| Virgin Mobile The Virgin website is the best by far amongst UK cellphone operators; sadly the network provided by t-Mobile appears to be the worst. And when I was obliged to take them to task on the issues arising, I have not exactly got satisfaction. There is a sense that all UK mobile networks as as bad as one another - but Virgin holds itself out as something above the rest:
However, anyone that charges to complain about their services and shortcomings deserves what's coming: "You can also give us a call on 789 from any Virgin mobile phone – it's just 10p, no matter how long you talk for." Although thanks to the crap coverage, that call was dropped and so it cost another 10p to resume! Start reading this thread from the bottom for the full story. It's worth it if you are thinking of using VM. But if Virgin ever managed to cut a deal Vodafone (who have one of the worst and most obtuse online offerings, but the best network and techs by a country mile) they would clean up.
28 July 2010 15:58:38 +0100 I just got a call from Virgin, and the last £15 is being refunded. But just see how many different people have dealt with this case since the start... no two the same!! Overall, I guess I have wasted ~£200 of my time faffing about - so you won't have to, eh? The conclusion is not quite the answer I was after. Virgin Mobile has not provided a service that is "fit for purpose" from the off. So I would have liked a refund of all the cash I have wasted with them, please; maybe I will still apply via the DD guarantee if I can be bothered. Oh, and one last thing - not once have VM referred to or acknowledged this website. In fact all references to it in any messages I sent have been removed! Yours in conclusion a victim of virgin mobile
From:
The Team [mailto:theteam@virginmobile.com]
Hi victim of virgin mobile, We are sorry to hear that you have experienced signal issues since joining our network, and as a result you have returned to Vodafone. We will be more then happy to look at your account and make sure account has been closed with us and any refunds necessary are actioned but we need to check a few things first. At Virgin Media, account security is very important to us and this means we're not able to access your details via this email. We just need to ask one or two security questions so we can make sure your details are kept safe. To pass account security there are a couple of things you can do:
If there's anything else we can help with, just visit Your Account. We’re sure you'll find everything here and if you ever want to get in touch, you can log in and send us an email. You can also give us a call on 789 from any Virgin mobile phone – it's just 10p, no matter how long you talk for. Or, you can call us on 0845 6000 789 from a fixed line phone. These calls are charged at local rate. Kind regards,
From:
The Team [mailto:theteam@virginmobile.com]
Hi victim of virgin mobile, Thanks for your email to Virgin Media about your account. From reading your email it’s clear that you haven’t received the level of service that you would expect from us. Virgin Media takes pride in providing excellent customer service and it’s always disappointing to learn of instances where this may not have been achieved. At Virgin Media, account security is very important to us and this means we're not able to access your details via this email. However, we can give you some general information. When we put a stop on a SIM only deal or contract it will stop on the next refresh date, which if we've told you is the 8th August this will be due to it being your next renewal date. We're sorry to hear that you've been experiencing problems making and receiving calls. There are a few things that you can try to see if this improves the signal on your phone:
You can also try a manual network search. This involves going into your phone's menu, selecting 'settings', choosing 'phone settings' and then 'network selection'. You can also do a coverage check on our website to see if this is a known issue in your area, just click here and we'll take you right there. If you prefer, you can email us your postcode and we'll check the coverage for you. Regarding accessing the web on the phone and the message you keep getting "this could be adult content" this is due to you accessing a website on the phone that we may think is unsuitable for someone under 18. In which case we would need to confirm your address and date of birth so we can remove the content control bar for you. You can also do this on your online account. There may be times where unexpected technical errors can influence our ability to action a request; we'd like to assure you our team work around the clock to ensure any such occasions are dealt with in a sufficient and timely manner. We don't aim to lose any of our customers and it's a shame that the issues you've experienced have resulted in you leaving our network, this isn't our intention at all. Unfortunately due to this email being non secure we're unable to discuss any refunds due to not being able to access your account. However, if you're out of your 28 days Customer Service Guarantee and you've used the phone we're unable to refund any amounts as you've only reported the problems to us recently. Again, to discuss any refunds that we feel are necessary we would need to have account security passed first. The reason that your roaming service may not have been enabled automatically as we have to check that you meet the criteria first of all. Then if you do we can set this up for you, but if you don't contact us before you go abroad then we aren't able to check your account and enable the service for you. We hope this information helps. If you'd like more specific information about your account, we'll need to ask one or two security questions so we can make sure your details are kept safe. To pass account security there are a couple of things you can do:
If there's anything else we can help with, just visit Your Account. We’re sure you'll find everything here and if you ever want to get in touch, you can log in and send us an email. You can also give us a call on 789 from any Virgin mobile phone – it's just 10p, no matter how long you talk for. Or, you can call us on 0845 6000 789 from a fixed line phone. These calls are charged at local rate.
