- Report: #609936
Complaint Review: Virgin Mobile - Warren New Jersey
Reported By:
Greg -
, Massachusetts, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Virgin Mobile
10 Independence Blvd. Warren, 07059 New Jersey, United States of America
Phone:
Web:
www.virginmobile.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
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Virgin Mobile Virgin Mobile USA Number porting problems leave new customers phoneless! Warren New Jersey
Three weeks ago my friend picked up a new Kyocera Loft and signed up for Virgin Mobile's 300-talk unlimited data plan, intending to port his (formerly) Verizon number to it. It seemed like a great deal--unlimited data and enough talk time to get by for only $25/month with no contract. Well my Pops used to tell always tell me three things: if a deal looks to good to be true it probably is, you get what you pay for, and just because your friends go and jump off of a bridge doesn't mean you should too.
My Dad was and is right on all counts.
I think my friend is now around 20 days into his struggle with Virgin Mobile. As far as I know, Verizon had successfully ported his number to Virgin Mobile on day 1 of the struggle. Since then--three weeks!--Virgin Mobile has been unable to map the number to his phone. (That he needs his particular number for business is the only reason he hasn't given up--I don't think VM can release the number to a different carrier until they get his phone working first.)
Of course, despite my father's words of wisdom I jumped off of the bridge too.
Same model phone, same porting of a number from Verizon, same story. Alas, I am only 4 days into my struggle. After 60 hours with a non-functioning phone and being alarmed by receiving 13(!) identical emails over 30 minutes telling me my phone number was something it wasn't supposed to be, I contacted customer support to check on the status. I was told by Leo(?) (agent ID [redacted]) that the phone would be working later that evening--it'd be coming on line any minute.
Of course it did not.
The next day I called and was told by Gabrielle (did not get agent ID) that, again, that it would definitely be working by the end of the evening. I explained that since I had heard that same exact line the day before I was apprehensive, and asked to be escalated to a supervisor.
Guess what supervisor Steven (agent ID [redacted]) discovered! Although Verizon had indeed successfully ported my number to Virgin Mobile within hours of me singing up, Virgin Mobile had NOT YET EVEN BEGUN the process required to get my phone up and running. Steven explained that this was due to a bug in their system that was affected/had affected new phones. After escalation, the new timeframe for my phone to start functioning is another 72 hours--time required for the Virgin Mobile techs to manually "build" my account (out of slow curing concrete, presumably.)
Steven told me that there are currently "many" accounts that need to be manually built in this manner, presumably because of the same problem. Between his statement, a few other complaints about this issue that I have spotted online, and my friend's ongoing experience, I am led to believe that Virgin Mobile is having widespread problems with porting phone numbers to newer phones on their non-contract plans.
Steven did comp me one month's service which was nice... if I don't bail first.
Things to take away:
1) If you are planning to port a number to a Virgin Mobile phone be prepared to wait a long, perhaps indefinite, time.
2) When a Virgin Mobile CSR rep tells you that your phone will be working "by the end of the evening, for sure" they may actually mean "I have no idea when your phone will work or if it will ever work, and maybe I didn't even check."
3) Listen to your Dad's advice.
My Dad was and is right on all counts.
I think my friend is now around 20 days into his struggle with Virgin Mobile. As far as I know, Verizon had successfully ported his number to Virgin Mobile on day 1 of the struggle. Since then--three weeks!--Virgin Mobile has been unable to map the number to his phone. (That he needs his particular number for business is the only reason he hasn't given up--I don't think VM can release the number to a different carrier until they get his phone working first.)
Of course, despite my father's words of wisdom I jumped off of the bridge too.
Same model phone, same porting of a number from Verizon, same story. Alas, I am only 4 days into my struggle. After 60 hours with a non-functioning phone and being alarmed by receiving 13(!) identical emails over 30 minutes telling me my phone number was something it wasn't supposed to be, I contacted customer support to check on the status. I was told by Leo(?) (agent ID [redacted]) that the phone would be working later that evening--it'd be coming on line any minute.
Of course it did not.
The next day I called and was told by Gabrielle (did not get agent ID) that, again, that it would definitely be working by the end of the evening. I explained that since I had heard that same exact line the day before I was apprehensive, and asked to be escalated to a supervisor.
Guess what supervisor Steven (agent ID [redacted]) discovered! Although Verizon had indeed successfully ported my number to Virgin Mobile within hours of me singing up, Virgin Mobile had NOT YET EVEN BEGUN the process required to get my phone up and running. Steven explained that this was due to a bug in their system that was affected/had affected new phones. After escalation, the new timeframe for my phone to start functioning is another 72 hours--time required for the Virgin Mobile techs to manually "build" my account (out of slow curing concrete, presumably.)
Steven told me that there are currently "many" accounts that need to be manually built in this manner, presumably because of the same problem. Between his statement, a few other complaints about this issue that I have spotted online, and my friend's ongoing experience, I am led to believe that Virgin Mobile is having widespread problems with porting phone numbers to newer phones on their non-contract plans.
Steven did comp me one month's service which was nice... if I don't bail first.
Things to take away:
1) If you are planning to port a number to a Virgin Mobile phone be prepared to wait a long, perhaps indefinite, time.
2) When a Virgin Mobile CSR rep tells you that your phone will be working "by the end of the evening, for sure" they may actually mean "I have no idea when your phone will work or if it will ever work, and maybe I didn't even check."
3) Listen to your Dad's advice.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
MeatFrappe
United States of AmericaDay 14, Still Not Working, CSRs a complete joke
#2Author of original report
Sun, June 13, 2010
We are at day FOURTEEN without a working phone. I have decided to see this through out of morbid curiosity... how long could it possibly take?
There has been NO progress since my last update. I'm at the point where I am emailing Virgin Mobile executives. Here's the email I just sent:
I am writing to you on day 14 of my saga with Virgin Mobile in the hopes
that someone at the executive level will be able to help me get my
phone working.
Two weeks ago I paid for a new Kyocera Loft and
signed up for the $25/month Beyond Talk plan. Since then, my phone has
never been able to make or receive calls. During this time I have been
spent around 7 hours talking with customer support. I will spare you the
details, but during every interaction I have had with Virgin Mobile
CSRs I have been mislead, lied to (sometimes intentionally, sometimes
not), and generally told whatever would get me off of the line as
quickly as possible. I have been forced to beg and plead for my case to
be escalated--it took 9 days before they finally agreed to transfer me
to the technical support department!
On four separate occasions I have been told that my phone would
definitely be working within a 24-72 hour period. In the most recent
case I was told that a "technical investigation into trouble on the
network" would be conducted and the issue would be resolved within 72
hours. 72 hours later I called back to discover that the investigation
had not even begun. I can't keep waiting around like this.
I do not have a landline. The non-working cellphone in my hand
represents my only means of making or receiving calls. Thus, after 14
days, my patience has been worn to a thread. I really want to be a
Virgin Mobile customer. But I can't go without a working phone much
longer. Please help.
MeatFrappe
United States of America9 days in, phone still not working, lies from Vrigin Mobile
#3Author of original report
Tue, June 08, 2010
We're currently at the end of day #9 without the phone being able to make or receive calls. I've been told it will be working by day #10. And forget what I said about being comped a month's free service--that was a boldfaced lie.
By the numbers:
Days since I paid for a new phone and 1 month of prepaid service: 9
Number of successful phone calls made to or from my phone: 0
Number of times I have been told my phone would "definitely be working in 24-72 hours": 3
Number of times that statement has been untrue: 2 (3rd time currently pending)
Hours spent on the phone with Virgin Mobile customer support: 6.5 (approx.)
Amount of compensation promised by supervisor "Steven" (agent ID #[redacted]): $25 (one month's service)
Actual amount of compensation provided by Virgin Mobile: $10 (after more than 30 minutes of haggling with a different supervisor)
The good news is that my buddy's phone finally started working. I guess I will just have to wait a few more weeks like he did, spending 45 minutes on the phone with customer service every afternoon, which is quickly becoming my new hobby.
Seriously, this company seems at best incompetent and at worst dishonest.
