Virgin Cut me Off !!

Gambler

I have been on the SIMO 30 day Startef for the past year at £10m per month.

Having just bought a new Motorola Moto G from tesco I called Virgin last week to see if they could offer a better deal but when they couldn't I requested my PAC.

I have until 4th jan to use my PAC and thought my final bill would be till then too.

My bundle rolls over on the 10th but this morning I have just noticed I have no mobile internet and can't ring out. Also nobody can ring me.

Does anybody with experience of Virgin know if this is what they normally do !??

Thanks

WTFH

If your bundle runs from 10th of one month to 9th of the next, then your cut-off date would be today.

A seperate thing, not related to your bundle is the PAC code.
The PAC code is released to you, but if you don't use it after a period (in this case about a month), then the phone company can re-use your phone number.

That is perfectly normal, perfectly legal and not Virgin messing you around.

Gambler

WTFH wrote: »

If your bundle runs from 10th of one month to 9th of the next, then your cut-off date would be today.

A seperate thing, not related to your bundle is the PAC code.
The PAC code is released to you, but if you don't use it after a period (in this case about a month), then the phone company can re-use your phone number.

That is perfectly normal, perfectly legal and not Virgin messing you around.

Thanks for your help.

It would have been nice if they had told me. I would have waited till today then.

Earthworm

What WTFH is saying and what you are saying, to me, don't add up. If you requested your PAC last week it is valid for 30 days but your number has to be active for that 30 day period so you can move your number. You are also giving them 30 days notice from last week meaning you are paying the line rental for that period. Surely cancelling your service/stopping your allowance means you are paying for nothing for the last 3 weeks?

Prior to getting your PAC had you already called to give your 30 days notice? If so you may not be able to move your number but if not your service should still work as intended as you are paying rental upto the start of January.

WTFH

Earthworm, my understanding (which could well be wrong) was that the number did not need to be "active", i.e. on a currently working contract/bundle. The PAC code was what holds the number from being reused. Normally a person will take a new sim etc around the same time as stopping the old one, but the activation doesn't need to happen immediately.
You could hand everything back in one shop, so you have no active phone, then walk to another shop and buy a new one.
The process would be the same whether it is sim only, PAYG, or contract - you can't have 2 contracts for the same number, but you can have a gap of a month or so between finishing one and starting the new one.

grumbler

WTFH wrote: »

If your bundle runs from 10th of one month to 9th of the next, then your cut-off date would be today.

Why? If it's a 30-day contract, a new billing month starts with the new allowances.

That is perfectly normal, perfectly legal and not Virgin messing you around.

No, it's not normal.

WTFH wrote: »

...you can have a gap of a month or so between finishing one and starting the new one.

No, if the PAC was issued, the old contract gets terminated only when the number is ported to the new network.

WTFH

grumbler wrote: »

Why? If it's a 30-day contract, a new billing month starts with the new allowances.

Because today is 10th December, if the contract runs until 9th, then that would explain why it's not working today after he requested it be cancelled.

Earthworm

That would only make sense if they previously requested a disconnection, before asking for a PAC, on the 10th of November. If this is the case though the PAC will not work.

grumbler

The contract runs until the PAC is used. If it isn't used the contract goes on indefinitely.

WTFH

Ah, I didn't know that - but if they are not paying for the contract, then how can they use the PAC?

grumbler

Firstly, they are paying, normally about 15 days in advance.
Secondly, it's a contract, not PAYG. After the contract is terminated the final bill is issued and has to be settled.