Does anyone recommend virgin mobile

It's only available to exsiting broadband customers though. All plans have unlimited texts, but is the maximum number of monthly minutes you can get. Still, that equals more than two and a half hours of chatting per day, so it may as well be unlimited. It also doesn't offer any day SIM deals like many networks do - your choice is a month plan or nada. Not great. One bonus it does offer, however, is that you can change your allowance to a different tariff whenever you like.

Very few networks will let you do that on a long-term contract, so we're fans - though being able to cancel it whenever you like would be nice too. Nonetheless, you get some rather nice benefits. You can roll any unused data allowance over to the next month, for a start - another bonus you don't find on many networks.

Plus, any use of Twitter, or messaging on WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, doesn't come out of your data allowance - you essentially get free use of them. Again, Virgin Mobile has a modest range here. There isn't a huge amount of choice over handsets, which is a bit disappointing, but you can at least get an iPhone , a Samsung Galaxy , or a budget smartphone. Contracts are available with the same allowances as SIM-only plans, and there's a reason for that.

It's because all Virgin's contracts are 'Freestyle': they split your bill up into the cost of your phone, and the cost of a SIM deal. The upshot of this is that you get all the same benefits as a SIM-only plan, including the ability to switch your allowance up or down at any time.

It's really, really rare to see a feature like that on a handset contract, even on a similar system like O2 Refresh. It also means you can pay back the phone cost whenever you want and upgrade to a new one.

You'll also get the same data rollover, and the same free use of WhatsApp, Messenger, and Twitter. Go elsewhere. They can't run a business. For the last 4 months I have not received my bill, every month I get the month credited for my inconvenience, this month still no bill.

I called again and supervisor I spoke to says they have credited me too much, he sees the inconvenience but tells me it's my fault, I want to cancel. He tells me I have to pay balance of phone. Virgin Mobile Canada has got to be the very worst service ever in the history of telecom service. I will start with the wifi itself which is very very terrible.

Since I work from home, it is important that my service works uninterrupted, not Virgin Mobile. It has cut me off Team meetings and phone calls to customers and the customer service only apologized for the abysmal service, it was not corrected. The service is terrible.

The customer service is aggravating and will leave you more frustrated than before you called in for a resolution. My advice, steer clear. It's all name and no service.

They are only after milking you dry. Don't use them if you have High Blood Pressure. I signed up for a contract, after 1 month I returned the phone within the 90 day grace period. I called many times and was getting the same message over and over. I will never ever recommend this company. As a matter of fact, I am on hold right now hoping to get my deposit back. Did I say a word more than once? Tehorrible experience with Virgin Mobile. Just spoke to a robot who said problems in your area then disconnected the line..

Which they immediately turn down and showed zero sympathy for our situation of not being able to take calls or communicate with anyone for 6 days. Prior to moving I called them to book a technician to set me up at my new address. On day of, no one showed up. I called and was transferred to Bell by some agent and the Bell person gave me Virgin's number again. Second time I got an agent who transferred me to another agent without providing backstory so I had to start all over again.

After a long while I was transferred yet again to another agent with zero back story. This agent at least tracked down the issue, but I told her I will not be transferred until the issue is resolved.

She gave backstory and transferred me to another agent. I have been on with them an hour at this point. Apparently there is a system error that prevented the technician coming and they would have to reschedule. I have had no internet for 3 days at this point and mobile data maxed out and is expensive to add data. In the app and in your online account, you get a breakdown of your data usage and you'll see that any promotional data gets used first, then rolled over data and then your regular data:.

Every month, Virgin will keep track of any data you've not managed to get through. They'll then roll that over into the next month, so you get another shot at using it. Ultimately, it's about not losing what you've paid for. You'll use any rolled-over data first, which means there's more chance you'll carry that month's main data allowance forward too.

Although we'd say if this keeps happening, you should move down plans. It's a handy benefit, although there are other mobile networks doing data rollover better. Sky Mobile let you keep data for 3 years instead of a single month. Rank: 4th place out of 14 providers. Better than: All others. This is kind of a negative test. We used Twitter and Whatsapp over 4G to make sure that no data usage appeared in our account. We sent some pretty chunky videos over Whatsapp and no data usage was recorded:.

Useful link: All details on how Virgin's free messaging works. Virgin Mobile haven't changed their roaming scheme after Brexit. You can still use your monthly UK minutes, texts and data while abroad in the EU. But they do apply a fair usage policy to your data while you're there. The precise details are a nightmare to find on Virgin's website, even though they mention it everywhere. They do have a calculator here , where you plug in your plan to see what you can use without being charged extra.

We took our Virgin Mobile SIM card abroad within the European Union and have found everything to work fine, with nothing manual to do to make anything work even though they say you have to turn on roaming in your account. You get all the usual information texts when you arrive at your destination and Virgin seem to have some decent 4G arrangements with networks abroad, so don't have to accept slower 3G data when roaming. If our account had a fair usage limit, we didn't get anywhere near it.

