starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be permanent

[LeslieAnn]

Re: starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be perma

You guys are a bit ridiculous.
You say $35 isn't worth it, but have you really investigated the options? I have been for the last 6+ months. Why do you think I use an Evo on Virgin.

T-Mobile is probably the best and only real alternative, for me at least. Yeah you get 4g, but once you exceed your limit you get 2g, not 3g. Also, coverage can also be an issue, for me, T-mobile data coverage is pretty much NILL in my neighborhood, while I get decent rates from Sprint. I would also have to do the 2gig plan and hop I don;t go over, otherwise, the 5gig plan, my monthly bill would be $45-50 a month after extra phone fees since 100 minutes is a joke.

As for Straight Talk and such, you REALLY need to read the fine print (and other forums) on those. Some of their "3g" speeds are throttled worse than Virgin. One was throttled at 119k MAX, for 3g, to go faster you need the $60 "4g" plan which gives you 3g speeds. Others with faster speeds have 500meg or 1gig limits, others will nail you for simply using 100megs in a single day, regardless of monthly use. Some of those MVNO's are simply terrible. Be very careful before you go spending your money on them.

Granted it depends on how many minutes you need, but the bottom line is that $35 isn't bad for what you are/will be getting, don't fool yourself. Yes, the increase sucks, but think things through and research before you go off in a huff and blow $200-$300 on a phone.

I wonder if the 4g data would be available on the 25 dollar plan. They would possibly just switch 4g on all plans since you would have to buy a new phone to access the data anyhow.

No, because you will need a new phone to get 4g, which moves you to $35
You will NOT get 4g on the $25 plan unless VM drops a 4g phone before the increase, which is HIGHLY unlikely. Possible, but unlikely. I think a few snuck in under the wire on the Triumph.

 

[mknollman123]

Re: starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be perma

I am on the $40 plan - and I have been considering thee 10 increase to get the better devices on T-Mobile anyway. Now the difference would only be $5 bucks - makes it look pretty good to switch. I crunched the numbers - also like I said I problably will not be upgrading any time soon as the OV is fine for now - but when I do if the price difference is only $5 per line I will probably be heading to T-Mobile unless VM really comes out with some blockbusster phones.

I still think that this is a mistake for them - this was basically the only real hook they had into customers to keep them as they have no contracts. The only thing they are accomlishing from me is to possibly get me to wait longer to upgrade and when I do - I will certainly look VERY HARD elsewhere.

I am sure they know the numbers better than I do, but with long standing customers (the kind that most likely are great word of mouth advertising) - it seems to me that the good will alone would merit keeping the grandfathered rates.

 

[cole2kb]

Re: starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be perma

Right on, Leslie. Is a $10 increase really going to break the bank for those looking to switch? You're going to complain about 300 minutes not "enough" when the T-Mobile plan only gives you 100 minutes? Then, what? Boost? $55 a month. Beyond that? $70 a month and signing a contract with Sprint for 450 minutes, $100 / month for unlimited.

Could it be a sign of more of these changes that take away from what we love about Virgin? Possibly. But, remember, you're not in a contract, and you can leave any time, when it is justified, but not when you're still getting a GREAT deal. Count your blessings.

 

[Sean OGorman]

Re: starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be perma

I agree, y'all are blowing this out of proportion.

Yeah the T-Mobile network is fast, and you could use GrooveIP to go beyond the 100 minutes, but for someone like me who does a lot of traveling, losing 3G/HSPA+ altogether once I leave metro areas is a deal breaker. I ditched T-Mobile shortly after driving from Cleveland to Lincoln, NE, and basically only having 3G (this was pre-HSPA+) in the outskirts of Chicago, Des Moines, and Omaha. Hell, Lincoln (a college town, state capital, with a six figure population) doesn't even have EDGE. The phone was showing GPRS or some s***. The f*** is that?

With the exception of being well off the beaten path going to Nashville, I've had 3G everywhere I've gone. I pay $25, but I'd pay $35 for this service without complaint, and assuming the battery life is acceptable, WiMAX speeds should be fast enough for what most people do.

