[dancing-bass]

I'm looking for HONEST input from Virgin Mobile CANADA users.

OK so with the new phones at Virgin, I'm really eyeballing them to be my next carrier. Especially since they have a promo on where they will waive the $35 activation fee.

So they hype that they have "no made up fees". So my question is -- what extra fees do they charge? Is it really just the cost of the plan plus tax?

For example (this is what I'm likely going to get)

$50 Smartphone plan
500mb data
150 minutes + 50 bonus minutes
unlimited evenings/weekends from 7pm
choice of unlimited text or voicemail/call display

for an extra $10 I can get the voicemail call display

$60.00 (total plan cost)
$7.80 (GST + PST)
$67.80

what else do they add? I'm in manitoba, and as far as I know they do NOT charge for the 911 fee in my province.

I will probably be activating 2 lines with them, and am just in the process of doing my research.

Are they really that good? How's the customer service? Billing, tech support, in-store experiences, call centers, etc... I don't want to hear "they suck because they don't carry the storm" or something like that... I want to hear what you have experienced both good and bad.

SOUNDOFF!!!

[mostlydo]

in regards to the actuall charges, i just emailed a old friend who is toronto with virgin mobile and he said there he pays taxes and one additional fee that is 1.99, he doesnt remember what type of surcharge it is... from my experience their costumer service was friendly, honestly i did not have many occasions speaking to them, i have never call tech about bb, but did call about simple programming of a samsung and they were friendly and effecient. never went in store and both tech and cst care were call centers i was content. i no this is bland but hope it helps.

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mostlydo: thanks for the info. Like I posted, any input is good. limited interaction to me means that they didn't have a lot of problems that you needed to call about. (aka no news is good news).

Anyone else? Positive AND negative experiences please. I want to make a well informed choice here!

[Kylecore]

I have the combo 50 plan and its awesone! I chose unlimited text as I text heavily though. No extra charges and the no activation promo started like 5 days after I bought my phone, called them up and they happily discounted it for me.
Another nice thing is that with bell and telus their blackberrys are locked down a lot and when trying to set up a few friends' ran into quite a few restrictions that I don't have on my virgin 8330.
They'll do just about anything for a blackberry user because, and I quote, "you having a blackberry makes you a more important customer".
Also you can change your plan once a month free of charge, which can be handy. To me its nice knowing that I may have a 3 year contract but if plans change and get better at anytime I can switch to it without having to re sign anything.

I highly recommend them and am quite happy I went with them having previously been with bell,solo and telus.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

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kyle:

I was wondering about that "fee free switch" thing. lets say 1 year into my 3 year contract I switch my plan. There is no "Fee" to switch, but does it extend my contract another 3 years? (Rogers is brutal for that) and I'm rather suspicious of all these promises that Virgin is making. It all sounds too good to be true (but I hope it actually is as good as it sounds!!)

[dancing-bass]

kyle:

I was wondering about that "fee free switch" thing. lets say 1 year into my 3 year contract I switch my plan. There is no "Fee" to switch, but does it extend my contract another 3 years? (Rogers is brutal for that) and I'm rather suspicious of all these promises that Virgin is making. It all sounds too good to be true (but I hope it actually is as good as it sounds!!)

[carey965]

ya any info on this company would be great

i am currently with telus and was thinking about virgin do to my recent billing issue that has left a bad taste in my mouth

i will be watching this thread

[dancing-bass]

Anyone mind if I bump this?

[branch83wr]

Do you have mts high speed internet? If you do why not just go with mts? Their plans dont have system access fees... you get way more minutes, unlimited data, cheaper plans, and voicemail+caller ID is only 8 bucks extra a month.

For example, I'm with mts and I get:
* 300 daytime minutes + evenings at 6pm
* unlimited text/data/email+caller id and voicemail

and I only pay $55 a month AFTER taxes..

I just got off virgin mobile and I can't tell you how happy I am, their customer service is horrible.

[dancing-bass]

I already tried MTS, and will not again unless it comes down to choice between Rogers and MTS. I was with them and have had enough! older phones, minimal plans available, and if you don't bundle then the prices are not that cheap after all... Not to mention customer service is only open 8am-6pm??? with hold times that are more often then not 10+ minutes to get someone who doesn't really care to help and suggests solutions that are obvious (and already tried)? no thankyou. If Virgin sucks to I'll try Rogers (with their inferior coverage) before going back to MTS. Thanks though Branch... what was your experience with Virgin (good and bad?)

[branch83wr]

Well, it wasn't pleasant. Honestly I agree with you, if you dont have a bundle option, i'd recommend you go elsewhere. Virgin mobile is probably not the best option in all honesty, from what I remember Virgins newest BB in mantoba is the 8330, because it's still not GSM like Rogers or Telus (In all other provinces but Manitoba and Sask. Sadly lol) so right off the bat you'd be getting an old phone.

Plus their customer service isn't local, which is another thing i didn't like, and not only that but when I was with them they raise their prices on things (like text messaging, email, voice mail, etc) without giving you anything so much as a month ahead warning. Maybe things have changed, but Virgin would probably be my last option out of all the carriers i've ever been on (Rogers 2006-2007, Virgin 2007-2009, MTS 2009 to pres.)