So is Virgin Mobile really that bad?

[Bren S.]

One thing worth considering. This phone was an impulse purchase and I just assumed there would be free calls after nine or the weekend; also there is also no mobile-mobile. I have topped up and restarted my month so much that I would have been better off staying with my old carrier. I'm hoping someone figures out a good voip solution but the quality of the existing ones is subpar and ends up annoying whoever you are calling. I'm switching to the 1600 minute plan. So just a heads up that the $25 plan may not be sufficient.

Hmmm I didn't see a 1600 min plan on VM?

I saw 300 , 1200, and unlimited...did I miss something?

 

[Bren S.]

As many have echoed, Vm customer support is less than stellar. But then again Most of the time you are dealing with call center jockeys that get paid for how many calls they handle. So hurrying you off the phone is best solution. If they have to transfer you they dont get credit for a completed call.

I lost everything but regular cellular service this month when my plan restarted. Couple calls and three days later everything was back up. I have to call back on Monday to talk about compensation for down time. But so far its not been as bad as some others have reported.

The best thing to keep in mind is this phone is the first real smartphone Vm has had and my god people expected service like ATT and Verizon with a company that was still a virgin (hehe) to the 3G android scene. They are learning and every bit of feedback gets taken in and sent around. I have noticed when calling customer support now they have a tech line they can transfer you to, even tho every time they did I swear they carried the phone across the room, and most of the time they solve your issue.

I seen another post saying you got the phone enjoy and please read and understand before blindly rooting and flashing roms. This phone is a bit more difficult to recover from a medium brick status. And being as its one of many carrier specific phones it has proprietary software.

I honestly am more than a bit leery of rooting, for several reasons...the biggest being I just don't think I'm tech savvy enough to do it. So I think I'll stick with stock.

 

[vee]

Hmmm I didn't see a 1600 min plan on VM?

I saw 300 , 1200, and unlimited...did I miss something?

There is a 1600 plan but it's not on the android's plan. /shrug

 

[GeekOutDog]

It's simple to root this phone... first phone I've rooted other than my iPhone and the learning curve was minor - the biggest difficulty is all the choices available!

 

[overthinkingme]

There is a 1600 plan but it's not on the android's plan. /shrug

Beyond Talk Plans don't have a 1600 minute option.

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[vee]

Beyond Talk Plans don't have a 1600 minute option.

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk

Which is why i said not on the "android plan". Also, the other plan is 1500. But not for the V.

 

[lance1955]

I dump Verapezon for Virgin. LOL I too opted for the 60 plan. Well I banged up over 3K mins my first month. I guess I forgot I had no limit. HA
Ive been very please overall with the service. Now customer service.... Welcome to India, please remove the battery..... yes, still checking. Hummm, ok..... Yes... SIR, yes..... oh we will fix it, sorry to hear that.....Ummmmm, checking, yes.... hummm. I could go on and on. You guys that have called in know what im talking about.
Sometimes it rather comical. hey at least they friendly.

 

[Eollie]

I honestly am more than a bit leery of rooting, for several reasons...the biggest being I just don't think I'm tech savvy enough to do it. So I think I'll stick with stock.

I applaud you in being honest.

Really it is simple to root any android phone. Just read the guides posted a couple times and even after you get started make sure you have it up on your screen and any other articles you read that have advise listed. I highly suggest using the guides that arent simply plug your phone in and push a button walk away for 5 minutes and come back and its done. Those are nice for once you are comfortable in using adb and cmd line inputs, because of the time saving it does. But using adb and cmd line inputs will help you understand better and prepare you IF you have a issue later on.

My suggestion is play with the phone for a couple days and read up on how to root and let your head wrap around the process. Then try it as you can see there is many good people here that will jump in and offer up some good advise.

 

[smankins]

I switched from AT&T and so far I am satisfied. Where I live the signal is sometimes weak but it is better than AT&T was. I am able to get 3G with no problems and use WiFi most of the time when at home so that is not an issue. So far loving the $25 plan.