How did we do? If you'd like to give us some feedback, just click on
the link below and fill in our online questionnaire. You might like
to have your original email handy to read while you're doing it. We
promise to use your answers to make our service the best it can be.
Click here
to complete the survey.
From:
victim of virgin mobile Dear Virgin 07504879919 (dcd) I give up. I have removed the SIM and want to cancel the account – I blew a whole 50p on your 0845 service (because virgin coverage does not extend to where I live) and spoke to your customer services and am told that it will cease as of 8th august. Why? The service doesn’t work here anyway, and did not work when I needed it to when abroad recently – and then I was charged twice 10p for a call to discuss data downloads with your human support line, when the call was dropped halfway through because your coverage on the busiest rail line (Liverpool Street Chelmsford) in the country is pants - and today you have been intercepting web requests with a specious “this could be adult content” interruptions – including password reminder sites - I give up. In fact, I think one sites blocked was your own password reminder page – probably because the word “virgin” was spotted (!) You have succeed in getting rid of me, which I now suspect was probably your aim. You have a great website (but a very annoying “husky trendy lady” condescending phone direction service) but you should do a deal with Vodafone who know how to operate a cellphone service (especially their suresignal scheme) but have no clue about websites. Now then - you can either refund me the entire amount I have paid you so far for what has been a monumentally pathetic phone service, or I shall continue to make your lives miserable from beyond the grave. Much love
From:
The Team [mailto:theteam@virginmobile.com]
Hi victim of virgin mobile, Thanks for your email to Virgin Media about your account. We're sorry to hear you're unhappy with the service you've received recently, its not something we pride ourselves in. We’ve taken a look at your details and we can see that you’ve now been in touch with a member of our team regarding this matter. We trust that this issue has now been resolved. If there's anything else we can help with, just visit Your Account. We’re sure you'll find everything here and if you ever want to get in touch, you can log in and send us an email. You can also give us a call on 789 from any Virgin mobile phone – it's just 10p, no matter how long you talk for. Or, you can call us on 0845 6000 789 from a fixed line phone. These calls are charged at local rate.
Ate you now doing this to annoy me? Access to half the websites I want is being blocked by nannyware - none of which are the slightest bit contentious. Like pw reminders! I am going to have words with sir Richard... victim of virgin mobile
On 14 Jul 2010 17:12, "The Team" <theteam@virginmobile.com> wrote: [image: Virgin Mobile] Thanks for your email to Virgin Media about roaming. We're sorry to hear your phone didn't work whilst you were in Guernsey. We'll be more than happy to get on the case for you as soon as possible. At Virgin Media, account security is very important to us and this means we're not able to access your details via this email. However, we can give you some general information about your query. We advise that before you go roaming to get in contact with us to make sure your phone is all set up for roaming, by the sounds of it your phone wasn't set up for roaming and that's why you were unable to connect to a local network. If you could contact us securely we can make sure your roaming is all set up for you to use in the future. We hope this information helps. If you'd like more specific information about your account, we'll need to ask one or two security questions so we can make sure your details are kept safe. To pass account security there are a couple of things you can do:
On behalf of Virgin Media, we’d like to offer our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience caused and we hope that everything is resolved soon. If there's anything else we can help with, just visit Your Account. We’re sure you'll find everythin... Kind regards,
From:
victim of virgin mobile Dear Virgin: I went to Guernsey last week. My SIM did not roam, no local anything. I fiddled with the settings. Nada. So I switched to an 02 sim from the backup phone (I don’t trust any one operator ay more) and that worked fine. I bought a £5 C&W Sure PAYG sim and that worked fine, with data at 1p/MByte. So I’m actually quite glad it didn’t work and was forced to be more proactive than accept the line of least resistance. I’m still not very impressed by you lot. victim of virgin mobile
From:
The Team [mailto:theteam@virginmobile.com] Hi victim of virgin mobile Thanks for your email to Virgin Media about your questions raised. Calls to 789 are free to listen to recorded information. This is the most used way of checking your remaining balance, topping up with a card or airtime voucher. If we didn't have an automated facility for this it would be inconvenient for our customers to wait to speak to an operator to advise of things like their balance. If you do want to speak to our team it would cost 10p for the whole call. Roaming charges whilst in Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man are as follows
