For low usage folks, Page Plus offers a much better deal ($0.12/minute max vs. Virgin Mobile's $0.20/min, superior coverage and better signal penetration of the Verizon+Alltel network) without the hassle of Sugar Mama.
And now that Page Plus has messaging packs ($10.53/month or thereabouts for 2000 text messages), there's really no compelling reason to stay with VM unless you take more than a few picture messages a month (PP is $0.25/message PLUS data charges and no MMS messaging packs!) and REALLY need VM's no-hassle ESN changes and better account infomation (both on-phone and online).
EDIT: I guess I should mention that PP does charge a $0.50/month fee on their Standard plan, but IMHO that's not enough to sour the deal.
dude about 90 percent of vm costumers used sugamama as there min. now that it gone so are we
What surveys show that?
Reading the other post about Suga Mama minutes it seemed as though people were racking up absurd amount of minutes that didn't seem like they were being used.
I know 3 other VM users and none of them use Suga Mama...
I feel bad for people who really relied on it but from a business standpoint I think its a smart decision to let it go.
I bet there were no advertisers that wanted to pay. VM was just giving away minutes for old ads and I personally could not stand to watch another Navy or Gossip Girl ad from 2 seasons ago.
If Suga Mama was truly racking in subscribers, then i'm sure they would have kept it.(I hope...lol)
I guess only time will tell but I intend to stay with VM...
For low usage folks, Page Plus offers a much better deal ($0.12/minute max vs. Virgin Mobile's $0.20/min, superior coverage and better signal penetration of the Verizon+Alltel network) without the hassle of Sugar Mama.....
EDIT: I guess I should mention that PP does charge a $0.50/month fee on their Standard plan, but IMHO that's not enough to sour the deal.
I think thats what it boils down to.... elimination of this program effects users who pay per min. If you live in the woods or somewhere signals are hard to come by, Page Plus would be my recommendation but if you live rural areas Boost mobile has a better deal.
I feel bad for people who really relied on it but from a business standpoint I think its a smart decision to let it go.
I really think it was too. I use my phone very infrequently - not to converse or make plans, just for status updates when I'm on the road. The result was that not only do I never deplete my cash balance, but my free minutes were climbing faster than they got used too.
So the reason they pulled it is the same reason I won't be leaving soon: I have plenty of credit stored up. Now situations change, and there was a week-long period last year where I ended up using a lot more time than I'd anticipated - blowing through everything I had saved up and then some. Should that happen again I would then see one fewer reason to stick with VM.
However, their hand probably is forced by a turndown in advertising rates. Long-form video ads have gotten maybe $40 CPM (that's per thousand viewers). Now let's say Virgin Mobile did better than average and charged advertisers $50 CPM. That's still $0.05 a minute. Obviously far below the pay-as-you-go rates, but maybe good enough to encourage people to stick with your phones.
But if people seem to only use those minutes, and then their credit gets used on new hardware (which is perhaps a loss-leader anyway), and then now advertisers start dropping their rates to $0.02 and $0.03 a minute, I can easily see it not being worthwhile anymore. Better to lose those minimal-use customers if you must, and go after the $50 plan people.
Looks like part of a general trend with VM possibly. They also cut back their less used Pass It On program for new users with old hand me down VM phones.
It used to be 60 minutes, now its only 30. That leaves Kickback promos and Fund My Phone (25 minutes max a month) as the other plans. I wonder if Fund My Phone is being yanked too?
Fund My Phone uses the Sugar Mama ads and counts as Sugar Mama minutes for the month, so they are part of Sugar Mama. So its common sense that if SM goes, so does FMP. I won't be surprised at all if that happened.
Yeah SM will be missed. I am finally making the switch back to post-paid as my call usage has increased dramatically and staying with VM no longer is as affordable as it once was. I'm getting a new number so i'll be keeping my VM phone for emergencies.
Yeah SM will be missed. I am finally making the switch back to post-paid as my call usage has increased dramatically and staying with VM no longer is as affordable as it once was. I'm getting a new number so i'll be keeping my VM phone for emergencies.
My new phone from T-Mobile is my avatar!
I'm pretty sure that even with a high minute usage any prepaid company would still be cheaper...
Like MetroPCS or even Boost. But i'm guessing you wanted a souped up phone. Enjoy TMobile...
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Originally Posted by abodd
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