I am an European tourist in the US. I bought a phone with Virgin mobile and my phone number is 914-299-7305. My first bad experience was finding out that I don't have a Virgin mobile coverage at the address where I was staying, although I was assured by the person who sold me the phone that this would not be a problem. But I was OK with that, because I had my European phone connected to AT&T and I was reachable. I used the Virginmobile phone to make outgoing calls primarily. But then on 7/7/2009 my phone got suspended. From Virginmobile support they told me that I was using 2 different credit cards to top-up. „Of course I did“ - I replied - „This is because your system does not recognize my own credit card (probably because it's European) and this is why I'm asking friends to top up for me“. Then they told me that one of the credit cards owners asked for a refund. I called both persons right away. This was simply not true. Nobody had asked for any refund whatsoever. I called Virginmobile support again and said that this was not true and that my account should be reinstated. The operator said that in order to get my account reinstated, I should fax a copy of both credit card to a fax-number or an email. This was possible for one card, but was impossible for the other as the other person is on vacation and is away from any faxes or the Internet. „Furthermore, this is not my problem“ - I explained. Finally they promised to reinstate my phone within 4 hours. As you may expect, and I wouldn't be writing this otherwise, this did not happen. On the next day I called again and after being forwarded and redirected I ended up talking to an account supervisor. We argued for about 30mins – she kept on telling me that I had to lose 2 hours of my time to deal with paperwork and I kept on explaining that what I did was not illegal in any way and that Virginmobile had absolutely no right to suspend my account and deny to deliver the service which I paid for. Finally the connection broke up because of bad coverage.
I am not a conflict person, but what Virginmobile is doing is simply unfair. From a customer's point of view they are taking money and then finding a way to cut and refuse to deliver the service which you charged for. And everybody keeps saying that it's the customer's right that matters. Right now I am left with the following questions, which nobody answered:
1.Even if we assume that suspending a phone because of credit card inconsistency is OK, then why did not Virginmobile reinstate my account after finding out that there is no problem?
2.Why did the Virginmobile live advisor lie to me that one of the credit card owners claimed illegal transaction and asked for refund?
3.Why did the next Virginmobile live advisor lie to me that my phone would be reinstated in 4 hours (although I assume she did that with all best purpose to truly reinstate my account)
4.Why does Virginmobile require absolutely useless paperwork provided that no problem is present?
5.Finally – why does Virginmobile charge customers for a service that is later canceled with an illogical explanation? Is this not equal to taking money and not delivering service from a customer's point of view?

Svilen Maximov, Mount Kisco NY

Virgin Mobile recently lowered prices on its monthly plans in April. They didn't bother to tell their customers and continued to charge me the old price through my recurring billing. I recently went to their website to change billing info and noticed this change in price. They were probably never going to let me know and continue to overcharge me. They sent me a form letter and said:"However, those who are already signed up for the old offers and have not yet changed will remain on that offer. As few customers still want the old Plans."
This is ridiculous. No one wants to pay more for the same service and they know it. Virgin Mobile is a rip off.

Second time VIRGIN has pulled this trick. I had to use my VISA to add time to my cell phone & clicked NO, Do Not Remember This Card. Virgin changed my preference & put the card number into the network to use for any & all monthly purchases; I found out with an overdraft email from my bank! My Grandson did purchase a $40.00 Top Up using HIS Mastercard, I was broke, & I was right here showing him how to get thru the online purchase. No doubt the card information entered was his Mastercard & his Mastercard numbers. Yesterday, I get a $35.00 overdraft email from my bank ; I checked my statement & see a $43.28 charge from Virgin Mobile. I called the bank, began the FRAUD ORDER. We closed my bank card. I sent Virgin an email asking WHY they pulled such a trick again & they responded with a nonsense reply about I made a hand purchase of $10.00- they will probably attempt to charge that 10 bucks to my card too-big surprize -it's closed. They totally ignored the reason I wrote them-this $43.28 charge & the changing of my preference. Virgin MAY have charged BOTH cards.

Three times I changed my option of having my VISA debit card automatically debited to NOT having it automatically debited, only to find that it has been switched back without my permission. I live on Social Security, and I did not want the debit to go through my bank before my Social Security check was in my account. So, three times my account was overdrawn because of Virgin Mobile, and three times I paid overdraft charges (total of $105). This might not be a hardship to the average person, but, it can mean the difference of whether I buy groceries or not. Two days ago I contacted customer service to complain about this. Today they again automatically debited my bank account, even though I was in the process of communicating with customer service about this problem. Here is the email I sent to them a little while ago:

Can it be possible that your company has actually debited my account for the third time since I requested that you no longer automatically debit my bank account? Twice I have selected the option of NOT having my card automatically debited in Account Services, only to find that it has automatically been switched back. I just sent you an email two days ago saying I did not want this done any longer, because my Social Security check sometimes does not come into my bank until after the 11th, which is the date the automatic debit occurs, and, guess what? YOUR COMPANY DID IT AGAIN TODAY!!! This has left me with a $30.00 overdraft in my bank account, plus a bank overdraft fee of $35.00 on top of that, or a negative balance of $65. It seems unfathomable that, in the midst of trying to get this straightened out, this could actually have happened again. Of course, you guys will simply deny that you are at fault, because what do you care about one customer when you have millions of others? I will never be able to prove that what I say is the truth. The day before my account comes due next month, I will be canceling my service with your company forever. I am elderly and live solely on Social Security. Every dollar is very important to me. Now, thanks to your company, I have no money to buy groceries this week.

I would love to hear from any other customers who have had this happen.

I hope Sir Richard enjoys his caviar and steak!

i am very unhappy with virgin mobile pay as u go losing minutes already bought and paid for it unfair and people have no choice but to find a better service plan from another subscriber their is just many problems with the virgin service to contend with lots of find print are u concerned with keeping customers or taking away from them