Hmm, not T-Mobile stores locally, but they have Virgin at Target, one of my favorite places!!1! I am never going to be able to pick a phone just looking at them online.

Dumb question: if you receive calls on a pay-as-you-go phone, do you get charged anything, either the daily access fee or for minutes or anything?

I was on some other pay-as-you-go service before (might have been T-Mobile, but I'm not sure). The only problem I had with it was they required you to buy more time every 45 (I think) days, and if you forgot you'd lose all the time you'd already paid for. Of course, if you can stay on top of things this isn't an issue, but Virgin doesn't do this.

Windsparrow and I use Tracfone. [link]

It has a basic or advanced phone to choose from, you can get one for $14.99 at wall mart with minimum minutes, and you can buy time and minutes as you go or in 3 month increments.

We initially started out with a phone and a 60-minute 3 month card. ($20), and signed up for the eamils. sometimes the emails send you some great deals as your due date approches.

I think I spent $70 for 260 minutes and 15 months of service the last renewal. (60 minute, 3-mo card+1 year & 200 bonus minutes for $50)

However the offers of bonus minutes are not consistant, and a couple of times I renewed for $20 just to keep the service up.

Oh, and there is the annoying tracfone advertisement when you go to the site.

Virgin doesn't do this.

I just went to the Virgin site, and under Pay as you go it said if you didn't buy more minutes within the 30 day period, any unused minutes would expire at the end of the 30 days. I may have misread it, though.

edit: Also: Mega Number of the Beast!

I just went to the Virgin site, and under Pay as you go it said if you didn't buy more minutes within the 30 day period, any unused minutes would expire at the end of the 30 days. I may have misread it, though.

Huh. Well, I haven't actually run past the date limit in a while, so perhaps they've changed their policy.

Oh connie, I love your tagline:

Policemen are hiding behind the skirts of little girls, their eyes have turned the color of frozen meat.

An odd lyric from an odd song (Blue Öyster Cult's "Joan Crawford.")

Yup, recently downloaded and rediscovered, wallowing in the memories of my youth at the college radio station.

edit: and kudos on the umlaut over the O

Unless Virgin has changed policies within the last 60 days, it is buy at least $20 worth of minutes at least every 90 days to keep service. Unused minutes to roll over into next period. If you use it infrequently that is $6.67 a month, plus those rolled over minutes are good in an emergency where you need to do a shitload of talking. Calling and being called both cost you, though voice mail does not unless you use your cell to check voice messages. Text messaging on a pay as you go plan is per message, cause I think the premise is you are not using your cell phone that much. Heavy or moderate user can probably do better with a contract. Um make sure you get a clamshell or other types that close, cause permanently open ones tend to spontaneously dial and cost you expensive minuts.

I've been very happy with my Virgin Mobile experience. I just really wish they'd get some kind of iPhone-wannabee phone so I could switch.