Virgin Mobile (VM) started cellular phone service in June. At that time, they offered $10 free starter airtime on all their phones upon activation of service. VM also offered free calls to customer service by dialing *VM (*86) on one's VM cell phone.
In April however, VM reduced the amount of free starter airtime from $10 to just $2.50, and in May also started charging 10 cents a minute to call customer service via the *VM feature. Virgin Mobile did not notify their current or prospective customers of these abrupt changes and, in fact, continued to market numerous of their phones* with the $10 free starter airtime advertising, In addition, many of their "Top-Up" cards continued to carry the message to dial "*VM from your cell. Doesn't cost a cent!"
*The phones in question are the Kyocera Party Animal, Kyocera Supermodel, Kyocera K-7 Rave, Kyocera K-9, Kyocera Slider V-5, AudioVox 8500, AudioVox 8610, and the AudioVox Flasher V-7 camera phone.
After I tried to get my full $10 starter airtime, and fed up with VM's deceptions, I called, emailed, and even sent registered letters to Virgin Mobile's corporate headquarters; all to no avail. VM wouldn't give me the time of day.
Thus I initiated a nationwide class action lawsuit in August against Virgin Mobile USA, L.L.C., the parent company of VM. A final settlement to the law suit was just agreed to by all parties without a trial on June 26, in the federal district court for the Southern District of California, in San Diego.
Virgin Mobile, without admitting any guilt (as is always the case with corporations), has agreed to set aside a contingency fund of 2.7 million dollars for those who were cheated out of the other $7.50 in starter airtime which they should have received upon activation. Additionally, VM has already credited back about 560,000 dollars in overcharges to those who made *VM calls to customer service.
For much more information about this case and how to obtain any credits due, go to (ROR REDACTED LINK FOR SECUIRTY PURPOSES). This web site was put up as part of the lawsuit settlement and contains specific info about filing a claim, and also has copies of the actual court documents for you legal types.
The cut-off date to file claims is August 15, so don't delay if you think you are entitled to the $7.50 airtime credits if you activated one of the above-listed phones between April and July.
Good Luck.
Scott
Rancho Palos Verdes, California
U.S.A.
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