Virgin Media Community

[Mpl379]

Received the following text: ‘hello, as we haven’t noticed any recent activity on this SIM we’ll be barring services in 42 days’

I have the original PAYG plan and obviously don’t use it very often but why does this mean it will be barred from use - and what happens to my existing credit amount?

[enlli · Accepted solution]

If you don't make a chargeable call or send a text every 90 days then it will be cut off and you forfeit the balance. The number is then returned to the pool for later re issue. If such measures were not in place we would have run out of numbers years ago. Here are the Terms

3.8 Keep talking!: You need to use our Services at least once within any 90 day period either by making a chargeable call or sending a text message. If you don’t we may suspend your access to the Services and cancel this Agreement. If we cancel this Agreement, you may lose your phone number and any unused Top Up credit on your account (see Clause 10.3). We don’t really want to lose you as a customer so please ensure you keep talking or texting!

3.5 No refund: If you don’t use all of the credit in any Top Up that you purchase, or such Top Up expires (if applicable) then we will not give you a refund for it. If this Agreement is cancelled (unless you cancel in accordance with Clause 5.4) then you will also lose any credit you have on your account and we will not refund it to you.

[Mpl379]

Thanks for your quick and helpful reply. Am I right in thinking that if I send a text now, the service will be ok for another 90 days?

[enlli · Accepted solution]

Yes, the clock resets on each call or text

[fred820]

I just got that message too. I'm confused because "we haven't noticed any recent activity on this sim" doesn't quite work when I've received numerous text messages from banks (their pointless magic number texts) and I even phoned an 0800 number yesterday. I guess it's not about recycling old numbers but more about making sure you pay them something every 90 days. It states here "https://www.virginmedia.com/help/virgin-mobile-pay-as-you-go-costs" that it costs "Text to other Virgin Mobiles, 5p per text", but then 3 rows below that "Text to other Virgin Mobiles, 10p per text", so who knows what that costs. As I have no one on earth to call or text, is there some virgin mobile number I can text to stop my one and only way to access my bank "safely and securely" being taken away from me? Or can I send an email to virgin somehow to show that my (frequently used) sim is still being used?

[Mpl379]

The solution: My wife sent a text to me that cost 6p and now, apparently, we have another 90 days!

[fred820]

Did you get some verification of the fact you have another 90 days or are you assuming it?

Unfortunately I don't have your wife's number to text her...

[Mpl379]

Yes - After a quick and helpful response from enlli who quoted the terms and conditions from Virgin. Wife’s number only available for large amounts of money!

[Laurie_C]

Hi fred820,

Thanks for getting in touch, I'm sorry that you're having this problem with your PAYG SIM card.

In order to maintain your services, you would need to make a chargeable call or text every 90 days, as enlli has kindly highlighted. As freephone numbers/texts aren't chargeable, they wouldn't register as activity on the account. I'm sorry about this.

Do you have a home phone/landline number at all? You could call yourself, in order to ensure that your services are maintained. Please let me know if you need any more help with this.

Kind regards,

Laurie

[fred820]

Hello Laurie_C

No, I live alone. I have no one to text or phone. I only have a mobile phone. I need the phone because the bank insists upon it "for my security". I cannot leave the house because I'm disabled, otherwise I'd pointlessly phone a public phone box. Is there no virgin number I can text and get charged 6p like the person above? Or can you just take the 6p from my account, as that's what you want in the end. If I randomly text people every 90 days I'm guessing my phone number will be blocked as a spammer or something.