The reason that it is classed as roaming charges is because we have no networks there. If you're calling the Channel Islands from the UK this will be a standard UK call. We can appreciate that data charges are quite high whilst abroad and we recommend that you don’t use data when roaming unless it's very little use. The texts and data are separate systems and data charges cannot be compared to text sizes. If there's anything else we can help with, just visit Your Account. We’re sure you'll find everything here and if you ever want to get in touch, you can log in and send us an email. You can also give us a call on 789 from any Virgin mobile phone – it's just 10p, no matter how long you talk for. Or, you can call us on 0845 6000 789 from a fixed line phone. These calls are charged at local rate. Kind regards,
Hi Team: I’m still exploring my “virgin experience” and have another question about terms interpretation for you. “Calls to 789 from your Virgin Mobile phone are absolutely free and if you'd like to speak to one of our team, it'll cost you just 10p per call.” Does this mean I can call the number, but if I actually talk to anyone it’s 10p? Is this to encourage you customers to try and deal with the IVR call management system and stop bothering you unnecessarily? Now, I’m about to spend two days on Guernsey next week, and I am trying to find out about roving charges. I note that the Guernsey operators’ bundle deals include UK mainland calls and data. But I still want to have it confirmed and listen to whatever excuses are offered for this state of affairs. This refers to numbers beginning with 01,02 or 03and landline calls to Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. So I suspect you are going to tell me it’s £5/ MByte, which is almost the most outrageous mark-up in any business, considering internet data from mainstream telcos costs about £1-2 /1000MB. Although 25p a text means that 200bytes of data means texting costs a whopping £1250 a megabyte, so that probably tops the lot. The local operators on the CI appear to charge 1p-15p/MByte for data (http://www.airtel-vodafone.com/content/78; http://bit.ly/8ZoMYq Please justify yourselves, jolly cuddly Virgin customer-friendly folks, with a website adorned by many happy images of youthful punters having a lovely time, blissfully unaware of all this gruesome reality that drives the brand. And please don’t say “well, don’t pick on us - they all do it…”, I expect the heirs of Sir Richard Branson to do rather better than that. (And the fact that 20p per call goes to a charity of your choosing really does nothing to impress.) Over to you… Regards victim of virgin mobile
Hi victim of virgin mobile Thanks for your email to Virgin Media about your tariff. We're sorry to hear your coverage still remains limited at home, we understand how disappointing this must be. Although we appreciate you taking the time to send us your proposal we're unable to improve your signal with immediate effect, furthermore we can't increase the amount of data you receive. Our signal is currently provided by T Mobile, therefore amendments will only be made by them. If you make any additional payments to us they will simply reduce your bill. Therefore we don't recommend sending a cheque to us for the amount stated in your email. If there's anything else we can help with, just visit Your Account. We’re sure you'll find everything here and if you ever want to get in touch, you can log in and send us an email. You
can also give us a call on 789 from any Virgin mobile phone – it's
just 10p, no matter how long you talk for. Or, you can call us on
0845 6000 789 from a fixed line phone. These calls are charged at
local rate.
Tom: I have a deal for you.
Using your principle, I will pay an “unlimited amount” for your
business. An offer your shareholders could not possibly refuse. (I have had several mobile data experiences with the phone now, but sadly none at home where coverage remains “limited”) victim of virgin mobile
From:
The Team [mailto:theteam@virginmobile.com] Hi victim of virgin mobile, Thanks for your email to Virgin Media about the web access allowance on your account. We're sorry to hear that the 1GB allowance has caused some frustration. All of the unlimited tariffs are subject to a fair usage policy. These are put in place to ensure that the service isn't abused. Below is the Terms and Conditions that relate to the Fair Usage Policy.
To see a full list of Terms and Conditions just click here. In regards to the lack of connection for the mobile internet. We can advise that on the HTC Desire you'll need to ensure that the mobile network connection is active. to find out how to do this simply check the user manual. We hope that you find this information helpful and we look forward to hearing from you soon. If there's anything else we can help with, just visit Your Account. We’re sure you'll find everything here and if you ever want to get in touch, you can log in and send us an email. You can also give us a call on 789 from any Virgin mobile phone – it's just 10p, no matter how long you talk for. Or, you can call us on 0845 6000 789 from a fixed line phone. These calls are charged at local rate.
How did we do? If you'd like to give us some feedback, just click on
the link below and fill in our online questionnaire. You might like
to have your original email handy to read while you're doing it. We
promise to use your answers to make our service the best it can be.
Click here
to complete the survey.
I just looked at my account, and it says remaining:-
Data * 1.00GB Data
The tarrif I signed up to was
Virgin £15 + unlimited web access - 30 day rolling contract
1GB might seem a lot, but it is not unlimited.
Comments please.
Mind you, this may be acedemic since I have yet to get a signal
around CM3 where I have any sort of data connection capability (HTC
Desire).
So is this a config issue at your end, or is the coverage just pants?
victim of virgin mobile
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