Kyocera S2100 PayLo user reviews (cauldron gray, Virgin Mobile)

Pros Cheap plans and phones but it isn't worth it.

Cons Coverage Map is Not Accurate
Customer Service

Read Summary for full story and how to get your money back if you are in the same situation

Summary I had a really poor experience with Virgin Mobile and I want everyone to learn the lessons that I learned so that you don't experience the same thing I went through and at the end of this message I have a way you can get your money back if you did go with them and they didn't uphold their end of the bargain.

1. Coverage Maps are not accurate. On their coverage map I received best (dark green) coverage. Before signing up Virgin Mobile, a rep. confirmed it. Once I gave them my $30 for the pay lo one month plan (1500 mins and messages) I received multiple drop calls and was only able to make one successful phone call over a matter of 2 weeks. Since I talked more than 15 minutes I was unable to get my money back even though I was getting no consistent service. Customer service then claimed I had fair coverage (even though the map still indicated I have best coverage). The reps told me that when other people make phone calls on the network in my areas, I'll get drop calls. How reliable.

2. Costumer service gets you no where. The representatives agreed that I deserve a refund, but they do not have the power to give you the refund. The computer system they use blocks that from happening since I talked for more than 15 minutes. Thus representatives are powerless, but there is a point to this because it makes it so the big corporation can take your money while not giving you the coverage or service you signed up for.

I spoke to about 10 different representatives adding up to over 200 minutes on my t-mobile phone (I overlapped coverage for a week in case VM didn't work out - good move!). If you need to call costumer service expect to listen to Taylor Swifts Last December song on auto repeat. It is the only song they play so being on hold for 20 minutes can make a person hate this song and want to go insane. The costumer service reps that you talk to all tell you a different story and some give you hope that you can get a refund until you get to the very top person about an hour into the phone call and they say the computer won't authorize the refund. Dead End.

Here is the GOOD NEWS! If you paid for the Virgin Mobile plan with your credit card, you can call your credit card company and ask them to dispute the charge. That is what I did and it only took 5 minutes and I am expected to get a full refund. Much better than wasting my time with VM reps who are powerless. I hope this helps if you ever get into the same situation.

My best advice for you is to avoid Virgin Mobile all together. I was told at one point that a tower went down on April 22 2012 and wasn't going to be fixed till June 20, 2012. Meaning no coverage for 2 months. Not a good or reliable company to go with.

Best of luck to everyone out there!