Virgin Mobile- Account cancelled

pacman_2

My wife account been cancelled immediately. her plan? 1000 mins, 1gb, unlimited text AND 1000 mins to 08 numbers.


been told cancelled because of fraudulent use. Been using 08 numbers excessively. I aksed about usage. This month 264 mins,vs 268 of mobile numbers, DEc 400 vs 580, Nov 200 vs 400. So I say I cant see excessive use. He says he agrees but could be based on a short period like a day. !!!!!!!!! I say .But Fraud dept say account is cancelled and cannot be reactivated. I spent 96 mins talking and discussing. No progress. I said thye cant make a decision, call me a criminal and then not listen to me. He once again agreed but said account is gone. 2 fingers to Virgin. I've done a formal complaint to Virgin, don't expect any positive result. Can anyone explain?


Now I have to arrange another provider? Any suggestions?


Wife has iPhone 6s plus, bought unlocked from john Lewis. Can I put any SIM in there as its not locked to a network?


Any help appreciated. BEen a bit of a shock as my wife has no phone now and don't want to be stuck in an emergency.

reddwarf2002

That is a shocking state of affairs. They must have cancelled your wife's account in error - it really can't be anything else.

EDIT: If the iphone is unlocked then you can use any sim no problem.

Ian011

When you make calls to 084 numbers, Virgin Mobile has to pay out up to 7p per minute (£4.20 per hour) to the benefit of the called party and their telecoms provider. When you make calls to 087 numbers, the figure is 13p per minute (£7.80 per hour). These are premium rate numbers.

It doesn't take many calls before they are paying out more than you pay them for the phone package. These deals are unsustainable and they changed the small print several months ago to make it easier for them to cancel contracts where customers make use of the deal they signed up for.

Customer services, financial services and public services are no longer allowed to use 084, 087 or 09 numbers. There should be almost no need to call these numbers unless you are calling chatlines, vote on TV shows, enter competitions or use dial-through providers to call abroad.

pacman_2

The cynic in me says they didn't want me as a customer. but they made the plan. if I can call 08 numbers, don't penalise me for using that facility. The cowards in Fraud dept wont talk to me. I can see its aloss making contract for them but don't call me a cheat to justify your actions. Angry.


Reddwarf, it has happened- no explanation other than fraud. I don't understand excessive use- not proven by them.
I have tried to forget about this. Need to find a better deal or at least a good deal. Thinking about iD or plusnet, as the old networks aren't price competitive.

AndyPK

I think someone else mentioned this recently too

System

pacman wrote: »

The cynic in me says they didn't want me as a customer. but they made the plan. if I can call 08 numbers, don't penalise me for using that facility. The cowards in Fraud dept wont talk to me. I can see its aloss making contract for them but don't call me a cheat to justify your actions. Angry.


Reddwarf, it has happened- no explanation other than fraud. I don't understand excessive use- not proven by them.
I have tried to forget about this. Need to find a better deal or at least a good deal. Thinking about iD or plusnet, as the old networks aren't price competitive.

They probably don't want her - she cost them too much money.
Unfortunately, other than attempting to get something off them for cutting her off and losing her number, they don't need to do business with her.

Gambler101

Why do they offer such a plan if they wont let their customers use it. Im sorry Virgin are at fault and should honour the contract.

dialdfordave

This has happened to myself and at least 5 other people I know of. Virgin has absolutely no intention of allowing anybody to use more than a small handful of 08 minutes, even where they explicitly offered a fixed number e.g 1000, 2500 etc.

It seems they are having a cull every few months, probably trying to get everybody off of plans with inclusive 08 numbers eventually. I wonder what Ofcom and/or CISAS would make of it. Perhaps not much as the plans are 30 day sim only.

I've taken a complaint with Virgin to CISAS before and won it but Virgin do not play fair, even going as far as manufacturing evidence. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to open a CISAS complaint every time a service provider decides they are a law unto themselves.

mobilejunkie

Why is it not fair? It's a contract which you agreed to and which they have kept to. I have a similar contract which must cost the network a mint, especially since I I pay a pittance for, but there are two sides to a contract - just just yours or mine.

It's laughable to expect the network, CISAS or canyone else to agree with you when the network has done nothing wrong. The only thing they may have done wrong is to cancel a contract before it's minimum term and/or without notice on a pretext. Other than that, tough luck.

mac.d

mobilejunkie wrote: »

Why is it not fair? It's a contract which you agreed to and which they have kept to.

Sorry, explain to me how the supplier is keeping to the contract? I understand it has become a prohibitive cost to Virgin as explained by Ian011, but doesn't that mean that Virgin should be changing the amount of minutes to 08 numbers or removing that altogether rather than cancelling contracts because of "fraudulent use" when all people are doing is using the minutes listed in their contract?

Ian011

The payout on 0843, 0844, 0871 and 0872 numbers is currently much the same as it has been for the last decade or more. Payouts on 0845 numbers increased by a few pence per minute in July 2015. Very few 0870 numbers are in use but payouts on those increased from zero in July 2015.

This shows that (service) charges remain largely unaltered after July 2015:
http://www.fairtelecoms.org.uk/uploads/1/1/4/5/11456053/sc_interesting_numbers_v4.pdf

Virgin Media offered these contracts after July 2015 but appear to have no intention of honouring the deal that was sold. Virgin Media tweaked the small print a few months ago to make it easier to kick people off these deals.