# General Business Category > General Business Forum >  virgin mobile

## murdock

i would like to find out if there are any other people experiencing problems with virgin mobile...firstly when i first signed up with virgin mobile because they offered a much better deal (after being with mtn since the old brick phone and not had any problems)...the phone worked for a couple of weeks then my problems started...nobody could get hold of me because there was a problem with the link to vodacom who virgin piggy back...for weeks...i contacted wendy knowler who had an article about the issue on her show a couple months ago...i was promised the world...i sent virgin mobile a bill for R6000.00+ for customers which i lost...telephone calls...downtime while sorting out this problem...being a 24 hour businness and the companies i do work for run their machines 24/7...my cellphone is the lifeline of my bussiness...they have never even responded to the invoice.

i have not received an invoice from them since june 2007 nor have they debited my account...until today suddenly i had over R2000.00 debited from my account without an invoice explanation or anything just bang money gone...i have been trying to get an answer from them since august last year...but nobody at virgin mobile can tell me what is going on...you call their 123 helpline wait for as long as 30 min for them to answer then nobody can tell me what is going on they transfer you but get told their accounts deptment are not taking the call and they will get back to you well...i sit and wait patiently for 6 months now...since dealing with virgin mobile they are the number 1 worst company i have had to deal with in the 16 years i have had my company with durban electricity a close 2nd.

anybody got any advise for me as to what to do...the biggest part of the problem is i ported my number from mtn to virgin and mtn will not port it back until the so call "contract"  but virgin dont tie you into "contract" is finished 16 months time.

there seems to be glitches on their website...you try login it indicates there is a glitch in their matrix...please try again later.

the coverage is bad in and around durban...i still have numerous complaints from customers about not getting through when they phone me...they just get a buzzing sound...or it goes straight to voice mail. 

i would like to warn people about virgin mobile you get what you pay for "CHEAP" 

just to add i have a virgin active contract for the past 5 years and there has never been a problem...clearly it is not the the virgin group that is the problem...someone at virgin active needs to show the directors at virgin mobile how to run their company. 

as i finish typing this thread it is clear to me that there is only one solution to these issues...go and get a new mtn contract.

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## murdock

something i forgot to mention...i also have a prepaid v0 plan which is a pay as you go but the catch is there is a minimum monthly commitment of R59.67.

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## Dave A

My son ported to Virgin Mobile when porting was first introduced. He terminated and set up a new contract with Vodacom within weeks. Disappointing to see Virgin Mobile's service problems continue.



> i also have a prepaid v0 plan which is a pay as you go but the catch is there is a minimum monthly commitment of R59.67.


Small potatoes compared to what you might be losing.

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## Vincent

Maybe things work differently up here in Joey's. I ported from Vodacom a few months ago and I've had no more or less trouble than Vodacom. My account is debited monthly and each month I receive an sms telling me how much they're debiting, plus I receive an email giving me the same information.




> anybody got any advise for me as to what to do...the biggest part of the problem is i ported my number from mtn to virgin and mtn will not port it back until the so call "contract" but virgin dont tie you into "contract" is finished 16 months time.


My only suggestion to the above is to 'pay up' the contract, which is normally the value of the phone. You should then be 'free' of any obligations. This is what I was told when I signed up.

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## murdock

i decided to go to virgin mobile gateway to try sort out this problem...waste of time nodody can explain the contents of the 20 page invoice i finally received this morning... they could not give me any answers...they said they would have to contact the accounts department and get them to contact me...what i did find out is that the v199 with a free D900  package i have as per the promotion they had in april last year...you pay R59.67 for the free phone which i understood was included or should i say subsidised by the calls...

how i was informed  it works is you get a free D900 with the v199 deal and you get R199.00 worth of free airtime...catch is you get R199.00 free airtime and you pay R56.67 so your bill works out to a min of R255.67 per month...this is not how i understood the deal to work but i dont have the promotion pamphlet any more.

i was also told the airtime rolls over every month if it is not used...when i called 123 help line they say there is no such thing so who do you believe.

i left a message at 10 am this morning for someone in accounts to contact me it is now 8.30 pm still no reply...as for the emails i thought i would get a reply by now but it has been a month now since the last email and still no
reply.

