Virgin Mobile customers furious over pay-as-you-go shake-up - MSE News

Options
MSE_Andrew
MSE_Andrew Posts: 173 MSE Staff
First Post First Anniversary Photogenic I've been Money Tipped!
in Mobiles
Thousands of pay-as-you-go Virgin Mobile customers face paying £6 a day for sending a single text, making a single short call and using any data, when they're moved to a new tariff. If you're affected, switch and save now...
Read the full story:
'Virgin Mobile customers furious over pay-as-you-go shake-up'
OfficialStamp.gif
Click reply below to discuss. If you haven’t already, join the forum to reply.
«13

Comments

  • roddydogs
    roddydogs Posts: 7,478 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    edited 18 October 2019 at 12:30PM
    Options
    Well my payg tariff has halved, but its still dearer than 02 or three. ITs not ALL PAYG that are affected, only 1 tarriff. Im on the simply 8p tariff the headline is misleading,
  • Curtis111
    Curtis111 Posts: 229 Forumite
    Options
    roddydogs wrote: »
    . Im on the simply 8p tariff the headline is misleading,


    It is NOT misleading. . it affects me!

    I'm 60+ use £20 credit tops a year in an emergency and am now shafted.
    I had read this as a total of £2 a day not the £6 mentioned. PAYG on Virgin is going so get ready to receive the text/email.

    I now have the hassle of changing provider. I hate them so much. :mad:
  • roddydogs
    roddydogs Posts: 7,478 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    Options
    Won't they let you switch tariffs?
  • Rich2808
    Rich2808 Posts: 1,332 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Combo Breaker
    Options
    Virgin pay as you go has never been exactly cheap.

    And their call charges outside the EU even on contracts are daylight robbery - £5 a minute when the other big players charge £2 or less.

    Why not move to three - 3p a minute for calls - and you can even buy bundles that give you data and free calls back to the UK in many common non EU travel destinations like the US and Australia.
  • priorslee
    priorslee Posts: 3,161 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    Options
    roddydogs wrote: »
    Well my payg tariff has halved, but its still dearer than 02 or three. ITs not ALL PAYG that are affected, only 1 tarriff. Im on the simply 8p tariff the headline is misleading,

    Are you saying that your 'simply 8p' tariff has halved? Be interested to hear how.

    According to the main article, VM aren't saying which tariffs are included in the rip-off. The simply 8p tariff is listed as a legacy tariff so I won't be too surprised to receive the email.

    I will be very annoyed as I only topped it up a few days ago. What happens to residual credit when you ditch/switch a PAYG tariff?
  • Treewood
    Treewood Posts: 19 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Options
    priorslee wrote: »
    . What happens to residual credit when you ditch/switch a PAYG tariff?


    This is a significant issue. Virgin emails say ring their call centre to get a refund. The call centre has told both myself and other customers no refund is due. No other mechanism to obtain a refund seems to be available. The only way of taking this further seems to an official complaint. Further ongoing discussion about this can be found on the Virgin Mobile community forum.
  • roddydogs
    roddydogs Posts: 7,478 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary
    edited 19 October 2019 at 9:32AM
    Options
    No it was halved (almost) from 15ppm calls to 8ppm, txts from 10p to 8p. Just noticed its for Virgin media customers only, that's why I was offered it.
  • Ian011
    Ian011 Posts: 2,432 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Options
    So, for example, for someone who makes a one minute call every day, sends one text message per day and uses the internet to look at one web page per day Virgin Mobile will be charging £180 per month (£189 for 31 days). Many other providers can offer that amount of usage for well under £5 total.

    Even if someone used their phone to make two hundred minutes of calls per day, send two hundred texts per day and use 200MB internet per day, £180 per month is still a massive rip-off when numerous other providers can offer all of that for under £30 to £40 per month.
  • redux
    redux Posts: 22,976 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Options
    From the article:

    A Virgin Mobile spokesperson said: "We're making adjustments to some of our pay-as-you-go tariffs. Customers impacted by any changes will be notified of alterations to their mobile plan in a clear and timely way."

    On my experience in the past, this is an absolute lie.

    I had a SIM on the original Virgin tariff, postpaid by monthly direct debit.

    Despite it being direct debit, my account was in credit by a few quid.

    Without any notice they disabled the SIM, closed the account, and point blank refused to refund the credit on the account, refusing to say why they cut it off, and saying it had been prepaid not postpaid.

    Virgin Mobile is one of a handful of companies I will never deal with again in my life, others being TalkTalk and Kwik Fit.
  • AndyPK
    AndyPK Posts: 4,241 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post
    Options
    Do we know who is affected ?

    Maybe for example, what year they joined?

    I doubt they have a valid email address of mine.
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.3K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.1K Life & Family
  • 248K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards