VirginMobile cell phone deal

mightybooboo · #1 10/31/06, 02:19 PM

I was paying 66/month for 450 minutes from ATT/Cingular.No rollover,thats 15 cents/minute IF I used them all,was lucky to use 100/minutes per month(had to make an effort to use even that),Thats 66 CENTS/MINUTE!!!!

Virgin Mobile(Like Virgin Airlines,same company) buys time on the SPRINT network.
I got a Nokia shorty phone and 25 dollars airtime+2.50 airtime (152 minutes) for 25 bucks.You pay 18 cents/minute,no long distance charges,no roaming charges.NO contract,leave anytime you like without penalty.
Order it online for the internet deal.

Then you have to buy 20 dollars of airtime every 3 months,total 80 dollars a year.You can even buy airtime from the phone by registering your bankcard,or online,or buy cards at stores and register them.

In 6 years Ive paid 4,752 dollars to ATT.With Virgin it would have been 480,or a 4,272 dollar savings.
We are talking serious money here.

If you dont use a lot of airtime this is an 80 dollar a year phone,OR 6.67/MONTH!
If you use more minutes,still a good price at 18 cents a minute.

A lot cheaper than I was paying with tons of minutes never used.
Now I ONLY pay for what I ACTUALLY USE.

Check em out at www.Virginmobile.com

Might save you some serious cash too.

BooBoo

sweetcountrygrl · #2 10/31/06, 02:23 PM

I really like them as well. They don't have service where our "homestead in progress" is so we had to go with tracphone for down there, however we do have a virgin mobile account for the kiddo's emergency use. I really think they are a great provider. If they ever extend service to that area, I'd pick them up in a heartbeat.

tobo6 · #3 10/31/06, 02:43 PM

We have them too, and really like them. We don't have service around our home but we have never found a cell phone that does work here.

We are on the Day to day plan they offer. They deduct .35 cents everyday and that way you get 10 cent minutes 24/7. Works for us.

drakkensdottir · #4 10/31/06, 03:21 PM

We have Virgin mobile phones as well and are very happy with them.

Just a note -- we were here in Louisiana during Katrina and our phones were some of the first back up with service.

Doubt we'll ever change to anything else.

~Drak

mistletoad · #5 10/31/06, 04:20 PM

If you register a debit card you only have to pay $15 every three months - DH and I both have Virgin Mobile and it's great. He always uses up his $15 before the time is up, but mine rolls over - we need to switch phones every now and then to get it balanced back out.

mightybooboo · #6 10/31/06, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistletoad

If you register a debit card you only have to pay $15 every three months - DH and I both have Virgin Mobile and it's great. He always uses up his $15 before the time is up, but mine rolls over - we need to switch phones every now and then to get it balanced back out.

I registered my card,but didnt see the 15/3 months thing,also wasnt aware the minutes rolled over.

Im on the 18 cent/minute plan,will I get rollover and 15 dollar minimum every 3 months also

,I keep seeing 20 every 3 months.

BooBoo

skruzich · #7 10/31/06, 06:34 PM

I have one but have had problems with them from the start. Don't count on any customer service. It's non existant. I had 80 dollars on my phone last december, and I switched to the minute to minute plan only the customer service didn't follow through and switch it and they ate my 80 bucks up in daily fees. And they will not refund any money.

mistletoad · #8 10/31/06, 06:56 PM

On the "Here are your basics" page right under "payment settings" is a link for "auto top-up settings" - that is where you can choose $15 every 3 months. I'm on the minute2minute plan so you should be able to do this and your money should roll over too - the max you can have on your account is something like $400, but you do lose the balance if you cancel the service.
There are also ways to get free minutes - you have to watch ads or something - I don't use my phone enough to need that, but I keep suggesting that DH try it! lol
Edited to add - it's the auto top up that gets you $15 per 3 months, not registering your card. Sorry about any confusion.

mightybooboo · #9 10/31/06, 07:29 PM

I see,auto top off gets you down to 15 every 3 months.
I will see how it works out and if I like it,and still not using my minutes I will switch to auto pay.

Thanks for the further info.

BooBoo

Annsni · #10 10/31/06, 07:38 PM

Love Virgin Mobile! Text messages are only $0.05 to send or receive too, so with teens, atleast it's not over and above the 'minutes' they have. I have one and my 16 year old has one - WELL worth it. We both use up the $20 within the 90 days so we don't have a problem with the top-up.

Watch Target - they'll have sales every once-in-a-while where it's 2-$20 top-up cards for $30! I buy them and keep them - they don't have to be used right away.

Ann

morrowsmowers · #11 10/31/06, 08:13 PM

We have 3 Tracfones and they have been the best deal we ever found on cell service. Before we used Verizon and they are a rip off!!! Our Tracfones use .3 of a minute to send a text message and no charge to receive. We can call the entire US for one price -- your price depends on what deal/how/where you buy your minutes. As a rule we come in at about .10/minute -- we buy minutes on ebay and when Tracfone has online deals. You get free minutes with a new phone and for activating on the net -- you can also get free minutes for being referred by an existing user. If anyone buys a new Tracfone and wants a referral for free minutes just PM us and well send it right out to you.

Ken & Sue in Glassboro, NJ

Jim-mi · #12 10/31/06, 08:30 PM

I checked the link. Theres shure a lot of gobbly---- about ring tones etc.
Even after wading through that mess I'm still wondering if there's coverage where I'm at and if the phone will let me know if there's an incoming without all that BS "ringtone" crap.

mightybooboo · #13 10/31/06, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim-mi

I checked the link. Theres shure a lot of gobbly---- about ring tones etc.
Even after wading through that mess I'm still wondering if there's coverage where I'm at and if the phone will let me know if there's an incoming without all that BS "ringtone" crap.

