virgin mobile defective phone problems
May 31, 2013 6:11 PM Subscribe
nov. 2012 I bought a kyocera rise smart phone from Virgin Mobile and upgraded my plan to go along with it. I'd been a VM customer for 12 years. It took me a while to realize that the phone was not working properly, when trying to make a call, or other task the screen would go black and the phone turn off. I called several times, could never get a CSR to understand the problem and/or come up with a fix. I lived with the problem until about a month ago when, following a failed emergency (life threatening) phone call I started calling regularly to get a fix. It never happened and finally I got the offer of a replacement phone.
It arrived a week ago and never, not once, ever did it work. Each time a different CSR tried help, the new phone had to be activated, then deactivated, then transferred to technical support, again, and again, and again. I spent several hours a night over 3-4 days, a promised phone call from a supervisor never happened. Today, a supervisor said they will not send me a new phone, citing a 30 warranty, and suggest I buy a new another kind of phone--several hundred dollars more other kind of phone. They just don't seem to care and I have now two phones that don't work. What's a fellow to do? Virgin Mobile has the best pay as you go plan, most affordable, good coverage and except for the faulty phones they have I am reluctant to go elsewhere. I feel they should make good on the phone I paid for, get me a phone that works reliably and keep a good customer. They don't seem to see it that way. Am I being unreasonable?
It arrived a week ago and never, not once, ever did it work. Each time a different CSR tried help, the new phone had to be activated, then deactivated, then transferred to technical support, again, and again, and again. I spent several hours a night over 3-4 days, a promised phone call from a supervisor never happened. Today, a supervisor said they will not send me a new phone, citing a 30 warranty, and suggest I buy a new another kind of phone--several hundred dollars more other kind of phone. They just don't seem to care and I have now two phones that don't work. What's a fellow to do? Virgin Mobile has the best pay as you go plan, most affordable, good coverage and except for the faulty phones they have I am reluctant to go elsewhere. I feel they should make good on the phone I paid for, get me a phone that works reliably and keep a good customer. They don't seem to see it that way. Am I being unreasonable?
Virgin will never ever help you out here. They have essentially the worst customer service on the planet with rude, useless support reps and generally every kind of bad thing you could expect from a company support line. They check all the boxes of sucking
I, too, have had phones on their service shit out on me and gotten the run around. I'm actually amazed they sent you a new one, because when i inquired about my shitting out phone they basically said "lol you should have bought insurance you're out of luck sorry go away"
Today, a supervisor said they will not send me a new phone, citing a 30 warranty, and suggest I buy a new another kind of phone--several hundred dollars more other kind of phone.
They did exactly this to me on a phone that was barely a year old(and cost over $100) that they now refused to activate ever again because "oh, we quit carrying that model." which immediately after that sentence led to "why don't you buy expensive model XYZ if you want something similar?".
You are not being unreasonable, but to them you're just some tiny blip out of millions and they don't care. If they ignore you now you can huff and puff and maybe a few hundred people on the internet will know they boned you. From their perspective, who cares? they're still making boatloads of money. If you get consumerist or someone to raise a stink they just send you a new phone and their ass is covered.
Unless you can get some major site like that on your side and raise a social media/blog stink, i really think you're just going to have to take it in the shorts and buy another phone. That's what i ended up doing.
Personally, i hate the shit out of that company(and boost mobile, who also suck massively, but that's another story) and will never give them a cent again. I'd throw the phone in the garbage, write it off as a total loss, and go to the t-mobile store. T-mobile seems to be the only company that can handle having a prepaid service that actually isn't a ripoff while not being huge jackasses about it(and i've basically tried them all). It's true virgin can be a little cheaper in some circumstances, but yea, assholes and whatnot.
posted by emptythought at 8:50 PM on May 31, 2013
I, too, have had phones on their service shit out on me and gotten the run around. I'm actually amazed they sent you a new one, because when i inquired about my shitting out phone they basically said "lol you should have bought insurance you're out of luck sorry go away"
Today, a supervisor said they will not send me a new phone, citing a 30 warranty, and suggest I buy a new another kind of phone--several hundred dollars more other kind of phone.
They did exactly this to me on a phone that was barely a year old(and cost over $100) that they now refused to activate ever again because "oh, we quit carrying that model." which immediately after that sentence led to "why don't you buy expensive model XYZ if you want something similar?".
You are not being unreasonable, but to them you're just some tiny blip out of millions and they don't care. If they ignore you now you can huff and puff and maybe a few hundred people on the internet will know they boned you. From their perspective, who cares? they're still making boatloads of money. If you get consumerist or someone to raise a stink they just send you a new phone and their ass is covered.
