I bought a Virgin Mobile phone through Radio Shack in October of 2006. I initially chose to use the pay-per-minute plan but then decided to go with a $34.99 monthly plan, for which I used my bank card. The company's website and phone software allow users the option of changing plans at any time with the caveat that all minutes for the current month will be lost.
Last march I went online to virginmobileusa.com to downgrade my plan to a $24.99/month for 200 anytime minutes plan. I did this at about 1:30PM, well ahead of the midnight deadline for billing for the next month for the specific purpose of using all the minutes I had paid for.
After I pressed the "OK" button the website hung up for 10 minutes. My computer didn't freeze or anything so I knew there was something wrong with the website. I closed the browser and made a mental note to check back later.
An hour or so later I received two messages from Virgin Mobile. The first stated that I had been charged for the $34.99 plan at 1:07Pm, the second said I had been switched to the $24.99 plan and charged for that at 1:37PM.
I called Virgin Mobile Customer No-service and explained the situation to someone who I could not understand because there were several people in the background screaming and her accent was very thick. I finally managed to get a supervisor on the line who said his name was "Kevin".
Kevin said I was charged twice because I changed plans. When I told him I had changed well ahead of the end of the last day of the month for which I had paid for he launched into some ridiculous spiel he was obviously reading from a prepared text.
After asking Kevin nicely several times to reverse the charged he finally said he didn't have that ability, that I had to go through my bank to get it done. I called my bank and explained the situation and they took care of it with a no hassle at all.
In July I upgraded back to the $34.99 plan because I needed extra minutes. I did this late in the day on the last day of the billing period. There was no problem.
This month I decided I was wasting money on phone time I didn't need so I downgraded to the $24.99 plan again, and once again I was charged for both plans. This time I didn't call Customer No-service, I just called my bank and told them it happened again. Again my bank took care of it.
Then two days later my phone won't work. I call Virgin Mobile Customer No-service and they tell me I should have called them first instead of using my phone to changed plans. I ask what is the purpose of giving customers the ability to change plans using their phone's browser or the internet if they can't make it work right?
Again the supervisor, this time a guy named "Harold", gave me some spiel he was reading from a sheet of paper in front of his face that made no sense at all. He said he wanted me to fax him a copy of my driver's license and my bank card to restore service. I told him I wasn't going to do that because it wasn't my fault that they can't get their story straight and make their stuff work the way it's advertised and turn the phone back on because I wanted the 200 minutes airtime in the month of October, as I had paid for.
Harold refused to turn my phone back on and basically said Virgin Mobile can rip people off and there's nothing you can do.
Angus
Kansas City, Missouri
U.S.A.