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## murdock

> Maybe things work differently up here in Joey's. I ported from Vodacom a few months ago and I've had no more or less trouble than Vodacom. My account is debited monthly and each month I receive an sms telling me how much they're debiting, plus I receive an email giving me the same information.
> 
> you lucky!!!
> 
> 
> My only suggestion to the above is to 'pay up' the contract, which is normally the value of the phone. You should then be 'free' of any obligations. This is what I was told when I signed up.


the phone is still outstanding more than what a new D900i cost to buy on a pay as you go...it will take more than 1 week to port the number back to mtn once the total is settled then i have to get the mtn contract up and running...i cannot afford for my number to be out of order for weeks again...i will need to put some serious thought into how i will resolve this problem...all i know is it was one of the worst decisions i have made since i started my bussiness 16 + years ago...porting my number away from mtn...considering i have been with mtn since 1995 and never had any problems...including working in isolated areas while building pump stations and water treatment works all over the country...i still had no problems with coverage compared to any other people on sites...now i dont even get a signal in my office.

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## Dave A

> Maybe things work differently up here in Joey's. I ported from Vodacom a few months ago and I've had no more or less trouble than Vodacom.


My experience is that digital connectivity is very different between "Joey's" and Durbs. It's measurable in internet speeds and I've found the issue applies to both 3g and ADSL. I wouldn't be surprised if cellphone voice connectivity might be affected too.

Oftentimes there's a difference in adminstrative response levels too. But that's another story. We used to call it Natal Fever  :Wink: 

In this age of central call centres though, I wouldn't have thought that would be the issue in murdock's case.

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## Vincent

> i was also told the airtime rolls over every month if it is not used...when i called 123 help line they say there is no such thing so who do you believe.


Their roll-over time does exist. I just used up R300.00 of mine. 

From what I understand Virgin mobile's invoicing works like this:

When you signed up they may have asked when you would like to be invoiced, 1st, 15th or 30th  of each month. (It doesn't matter which day you choice) Further they should have asked you what credit limit you what for your phone. 

For myself I get a R100.00 free airtime (R100.00 credit limit) and I pay R99.00 per month for the phone and get billed on the 15th of each month. But here's the catch - you airtime only becomes active 15 days after your billing. So if you're billed on the 1st and you start using your phone immediately, you will be billed for the time you use, until your free time is activated, unless you have time rolled-over. The "maximum" I can theoretically pay is R199.00 per month.

I'm not here to endorse Virgin Mobile, but I hope the above explains how they work.

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## Dave A

Does that mean you're paying 15 days in advance of the service, Vincent?

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## Vincent

Yes, apparently all of Virgin's 'contracts' work this way. You pay in advance, you then use your credit or you can 'top-up,' and 15 days later your 'free-time' is activated. Your credit and 'free-time' is added together and you're debited for the full amount, which should be rolled over if you have any talk time left.

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## Dave A

That's pretty shrewd business. I bet Virgin are only paying the carrier at 30 days.

Cash flow positive by 45 days or there abouts.

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## murdock

i am still waiting for them to return my calls and reply to my emails...they must be making an absolute killing...i still cant believe they debit my account on the 2 Jan 2008then send me the invoice on the 3 rd and todays date is the 5th and i am still waiting for them to reply...if my cellphone was not my lifeline of my bussiness i would have gone to the bank put in a grievence... which is free had my money returned to my account dropped their cellphone off at one of their franchises and let  them sue me for the money...the biggest problem with virgin mobile is there is nobody accountable for anything... you cannot contact their head office to speak to any of the directors because they are british and lebenise..they dont even live south africa...i just wish there was a small cellphone company were the owner was like most of us who run our companies...accountable for our staff and daily operation...these big cellphone companies dont care squat for the customer they are making so much money that if they loose 500 customers another 500 sign up new contracts...its like selling water and electricity you can never loose...even when they sleep they make money.

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## Dave A

Keep grinding this thread and someone is going to notice. I see it's up to page 2 on the G for _virgin mobile problems_.

Now lets see if we can get a page 1 for virgin mobile complaints  :Stick Out Tongue:

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## murdock

well they debited my account for over R2000.00 on the 2 JAN 2008 this week they seem to be confused now i have a R 900.00 credit with them... i have on numerous occassions advised them that i want my account to be limited to R199 per month and i will top up as and when required... my account is sitting at R352.77...i ask myself maybe i am missing something how does a limit of R199 add up to R352.77 i do realise i have to pay 50 something rand for my free phone i got with the contract...but 199 + 50 =249 not 349 so i am confused...i havent toped up this month yet so if someone can explain this to me please do... the joke of the whole fiasco now is they are adding my top up to my bill and invoicing me for the amounts i top up to pay again at the end of the month... i have never had to deal with such a bunch of confused idiots...i thought dealing with the durban metro was bad but these fools just take the cake with the cherry on top...dont worry i kick myself every day for making the mistake of porting from mtn to virgin :Rant1:

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