Virgin mobile contract hassles...advice?

Aisodoeht

Hello all, this is my first post, hoping I do it right!

Basically I am after some advice on what to do, as I am unhappy with Virgin Mobile's service.

I activated my first ever mobile contract, with Virgin, at the end of March this year. A few weeks ago I dropped my phone and inadvertadly caused the outer glass screen (it's a LG Shine) to crack although the LCD is undamaged. I rang Virgin asking if they could fix this as a goodwill gesture or as part of the warranty and they refused, saying my insurance will cover it. I then said I don't have insurance as they never offered me any when I took out the contract, to which they said "thats correct, we don't offer insurance"... Anyway I then asked if they had a repair centre who could fix it at a cost and they basically said "no get it fixed yourself"... Not good, as I dont think the phone should have cracked under the conditions in which it was dropped (onto carpet, not high) and therefore should have been covered under warranty as faulty...

Another issue I have with them is the coverage. I am from Newcastle upon Tyne and my family live in Cumbria (Lake District). I went to visit last month and was shocked to find I had NO signal whatsoever, be it in south or north Cumbria, up a mountain or in a valley. This shocked me as on Virgin's website, they claim to have "video coverage" (I presume this is the best available includes calls and texts too) in Ambleside, which is where I was - with no coverage! I also visited Keswick which supposedly should have coverage. I complained to Virgin who said "oh, no network has coverage over there except O2" - a blatant lie which I pointed out as my mother and sister (on Vodafone and Orange respectively) have perfect signal. So they again said theres nothing they can do for me and refused to offer any kind of extra texts / minutes as compensation or similar. If I was to move to Cumbria wouldnt they be in breach of contract through not providing service, and couldnt I cancel without paying the remaining months fees?

So when in the Lakes I have had to resort to using my trusty old O2 PAYG V3... not happy.

Can anyone offer me some advice on what I can do about this poor service? And has anyone experienced similar issues?

Many thanks

Zoe

alanclose

It sounds harsh but the phone is your responsibility, if it malfunctioned then I could see your point but you dropped it. Virgin can't be help responsible for that.

You could try asking for a cheap reconditioned phone

carolwat

I have a virgin sim and im able to use my phone in Cumbria when I visit my family. Maybe its the phone that doesnt have a very good aerial.

Aisodoeht

When I rang them they confirmed there was no coverage... strange. Do you think a signal booster patch / sticker would solve the signal problem?

carolwat

I really dont know. All I know is my virgin sim works in Cumbria. The reason I mentioned about the aerial is that both my husband and I used to have 02 sims and whilst his worked fine signal wise almost everywhere mine didnt. The difference was our phones, he had a nokia and I think mine at the time was a samsung.

Maybe worth trying your sim in your families phones if they are unlocked and see what happens then.

Carol

Butterfly

...I do sympathise with you!! Unfortunately that is the nature of all mobile networks, not just Virgin, that there isn't coverage everywhere and it is quite unpredictable.

With regards to dropping your phone, then I do also think that is your responsibility sorry to say. That is not just Virgin being tight. There was recently something wrong with my phone from Virgin and they replaced it immediately, I rang them late Friday and it got delivered first thing Saturday morning no problem which was quite impressive.

Like you, I also joined Virgin Mobile from O2, who I had been with forever. I was looking for a cheaper deal and was swayed by the whole Virgin Media campaign and Richard Branson's winning smile at the launch event in Covent Garden. Even though my mobile replacement the other week was a good experience, generally I am disappointed with Virgin Mobile overall and I regret switching to them.

My phone is still experiencing problems - it wasn't the handset after all, but now I can't be bothered to call Virgin to complain! It sounds like the person I am speaking to is breaking up, when they can actually hear me fine. This happens often and as I say is not a handset problem as I have just had it replaced. Maybe I will call them next week to sort it out!

Also I was looking for a cheaper deal and I thought I was getting that from Virgin Mobile, however, now I am using it I am finding my bills are sky high as stupidly I didn't think that my friends that I am calling are not on Virgin Mobile, now my calls to them are double what I paying previously. My mistake really, but I do feel like I have been stung.

Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to my contract ending next year and I will revert back to O2.

Anyone reading this, I do not recommend Virgin Mobile to you.

Virgin Broadband via cable, however, I do recommend to you! As you cut out BT line rental and the Virgin Broadband cable deal is very cheap and I have had no problems whatsoever.

*Butterfly*