Virgin Mobile Money Leak

About six months ago, I bought a Virgin Mobile Cel Phone at a 7-11 store for $19.95. I was tired of paying $90/month for an Cingular/AT&T cel phone that I only used for emergencies. The Virgin Mobile pay-as-you-go deal was that: you put up $20 to start the service. As you used the service, you give them the right to top up your account $15 from your checking account as needed, so that you always have $20 in your Virgin Mobile account. As the months rolled by the phone worked really well, but I noticed I was being topped up $15 every 90 days whether I needed it or not. Last week they topped me up $15 twice in the same day. My balance was now $60! I called them and they, appologized for the error, and refunded the second $15. I then told them that they could no longer automatically top up my account, and would have to email me a link when they wanted me to top up, and I would do it manually.

My theory is that: In these tough times, when Virgin Mobile runs low on cash, they think that they can just go and top up all their accounts randomly whether they need it or not. Since Virgin Mobile's marketing is targeted at teens, who use the phone a lot, their parents probably wouldn't notice the hit to their bank account. If they did, Virgin Mobile would just appologize and return the money. For every 1 million customers, that's an extra $15 million in their bank that they don't have to pay interest on. Virgin Mobile probably doesn't think it's wrong to do this, but it is, and they should be held accountable.