Another great product from Virgin (Virgin Mobile in general)

Member Name: dan 2000

Product:	Virgin Mobile in general
Date:	13/04/03 (1781 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun service, 98% or 99% coverage, Great services and VirginXtras

Disadvantages: None

Now, Virgin Mobile haven't been going for long- I think it was 1999. They are not there own though. They are a joint venture between Virgin Enterprises and T...Mobile(formerly one2one). They have there own tarrifs, own wap/info service, own pay as you go voucher, own logo, own check how much credit you have service(if on pay as you go) the only thing different is that the coverage and reception is through T...Mobile(I think).

I got my mobile for Christmas 2002 and I have written a review about it- The Nokia 3410. I did put a bit of information about Virgin Mobile but I will dedicate this review to V Mobile. I really like the virgin group- V Atlantic, V Trains, V Holidays and even a not so famous Virgin Cola!

When you get your phone it will come in a red box with someone at the side looking as if they won the lottery. On one side of it there will be a Manufacturers list of featuares.(eg. I had Nokia because my phone was a Nokia). Virgin list the phones features on the other side. There will be a silver tape securing the box and it says, "security seal, don't touch". Now you are allowed to open it when you have bought the phone(obviously!). Inside will be your manufacturers guide with how to use your phone. Then there will be a pack with a sim card in attached to a card with your phone number. It tells you what to do at the top- "push me out put me in", clearly meaning push the sim card out and put it into the phone. When you open the next bit of the pack it says, "turn me on", which means simply turn your phone on. You will then come to a guide called, "JOIN". It provides information about tarrifs of V Mobile and how to use there services.

Another product you will find is a flimsy plasticy case. On one side is a quickstart quide to your phone, again with somebody looking as if something really really great happens. There will also be an insurance guide and a helpline booklet in the case. The
case is smart.

The tariff is the same for Pay as You Go and Pay Monthly. They do not have off peak, peak or Weekend charges like some other crafty networks do. Wap and standard calls cost 15p per minute for the first 5 mins each day, 5p per min thereafter. This is quite good. Calls to other networks is 35p. Text messages is 10p which is what most networks cost. They also have VirginXtras costs which are like 10p to 30p. To use VXtras you do not need WAP.
A great useful feature is that to use VoiceMail, you do not get charged for this. If you have Pay and Go though, it is weird because you still need airtime left even though it is FREE. The tarrifs are good because of no Peak, Off peak and Weekend charges like most do- 50p some networks do on Peak charges. Thye always give you £5 airtime on pay as you go to get started.

VirginXtras is super!!!! There is no more- I need a WAP phone to listen to information. They have a number of 4321 which is voice activated. You do not speak to a live person but you speak to a recorded person who goes through options. For example if you say Entertainment it goes through a list of enteratinment options. Watch out though! Because you speak to a recorded person you need to say the topic carefully as it is Voice Recognition. They have sport, news, entertainment, horoscopes and lots more! If you have a WAP phone then you can use that for VirginXtras. Alternatively you can ring a number for each topic by selecting VirginXtras on your phone munu and scroll down the topics and select the one for you. The number will dial. I honestly do not know if you speak to a live person or what as I never tried it. I have tried WAP and Voice Recognition. They are both great! On the internet, you can register your phone. Alternitively you can ring them up on 789 or on there Customer Service numer. They have a mail order for registering in the JOIN pack. You can have a password on on the internet you type in your mob. number and you
r password and there is a lot of services. If you go onto VirginXtras when your logged in you can set up for free TXT alerts for your favourite thing- lotto numbers, music news, latest news, whats on at your cinema, whats on telly, horoscopes, sports(selection), new albums, albums and singles chart and lots more. So, even if you haven't got a WAP phone you can still see Sports news, scores, music news, whats going on and loads more- it's so inovative!

To check your balance if you've got Pay as You Go then dial 789 and they give you how much airtime balance. Whatever payment method you are on you dial this number and after your balance(if you've got Pay as you Go)it will take you to a menu where you can do a lot of things.

As for reception- it is good. They cover about 98% or even 99% of the country. On my phone and I imagine on everyones it shows the level of reception. It looks like the battery power meter. Occasionaly you get poor reception or sometimes none at all but this depends on your position and location. I imagine all British Cities have good coverage as mine does and most towns and suburbs(my house in the suburbs is fine) will I suppose too. Rural locations may differ- some being great while some being poor. Don't forget it is only 1% or 2% of the country with not very good Virgin Coverage. It shows on the website and the brochure a colour coded map of The UK with dark red being good and extremely light being not that good. The internet I think has a feature where you type in your PostCode and it tells you if it is good or not.

I have heard quite a lot of complaints of the V Mobile service but if you look- most of them are in 2000. I hope those people if you still have a V MObile phone have found them good and I hope anyone who buys them find them good. They also have some great offers too- My phone was supposed to be £99.99 but when you bought £20 airtime they gave you the handset for £79.99 which meant you
still spent £99.99 but that had £20 airtime plus the free £5 airtme they give you all the time- offer or no offer. That was a Christmas offer and they always do offers.

Another fun service from Virgin- Every Virgin(or most) including this has funny brochures and products. There Christmas Mobile brochure was set out like a Theatre Play saying- "My my what big offers you have- all the better to thank you with!.

Well done Virgin!

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