 

[ScottColbert]

Having been a VM customer for almost a decade, the answer is yes and no. For almost all of that time I've had no problems with them whatsoever. There were periods after I got my Optimus where I had no data connection for over a week a time, it would go into 1X at the blink of an eye, and customer service didn't seem to know what to do. I finally got fed up and lodged a complaint with the BBB and the FCC.

That was a Thursday.

By Monday my problems were gone and I haven't had a problem since. I even get a call once a week for the past 6 weeks making sure my service is okay.

Their broadband service is another story however, lol.

 

[brokenwave]

I"m happy, with comparisons to Verizon

I live in NE Phoenix, AZ and have been using my LG Optimus V for 2 weeks now. I went to Disneyland last week and all during the trip I was comparing my Verizon service to VM.
Some places it was much better and some not as good. In the middle of the desert I was getting 3G data. Verizon is a bit better but not by much.
As far a 3G speeds it is from .30mps download with .28 Upload to 1.5mps DL and .7mpUL.
For $25-40 a month with data, I'm thrilled.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Depends on you area, zero complains down in central florida/tampa.

 

[GeekOutDog]

Anyone get complaints about voice quality on phone calls? I am getting fantastic reception, but people complain that they can't hear me on my VM Optimus as well as the could on my ATT iPhone.

 

[Eollie]

Anyone get complaints about voice quality on phone calls? I am getting fantastic reception, but people complain that they can't hear me on my VM Optimus as well as the could on my ATT iPhone.

When using the cellular minutes I never have complaints. Only when trying to use voip over a crappy 3g connection.

 

[Retorrent]

Depends where you live. Make sure to check if there's coverage where you are and are not on very edge of the coverage zone. Most who complain about them didn't bother to check if they even had service, They just saw a cheap prices and a decent phone.

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk

 

[yoramsk]

One thing I noticed is that the minutes disappear quick and that is because VM rounds up to the nearest minute. So if your call duration is 1 second, then you are charged for a minute. Sometimes, my call duration and the minutes used up are more than a minute apart (5 minute call but charged for 7). Despite all this I guess it is still a good value.

 

[Eollie]

One thing I noticed is that the minutes disappear quick and that is because VM rounds up to the nearest minute. So if your call duration is 1 second, then you are charged for a minute. Sometimes, my call duration and the minutes used up are more than a minute apart (5 minute call but charged for 7). Despite all this I guess it is still a good value.

That is a disputable claim you can make with the FCC. Keep records and once you have a months worth of discrepancies contact the FCC about it.

 

[crimsontime]

I live in Oakland CA and the 3G where I live is pretty bad. It does not matter too much because I mostly use wifi when at home. I've had great 3g in other locations in the Bay Area and other places in the US where I've traveled with the phone. You can't beat this phone for the price. I hardly use minutes, even 300 is about 200 more than need. I pretty much only send text message. Calling people just seems so intrusive!

 

[phreak311]

My girlfriend has the Optimus V, and I have the Optimus S. Her phone gets great signal, her wifi hotspot works great too. Especially when we're in town. I guess the only good thing about my Optimus S is that I can roam, and I get great 3g signal when she doesn't, like when we're out in the country or something like that. We live in West Virginia. She only gets good 3G in town, the further we go away from town, she's stuck in 1x, but there's almost always a sprint tower around. I think Virgin Mobile's service is great. Pretty ballsy putting an android phone on a pre-paid network if you ask me...

 

[Robert Lemlin]

Called VM Tech support 8 days ago. We lost service on 3 VM phones at the same time. No service anywhere in our area. They kept saying it was a phone problem and kept trying to reactivate service without any service available locally. Had to go 10 miles out of town for service which showed phones were operating ok, but not locally.. Fools kept saying service was ok in our area. Even sent me a replacement phone.They finally figured out a tower service was down in our area?. after 8 days.

Tech support is supremely incompetent.