Phone Replacement

[EoRdE]

So I dropped my HTC One V by Virgin Mobile today and was pissed. I called up HTC and they estimated $150, more than what I originally paid for the phone. In a last ditch attempt I called Virgin Mobile who without asking any questions said they were shipping a new one with an envelope to send the old one back in. I was amazed!!!

 

[RealFastOne]

Good deal! Always check with Virgin Mobile first, even if you did not buy the phone from them. The phone is just a device to keep you paying THEM money. It is not in their interest to give paying customers an opportunity to switch to another carrier.

 

[notebooko]

Virgin Mobile is pretty well known in the mobile community to have the best customer service out there. For a prepaid carrier, that's pretty big.

 

[m-cman]

Virgin Mobile is pretty well known in the mobile community to have the best customer service out there. For a prepaid carrier, that's pretty big.

Hmmmmm.... Been with VM for over two years and haven't heard this. Maybe there is a difference between Customer Support service and Customer Support knowledge...

 

[SuperAfnan]

Virgin Mobile is pretty well known in the mobile community to have the best customer service out there. For a prepaid carrier, that's pretty big.

You better be trolling.

 

[miediev]

For all their faults, VM does seem pretty willing to throw replacement phones at you without much fuss.

 

[notebooko]

They don't just give out the JD Power award to everyone...

 

[mogelijk]

They don't just give out the JD Power award to everyone...

I guess that is why Metro PCS got it this year (for non-contract, Verizon got the contract phone title).

 

[Austrie]

I guess that is why Metro PCS got it this year (for non-contract, Verizon got the contract phone title).

You really dislike VM huh:smokingsomb:

 

[mogelijk]

You really dislike VM huh:smokingsomb:

Eh... it is a love hate relationship. I found their tech support terrible; as an example, they never did fix my Visual Voicemail after a month of trying, despite being escalated multiple times. The good; once you convinced them your phone was broken they were good at replacing it -- and frequently with a brand new phone (rather than refurbished).

For most of my years with VM, though, I didn't worry at all about Tech Support and, ultimately, the reason I left was poor (to downright unusable) data speeds in the places I needed it. It should be improved now, if I had an LTE phone.

OTOH, GSM is a huge advantage. It is great being able to have a high end phone on prepaid and, if the carrier isn't working for you, being able to keep your phone and just switch to a new carrier. And that is another issue I have with VM; even the other CDMA carriers you can "bring your own phone" to, you still can't do it with a Virgin Mobile phone (or legally take your own phone to Virgin Mobile).

 

[swerver32]

I tried to get a replacement for my wife's evo, and they said they would send one. As it turns out, they never sent anything - the phone was bought at radio shack so they said they couldn't replace it. Of course they didn't say that at first, lame. I can still see the "order"on her account on the website...it just sits there.

She had the same experience trying to get the battery replaced - they said they would send one but it never came. When asked, it was because the phone was not bought from them, even though they originally said they would send one, no problem.

 

[aml1025]

I tried to get a replacement for my wife's evo, and they said they would send one. As it turns out, they never sent anything - the phone was bought at radio shack so they said they couldn't replace it. Of course they didn't say that at first, lame. I can still see the "order"on her account on the website...it just sits there.

She had the same experience trying to get the battery replaced - they said they would send one but it never came. When asked, it was because the phone was not bought from them, even though they originally said they would send one, no problem.

Try calling again and talking to a different rep. It shouldn't matter where you bought your phone - I had both an Evo and an Elite replaced in the last month and they never asked where I bought them. The Elite was actually slightly over a year old, and they still sent a replacement.

 

[mogelijk]

I tried to get a replacement for my wife's evo, and they said they would send one. As it turns out, they never sent anything - the phone was bought at radio shack so they said they couldn't replace it. Of course they didn't say that at first, lame. I can still see the "order"on her account on the website...it just sits there.

She had the same experience trying to get the battery replaced - they said they would send one but it never came. When asked, it was because the phone was not bought from them, even though they originally said they would send one, no problem.

As was mentioned, it doesn't matter where the phone was purchased from. If you look at the warranty information that came with the phone, it should clearly state that it is Virgin Mobile (as the "manufacturer") that is guaranteeing the phone. Because the phones are branded (with the provider's logo and extra software) the various mobile providers, it is the providers who typically handle the warranty repairs for Samsung, HTC, LG, and the other manufacturers.

