longer than I expected, but finally almost two months later (CISAS is not much better than VM) received an e-mail from CISAS with letter. It says VM want to settle claim in full.
I thought it's finally the end. I was wrong. Again.

Two weeks later I received a letter from Moorcroft Debt Recovery requesting a payment of £36. Can you imagine?
Ignored.
VM has still 2.5 weeks to comply and then I can reopen the case. I'm not expecting they will.

By the way: Moorcroft is sending official letters using Comic Sans font. They're such idiots!!!!

d123

Sorry, wall of text makes for hard understanding.

Any chance of a more concise version minus all the hyperbole and personal attacks on them?

Harald

Can you believe it is already filtered few times? (in terms of personal attacks). Really.

And - to be precise - it's not personal. It's not about any person.
It's about corporation. For whole my life I though corporation is a place where you can expect professionalism from, right?
And I would expect big professionalism from a big company.

Added some space between paragraphs, is it any better?

dmliverpool

Pay the £36 as it will effect your credit and blood pressure. Ensure all ties are cut with virgin and vote with your feet. Listen learned.
I tend to test out free month SIM cards to see what the network is saying. Last contract I got was based on this principle.

Harald

Pay for what?
I cancelled my order and £36 is for invoices issued after cancellation. And with deactivated SIM card.
Moreover, VM admitted it, willing to settle CISAS claim in full.
Now, having it on paper I'm happy to wait what will happen. I can go to court, doesn't matter.
Just wanted to warn others.

lonestarfan

I really feel for you Harald. I've never been so frustrated as i have with virgin mobile. Since April 2012 I ring them up every month and every month they refund and every month they say they'll cancel that number etc. as I ported mine over. I finally got it stopped in January!

LondonMum63

Having problems with virgin mobile but for different reasons. No phone signal in my house to take or receive calls (anywhere!). This is acceptable apparently. Went through technical people who said nothing can be done. They want to charge me £250 to leave my contract with them. I have switched to vodaphone and have perfect reception. They have threatened to take me to debt collector if I will not pay. Partner worried to lose credit rating as he runs his own business but this threat seems so unfair. Surely it is unfair that you have to pay for a service that does not work? Where best to complain and should I pay meantime and try to get funds back?

macman

No mobile provider guarantees reception at every location, so yes, it is contractually acceptable. Did you not check the reception at home before opting for VM? How long have you had the contract-are you within 14 days?

smudger1964

You arent alone I had many problems at the end with them was calling them every month due to mistakes by their billing systems even though I was with them years I jumped ship and joined tesco mobile