Virgin Mobile, any good?

zebrastripesrule

So my contract with orange is up, and I dont want to be locked into a 2 year contract so im thinking of going sim only and just buying a phone at a later date, im happy with my samsung s2 for now.

Currently i pay £22 per month for unlimited landline minutes, 200 anytime mins, 200 texts and 500mb data.

Im looking to switch to virgin mobile sim only 1200 mins, unlimited texts and 1gb data for £12 which seems to be the cheapest option I can find with appropriate minutes for me. which seems to be around the£16 mark for orange EE.

So what i guess Im asking is I have no idea what virgin mobile are like for customer service/coverage etc so wondering if anyone here can offer any advice?? or if anyone know of any cheaper options for a deal.
How likely is it orange will match this if i ring and ask for my PAC number?

Thanks in advance for any help

grumbler

Coverage is the same as EE.
I can't imagine that any CS can be worse than EE's currently.

JJ_Egan

VM customer service i found excellent providing you spoke to someone in the UK .

joeluken

grumbler wrote: »

Coverage is the same as EE.
I can't imagine that any CS can be worse than EE's currently.

I know Virgin is an EE MVNO co coverage should be the same but it's interesting to see how it actually performed compared to T-Mobile in terms of data performance in this test. Wonder if it's the same with phone data ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dBnC9DPcPw&feature=youtu.be

kingrulzuk

CS of VM is in philippines and technical service is in uk. VM piggybacks on EE.

Good Luck

Supatramp

joeluken wrote: »

I know Virgin is an EE MVNO co coverage should be the same but it's interesting to see how it actually performed compared to T-Mobile in terms of data performance in this test. Wonder if it's the same with phone data ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dBnC9DPcPw&feature=youtu.be

So as VM uses EE's network, how come it fairs so badly in that test??

Indie_Kid

I'm with VM and have just left T-mobile / EE who couldn't match VM's deal.

Not had a problem with them. Aside from the issue of the phone taking forever to turn up.

joeluken

Supatramp wrote: »

So as VM uses EE's network, how come it fairs so badly in that test??

It uses EE masts but probably its own back end systems and controls to optimise the finite amount of bandwidth it purchases from EE. Possibly the same reason giffgaff is often slower than o2, Tesco and Lyca when the network is busier during peak periods yet they all run on the o2 mobile network.

Just because the mobile network is shared with MVNO's in terms of coverage it doesn't mean the service in terms of data performance will be the same as the MNO or other MVNO's.

phona

The day my new Virgin sim-only arrived, I had to phone customer services because they put me on the wrong tariff - less mins, texts and data for the same amount of money! A quick call and they put it right.

I've had to call them a couple of times since then, once to enable roaming and once when I bought my Nexus 5 since it takes a smaller card than my old S2. My experience was their reps are very friendly and chatty. The new sim was dispatched for free by next-day delivery, which was great.

The 2G and 3G coverage is excellent, just the same as the t-mob/EE coverage when I was with them. They do compress images from websites on 3G though, which makes them look a bit (noticeably) low-res. It's not a problem for me but might be worth considering if you're worried about that.
I've found their online account management system often fails at log-in if you try from the homepage, but always works from the existing customer drop-down. Once you're in, it works well. I personally prefer it to EE's interface.

Overall, I'm a satisfied Virgin mobile customer and am happy to recommend them. And at the end of the day, it's a 30-day contract so if you don't like it you can just leave!

zebrastripesrule

Thanks all
I figured the coverage might be slighlty down on orange, who i guess can optimise their signal for their own customers? Orange can be patchy anyway, so I already know the dodgy spots (my house, and office lol).
I know people who have gifgaf and some say coverage fine (android users) and others who say its rubbish (iphone users) dont know if thats any coincidence though...
Some reassuring info, especially from phona! I currently have an s2, but intend to buy a nexus 5 when they come down before the new one is released so its good to know that i can get the sim replaced for free...
To be honest the reason im willing to take the risk is that its £4 per month cheaper, than the orange alternative, and £10 down on what i currently pay and i need to reduce my costs right now, unless orange magically match it when i ring to ask for my pac code, as has happened in previous years when i have rung to do this (i've been a customer for around 15 years now...)

zebrastripesrule

i have just thought of another question i dont seem to be able to answer fromt eh virgin media site.

Does anyone know if you get free virgin mobile - virgin mobile or virgin landline calls on a sim only contract?

many thanks