Virgin Mobile phone

[Westham1]

Yesterday my partner received a text from Virgin to say she was approaching her credit limit for the month.
I phoned them up and was told that she had exceeded her allowance and her current bill was £95.
When I asked what the limit was the rep told me £125.
I was astounded to hear this, and as I set up the account for my partner I told him that this figure was never mentioned at set-up time. I would never have agreed to this.
There isstill 1 week to go for this month and he said he would give her additional "goodwill" minutes so that the £95 wouldn't go higher.
He also asked if we would like to change the package to unlimited minutes which would cost £12 per month instead of £8. I agreed to this and asked why that hadn't been offered at the outset.
I asked if the £95 bill would be enforced, to which he replied that we could discuss it when the final bill is worked out.
I think I will cancel the dd on the joint account, otherwise the £95 will have already left our account by the time we "discuss" it.
Any advice will be welcome.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Virgin Mobile phone

Is this a virgin mobile? £95pm is ridiculous.

£125 monthly limit is good. It's good that they do this - in essence it protects you from getting in deep debt. However, is it usual to be that high? A top contract with latest ha set would only be £45 per month and come with unlimited texts & minutes.

Can you spell out the problem as its confusing. Are you saying the old contract has ended and you've taken a new line out or have they just changed the tariff mid month?

[Westham1]

Re: Virgin Mobile phone

We started this account nearly a year ago. It is £8 per month for 1000 mins and 500 mb of data.
I now have access to the account online and have noticed that there were a couple of bills for £11 and £12. These extra charges weren't for going over the limit, they were for for picture messages, a couple of international call and a "personal" call (must have been an 08 number outside of the free calls).
It does show that the credit limit is set at £125 on the bill, but as these are online bills and we have only just registered for online access, we didn't know about it.
There are no paper bills and as there haven't been any which have been so high as to cause panic, I hadn't bothered with online access.
£125 credit limit for a mobile might sound good to you but it doesn't to me.
She hasn't gone anywhere near her allowance limit in previous months but this month has been different for several reasons.
I just wish that I had been aware of the credit limit, as I would have had it changed long ago.
During my conversation with the rep, he added 300 minutes "goodwill" so that the £95 current bill wouldn't increase during the next week.
He then said that we could change the package to unlimited minutes from next month so that this wouldn't happen again, to which I agreed.
I then asked about the £95 and he said we could discuss it after the bill was finalised next week.
I thought that if I cancel the dd I might be discussing this from a better position if the money is in our account rather than theirs.

Nothing has been signed under this agreement. I negotiated it at the outset over the phone.

As a separate note, it is strange how I can set this account on my partner's behalf, but when I ring up to discuss the account they need my partner's permission to discuss it with me.
It seems that the data protection law only applies when it suits them.

[Westham1]

Re: Virgin Mobile phone

Is this a virgin mobile? £95pm is ridiculous.

£125 monthly limit is good. It's good that they do this - in essence it protects you from getting in deep debt. However, is it usual to be that high? A top contract with latest ha set would only be £45 per month and come with unlimited texts & minutes.

Can you spell out the problem as its confusing. Are you saying the old contract has ended and you've taken a new line out or have they just changed the tariff mid month?

..

Just to make clear - the £95 bill is for calls made after the 1000 mins free calls were used up (not the £95per month that Niddy thought it was)
I would rather the credit limit was set at a low figure (£10) so that the biggest bill for the month wouldn't have gone above £18.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Virgin Mobile phone

Ok Vodafone set it at £350 and EE is £275 so yes, £125 is very good in my view.

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Virgin Mobile phone

Cancelling the DD isn't wise. To be honest you'd be best arguing that you were unaware and that they should have text you to say your balance is high.

You may be lumped paying it but at least it's a one off now you've upgraded the tariff.

[Westham1]

Re: Virgin Mobile phone

Hi Niddy,
Thanks for your advice.
I didn't cancel the dd, but I rang up to argue the case.
I wasn't very hopeful, not expecting more than a small amount to be knocked off the bill, but when I rang up today to ask why they hadn't got back to me I was delighted top be told that a credit for the whole amount of £95 had been deducted.
So there you are, Virgin media is the mobile phone company to go with, they get my vote.

[cymruambyth]

Re: Virgin Mobile phone

Well done, in some situations it does pay to talk to the company!

[Never-In-Doubt]

Re: Virgin Mobile phone

Well done - good result and worthy phone call