Goodbye Virgin Mobile - at last

[pkid]

Well I have just paid off the last amount that I owed them. My drop down to prepaid is complete. Now all I have to do is go into an MTN shop with all my details and I am sorted. I feel giddy with excitement. Going to pick an MTN pricelist now. I should never have left MTN!

Virgin Mobile, I truly was unhappy with your network and service. I enjoy being able to use the Internet after 8 and call quality was terrible. You claim that your call prices are a lot cheaper but the MyCall 100 from MTN saves me money every month. And I get a phone for cheaper than you offer your phones...

You will never be able to effectively compete with the big boys and I now know that it is not the high interconnect fees or other insidious tactics by MTN and Vodacom that are too blame. It is your own pathetic network and service.

Goodbye forever :-D

 

[jxharding]

2 sides of a coin, if it weren't for VMobile, i wouldnt be able to browse on the internet at home, (@50c a meg).
i had a lot of trouble with them previously, because of the bad network ,but things are starting to look up. I'll support them , but i know why you wont and i respect it.

 

[pkid]

Well I am getting a Nokia E60 and a Huawei E620 data card for R145 a month with MTN. 15 free text messages, 15 free peak minutes and 85 off peak. It is value for money...

 

[rich-s]

I was going to make a new post, but mine was much the same. I threw in the towel with Virgin today. Simply because of data (I have a Vodacom Contract). I would no longer stand the disconnecting, battling to connect and call centre employees who inspire absolutely no confidence in showing care for your problem.

Today I activated a Voda prepaid SIM, loaded R275, and purchased a Vodacom pre-paid data bundle. I feel free.

I'd rather pay more for internet and get it, rather than pay, and feel like Virgin is doing me a favour in providing it to me.

R

 

[CALL_ME]

Vmobile picks up very well,never had any problems

 

[pkid]

Getting my stuff tomorrow when the stock has arrived. I had R100 or so to get rid of on my Virgin SIM before the port happens. A buddy and I hooked up to the Internet using his N95 to use up the money. 5kb/s with frequent disconnects and downloads failing halfway. Put in the Vodacom SIM and we got a couple of hundred kb/s and reliable downloads...

 

[300mb hosting]

I had trouble with vmobile 2 but now im enjoying vmobile im in pe no problems for me

 

[SUPERMAN89]

I had trouble with vmobile 2 but now im enjoying vmobile im in pe no problems for me

all networks have their gud and bad times

 

[Connor]

I was going to make a new post, but mine was much the same. I threw in the towel with Virgin today. Simply because of data (I have a Vodacom Contract). I would no longer stand the disconnecting, battling to connect and call centre employees who inspire absolutely no confidence in showing care for your problem.

Today I activated a Voda prepaid SIM, loaded R275, and purchased a Vodacom pre-paid data bundle. I feel free.

I'd rather pay more for internet and get it, rather than pay, and feel like Virgin is doing me a favour in providing it to me.

R

Actualy vodacom is cheaper than virgin just depends what bundle you purchase. I use a my gig two and it works out to 0,19 cents per meg.

 

[Carsto]

Funny you should say that.

With plain old GPRS on my Razr V3 I get download speeds of 12KB/s which is not very much slower the ADSL's 27KB/s. Not If you look at the real time taken to download the same file. Blazing speed figures don't always pan out.

VMobile piggybacks on Vodacom's network in any case. As does Cell C. So what are you saying?

Vodacom is also held 49/51 percent by Telkom. So again, what are you saying? Will you swear at it and use it anyway? I had to restart my one man business three times after Telkom's bad service. They charged me for calls made to three (3) digit numbers - and it wasn't even misdials! And there were lots. I saw the print-outs brought by supervisors who sat in my house for up to three days to solve the problem. Still got charged. They fail, dump the cost and effectively blame you! Like Eskom does now! Nice country. I'm damned if I'll be proud of it!

With MTN it is a case of waiting up to 45 minutes before they even answer their telephone. That is when you have a problem. And not just once, or just ten times! I even visited their 14th Avenue, Quellerina, HQ to get things solved - after that just left.

I'm saying:-
1. Understand the environment in which you work.
2. If you criticise, be consequent in your own actions.
3. Get a good downloader like Orbit or DAP - will pick up where it left off.
4. I accept that Virgin uses the Vodacom net.
5. I accept that I partly fund Telkom -until now I couldn't change that.
6. I use MTN'S POP3 since Leaf Wireless runs it anyway.
7. TANSTAAFL. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

That's what all you boys are getting caught on. There is no 19 cent saving on your MBs! Love your bean counter! He will tell you to add all the costs on your account and then divide it by the MBs dropped. Yeah, jaw-dropping is it not?

As for a cheap cell, how's this?
Virgin - R 99/month x 24 = R2376 for a handset. I don't see any interest.
Calls R2.35/min (first 5m/d) then R1.55/m and they do per second from the first one of the day. 50c/MB for data. MTN & Vodacom? R2/MB.
It does look like Sir Richard charges us what people overseas are paying (stated policy).

Other - say R364/month x 24 = R8736. (Includes the contract).
Specified account/month. Last I remember it was R17/m/pg, ++ for page 2, 3, etc. Plus! call charges. In two years you will hand over between R15 & R20 000 + ! None so blind! Talk about gullible!

A free cell with a charge account is just another word for a Hire Purchase contract.

Sorry sir, I just fail to see your reasoning.

Longest I've waited to get good courteous service was two minutes - and they tell me I have a sexy voice.

Cash on the barrel head works for me.
Now if they could just give me a POP3 server I could get my conscience back. Maybe I must look into getting a datacard.

 

[Skeptik]

With plain old GPRS on my Razr V3 I get download speeds of 12KB/s which is not very much slower the ADSL's 27KB/s. Not If you look at the real time taken to download the same file. Blazing speed figures don't always pan out.

VMobile piggybacks on Vodacom's network in any case. As does Cell C. So what are you saying?

Vodacom is also held 49/51 percent by Telkom. So again, what are you saying? Will you swear at it and use it anyway? I had to restart my one man business three times after Telkom's bad service. They charged me for calls made to three (3) digit numbers - and it wasn't even misdials! And there were lots. I saw the print-outs brought by supervisors who sat in my house for up to three days to solve the problem. Still got charged. They fail, dump the cost and effectively blame you! Like Eskom does now! Nice country. I'm damned if I'll be proud of it!

With MTN it is a case of waiting up to 45 minutes before they even answer their telephone. That is when you have a problem. And not just once, or just ten times! I even visited their 14th Avenue, Quellerina, HQ to get things solved - after that just left.

I'm saying:-
1. Understand the environment in which you work.
2. If you criticise, be consequent in your own actions.
3. Get a good downloader like Orbit or DAP - will pick up where it left off.
4. I accept that Virgin uses the Vodacom net.
5. I accept that I partly fund Telkom -until now I couldn't change that.
6. I use MTN'S POP3 since Leaf Wireless runs it anyway.
7. TANSTAAFL. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

That's what all you boys are getting caught on. There is no 19 cent saving on your MBs! Love your bean counter! He will tell you to add all the costs on your account and then divide it by the MBs dropped. Yeah, jaw-dropping is it not?

As for a cheap cell, how's this?
Virgin - R 99/month x 24 = R2376 for a handset. I don't see any interest.
Calls R2.35/min (first 5m/d) then R1.55/m and they do per second from the first one of the day. 50c/MB for data. MTN & Vodacom? R2/MB.
It does look like Sir Richard charges us what people overseas are paying (stated policy).

Other - say R364/month x 24 = R8736. (Includes the contract).
Specified account/month. Last I remember it was R17/m/pg, ++ for page 2, 3, etc. Plus! call charges. In two years you will hand over between R15 & R20 000 + ! None so blind! Talk about gullible!

A free cell with a charge account is just another word for a Hire Purchase contract.

Sorry sir, I just fail to see your reasoning.

Longest I've waited to get good courteous service was two minutes - and they tell me I have a sexy voice.

Cash on the barrel head works for me.
Now if they could just give me a POP3 server I could get my conscience back. Maybe I must look into getting a datacard.

SO BIASED a response in support of Virgin I cannot believe it. (One post wonder)

A few responses of my own:
"Vodacom's network in any case"
Is this still so. In any case, Voda GPRS is very slow and troublesome in my experience.

"I get download speeds of 12KB/s"
Sure you do. I've never had speeds even approaching 12. It peaks at around 3kb/s and often doesn't move at all for long periods. Sometimes 0.3 is more appropriate. I doubt whether you can prove 12.

"With MTN it is a case of waiting up to 45 minutes before they even answer their telephone"

I've been trying MTN for years and never had to wait that long ever. I think you're confusing it with Vodacom.

"Longest I've waited to get good courteous service was two minutes - and they tell me I have a sexy voice."
I don't call a thicko operator who I have to ask over and over to repeat what they last said "courteous". It takes a minute for them to spell their name. They NEVER know anything beyond 'turn your phone on and off'. The data people are not allowed to speak directly to customers and they never call back EVER> .... etc ...etc ... etc ...etc

[You've been rumbled Mr. Virgin Rep]

 

[pkid]

With plain old GPRS on my Razr V3 I get download speeds of 12KB/s which is not very much slower the ADSL's 27KB/s. Not If you look at the real time taken to download the same file. Blazing speed figures don't always pan out.

Where do you get 27KB/s from? I get 40 Kilobytes per second on my line. So your speed is just over 25% of mine. I would rather have mine...

VMobile piggybacks on Vodacom's network in any case. As does Cell C. So what are you saying?

For the time being. It hardly roamed on the Vodacom network for me and so I was using Cell C's network for 99% of the time. It is a super network...not.

With MTN it is a case of waiting up to 45 minutes before they even answer their telephone. That is when you have a problem. And not just once, or just ten times! I even visited their 14th Avenue, Quellerina, HQ to get things solved - after that just left.

The longest I have had to wait is 10 minutes during the day. To be fair to Virgin they do answer the phone immediately. But after phoning them 10 times to try to get them to give a ^%$& that they had not debited my credit card with the amount that they should have for three months I just didn't care. If I have to wait 45 minutes but they solve my problem first time I will.

3. Get a good downloader like Orbit or DAP - will pick up where it left off.

Why do I need a downloader? In almost a year there has only been one download that failed and that was from a slow site that was obviously under heavy load. I just use Internet Explorer or Firefox to download everything because I have never had a problem.

That's what all you boys are getting caught on. There is no 19 cent saving on your MBs! Love your bean counter! He will tell you to add all the costs on your account and then divide it by the MBs dropped. Yeah, jaw-dropping is it not?

So I don't have the 19c bundle. I have a Vodacom prepaid SIM in my USB modem. I get the R 189.00 500 meg bundle. I pay R0.38 a meg. No other charges. Hmm. Yes. There are so many other hidden charges when I load R200 on my prepaid account, get the bundle and have R11.00 left over. They have really fooled me. With Virgin you pay R0.50 a meg on prepaid. And you get 12 kb/s with Virgin!!!

As for a cheap cell, how's this?
Virgin - R 99/month x 24 = R2376 for a handset. I don't see any interest.
Calls R2.35/min (first 5m/d) then R1.55/m and they do per second from the first one of the day. 50c/MB for data. MTN & Vodacom? R2/MB.
It does look like Sir Richard charges us what people overseas are paying (stated policy).

Other - say R364/month x 24 = R8736. (Includes the contract).
Specified account/month. Last I remember it was R17/m/pg, ++ for page 2, 3, etc. Plus! call charges. In two years you will hand over between R15 & R20 000 + ! None so blind! Talk about gullible!

I don't need the hectic anytime contracts so I have an MTN mycall 100 contract. So I pay R145 a month including everything. I get a Nokia E60 and a Huawei E620 data card. If I do a search on Jump.co.za I see that the phone goes for about R3500 and the data card for R1000 for a second hand one. So I am paying R145 * 12 = R1740 over my 24 months for this.
If I take the 15 peak min I get free with MTN at R2.35 it is already R35. Then take the 15 SMS messages and you are looking at paying almost R10 with Virgin. And then let's say that we work out the 85 off peak minutes at the Virgin drop down rate and you get R131. How am I getting ripped off? I know that it is a bit more complicated than this because Virgin have per second from the first second blah blah blah.

For my own usage I found that I was dropping R200 a month on Virgin and using some SMS messages and hardly phoning anyone and boom my R200 was gone. Now I pay R145 and another R50 for a 200 sms bundle a month and I have a data card, phone and I use my phone more than I did with Virgin. For the same R200 a month.

Longest I've waited to get good courteous service was two minutes - and they tell me I have a sexy voice.

I rest my case...

Everyone needs to look at their own usage and work out what is best for them. I honestly believe that unless Virgin seriously improve their service and Cell C does something about their network they will either die a horrible death or be bought out by somebody else who will take them to profitability. My time with Virgin Mobile taught me to appreciate the other big two cell phone networks and so I don't think that it has been a total waste

 

[Connor]

With plain old GPRS on my Razr V3 I get download speeds of 12KB/s which is not very much slower the ADSL's 27KB/s. Not If you look at the real time taken to download the same file. Blazing speed figures don't always pan out.

VMobile piggybacks on Vodacom's network in any case. As does Cell C. So what are you saying?

Vodacom is also held 49/51 percent by Telkom. So again, what are you saying? Will you swear at it and use it anyway? I had to restart my one man business three times after Telkom's bad service. They charged me for calls made to three (3) digit numbers - and it wasn't even misdials! And there were lots. I saw the print-outs brought by supervisors who sat in my house for up to three days to solve the problem. Still got charged. They fail, dump the cost and effectively blame you! Like Eskom does now! Nice country. I'm damned if I'll be proud of it!

With MTN it is a case of waiting up to 45 minutes before they even answer their telephone. That is when you have a problem. And not just once, or just ten times! I even visited their 14th Avenue, Quellerina, HQ to get things solved - after that just left.

I'm saying:-
1. Understand the environment in which you work.
2. If you criticise, be consequent in your own actions.
3. Get a good downloader like Orbit or DAP - will pick up where it left off.
4. I accept that Virgin uses the Vodacom net.
5. I accept that I partly fund Telkom -until now I couldn't change that.
6. I use MTN'S POP3 since Leaf Wireless runs it anyway.
7. TANSTAAFL. There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

That's what all you boys are getting caught on. There is no 19 cent saving on your MBs! Love your bean counter! He will tell you to add all the costs on your account and then divide it by the MBs dropped. Yeah, jaw-dropping is it not?

As for a cheap cell, how's this?
Virgin - R 99/month x 24 = R2376 for a handset. I don't see any interest.
Calls R2.35/min (first 5m/d) then R1.55/m and they do per second from the first one of the day. 50c/MB for data. MTN & Vodacom? R2/MB.
It does look like Sir Richard charges us what people overseas are paying (stated policy).

Other - say R364/month x 24 = R8736. (Includes the contract).
Specified account/month. Last I remember it was R17/m/pg, ++ for page 2, 3, etc. Plus! call charges. In two years you will hand over between R15 & R20 000 + ! None so blind! Talk about gullible!

A free cell with a charge account is just another word for a Hire Purchase contract.

Sorry sir, I just fail to see your reasoning.

Longest I've waited to get good courteous service was two minutes - and they tell me I have a sexy voice.

Cash on the barrel head works for me.
Now if they could just give me a POP3 server I could get my conscience back. Maybe I must look into getting a datacard.

Good gawd!! pmpl Who the hell was talking about contracts? Please READ a post before you comment and make your name TOTTIE. lol

PREPAID DATA BUNDLES...again i repeat...PREPAID DATA BUNDLES!!!

