Scammed by Virgin Mobile? Please give info!

Hi all,

I'm new to this site and also new to the entire concept of cell phones. Before today I never had one, never used one, never wanted one.

I just need one as an emergency backup in case I get stuck on the road or
something happens (I drive a lot each day...)

So bearing that in mind I got a cheap k9 cellphone for 10 bucks at virginmobile and signed up for their $6.99 a month, 10cents per minute plan; thinking of course that I'd just have to pay a little over 7 dollars (+taxes) each month and get to make ~70 minutes of calls each month ($6.99/$0.1 per min = 69.9 minutes!!)

I figured that 70 minutes a month just reserved for only emergency calls should be just about enough.

NOW imagine by disgust when I found out that virgin mobiles $6.99 (the amount that I PAYED FOR BY DEBIT CARD) only actually credited by account with an actual effective usable amount of $2.50!!!!! They claim that the rest is for state and federal charges, the 911 tax, the "robin-hood communists help your poor neighbors in rural areas who can't afford a cellphone service tax", etc.etc...

So am I missing something here? Am I getting this right? I pay $6.99 a month for the specifically labeled "$6.99 month PLAN" and get only $2.50 a month (which boils down to less than 25 minutes, which is less than one call a day (no matter HOW short, since I found out that even if a call goes through and you talk only 5 seconds Virgin Mobile still counts that as a FULL MINUTE!!)

THIS pitiful amount is not even enough for emergency calls and the typical call home to tell I'm coming home, or stuck in traffic, etc....

I have read the virgin mobile $6.99 plan FAQ SEVERAL TIMES over, and believe me they are very vague and don't go into the details.

here is the link-> www DOT virginmobileusa DOT com/help/helpDetails.do?tier=service&categoryId=35&topicId=257

So I sent an email to virginmobile hoping to get a REAL answer.

Below is the exact email I sent them:

Hi,
I just bought a k9 and signed up for pay by the minute $6.99 for 10cents a minute a month deal.
When I use by phone to see my current account balance it shows $2.50, even though I just paid over $7 on my debit card for specificially $6.99!!! I haven't used a single minute yet and the balance is $2.50!?? I know there is tax and service fee, but if for each $6.99 that I pay I only get to use $2.50 then this is nothing but a SCAM and an outright white LIE. Why does your company say something is $6.99 but effectively minutes I can only get $2.50? Why cant you just be honest and say its actually 28 cents per minutes instead of 10 cents per minute!!! I don't believe its you can't do the math, you just want to scam people but I aint no sheep.
Give me a good reason or explaination, otherwise its shame on you Virgin Mobile.

Guess, what? I get an answer back telling me to read the FAQ on their site.....


Can someone help me here? I am not opposed to paying a little more each month, infact its not even about the money that really disturbs me.

Why can't companies just be upfront and say it like it is? Because the way this is working, the virgin mobile $6.99 a month pay per minute plan is a FLAT AND OUTRIGHT SCAM & LIE. Anyone who can do basic math will see that its not the 10cents per minute that they advertised, its effectively MUCH MUCH higher, $28 cents per minute actually!!!! This is a margin of error of over 280%!!! False advertising???

-Bo

---

› See More: Scammed by Virgin Mobile? Please give info!

....can you buy additional minutes at the rate of $.10 perminute for you emergencies and 'one call a day'?

Originally Posted by jeaniesing

....can you buy additional minutes at the rate of $.10 perminute for you emergencies and 'one call a day'?

I'm not sure, I think its I have to pay the $6.99 all over again.
The point is Virgin Mobile made it sound like if you seldom use your
cellphone then a month is only $7. However if I have to fill-up twice
a month then they should have called it the $14.99 plan not the misleading
$6.99 MONTLY plan. AM I making any sense??

Surely someone else here must use the service and can help me understand how this bait and switch thing works??

Just do the 18 cent a minute plan with no monthly fee. You will have to add money every 90 days even if you don't use the phone, but there are no recurring charges. If you register a credit or debit card for the account, the top-up will happen automatically when you need to add funds or when your minutes are going to expire. (Adding funds keeps your minutes from expiring as well as adds minutes available.) Also, registering a card with them allows your top-up amount every 90 days to be only $15.00, making your monthly cost $5.00. That $15 translates to 83 minutes of calls. The 18 cents covers all the taxes and fees as well as the per minute cost of the call.

By the way, the $6.99 a month does not include any minutes, but rather allows you to make calls at 10 cents a minute in addition to the $6.99 a month, and you have to pay the monthly taxes and fees on top of that. So that would be $6.99+taxes+fees+$0.10 per minute every month. That $2.50 you saw available for calls was probably bonus minutes just for opening an account with Virgin Mobile.