 

[MacFett]

I purchased my elite from best buy and received 4 replacements from vmu for it (still don't have a working one).

 

[mrnyjet]

Hmmmmm.... Been with VM for over two years and haven't heard this. Maybe there is a difference between Customer Support service and Customer Support knowledge...

Check out my post on clueless customer support in the cricket forum!
We have both vm and cricket phones, and both work great everywhere in the county except my village where ONLY cricket/sprint have NO tower.
Nearest towers are 10-15 miles away.
Yet, cs reps want me to exchange new phones for replacememt refrubs. NO! Just log in the problem ticket so the engineers know about the actual problem, not just look at an estimated coverage map. Do your job, which is not to argue with paying customers.

 

[swerver32]

As was mentioned, it doesn't matter where the phone was purchased from. If you look at the warranty information that came with the phone, it should clearly state that it is Virgin Mobile (as the "manufacturer") that is guaranteeing the phone. Because the phones are branded (with the provider's logo and extra software) the various mobile providers, it is the providers who typically handle the warranty repairs for Samsung, HTC, LG, and the other manufacturers.

A couple weeks later, and guess what? A (like) new vevo appears on my doorstep today. Too bad I already bought her a victory... anyone wanna buy a (like) new vevo, cheap? It's the unbranded type, just HTC logo top middle, no sprint or vm branding.

 

[Austrie]

A couple weeks later, and guess what? A (like) new vevo appears on my doorstep today. Too bad I already bought her a victory... anyone wanna buy a (like) new vevo, cheap? It's the unbranded type, just HTC logo top middle, no sprint or vm branding.

Probably came straight from HTC. Might have a better build quality, play with it a bit.

 

[trekleech]

Stupid question is this phone replacement, that insurance thing I pay them for each month. Or are they just replacing everyones phones for free, LOL?

 

[aml1025]

Stupid question is this phone replacement, that insurance thing I pay them for each month. Or are they just replacing everyones phones for free, LOL?

This isn't insurance, this is Virgin Mobile's own one year warranty on their phones. No extra charge per month, and nominally for defective devices, but they are pretty liberal with their definition of "defective."

 

[SuperAfnan]

Stupid question is this phone replacement, that insurance thing I pay them for each month. Or are they just replacing everyones phones for free, LOL?

I would technically call it replace people's phones for free. Do you have any idea how many people just send phones in with barely any problems and get good replacements. They make it rain with replacements. Some guy received 4 phones because the reps didn't have time to send him a confirmed working phone. No wonder people get bad ESN phones all the freaking time.

 

[trekleech]

Crap now I feel stupid, I been paying this for like the last 7 months. LOL

 

[mogelijk]

Crap now I feel stupid, I been paying this for like the last 7 months. LOL

What you are actually paying for, with the insurance, is if you lose your phone or drop it and break it. If you break your screen or have severe water damage (such as dropping it in water) typically VM won't replace the phone. Basically, while they are fairly generous about replacements, the still only replace phones that appear to have a hardware issue. And it is a "replacement", if you don't send your old phone back they will charge you for the replacement.

The insurance, that is extra cost, covers "user error" such as dropping the phone and breaking it or losing it completely.

 

[SuperAfnan]

What you are actually paying for, with the insurance, is if you lose your phone or drop it and break it. If you break your screen or have severe water damage (such as dropping it in water) typically VM won't replace the phone. Basically, while they are fairly generous about replacements, the still only replace phones that appear to have a hardware issue. And it is a "replacement", if you don't send your old phone back they will charge you for the replacement.

The insurance, that is extra cost, covers "user error" such as dropping the phone and breaking it or losing it completely.

They won't bill you, they would just blacklist both phones since they would be technically stolen.

So send 'Em back!

 

[ragnarkar]

Virgin Mobile is pretty well known in the mobile community to have the best customer service out there. For a prepaid carrier, that's pretty big.

Now if they'd put the same diligence in keeping their networks up and running..

 

[SuperAfnan]

Now if they'd put the same diligence in keeping their networks up and running..

Reason why I left right there.

Don't forget about coverage too, it kind of sucks compared to T-Mobile. Get up Sprint get up!