Buying a new phone and switching to Virgin plan
October 16, 2017 10:07 AM Subscribe
I have a question about purchasing a new iphone and then transitioning to a new Virgin mobile plan.
I asked a previous question about buying a new phone, and I've settled on the iphone 7. (Thanks for the help.)
While perusing the internet, I stumbled across this offer from Virgin mobile for 6 months of service for a dollar per month. Is this as good as it sounds? Am i missing something?
As far as I can tell, there is no long term contract. Is that right?
The plan itself (unlimited 4g LTE data for $1, then $50 after six months) seems to be the same as the current plan I am on at Metro PCS (I pay $50 per month).
Process wise, it looks like I need to buy my iphone 7 at the Apple store, transfer my Metro PCS sim card and account from my current iphone 5s to the new iphone 7, and then transfer my number and account over to Virgin.
Does that all make sense? I'm a little suspicious about 6 months of a phone plan for a dollar a month. Am I missing something? Thanks!
I asked a previous question about buying a new phone, and I've settled on the iphone 7. (Thanks for the help.)
While perusing the internet, I stumbled across this offer from Virgin mobile for 6 months of service for a dollar per month. Is this as good as it sounds? Am i missing something?
As far as I can tell, there is no long term contract. Is that right?
The plan itself (unlimited 4g LTE data for $1, then $50 after six months) seems to be the same as the current plan I am on at Metro PCS (I pay $50 per month).
Process wise, it looks like I need to buy my iphone 7 at the Apple store, transfer my Metro PCS sim card and account from my current iphone 5s to the new iphone 7, and then transfer my number and account over to Virgin.
Does that all make sense? I'm a little suspicious about 6 months of a phone plan for a dollar a month. Am I missing something? Thanks!
The guy I know with an "unlimited" plan from Virgin Mobile is really meticulous about using wifi whenever possible, but he still gets throttled just about every month.
There is no long term contract, though, so if you check the IMEI on your specific phone to make sure it really is free and clear, and then you could try that $1 plan and just switch to another provider later if it doesn't work for you.
However, their website is really cagey about the terms and conditions. They say to check them on that page, but there's no link I can see. That's sketchy enough that if I were you, I'd recheck first and make sure they won't be provider locking your new phone or anything.
posted by ernielundquist at 10:53 AM on October 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
There is no long term contract, though, so if you check the IMEI on your specific phone to make sure it really is free and clear, and then you could try that $1 plan and just switch to another provider later if it doesn't work for you.
However, their website is really cagey about the terms and conditions. They say to check them on that page, but there's no link I can see. That's sketchy enough that if I were you, I'd recheck first and make sure they won't be provider locking your new phone or anything.
posted by ernielundquist at 10:53 AM on October 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
There's no contract with Virgin, but cancelling is a pain. When I tried closing my account to switch my number to Google Fi, I wound up talking to several customer service reps before finally lying and telling them that I was moving to Utah (they didn't have service out there at the time). Just a tip to consider if you switch with the idea that you'll be switching eventually.
posted by christinetheslp at 1:52 PM on October 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by christinetheslp at 1:52 PM on October 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
Oh, yes, that reminds me. You can't even port your Virgin Mobile number without calling them with your face. You will have a super-secret account number you need to transfer your number that's not available anywhere online. So you have to call them, wait on hold while they incessantly play ads telling you to use the website (which, again, does not have that information) interspersed with something I can only identify as crackly klezmer music like it's played on scratched vinyl on a distant radio station. Then, once you get through to customer service, they will grill you about what you want your account number for, and then they'll transfer you to retention, who will further grill and try to upsell you.
That part is really bad and takes at least I'd say half an hour.
Might still be worth it if you really can get 6 months' service for $6, but yeah, then that happens.
posted by ernielundquist at 2:18 PM on October 16, 2017
That part is really bad and takes at least I'd say half an hour.
Might still be worth it if you really can get 6 months' service for $6, but yeah, then that happens.
posted by ernielundquist at 2:18 PM on October 16, 2017
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Metro PCS runs on the T-Mobile network, which is generally considered third-best. Virgin Mobile runs on the Sprint network, which is generally considered fourth-best. Since Virgin Mobile is a reseller (MNVO) and not actually a Sprint company, your traffic would be second-tier to actual Sprint traffic, which means it may be slower in times of congestion.
Of course, with mobile networks YMMV and Sprint towers may actually be fine where you live.
Unlimited plans these days often come with a lot of restrictions- a soft data cap where you'll be throttled to a slower speed, lack of mobile hotspot, lack of VoLTE are some of the common ones. Customer service with resellers is often much worse also.
($50/month seems like a lot these days with both AT&T and Verizon, #2 and #1 ranked mobile networks, offering prepaid plans below this price with few restrictions)
posted by meowzilla at 10:33 AM on October 16, 2017