Originally Posted by Medic63

.

By the way, the $6.99 a month does not include any minutes, but rather allows you to make calls at 10 cents a minute in addition to the $6.99 a month, and you have to pay the monthly taxes and fees on top of that. So that would be $6.99+taxes+fees+$0.10 per minute every month. That $2.50 you saw available for calls was probably bonus minutes just for opening an account with Virgin Mobile.

Medic63, thanks for the info. What you wrote above, do you know this for sure? I read the FAQ on Virgin Mobile's site and it gave me the impression that $6.99 included the minutes? If I am incorrect, is the 18cents per minute better than the 10 cents per minute? Like for example say I would not need to make more than 60 minutes in a month, is the 6.99 @ 10 cents better or just the plan old 18cents a minute with no monthly fee? This is confusing because I thought Virgin Mobile recommended the $6.99 plan as the better one for people who only call a few minutes a month? But I think you are saying the 18cents one is actually the better one for me??

Also, I have emailed Virgin TWICE and they have yet to provide ANY feedback whatsoever other than for me to refer back to their FAQ...

Are all cell phone carriers like this terrible??

One last thing, I am new to cell phones so please dont laugh.. but I didn't give my new cellphone number out to ANYONE at all, yet today I received a missed call and it was from an area code 877 number and I called back. It was T-mobile!!! This is strange because I am with Virgin Mobile, I just got this cellphone and this new number, so why would T-mobile call me out of the blue? I haven't given this number to anyone yet!!! Did virgin mobile sell my information???

Originally Posted by zeroinfinity

One last thing, I am new to cell phones so please dont laugh.. but I didn't give my new cellphone number out to ANYONE at all, yet today I received a missed call and it was from an area code 877 number and I called back. It was T-mobile!!! This is strange because I am with Virgin Mobile, I just got this cellphone and this new number, so why would T-mobile call me out of the blue? I haven't given this number to anyone yet!!! Did virgin mobile sell my information???

There is a roll over of cell phone numbers and you may get a few calls from people/companies that had that number on file for the person who had it before you or they misdialed. That has happened on my cell phone a few times. Mistakes happen.
I chose the .18 a minute plan for my parents virgin mobile because for the amount of time they actually use it, it just made more sense. I just buy them top up minutes every 90 days to keep their account and it works out to be cheaper in the end.

Originally Posted by zeroinfinity

Medic63, thanks for the info. What you wrote above, do you know this for sure? I read the FAQ on Virgin Mobile's site and it gave me the impression that $6.99 included the minutes? If I am incorrect, is the 18 cents per minute better than the 10 cents per minute? Like for example say I would not need to make more than 60 minutes in a month, is the 6.99 @ 10 cents better or just the plan old 18 cents a minute with no monthly fee? This is confusing because I thought Virgin Mobile recommended the $6.99 plan as the better one for people who only call a few minutes a month? But I think you are saying the 18 cents one is actually the better one for me??

Also, I have emailed Virgin TWICE and they have yet to provide ANY feedback whatsoever other than for me to refer back to their FAQ...

Are all cell phone carriers like this terrible??

One last thing, I am new to cell phones so please dont laugh.. but I didn't give my new cell phone number out to ANYONE at all, yet today I received a missed call and it was from an area code 877 number and I called back. It was T-mobile!!! This is strange because I am with Virgin Mobile, I just got this cell phone and this new number, so why would T-mobile call me out of the blue? I haven't given this number to anyone yet!!! Did virgin mobile sell my information???

I had Virgin Mobile for a little over two years, and from my experience, the $6.99 plan does not include any minutes, like I said, but just allows you to make calls at 10 cents a minute on top of your $6.99. So, if you make 60 minutes of calls in a month, you would pay $6.99+$6.00+applicable taxes and fees, making your total something over $13. If, on the other hand, you were on the 18 cent a minute plan you would pay (out of your available balance) 60 x $0.18=$10.80.
Of course Virgin Mobile is going to recommend the $6.99 plan over the $0.18 a minute plan because it gets more money out of your pocket and into theirs.
Not all cell phone providers are terrible, it just seems that way sometimes. For my wife's pre-paid service, we just switched from Virgin Mobile to T-Mobile ToGo. Better phones, better coverage (in my area, at least), better customer service, but very confusing math to figure out what each minute costs (it depends on what your balance is and how much your most recent refill card was worth and several other factors).
Lastly, like the other reply says, your cell phone number was likely recently "recycled" and may even have been a T-Mobile number previously.