I 've gone to Virgin but perhaps I'vemade big mistake

lympus48

Recently I switched our two mobiles from 'One Tel mobile Rental' to Virgin Mobile PAYG.

Firstly I experienced very long waiting periods whenever I rang Customer Service- they claimed they were experiencing very high demand levels and the wait was upto 30 minutes! OK let them off as it was late summer after all- but now I notice poor spasmodic reception and we are only 25 minutes from London near Watford! The voicemail retrieval is also spasmodic with many refusals. I seemed to have an unreliable service.

With OneTel (sits on Vodaphone) there was never a single problem ever with reception or CS. I moved to Virgin as both our mobiles are light users and it seemed silly paying rentals every month. I liked the idea of only paying when you wanted to as there no need to top each month on Vigin standard tariff and voicemail is free. Youngsters at college say Virgin are known for reception problems. I would never go with T-Mobile or '3' for various reasons . Perhaps I should consider Orange or Vodaphone PAYG as they seem quality outfits?? I would welcome any comments.

socmwils23

I have been with virgin for over two years and have found the service excellent. Never had the issues you had with customer service as have always got through first time. Virgin uses the T-Mobile network so coverage should be ok all over the UK. If your having problems try the sim card in a different phone to see if it is still bad. Failing that just stick with a network you know you get a good signal on. As your on PAYG the deals are all similar anyway so you should just go with what is best for you. Have you looked at Easy Mobile yet? I have heard good things about them.

greenwich

I've been on Virgin PAYG for years. Never had a problem with voicemail or reception. I assume you are dialling 789 and then pressing 0 to speak to a human being. I've never had to wait more than a minute or two and anyway it costs only 10p no matter how long you're on hold. I am therefore very surprised by your problems. I was with Orange and One2One (now T-Mobile I think) before Virgin and it was a miracle to be able to get through to their customer services.

MoneyWastingMe

Virgin have been excellent with me. Quick and reliable. Much better then all others and CS is very quick. I dont use voicemail much so cant say but seems fine, but I think Virgin has best CS. Quick and flat rate 10p. unlike o2!! expensive CS, not very helpful when I have spoke to them, and voicemail costs...!

so im sweet with virgin.

fourth year.....

seaniboy

For a off peak light user (if indeed thats your usage) I find the deal is Smartplus payg on Vodafone with stop the clock, its actually increased my X network off peak usage ( I use 18866 for landlines :money: ), I keep my o2 Discount 750 for peak calls, this is great deal for gabbin to your mates & family when you get home at night (mine never leaves the house), i'm a massive fan of it even if the mobile is 7yrs old !!
Customer service and reception have been great for me, more info.........



Which calls does Stop The Clock cover?
Vodafone Stop The Clock covers calls within the UK to any standard UK landlines or mobile on weekdays between 7.30pm and 7.30am for pay as you talk and 7pm and 8am for pay monthly, and all weekends. It does not cover calls to non-geographic (eg 0845) and premium rate numbers.
Voice pack £15
100 Anytime minutes Save up to £20. Minutes to be used over 30 days to any UK standard landline or UK mobile network day or night

http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewPayAsYouTalkPricePlans


this deal works out at 15p a call like Easymobile plus the off peak calls if you buy 100 mins for £15 voice pack or 35p any network day/night=£1.05 for 60mins which makes Easy a better deal if your a peak user (beware Easy & Virgin both run off T-mobile though, so sounds like Easy is no good to you for the reception problems, neither will Fresh from Crap Phone Warehoose, whom again run off T-mob)

So for peak calls I'd say Tesco Mobile which runs off o2,

http://www.tescomobile.com/valuesim.aspx


Voda or Tesco, stick or twist, hit or miss the choice is yours............

lympus48

Looks then that Tesco mobile may have the edge for 'light' peaktime users. I would then be dependent upon O2 coverage (Tesco sits on o2)

Is everyone happy with o2 reception as I do not want the repeat of the annoying poor reception from Virgin which has just blown my mind. If there's any doubts I would go to Vodaphone which seems the leader for coverage.

Sorry Virgin supporters but for me its a flop.

gizmoleeds

o2 have the best reception in the country (it's one of their big selling points on their adverts).

I have the free text and calls tariff and am very happy with o2. Customer services does cost a bit, but they have an email address which they do respond to.

BTW when o2 say there is a "minimum £10 monthly top-up" they just mean to qualify for the free calls and minutes for that month - it should be a very reasonable tariff for light users.

The sims are often given away free (but I have no links at the moment) or cost 99p from shop.o2.co.uk/nus (click on sim only and they're at the bottom).