Yep,a lot of junk stuff for sure,but that stuff sells to kids I guess.I know where I work amongst the young crowd the phone is a fashion statement,and a status symbol too.Im sure they would laugh at mine,me,I laugh at 300 dollar phones.

Me,I got a basic phone,yes it makes a ringtone I could live without.It has some others I havent figured out yet.Thats why I went with the Nokia,I wanted a real phone,not a game boy ipod wannabe digital camera.

Pretty much if nextel or sprint phones work at your place,It should work.They are Sprint network like Virgin.

I put in my zip code at the site,said it works,and it sorta does,no other network works at my house that I know of from experience,so the zip code thing seems accurate.

The website is a pain for sure.Once signed up,you put in your acct number and that section is pretty darn good.

BooBoo

CraftyDiva · #14 11/01/06, 01:27 AM

I have VM as well and like it. The $15 top off is for auto top off, using a credit/debit card, but you can top off anytime, just remember every 90 days you'll be charged $15. Plus it rolls over, unused minutes just add up and not lost. But you have to top off every 90 days to keep the service wether you have rollover minutes or not.

About the ringtone, you program your phone for what ringtones you want, there's 8 free ringtones on the phone, anything other then those your charged to use. You can also program to vibrate (no ringtone).

foxtrapper · #15 11/01/06, 07:16 AM

I looked at Virgin, but went with Trak. The savings difference for me was substantial, and the purchased amount of usage was quite a bit more with Trak.

arabian knight · #16 11/01/06, 08:45 AM

Hmmm I sure get a kick out of this talk on these type of cells. I have had Tracfone, and one called Simplefreedom. Both can't compare with a Cell phone deal from a REAL Cell phone co. 25 cents a minute and if OUT OF THE AREA 50 Cents a minute or Unit is what tracfone called it.
WOW WHAT A DEAL~! Ya I like those Double the Rate if out of the area ( Roaming ) and Tracfone does not have that many cell towers so you end up roaming a lot. And so did Simple Freedom.
And my Phone company ( Land Line ) is 10 cents a minute on LD calls. and I have a friend that is paying 3.4 cents for LD Calling . Those types of pay as you go cells... They save you money? YA RIGHT~!
60 minutes for 20 bucks WOW~!! And Alltel is 1400 Minutes for 80 Dollars
Ya I can see here that some are into New Math 1400 verses 60
and 20 bucks verses 1400.......

These are Alltel Rates, Ya Sure makes Tracfone look good doesn't it?
60 minutes for 19.95

$39.99 500 unlimited unlimited
$49.99 1000 unlimited unlimited
$59.99 900 unlimited unlimited
$79.99 1400 unlimited unlimited
$99.99 2100 unlimited unlimited
$149.99 4000 unlimited unlimited
$199.99 6000 unlimited unlimited

mightybooboo · #17 11/01/06, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arabian knight

These are Alltel Rates, Ya Sure makes Tracfone look good doesn't it?
60 minutes for 19.95

$39.99 500 unlimited unlimited
$49.99 1000 unlimited unlimited
$59.99 900 unlimited unlimited
$79.99 1400 unlimited unlimited
$99.99 2100 unlimited unlimited
$149.99 4000 unlimited unlimited
$199.99 6000 unlimited unlimited

Lets see.....The cheapest Alltell phone is 480/year(not including taxes,using your numbers) while the cheapest VM is 60/year.

Yep,some deal.Thats quite a savings AK,at least +420 dollars/year more for a person who uses a small amt of minutes.Gee ,in 5 years thats only 2100+ dollars more.GREAT SAVINGS.

Thanks for the math lesson.

BooBoo

afrikaner · #18 11/01/06, 09:24 AM

Mighty Booboo,

My personal cell is a prepaid unit from Cingular - more or less the same as the VM deal. It costs me about $15 per month to keep it running.
My wife on the other hand is a phone hog. I got her a metro PCS phone - unlimeted local and long distance for $45 a month. She WILL do 1000 minutes a month. I've had "Cell Bill Shock" before when I was with Sprint.
If you don't use a whole bunch of minutes, get the prepaid deals. They work and no-one will know the difference.
In S. Africa, we had GSM phones (only) and if you went with a pre-paid deal, you bought a "starter kit" worth R120 ($15) and it would allow free incoming calls for a year - your outgoing rate was something along the lines of $0.01 per minute. I loved it. I don't think the 3 cell companies in Southern Africa make a lot of money with contracts. I'm still waiting for a company here to do the same thing...or in Europe for that matter!
It really boosts phone sales a lot and I think they can make an economical killing with it - but who listens to me? hehehehe

Thanks for the heads-up

CraftyDiva · #19 11/01/06, 09:40 AM

The great phone war.......LOL

To each his own and whatever you feel fills your needs. I have the cell for emergencies, so I'm not using all minutes, as a matter of fact I have $43 in rollover minutes. It would be totaly silly of me to pay $19.95 a month for a service I won't be using.

The last time I rolled over, customer service suggested I make my long distance calls on VM instead of my home phone to save money and use my minutes. Again long distance isn't that much usage for me, so I still have minutes to use.

Jan Doling · #20 11/01/06, 09:46 AM

I have Tracfone. It charges units just for dialing, even if no one ever answers the phone. I know I live in a remote area, so I figure it must be roaming charges, but why a charge if no phone call is actually completed?