Virgin Mobile requires that the phone be topped up with at least $20 every 90 days.You can set the phone to top up automatically or you can do it yourself.

The first problem I had was with the top-up feature. I registered my credit card online and set the phone to top-up automatically because Virgin offered a $5 credit for doing so. When the phone didn't top up and I didn't get the credit, I called customer service. They took care of it after a few calls, but everyone at customer service sounded under 20 and seemed very inexperienced in dealing with people. I even got a bit of attitude from one.

I had the phone for less than a year, then got cell phone service through Sprint. I changed my top up setting online again to manual top-up so no more money would go on the phone. A few weeks later, it topped up another $20 automatically. When I called to cancel the phone, Virgin said they do not refund the balance at cancelation. I had $23 on the phone. I also tried emailing customer service, but they wouldn't budge. They had previously allowed me to transfer $20 to a friend's phone, but they told me "we don't do that anymore."

Beware: Virgin will keep the balance on your phone when you cancel your service.