 

[kcls]

Well this kinda sucks. I was going to buy the new One V when it came out, but if its going to be $35 a month, what's the point of getting sucky speeds from VM when I can go to T-Mobile?

This is how I see it. The GSIII is coming out quite soon, and if it comes to T-Mobile, the GSII will probably get pushed to prepaid, like the GSI did. So, I can get that, have 5GB of 4G, which I doubt I'll go through as I have wifi 90% of the time, unlimited texting and 100 minutes of talk time. If I get throttled, the "2G Speeds" will probably be better then my VM 3G speeds. Since I have wifi everywhere, I can just use Google voice with grooveip when I run out of minutes. Seems to make more sense then sticking with VM and only have the One V, which of it gets 4G, the speeds will probably only be the same as, say, Verizon's 3G speeds.

I kind of think this was a stupid move on VMs part. They are going to lose a lot if customers that are in the same situation as me. I know someone will show me the light as to why I'm wrong, and please do, but that's just my opinion.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

 

[colonelcack]

Re: starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be perma

$35 isnt reasonable for 300 minutes talk time. that is a complete rip off. they should just call it what it is. $35 for internet service. because thats all you really get. im looking at a few straight talk phones. id rather pay $45 a month and get all my calls unlimited along with net service than keep getting took by sprint.

For me at least the phone's most valuable use is it's internet service...that's really what I am using it for. Whether it's listening to pandora in my car or tethering when i'm in the field on the job. And it just doesn't make sense to pay more for a subar connection when you can get a MUCH better connection with tmobile. Coverage is not an issue in my area and their data network is rock solid in terms of not fluctuating during peak hours. They actually have the infrastructure to handle their capacity!!!

That's my biggest gripe with virgin. It's not even the fact that the 3g is slower, it's that it's so damn random in terms of speed. I would be FINE with 512kbps if it was 512kbps 100% of the time.

I literally ran a speed test today that came back with 2kbps downstream. I laughed. It gets so slow during peak hours it becomes unusable. So it effectively wouldn't make sense to pay/invest more for what is sometimes an unusable internet connection.

Well,

A. this is for Tmobile
B. I guess goofy people use 5 gb of 4g data a month, and doesn't it get wasted faster than 3g?

Not really. I don't think I ever hit the cap and I was doing some serious tethering + torrenting + xbox live. I mean yeah you'll go through it faster if you are strictly using it for tethering. But in terms of phone use, you'd be fine. Again, it's not even about having double the data cap. It's about it just being reliably fast. Not just sometimes fast.

Well this kinda sucks. I was going to buy the new One V when it came out, but if its going to be $35 a month, what's the point of getting sucky speeds from VM when I can go to T-Mobile?

This is how I see it. The GSIII is coming out quite soon, and if it comes to T-Mobile, the GSII will probably get pushed to prepaid, like the GSI did. So, I can get that, have 5GB of 4G, which I doubt I'll go through as I have wifi 90% of the time, unlimited texting and 100 minutes of talk time. If I get throttled, the "2G Speeds" will probably be better then my VM 3G speeds. Since I have wifi everywhere, I can just use Google voice with grooveip when I run out of minutes. Seems to make more sense then sticking with VM and only have the One V, which of it gets 4G, the speeds will probably only be the same as, say, Verizon's 3G speeds.

I kind of think this was a stupid move on VMs part. They are going to lose a lot if customers that are in the same situation as me. I know someone will show me the light as to why I'm wrong, and please do, but that's just my opinion.

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

No you're absolutely on the same page as me. Everyone is saying how it's just a couple bucks increase but that's not the real issue. The issue is that for those who were thinking about investing some money into a new high end phone and want to actually be able to USE their new high end phone on a high end network. What's the point of having things like hd video if you can only use it at 1am? I thought maybe the 4G for sprint would make virgin's worth staying for but i really have my doubts.

