Beware of No-Contract Virgin Mobile

In message
<[email protected]> "Mr.
Usenet" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Beware of Virgin Mobile. For their no-contract phones which
>you have to activate at least every 3 months with a top-off
>card, you often end up being cheated of time because of the
>way they add activation time. Time is added to the date of
>when you use the card rather than starting from the expiration
>date of the last card. For example, what happened to me was
>that I bought 2 cards hoping to add 6 months. But when I
>added them over 2 days, all that happened was that I got 3
>months beyond the date I used the 2nd card rather than 3
>months beyond the expiration date of the first. I felt
>ripped off. The only way to maximize activation time is
>to wait to the last minute before adding the next card which
>is very risky to me. "Tracfone", which does cost a little
>more, at least will add time after the current expiration
>date. Be aware of this before you buy their phone.

I've never personally used Tracfone, but the above is exactly how every
prepaid service I've had the pleasure to use works.

If Tracfone is different, it's a pretty major selling point in their
favour.

---

› See More: Beware of No-Contract Virgin Mobile

At 16 May 2008 16:40:39 +0000 Mike S. wrote:

> >I've never personally used Tracfone, but the above is exactly how every
> >prepaid service I've had the pleasure to use works.
>
> After you've added a total of $100 credit (over any period of time)
> T-Mobile To Go places you in "Gold" status wherein every refill is valid
> for 1 year.

A nice feature, (I have 3 "Gold" prepaid T-Mo phones) but immaterial to the
discussion. One of my Gold phones expires on Dec. 21st. If I add a $10
card today, May 16th, it will extend one year from TODAY (good until
5/16/09), not a year from Dec. 21st, which is how Tracfone does it,
according to the OP. With T-Mo (and everyone else) I need to wait until Dec.
21st to add more time in order to maximize my "investment." The OP says
you can add more airtime with Tracfone whenever it's convenient.

I appreciate all the responses. It seems "Tracfone" is the
exception(in a good way), not "Virgin". Oh well.

On May 16, 9:40 am, [email protected] (Mike S.) wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
>
>
>
> DevilsPGD <[email protected]> wrote:
> >In message
> ><[email protected]> "Mr.
> >Usenet" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >>Beware of Virgin Mobile. For their no-contract phones which
> >>you have to activate at least every 3 months with a top-off
> >>card, you often end up being cheated of time because of the
> >>way they add activation time. Time is added to the date of
> >>when you use the card rather than starting from the expiration
> >>date of the last card. For example, what happened to me was
> >>that I bought 2 cards hoping to add 6 months. But when I
> >>added them over 2 days, all that happened was that I got 3
> >>months beyond the date I used the 2nd card rather than 3
> >>months beyond the expiration date of the first. I felt
> >>ripped off. The only way to maximize activation time is
> >>to wait to the last minute before adding the next card which
> >>is very risky to me. "Tracfone", which does cost a little
> >>more, at least will add time after the current expiration
> >>date. Be aware of this before you buy their phone.
>
> >I've never personally used Tracfone, but the above is exactly how every
> >prepaid service I've had the pleasure to use works.
>
> After you've added a total of $100 credit (over any period of time)
> T-Mobile To Go places you in "Gold" status wherein every refill is valid
> for 1 year.

Yup T-Mobile IMO is the only way to go, if you use a cell only
occasionally. Buying the $100.00 card initially. And with the $10.00
worth that comes with the phone, Plus the free extra percentage they
give you for buying any value card, the Gold card, giving you the
most, your per minute rate is LESS THAN 10¢/min.

I just added another $10.00 for my next year. after a years time, I
still had over 800 minutes left. What I do is write the date down on
my planning calendar. They will also remind you with a text message a
day or two before. Plus the anniversary date is on their site. You
don't want to forget, cause in my case over 800 minutes would have
been a lot to lose.

Cool thing, this being the second year of my usage, and the initial
investment of the phone and original gold card having already been
paid for the first year, paying just $10.00 to carry all those minutes
over plus the added $10.00 worth (30 more minutes plus the freebies
they throw in), means that this years cell phone will cost me LESS
THAN ONE DOLLAR/mo ($10.00 divided by 12 months). Can't beat that with
a stick :-).

In message <[email protected]> [email protected] (Mike S.)
wrote:

>
>In article <[email protected]>,
>DevilsPGD <[email protected]> wrote:
>>In message
>><[email protected]> "Mr.
>>Usenet" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>Beware of Virgin Mobile. For their no-contract phones which
>>>you have to activate at least every 3 months with a top-off
>>>card, you often end up being cheated of time because of the
>>>way they add activation time. Time is added to the date of
>>>when you use the card rather than starting from the expiration
>>>date of the last card. For example, what happened to me was
>>>that I bought 2 cards hoping to add 6 months. But when I
>>>added them over 2 days, all that happened was that I got 3
>>>months beyond the date I used the 2nd card rather than 3
>>>months beyond the expiration date of the first. I felt
>>>ripped off. The only way to maximize activation time is
>>>to wait to the last minute before adding the next card which
>>>is very risky to me. "Tracfone", which does cost a little
>>>more, at least will add time after the current expiration
>>>date. Be aware of this before you buy their phone.
>>
>>I've never personally used Tracfone, but the above is exactly how every
>>prepaid service I've had the pleasure to use works.
>
>After you've added a total of $100 credit (over any period of time)
>T-Mobile To Go places you in "Gold" status wherein every refill is valid
>for 1 year.

Yes. Been there, done that some time ago.

And yet, the same is true. Add a new card today, your expiration date
is one year from now. Add one in a week, it's one year from that date,
not one year + 51 weeks.