Ridiculous!!

[walkntalk]

Virgin Mobile has increased the prices on all of their plans starting monday, check out the best buy mobile flyer on their website. Everything has gone up by at least 5$, and they are now charging an activation fee on postpaid.

So, if you're planning on getting a phone from Virgin, go in the next couple days before they become more expensive...

[Frankie]

That's whacked... here is the screenshot

[dirtyj]

Definitely a step in the wrong direction.

Comparing their prices to Fido, we beat them in... everything. LOL

[Sweetness]

Hilarious!!! Found the original press release from when they launched in 2005 where it states “Customers are losing out and they’re paying more than they need to for their mobile phone services. Virgin Mobile has taken out all the confusion and will right the wrongs of the industry.”



(TORONTO, ON) March 1, 2005 - Virgin Mobile came to the rescue of Canadians today with the launch of its mobile service across the country. The company will bring competition back to the market and offer Canadian customers a mobile phone service with no catches: great rates, no hidden fees and no contracts to sign.

During an action-packed stunt in downtown Toronto, Virgin Group Chairman and Virgin Mobile Canada founder, Sir Richard Branson, zipped from the skies and crushed the competition in the Virgin Mobile “emergency services” monster truck. Richard Branson freed customers who were chained to long-term contracts, hidden fees and high rates.

“More than 11 million Canadians are stuck with ‘the Catch,’ which means they’re locked into long-term contracts that are riddled with hidden fees and extra charges,” said Branson. “Customers are losing out and they’re paying more than they need to for their mobile phone services. Virgin Mobile has taken out all the confusion and will right the wrongs of the industry.”

“Our philosophy at Virgin is to break into markets where customers aren’t getting what they deserve and deliver a better service. We’ve had a great deal of success with this approach in the mobile industry and now have more than 8.5 million customers worldwide. We plan to continue this success in Canada by bringing some much-needed simplicity to the market,” added Branson.

Virgin Mobile’s customer-oriented approach to mobile phone services has been successful in the UK, Australia and most recently in the United States.

“We know that Canadians are ready for Virgin Mobile and ready for a simpler, better deal,” said Andrew Black, President and CEO of Virgin Mobile Canada. “With over 300 plans out there, buying a mobile phone is hard work. It’s no wonder that over 50% of Canadians don’t have one.”

“We offer a simple service where customers buy a phone and pay only for the calls they make. With Virgin Mobile, Canadians will get a service with great rates all day, everyday; no hidden fees such as 911, System Access, voicemail or call waiting; no contracts to sign, and no catches,” added Black.

The Facts:
Pricing
Virgin Mobile’s rates start low and get even lower. Calls cost just 25 cents a minute for the first five minutes each day, then just 15 cents a minute. The credit customers purchase lasts for 120 days - the longest period before expiry in the market. Virgin Mobile customers can get even better value with a $25 monthly p***: only 20 cents a minute for the first five minutes of calls each day and then just 10 cents a minute.

[joshdmcc]

Oh wow. I'm glad I got mine before. Virgin's gonna get hell for this.

[walkntalk]

Yeah, I love virgin, but this is going to cause some problems, thats for sure. I wouldn't be surprised if sales dropped a lot, and then they reversed a lot of it in a few months.

[ripreads]

I suppose they're going on Harper's earlier pep talk, "we are not in a recession" and hope the rest of the Canadian public bought into that lol

[serans1987]

But o wow, thought they would be smarter and try and lower prices compared to Fido and Koodo. Guess they aren't on the same boat. There goes their sales .

[urbnlgcy]

Silly VMOs. I think they might have jumped the gun on the price increases. Only time will tell if this will sink or save them (I'm going to say sink). For a company that has failed to turn a profit, making their services less affordable sure isn't going to get them more subscribers. Maybe they should stop the frivilous spending on sponsoring events that aren't driving sales, and start devising better ways of increasing their number of subscirbers.

[ripreads]

All the carriers and their "juniors" have now increased their prices and added the "admin one time fee" why not after all it's still a closed market and the new players...well they still haven't paid for their spectrums in full.

[joshdmcc]

k... wtf is this?

[Eon]

I know exactly what that is.... disappointing.