I'd rather just go with a sure thing like tmobile and get a better network. I bet it's so reliable I could even run grooveip on it almost exclusively even on the cell network and not even use the 100 monthly minutes.

Right now if we're smart we could sell our grandfathered plans on ebay and make $100-200. Although that number will probably shrink some once this becomes bigger news...but that plus selling the v, I wouldn't even have to put any money down on a new phone. It's already paid for if I leave virgin...


So those saying about how it's just not a big deal worth complaining over, do you see why this doesn't make sense to myself and people in similar situations now? lol

 

[LeoLawliet]

For me at least the phone's most valuable use is it's internet service...that's really what I am using it for. Whether it's listening to pandora in my car or tethering when i'm in the field on the job. And it just doesn't make sense to pay more for a subar connection when you can get a MUCH better connection with tmobile. Coverage is not an issue in my area and their data network is rock solid in terms of not fluctuating during peak hours. They actually have the infrastructure to handle their capacity.

That's my biggest gripe with virgin. It's not even the fact that the 3g is slower, it's that it's so damn random in terms of speed. I would be FINE with 512kbps if it was 512kbps 100% of the time.

I literally ran a speed test today that came back with 2kbps downstream. I laughed. It gets so slow during peak hours it becomes unusable. So it effectively wouldn't make sense to pay/invest more for what is sometimes an unusable internet connection.






Not really. I don't think I ever hit the cap and I was doing some serious tethering + torrenting + xbox live. I mean yeah you'll go through it faster if you are strictly using it for tethering. But in terms of phone use, you'd be fine. Again, it's not even about having double the data cap. It's about it just being reliably fast. Not just sometimes fast.






No you're absolutely on the same page as me. Everyone is saying how it's just a couple bucks increase but that's not the real issue. The issue is that for those who were thinking about investing some money into a new high end phone and want to actually be able to USE their new high end phone on a high end network. What's the point of having things like hd video if you can only use it at 1am? I thought maybe the 4G for sprint would make virgin's worth staying for but i really have my doubts.

I'd rather just go with a sure thing like tmobile and get a better network. I bet it's so reliable I could even run grooveip on it almost exclusively and not even use the 100 minutes a month!

Right now if we're smart we could sell our grandfathered plans on ebay and make $100-200. Although that number will probably shrink some once this becomes bigger news...but that plus selling the v, I wouldn't even have to put any money down on a new phone. It's already paid for if I leave virgin...


So those saying about how it's just a little increase, do you see why this doesn't make sense to people in similar situations now? lol

I just so happened to get a 4G T-Mobile phone as a gift from my girl, a Sidekick 4G, and I'm really tempted to switch to that T-Mobile plan now. These VM rates are getting ridiculous.. I highly doubt I'd use 5 gb of data in a month, I don't even come anywhere close to 2.5 gb. I use wifi everywhere I go, I only use regular data when I'm traveling. I rarely talk on the phone, I usually text, that T-Mobile plan is perfect for me.

Sent from my LG-VM670 running IHO MiRaGe using Tapatalk

 

[LeslieAnn]

Re: starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be perma

I literally ran a speed test today that came back with 2kbps downstream. I laughed. It gets so slow during peak hours it becomes unusable. So it effectively wouldn't make sense to pay/invest more for what is sometimes an unusable internet connection.

Almost every time I found it that slow, I found the test server was bogged down.
Try a different server you may get a very different number.

The one time I really saw numbers below about 256 was when they were upgrading the nearby tower.

 

[colonelcack]

Re: starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be perma

Almost every time I found it that slow, I found the test server was bogged down.
Try a different server you may get a very different number.

The one time I really saw numbers below about 256 was when they were upgrading the nearby tower.

I wish I could say the same. Unfortunately for me it seems all too common to see dialup speeds on a regular basis (maybe not always daily but at least a couple times a week) during peak hours. And I know it's not the speed test either because the reason I'm usually running the speed test in the first place is because pandora is unable to even stream.

