# Virgin Mobile smartphones/plans. Like or hate 'em? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 18, 2012, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131 "2012-04-18T06:01:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131/21 "2012-04-19T19:44:19Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Over the phone, you can force someone to answer your question by politely saying, “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I’ve expressed myself clearly. That’s not the issue.” Eventually, they are forced to think about it. With email, they never have to. I can’t really relate to your problem. It sounds to me like you like you lack the basic terminology to clearly describe your problem, so you want somebody to hold your hand and try to figure out what the problem is you are talking about. I don’t mind that so much, except that level of user support is coming out of my pocket. I don’t know why you think Virgin Mobile is so great. When I looked around in late 2010 one of the things I found were that the customer service rating were so terrible for Virgin Mobile. That was one of the reasons I went with BoostMobile. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131/22 "2012-04-19T20:04:01Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > I can’t really relate to your problem. It sounds to me like you like you lack the basic terminology to clearly describe your problem, so you want somebody to hold your hand and try to figure out what the problem is you are talking about. I don’t mind that so much, except that level of user support is coming out of my pocket. That assumption is frankly rather insulting. The situation was that I have a USA-issued credit card but I only have a Canadian billing address, which causes problems with online purchases. If you cannot enter a ZIP code that matches your billing address, the purchase will not go through. I was trying to figure out how to resolve the problem. Is part of that unclear? Because I got several off-topic responses. I can assure you that this specific situation is not covered anywhere online from the card issuer or the merchant. A live human over the phone was able to help me resolve it very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131/23 "2012-04-19T20:58:19Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > That assumption is frankly rather insulting. The situation was that I have a USA-issued credit card but I only have a Canadian billing address, which causes problems with online purchases. If you cannot enter a ZIP code that matches your billing address, the purchase will not go through. I was trying to figure out how to resolve the problem. And you couldn’t explain that in an email? Maybe you need to give more concrete examples of problems that are difficult to resolve by email. Even if I need to talk to someone, I’d rather send them my phone number and have them call me instead of sitting on hold. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131/24 "2012-04-19T21:26:51Z")
I have had mine since 2007 and love it. I love their plans, their customer service - everything. My husband has a Tracphone and isn’t as enamored of his as I am of mine - but then again he just has minutes. He doesn’t text or browse or anything. He just calls me on it. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131/25 "2012-04-19T22:13:47Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > And you couldn’t explain that in an email? Maybe you need to give more concrete examples of problems that are difficult to resolve by email. Even if I need to talk to someone, I’d rather send them my phone number and have them call me instead of sitting on hold. No, I _did_ explain that in an email, in very similar words to what I used here. I was unable to get a response that even addressed the problem directly. Their response was cut and pasted from their pre-existing database on online security, all content that was available on the web. What I’m trying to explain to you, and what you seem disinclined to understand, is that email only works if those reading it are willing to engage through the medium of writing, which is not always the case. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131/26 "2012-04-19T22:18:07Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > And you couldn’t explain that in an email? Maybe you need to give more concrete examples of problems that are difficult to resolve by email. Even if I need to talk to someone, I’d rather send them my phone number and have them call me instead of sitting on hold. \*\*Dr. Drake \*\*already said that the employees who read his emailed question would respond with irrelevant macros. Why can’t we trust that his experience with customer service happened as he described it? For the sake of harmony and love and all that hippie stuff, perhaps we could assume that **Dr. Drake’s** not an idiot (after all, he’s a doctor!). On topic, I’ve discovered Tmobile’s 4g pay-as-you-go plan (in another thread here). It has 100 phone minutes and unlimited text/data for $30 a month. If I can find a compatible phone for around $100, I’m going to do that instead of switching carriers. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131/27 "2012-04-19T22:45:51Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > \*\*Dr. Drake \*\*already said that the employees who read his emailed question would respond with irrelevant macros. Why can’t we trust that his experience with customer service happened as he described it? For the sake of harmony and love and all that hippie stuff, perhaps we could assume that **Dr. Drake’s** not an idiot (after all, he’s a doctor!). You are overlooking that he isn’t a BoostMobile customer. He is actually talking about his experience at Virgin Mobile. O > [@](#): > > n topic, I’ve discovered Tmobile’s 4g pay-as-you-go plan (in another thread here). It has 100 phone minutes and unlimited text/data for $30 a month. If I can find a compatible phone for around $100, I’m going to do that instead of switching carriers. You can get away with 100 minutes a month? ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131/28 "2012-04-19T23:11:05Z")
Yes. Usually I text or email all my communications, or if I have to make calls I do it from my landline at work. I spend less than an hour on the phone in an average month (and often spend 0 minutes at all). Exceptions are when I have to talk to my mother, or I need roadside assistance. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131/29 "2012-04-20T01:34:00Z")
I just got an email notifying me that my next BoostMobile bill will be $35 a month. Of course if I got an Android phone it would go back up to $40. It doesn’t seem urgent since I have an Android tablet and there is a lot of free wifi around. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131/30 "2012-04-20T01:53:36Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > On topic, I’ve discovered Tmobile’s 4g pay-as-you-go plan (in another thread here). It has 100 phone minutes and unlimited text/data for $30 a month. If I can find a compatible phone for around $100, I’m going to do that instead of switching carriers. I highly recommend this plan. I use it for a high end smart phone (galaxy nexus). Consider spending a little more on the phone. You’ll find that nicer phones let you do more stuff, and you’re saving money anyway so it eventually works out to be even in a few months. Make sure your new phone supports these bands and you should be golden. > **[T-Mobile US | Radio frequency spectrum chart](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile_USA#Radio_frequency_spectrum_chart)** Just buy the order the sim chip at [tmobile.com](http://tmobile.com) and pop it into your new phone and activate. There are also several pre-paid online stores you can buy from that you can buy prepaid refills at slightly less then list. I use [callingmart.com](http://callingmart.com) personally. They have coupons that take off 5% or 10% off refill price every once in a while and loyalty rewards points. This brings your cost to somewhere around 28$/month flat average. A far cry from the 86$/month I used to pay for my Iphone! If you find 100 minutes too restrictive you can either pay the 10/cents a minute or use a voip calling service like skype. (2/cents a minute in the u.s). The free voip services suck badly. I tried a bunch, hated them all. Support these plans! They’re cell phone plans at sane prices. This is the way the the industry should go. Vote with your dollars! ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2012, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131/31 "2012-04-22T17:24:31Z")
Just thought I would post an update! I purchased a used LG Optimus T from eBay for $75 (after shipping). This is an even cheaper option than my original plan for Virgin mobile, since the Virgin phones are at least $100 \*and \*the T-mobile plan is only $30/month (vs. Virgin’s $35 price tag). The Optimus T retails for $130, so as long as this phone works, I’ma be super-excited. Many thanks to **Voltaire** for helping me with the buying process 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/virgin-mobile-smartphones-plans-like-or-hate-em/619131.md?page=1)