Virgin Mobile USA / virgin mobile usa - customer service is a joke!

I recently purchased a Slider Sonic from Virgin Mobile. The following is the email correspondence. This would be laughable if it wasn't so common.

Original mail sent by me to VM:

I recently purchased the Kyocera Slider Sonic for my son's b-day (today). Nowhere on your site does it state that the usb cable or the memory card are not included. In fact it states just the opposite in the user's manual and the help that are posted on your site. I must say that this is misleading and aggravating at best. Possibly fraudulent.

The cable is difficult to obtain elsewhere and both the cable and card should be supplied or the purchase price of each should be credited to my account since it was stated to be included with the phone.

Thank you,
Christine G

Response that I received:

>>> "ourteam@virginmobileusa.com" <ourteam@virginmobileusa.com>Wednesday, October 17, 2007 1:04 PM >>>

Hi Christine,

Thanks for your email -- and for giving us the opportunity to answer your question. We're here to help.

To answer your question: the features of the Slider Sonic have changed; the Transflash expandable memory and USB Cable are no longer included. Sorry for that!

You can place an order for the memory card from one of our retail outlets located near by to your place or you can also buy it online from any third party website which is selling the Slider Sonic compatible
memory card.

Hope this email was helpful. If you have any other questions or would like more info, please feel free to call us at [protected] (or *VM on your Virgin Mobile phone). We'll be delighted to assist you.

Aidan
Virgin Mobile At Your Service


Email 2 from me:

Your response is not acceptable. I have already received a flippant, could not care less, what do you want me to do about it, response from the girl that I spoke with yesterday when I finally got through the phone menu to a live person. I realize (now) that the features of the Slider Sonic have changed and that the Transflash expandable memory and USB Cable are no longer included. My point being that you do not disclose this anywhere on your site or at the time of purchase and that I would not have bought the phone had I known this.

This was purchased as a gift. I ran around Monday evening looking for some place to purchase either the card and/or cable. No one (Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, Best Buy, etc) carries these items nor could they direct me to someplace that did. I had to give the child a gift, which he was unable to use most of the features on. He was most disappointed and I was extremely aggravated.

If you are going to direct an unhappy customer to a third party vendor or other location you had best be specific about where and sure that the item is available for purchase. I also did a Google search and was unable to find any place that offered the items. There were several sites that had Sandisk cards but did not specifically state that they were for use in the phone. Nowhere could I find the cable for sale. Kyocera does not even offer them for sale at their online store.

I have always recommended Virgin Mobile upon hearing that someone was looking for a new provider but you have dropped the ball on this one. I hope that you can provide a more satisfactory reply to this mail.

Christine

Dumb response # 2:

Hi Christine,

Thanks for your email -- and for giving us the opportunity to answer your question. We're here to help.

My apologies for any inconvenience this has caused and if this was not fully explained to you. Your feedback is very valuable to us and we welcome it. Our service is built around the likes and needs of our customers; we're always looking for ways to give you more of what you want. We are quite flexible and are constantly looking for ways to improve, so we appreciate you taking the time to contact us.

We will be happy to pass along your feedback to the concerned department.

Further, the Transflash memory card for Slider Sonic is readily available at almost all the stores who sells our products. You can check with Best Buy, Target, WallMart etc.

Alternatively, you can contact the phone manufacturer too any information on this.

If you have any other questions or would like more info, please feel free to call us at [protected] (or *vm on your virgin mobile phone). We'll be delighted to assist you.

Laura
Virgin Mobile At Your Service

My last attempt to get an intelligent response:

Obviously no one is taking the time to actually read what I have written or you're just trying to frustrate me into giving up.

The Transflash Memory Card is NOT readily available at almost all the stores that sell your products. If it were I would have purchased one. As I have already stated, I have already been to Walmart, Best Buy, Etc. They have stated that they do not carry these products.

I have also checked the Kyocera on-line store.

You have actually done nothing to resolve my problem.

Apologies for my inconvenience are not sufficient.


So that there is no further confusion let me spell out for you what the options are at this point.
Please respond with one of the following:

1. You will provide to me both the card and the cable at no additional charge.
Or
2. You will credit the account with the purchase price of these items.

Or
3. You will provide instructions on how to return the phone for a full credit of the purchase price.

If you are not authorized to make this decision please have a supervisor or manager contact me at (xxx) xxx-xxxx, Monday - Friday, between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.

Thank you,
Christine

Dumb response #3:

Hi Christine,

Thanks for your email... and for giving us the opportunity to answer your question. We're here to help.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused.

The new Slidersonic does not come with a USB cable or a Sandisk memory card.

The USB cable and Sandisk memory card can be purchased from a retail store, and you can enquire with them about the pricing for the card. Please inform them that you would like to use the card with a Slidersonic phone for Virgin Mobile USA.

For more information on our phone models and accessories, please access the below mentioned link on our website. You can also browse through the Help section on our website for more information on frequently asked question.

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/phones/catalog.do;

You can check the availability of a retailer in a particular area on our website; by entering the address, or at least a Zip Code or City/State, at the following link on our website. Please check out with the store to ensure that they have the products you are looking for.

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/utility/prepareFindStores.do

If you feel your situation is not resolved, please give us a call at the below mentioned number, so we can work to clear this up for you.

If you have any other questions or would like more info, please feel free to call us at [protected] (or *VM on your Virgin Mobile phone). We'll be delighted to assist you. Hey, they don't call us Virgin Mobile At Your Service for nothing.

Jeff
Virgin Mobile At Your Service

At this point I again braved their stupid Phone IVR where the Menu voice sounds like it's laughing at you trying to get a live person on the line. Once I did get a live person on the line, she (Adrienne) put me on terminal hold only to come back on the line stating that the USB cable was available for purchase on the web site as an accessory. This was said in a tone meant to make me feel stupid. Needless to say the cable was not not on the site when I originally purchased the phone. They still have not told me exactly which card is needed. I intend to maintain the service with Virgin Mobile only long enough for my son to enjoy the novelty of having his own phone then both of our accounts will be cancelled. I'll be posting this complaint anywhere that it's relevant.