Having been with Virgin Mobile for almost 5 years now, I have to say I really like the company, but I agree that the automated phone service is horrid and the website aggravatingly slow. That being said, when you can manage to get a live adviser, the customer service is pretty decent. If you want a good cell phone without being forced to go with a longterm contract, you really can't go wrong with VM.As for purchasing the top-up cards, you can buy them at most Target stores.