Virgin Mobile roaming failure
After a great deal of research I changed to Virgin Mobile as it seemed to give the best deal for calls and texts while away for over two months. All fine and dandy while I was in the UK. Just before I left the UK I contacted Virgin Mobile customer service, as suggested by them, to switch on roaming. I then took the ferry to Santander. No service. That was a week ago. Still no service and Virgin mobile are impossible to contact. Their online chat is constantly not available and with no phone I can't ring them. There is no email address to contact. I tried their "community". All I found there is other people with problems - not solutions. I'm tearing my hair out as I changed to Virgin principally for the roaming. AVOID VIRGIN MOBILE.
Comments
-
I think you can switch roaming on for your phone yourself. Go on line to Virgin, and in the FAQs it tells you how to do it. I hope so !
1 -
I had the same problem last summer, contacted Virgin before leaving the UK, was told I needed to pay £5 a month more per month which I agreed to, but in France got nothing on my tablet so called Virgin on my mobile phone, which was working fine with Virgin. Was told to go through numerous different actions but still no success and eventually thier rep said it must be because of the signal??? Obviously not as I was using a mobile to call them! Gave up until we got home when it worked perfectly again. Virgin never did charge the extra £5 pm so no idea what was wrong. Need to make a decision about what to use this year though.
0 -
I have no contract with Virgin and no monthly charge. I just pay them 1p. if I send a text when in Europe, and recklessly pay them 4p when I phone a campsite to ask if they have a space for me. All incoming calls and texts are free. Then at the end of the month they solemnly collect the few pennies I owe them by direct debit from the bank. A seamless service.
0 -
Thank you for the replies. I have gone onto the website and changed all the parameters but it still does not work, I checked all I had to do with Virgin customer service well before I came away. I am in Spain and France until June and need to get this sorted. It is the fact that you cannot contact their customer service other than by phone that is really getting to me. Virgin customer service is the pits. Also I tried to contact Ofcom and you can only do that by phone or snail mail. How backward is that?
0 -
Oh dear, I am sorry. Can you go into a local phone shop and buy a cheap PAYG SIM card for your local calls, and use free wi fi for other things? Good luck with it.
0 -
That would be ok for outgoing calls, but its the people ringing me and sending me texts from home that is the problem. I'm on free wifi now. It would be a big hassle to let them all know of a change of phone no and then a change back. Virgin customer service needs to get its act together. I will never recommend them to anyone. O2 were to expensive and I did not go to 3 as there was the possibility of being cut off after 2 months. Virgin have cut my line as soon as I left the UK.
0 -
Biggarmac
I have been with Virgin for years and have had no problems with roaming which I have had set up on my phone for years. Have you called them on 789 from your phone. I must admit I have had mixed success with getting things sorted by phone because its a call centre I know not where! This link explains how to set up roaming on your phone by logging in to your online account, or to check if its on or off. It also explains how to buy Travel Passes for data use. Hope that helps.
David
0 -
Thank you both for the latest replies. I checked the settings online and they had not been done correctly by the person I spoke to before I left the UK. This I have now changed. Still does not work.
I cannot ring 789 as my phone is not working.
This morning I borrowed another person's phone and was on to Virgin's customer service team. Apparently you cannot switch on roaming after you leave the UK. He said they have switched on roaming, but it can take 24 hours to become effective.
0 -
Ironically, after all the previous deliberations about '3' cutting you off after 2 months in a 'feel-at-home' country, our '3' phones are still working perfectly after 3 months in Spain. (I now have several spare unused sims with credit on them grrrrr!). Our backup Virgin phone also works with no problem.
Interestingly, both are on old PAYG tarrifs which are super expensive (25p/min) to use in UK, but abroad are charged at the standard 3.9p/min. (confirmed by checking credit balance)
Another 'nuisance' is that we activated several data '3' data sims before leaving UK ..... but in fact have had good site wifi everywhere.. Ce La Vie!
0