We can't see it being a huge problem for just the odd trip. It all feels a bit like unneccesary hassle and penny pinching from Virgin. While other networks have made roaming and extra charges simpler, Virgin have made it more complicated and stress-inducing.

If you go further afield regularly, Virgin Mobile's non-EU rates get very pricey, very quickly. Rank: Last. Similar to: Most others. Virgin do quite well here:. Otherwise, the benefits for TV or broadband customers are limited to getting unlimited calls to Virgin Mobile numbers. In fact the government regulator Ofcom has just made it compulsory for mobile networks to offer customers the chance to set a cap on how much extra they can spend if it's something they want to do. Bit weird it's different but there we go.

Another odd thing is that making your spending cap larger happens instantly, yet if you want to reduce it, you have to wait until your next billing period starts:. Virgin were offering this before the deadline came in. But because every network now offer them, spending caps needn't be the deciding factor between Virgin Mobile and any other provider any more. Useful link: Costs for extra usage on Virgin Virgin's guide to spending caps.

And it's Virgin's regular low-priced SIM only range you get to choose from. All the plans get added together into one single bill. And you can manage them all from your online account or via Virgin's improved My Virgin Mobile app - we think people are going to like this simplicity and convenience. The main major downside is that Family Plans are a benefit reserved solely for Virgin Media home broadband or TV customers.

Even if you're a loyal Virgin Mobile customer but not Virgin Media, you don't qualify. Rank: Joint 2nd. So if you need more minutes and data, you can switch to a more expensive plan that gives you more. You can do this once a month, as many times as you like. Maximum length: Any.

Privacy notice: We send you a single one-time email containing only this deal and a link to buy it. We don't store email addresses nor pass them onto any third party. Read full privacy policy. No thanks No and don't ask again! Thanks, we'll send that out now. Please check your inbox for our email. Compare phone deals. The main appeal to Virgin Mobile's phone contracts is price. Every phone is sold with no upfront costs.

And the combined monthly device cost and usage plans comes out really well in price comparisons. The phone doesn't get more expensive if you spread its cost over 36 months instead of 24 months. So choosing a longer contract is a good way to keep monthly costs down you can still pay off earlier if you like.

It's because your deal is split into a finance agreement for the phone and a usage plan for your mins, texts and data. Pay off your phone and you're free to leave the usage plan with just 30 days' notice. Or upgrade early. You can also chop and change usage plans once a month too, up or down, to get the right data for your needs. So flexibility is also the other strength of Virgin's phone contracts.

Useful link : Browse Virgin Mobile's phone range. How Freestyle works. The main disadvantage to Virgin Mobile's phone contracts is that you may find it difficult to be accepted for one, even if you a decent credit history.

And it's because they're based on finance. When you take a contract, Virgin are essentially loaning you the money to buy the phone off them and you pay that back as your monthly bill. Because they're lending money, they're under regulations to lend responsibly. So if there's any doubt that you might not be able to make a monthly payment, Virgin seem to outright refuse you.

Minor blips on your credit file seem to count more heavily against you on Virgin than other networks. We're also not a fan of their trade-in scheme, which lets you upgrade early by surrendering your phone back to them. We think you can get better value selling it yourself to pay off your loan.

You can no longer get a pay as you go deal from Virgin on a phone or SIM. We don't think this is a huge loss, as their old plans weren't cheap and they only gave you 3G, not 4G data. If you're looking for a simple pay as you go deal where you only pay for what you use, 1pMobile are worth a look, as they only charge 1p per minute, text or MB data. There aren't any real extra perks like you'd expect with a no-frills deal.

Useful link: Read our 1pMobile review. They no longer offer them, you can only get a plan with a device included:. Virgin Mobile's mobile broadband plans here are pretty cheap on a monthly basis and we'd describe the pocket WiFi device included as standard quality.

You can choose between a day rolling plan you'll pay an upfront charge for the device or a month deal with the same monthly cost but no upfront fee for the device itself. Overall, it's hard to get excited about Virgin Mobile's mobile broadband but it's reasonably priced and does get you access to a large and fast 4G network from EE. Useful link: Mobile broadband on Virgin Mobile.

Ofcom are the government's regulator for the telecoms industry. And it's where you go if you've tried to resolve problems with your mobile company and they've not sorted things out. So the fact that Ofcom receive above-average numbers of complaints about Virgin Mobile doesn't bode well. If the average per , subscribers is 3 complaints, Virgin receive 5.

This is an improvement on 8 in the past. Over the phone, with the best will in the world, the English language skills of their operators are among the worst we've experienced and can make explaining problems and getting things sorted difficult. Although their app is decent for checking the basics in your deal, we find Virgin's online account management extremely glitchy.

It can be hard even to get logged in to start off and changes to your account take a long time. But at least for a cheap provider, there are plenty of ways to contact Virgin if you do have problems. They've got stores you can walk into, phone customer services from on your SIM and online chat options too.

Not every network has all that. So generally, we'd say it's something to be aware of on Virgin.