You buy a 1gig or bundle bigger and it works out to 0,19cents per mb. What is soooooooo difficult to grasp about that? NOOOO HIDDEN COSTS....i repeat...NOOOO HIDDEN COSTS!! Its just a simple as...DO THE MATHS!!!!! roflmao

 

[HavocXphere]

You buy a 1gig or bundle bigger and it works out to 0,19cents per mb. What is soooooooo difficult to grasp about that? NOOOO HIDDEN COSTS....i repeat...NOOOO HIDDEN COSTS!! Its just a simple as...DO THE MATHS!!!!! roflmao

Geez dude. Calm down and wake up. For those that just need 20mb (that carries over) per month to check mail, VM is a better choice @ 50c compared to R2. VM data is not and never was designed to compete at the gigabyte level. It is called a niche market.

 

[Connor]

Geez dude. Calm down and wake up. For those that just need 20mb (that carries over) per month to check mail, VM is a better choice @ 50c compared to R2. VM data is not and never was designed to compete at the gigabyte level. It is called a niche market.

lmao..more like vm data was not designed to compete with anything
that contains the word "SERVICE".

 

[Cost Conscious]

So to summarise:

If you only need to use mobile Internet in a limited way (small data volumes) Virgin offers a competitive 0.50c per Mb.

If you want to replace your Iburst 2Gb monthly account or throw Telkom and ADSL out of the house, you should consider Vodacom (Prepaid or Contract) and get HSDPA access in most large urban areas of the country, for 0.19c per Mb.

You can also use MTN for the same price as Vodacom however their rural coverage on HSDPA is not quite as good as Vodacoms (IMHO and based on their coverage maps)

So basically, you buy whichever solution is suitable for your circumstances.

For those interested in Prepaid call charges, I will be making a separate post with a chart showing the prices of all operators (if I can upload the attachment! Forum Newby here)

 

[pkid]

For those interested in Prepaid call charges, I will be making a separate post with a chart showing the prices of all operators (if I can upload the attachment! Forum Newby here)

Do you work for Virgin Mobile or Cell C? This seems to be more effort than most people are willing to put in to prove that the network that they use is the best...

 

[Cost Conscious]

Do you work for Virgin Mobile or Cell C? This seems to be more effort than most people are willing to put in to prove that the network that they use is the best...

No, I'm unemployed, and I need Internet access at the best possible rates. Basically I'm what you might call a "rate tart". I always move to the best deal whoever it is.

Are you perhaps referring to my offer to post an XLS showing the prices of the operators? (this refers anyway to their call costs, not their data costs)

I used to be an Iburst subscriber, but dumped that after 1 year due to poor line speeds and the new 3G prices introduced by Vodacom/MTN.

I was super happy when I could access HSDPA from Vryheid and Jo'burg at faster speeds and lower prices than Iburst.

 

[pkid]

@Cost Conscious - I was referring to the spreadsheet. Just think that if somebody does work for one of the telecoms companies the responsible thing to do would be to tell people. You can have whatever opinion you want in my book but if you work at the company you should tell people

The Internet is way too expensive in South Africa and so I want Virgin to succeed and that's why I chirp them so much.

 

[Cost Conscious]

@Cost Conscious - I was referring to the spreadsheet. Just think that if somebody does work for one of the telecoms companies the responsible thing to do would be to tell people. You can have whatever opinion you want in my book but if you work at the company you should tell people

The Internet is way too expensive in South Africa and so I want Virgin to succeed and that's why I chirp them so much.

Ah, sorry for being dense. No, I'm afraid I don't work for anyone but that's another story.

You are quite right that third party entrants into a market should be supported. (Cell C, Virgin) however, they must be competitive obviously.

I use Virgin as my operator in the UK but not here. The problem with cell phone tariffs in general is that they are deliberately designed to 'screw' you either on the peak or off-peak. The only way to beat them really is to have two SIM's (in my case Vodacom SmartStep for Data and peak voice) and Cell C for off-peak calls).

I do realise that most people can't be bothered with this - but then they must accept that they have to pay for that decision.

With respect to Virgin, their pricing philosophy is somewhat different, but echoed in the all day call rates of the competition. For data charges however, well as I said in my summary, at 0.50c per Mb Virgin offers a good deal for low volume usage.