News 2004
Virgin Mobile: most satisfied customers in Britain
26/05/2004
straight in at number one for customer satisfaction in pre-pay
Virgin Mobile has the most contented and satisfied pre-pay customers of any mobile communications provider in the UK, an independent study reveals today. The annual poll of Britain’s mobile consumers, conducted independently by researchers JD Power and Associates is considered the most definitive of its kind. This year’s study, the first to include Virgin Mobile in the rankings, has found that Virgin Mobile’s customer satisfaction score is significantly ahead of its competitors.
As well as being leader in overall customer satisfaction, Virgin Mobile, which now has more than 4 million customers, also came top in four out of the six pre-pay categories surveyed – a result not matched by any other operator. The number one rankings also came in: customer service; cost of service; handsets; and offerings/promotions.
The study, which interviewed more than 2,000 mobile phone users throughout the UK, measured customer satisfaction across providers O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and Virgin Mobile.
Tom Alexander, chief executive of Virgin Mobile, said: “We’ve always said we give great service – now the leading independent study of the mobile market shows it. Virgin Mobile wants to delight its customers – we want them to have a great experience using our service – this is at the heart of our company’s philosophy. Customer satisfaction comes from treating customers well giving them an honest, good-value deal and not baffling them with over-complicated deals and ripping them off with hidden charges. Our standard Virgin Mobile to Virgin Mobile 3p text proposition is a great example of our simple, no-nonsense good approach.”
There are currently more than 50 million mobile phone users in the UK, and the UK’s annual mobile spend stands at approximately £11 billion1 with text messaging accounting for 385million of this. Virgin Mobile is the only mobile phone provider that has a flat, 3p fee per text between its own customers in the UK.
1Source: Ofcom. Calculation: Average bill each month = £19.00 (source: Ofcom). £19.00 x 12 months = £228.00 per year x 50 million people who own phones = £11,400,000,000.
Virgin Mobile features include:
- Free voicemail
- Free handsfree kit
- Free next day delivery of phone
- £5 free airtime included in joining pack
- Free itemised billing on Pay Monthly and one off fee on Pre-Pay
- Roaming - available on Pre and Post Pay - simple and easy to use, know the charges upfront
- Big Bonus - if you spend over £30 each month - 10% back in airtime the following month, with no expiry date. You can Pay Monthly by Direct Debit or Pay As You Go by credit/debit card - both are free to set up.
- Flash-It - £1 back in airtime for every £10 you spend in a Virgin Megastore if you flash your Virgin Mobile
- ATM top up available
- £5 vouchers - Virgin Mobile is the only network to offer such low denominations