Unless you can get some major site like that on your side and raise a social media/blog stink, i really think you're just going to have to take it in the shorts and buy another phone. That's what i ended up doing.
Personally, i hate the shit out of that company(and boost mobile, who also suck massively, but that's another story) and will never give them a cent again. I'd throw the phone in the garbage, write it off as a total loss, and go to the t-mobile store. T-mobile seems to be the only company that can handle having a prepaid service that actually isn't a ripoff while not being huge jackasses about it(and i've basically tried them all). It's true virgin can be a little cheaper in some circumstances, but yea, assholes and whatnot.
posted by emptythought at 8:50 PM on May 31, 2013
Virgin sucks. I spent two months trying to get their useless reps to fix my broken data plan to no avail. I'm dumping them asap and moving to an unlocked GSM sim phone so I can jump carriers until I find one that doesn't suck.
posted by zug at 9:35 PM on May 31, 2013
posted by zug at 9:35 PM on May 31, 2013
Have you tried tweeting at them or posting on their facebook page? Sometimes that can get attention from someone who is more motivated to fix a problem.
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:09 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by needs more cowbell at 11:09 PM on May 31, 2013 [1 favorite]
I went through this with their htc evo V...wouldn't recieve texts. After a carbon copy of your experience, my third with them, I finally took a 'nuke it from orbit' approach and got the Galaxy Note 2 from Ting. I do most of my data via wifi at home and work and haven't gone over ~$25/mo (their pay-for-what-you-actually-use plan is awesome). Sure, the phone was expensive, but in 2 more months I'll have paid it off vs. Virgin's $45/mo plan. Virgin's main problem is that their phones all suck and don't work. Don't waste your time with a crap phone. It just isn't worth it.
The Galaxy Note is hands down the coolest...object.. I've ever owned...so many amazing features... review here.
They've also recently gotton the galaxy s4, htc one (also really well reviewed), and it looks like they're getting the iphone soon too...
Look at your actual usage, run the numbers, and see...
if you google around for a referral code (takes 1 sec) you can save $25 on your first purchase...they have a lot of other great perks too (free tethering, minute sharing, extra lines for $6, etc) and awesome customer service.
posted by sexyrobot at 12:51 AM on June 1, 2013
The Galaxy Note is hands down the coolest...object.. I've ever owned...so many amazing features... review here.
They've also recently gotton the galaxy s4, htc one (also really well reviewed), and it looks like they're getting the iphone soon too...
Look at your actual usage, run the numbers, and see...
if you google around for a referral code (takes 1 sec) you can save $25 on your first purchase...they have a lot of other great perks too (free tethering, minute sharing, extra lines for $6, etc) and awesome customer service.
posted by sexyrobot at 12:51 AM on June 1, 2013
There are a lot of great prepaid services out there, and Virgin Mobile is by no means the only one with affordable prices. Ting, Page Plus, Straight Talk, etc. (Howard Forums is a good resource on this.) If you're going to pay for a phone service, get one that actually takes care of you. Port your number over to someone else. I use Page Plus, which runs on the Verizon network, and have had no problems over the last 6 years with them. T-Mobile has some options. Ting runs on the Sprint network, same as Virgin, and their pricing is something you should look at - it's pay for what you use. There are also prepaid providers that run on AT&T's network.
Shop around and get a better deal. Your phone should not be a hassle.
posted by azpenguin at 11:40 PM on June 1, 2013
Shop around and get a better deal. Your phone should not be a hassle.
posted by azpenguin at 11:40 PM on June 1, 2013
Yes, Virgin Mobile customer service (in the US, at least) sucks. I once had a relatively straightforward issue that the customer service rep couldn't even begin to resolve, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. The rep refused to transfer me.
posted by klausness at 3:59 PM on June 2, 2013
posted by klausness at 3:59 PM on June 2, 2013
I got fed up with them, and switched to Airvoice.
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/10/11/our-new-10-00-per-month-iphone-plans/
posted by 4midori at 3:24 PM on June 5, 2013
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/10/11/our-new-10-00-per-month-iphone-plans/
posted by 4midori at 3:24 PM on June 5, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
I think at this point, you'd need to escalate with Consumerist or BBB-- they really don't care, in my experience. It's that whole getting what we pay for, which is crappy service and cheap phones, but for just a little money a month.
posted by headspace at 7:18 PM on May 31, 2013