And like I said before they are indeed working on the towers here supposedly but this has always been the case in my situation even before tower upgrades.

Edit: I think my area is really oversaturated in terms of sprint/virgin customers. I work for the local government here and we use sprint for all municipal vehicles laptop data connection (police/fire/rescue) in the region and I think it's just too much. The cops never stop complaining about it...

I really feel sorry for the sprint customers paying full price for these speeds! Maybe after the tower upgrades things will be a little better, but again...not holding my breath seeing as how this is a much more widespread issue than most people think. I just don't think most VM users notice, they just play their pandora once or twice a week and are happy.

There probably aren't too many anal sys admins using VM to need and notice the 24/7/365 network performance lol

 

[LeslieAnn]

Re: starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be perma

Yeah, you couldn't convince me to pay Sprints prices.

 

[Lanhoj]

I have nothing bad to say about VM, they gave me a free GNex from drawing my name from a hat...I took their mandatory picture, shook their hand, popped in my SIM from another carrier and walked out, hahaha.
That was my first and only experience with VM.
As for the OP though, ya that definitely sux!

 

[kwknott]

Re: starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be perma

I have no complaints with VM. Yeah the 3g is a bit slow at times but it gets the job done. I came to VM after being with Sprint for 6 years and I was paying almost $200 for 4 phones with only talk and text.. no data!! So to me $35 isn't bad for VM service. Right now I pay $75 a month for 3 phones and if it goes up it'll be $105 so I'm still far away from what I had with Sprint.

And Straight Talk is a waste of money. I've had family members use it and it is the worst service (at least in this area).

I can't say anything about T-Mobile because they don't have any service in my area. They have it all around me, just not here

 

[Jk16w]

Re: starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be perma

For now, i love virgin mobile, the only complaint is actually getting signal

See I live in a pretty good signal town in southern IL but going any further south I usually dont get any signal at all which kinda pisses me off but oh well

But its better than AT&T which still doesn't connect to 3G in my area in a almost 40 mile radius and is still running on EDGE which in my experience is slower than dialup and renders the smartphones on AT&T useless

So when the time comes i wound't mind paying the extra money for virgin mobile

 

[anthonycr]

I don't have problems with virgin because I use my phone heavily and I'm never on wifi because I don't have it. I don't have access to internet except through my V (and at school) and I only went over 2.5 gb by a couple hundred mb last month. Imma kid that pays for all his own stuff and I'm perfectly happy with 25, but I suppose that 35 wouldn't kill me.... especially if they tempt me with a One V. Data speeds do suck at times, but believe me, 300 kbps is a lot better than no kbps.

 

[crickie]

My old man & I have been VM users for 8+ years now and no complaints about the rates & service here. He has a $40 plan and uses it for mostly work stuff. ( usually 900+ min. a month!) Of he switched to a newer phone and had to pay an $15 to get unlimited, it would still be a better value than the other guys in the company who are paying larger cell bills on other networks. My only complaint with VM is their product line. It's OLD & ready for the cell phone museum! I plan to keep my OV ( a first edition) just in case, but will "entertain" the thought of a new one when they come out. If any are going to be as dependable!

 

[drezliok]

Re: starting may 27th grandfathered plans will no longer be perma

I don't think $10 more is really bad. In my case it's $20. I have 2 phones, the wife's and my own. I have a Evo 4g available to me maybe I should try it out.

 

[frostyon420]

Man we should really get a petition going I hate not knowing what they r up to until a month prior to them doing it.

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[frostyon420]

Petition to stop virgin mobile from changing the grandfathered program and to leave us alone. We have been loyal customers haven't we? I want to be the first to sign

(X) Randehl, david

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk 2

 

[frostyon420]

Looks like I'd better buy a triumph soon or else ill be boned later

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[dwappo]

Looks like I'd better buy a triumph soon or else ill be boned later

Sent from my LG-VM670 using Tapatalk 2

What does the triumph have to do with this? The new plan only applies to the new phones coming out.

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