What's up with Virgin Mobile today?!

What's up with Virgin Mobile today?

After a bad experience trying to get my sim set up in the first place, things have been going fairly smoothly. Until today.

I tried to access my mail via GPRS - and was told the remote modem disconnected.

I tried to get my balance from the VM menu - and nothing happened.

I tried to get my balance by dialling *101# - and was told 'invalid password'.

I tried to dial my landline - and was told 'invalid operation', and asked for my PIN.

I entered my PIN - and was told that my sim is locked, and to enter the PUK.

I entered the PUK - and was asked for a new PIN, then told that my unblock code was invalid.

As usual, when there's a problem, I can't even dial 123 to get them to sort it out. I can't email them, because they take 24 to 48 hours to reply, and because I'm not dialing up every five minutes to see if they've answered yet.

I dialed the 123 equivalent from a landline - and there was silence. It didn't even ring.

So yet another weekend without any service from VM. I might as well not have a cellphone at this rate. I will certainly not use VM in future - I plan to use up my remaining balance and then switch to VC or MTN. I'm only glad that I didn't get a Virgin Money card, like I was thinking of - it's one thing if your cellphone stops working, but imagine if your credit card stopped working! Although, I'm not actually sure which is worse...

Update: Tried to login to their VZone site, and got this:

We'll be back soon

There appears to be a glitch in the Virgin Mobile matrix. Please try again in a few minutes. If you continue receiving this message please send an e-mail to webmaster@virginmobile.co.za

So they definitely seem to have problems today.

Update: Later I switched my phone off, then on again; it asked for my pin, accepted it, and worked fine. A week later, I still haven't had a reply from customer services.

I've also noticed that premium rate SMSs aren't sent; fortunately, you aren't charged for them either.

I'll certainly never recharge with VM, or get a VM sim again. I really don't recommend them - signal strength varies wildly, data is slow or just doesn't work, and their customer service levels also vary wildly. Pity, because we could have used a decent cellphone provider in SA; but not one with an inferior product who then wants users to help debug their network!