Virgin Mobile, is a virtual network operator in the UK that uses the T-Mobile network. Virgin Mobile, is part of Richard Branson's Virgin group, hence its Virgin branding.
Virgin Mobile was the UK's first virtual
mobile operator after its launch in 1999.
In this review, I will outline the pros and cons of joining this mobile operator, and give a short outline towards the different tarrifs for the pay as you go plan, and whether I think the prices are reasonable.
Anyway, without further a do, lets get on to the review.
What are the price plans?
Virgin Mobile have two very different call plans.
The two price plans are
- Pay as you go
- Daily Bonus Tariff.
The
Pay As You Go Tariff is the default tariff in which you are currently set onto. In my opinion, this tariff is fantastic if you mainly call other Virgin Mobiles, or landlines, but if you do call alot of others on different
networks, then do consider switching away from this tariff, as you will be charged 40 pence a minute.
This tariff is therefore really designed for calls to landlines, or calls and/or texts to Virgin Mobiles.Below is a short brief summary of the call/text costs you can expect on this plan :
- Texts to other Virgin Mobiles are only 3 pence !
- To Virgin Mobiles, and Landlines, calls are 15p per minute for the first 5 minutes of calls you place each day, then call costs are reduced to 5p per minute for the rest of the day.
OVERALL RATING : 6/10 (based on your landline calling/virgin mobile to virgin mobile calls and or texts )
Daily Bonus
The Daily Bonus Tariff is the tariff that I am currently on. This tariff is designed for those who call users on the other
mobile networks in the UK. The great thing about this plan is that there is a flat rate of 15p - whether it is a landline, or a mobile, of ANY UK network. With this tariff, you also get alot of free text and call time, simply for using you phone, but i'll outline that a little bit further down in the review. Infact, maybe worth mentioning just now.Below is a short summary of the costs you can expect with this plan:
- When you send 5 texts(UK), you get 5 free texts!
- When you talk for 5 minutes, the next 5 minutes are free
- Calls to landlines, virgin mobiles, and other networks are 15p - it's a flat rate - so there is no confusion at all!
OVERALL SCORE : 9/10
Keeping track of your account
Keeping track of your Virgin Mobile Pay As You Go account could not be easier. When you register for the first time, on the basis you have not used the service before, you get free downloads for your phone, although, do check that this is still the case, as this offer may have ended by the time you check out this review. When you register, you have complete access to your account, where you can see your latest activity - the last calls/texts/
internet sites you visited on your phone, as well as change your details. I regularly use this service, and it has never caused me problems , in the terms of being inaccurate e.
t.c . If you do have Pay As you Go from Virgin Mobile, I definately recommend you registering to this service, if you have not done so already.
Rewards
With Virgin Mobile, for every £100 you spend, you get £10 towards an upgrade to your
mobile phone. I think this is great, although, I am nowhere near this at the moment... but will be incredibly handy in the future. There is also Virgin Crave, where there is some rewards for you to use, but to be honest, none of them personally interest me... everyone to their own.
Anything Else?
Virgin Mobile have a WAP service, called Virgin Bites, which allows you to buy
games,ringtones,wallpapers
e.t.c . I have used this service one, and really recommend it.... it was very smooth, from ordering to actually getting the download. Costs for items vary.
Virgin Mobile voicemail is also... absolutely FREE!
Customer Service ? : What's it really like?
If you join networks based on customer service, I say you should be closing this window right now, and ordering a
sim card, as I rate the service 10/10.
I have emailled them a few times, with general enquiries, and had
my emails responded to within 24 hours, either by email, or phone. This is a great standard of customer serive, and I was greatly impressed buy it.
I want to join!
So, If I have managed to convince you that the network is great, I am sure you'll be wanting to get your hands on a sim card now ?
You can order a sim card from www.virginmobile.co.uk for £5, or if you look around the internet, they may be doing a promotion where you get a FREE sim card, as that was the way in which I aquired one. So if you don't want to pay £5, definately get into google and do a search around.
Overall opinions
Network Coverage : I find the network coverage excellent, as I have not had any downtime. This information is really invaluable, as coverage will be dependant to where you are of course.
Range of price plans : I do feel they lack the plans a little, since they only have 2, but the 2 are very different, so that sort of cancels that fact out. It would be good to see maybe a few more plans in the future
Customer service : Customer service is fantastic... really helpful, and do respond to enquiries in a very quick amount of time.
Voicemail : The voicemail does have a fair few of technical problems, which results you in not able to access your voicemail. But, its free at the end of the day, which I really like.
Virgin Mobile, Overall: Overall, I think Virgin Mobile is a network operator worth considering. A definate 10 out of 10 for me.
Website: www.virginmobile.co.uk
Telephone: 0845 600 789 ( local rates apply ) or 789 from a VM phone
Contact : Virgin Mobile
PO Box 2692
Trowbridge
BA14 0WX
or visit a Virgin Mobile store... see website for more info.
