I upgraded my mobile service by phone yesterday after checking out the tariffs on
http://www.virginmobile.com/vm/paymonthlySimOnly.do
I chose the Essential SIM Only £17
Your tariff gives you:
1200 minutes
Unlimited texts
Unlimited Mobile Web
SIM card cost FREE
I had 2 weeks previously ordered the same package from the website, but the lady I talked to yesterday said they had no record of that order. She changed my package automatically using the same SIM, and the tariff became live immediately.
This morning however I received a replacement SIM (marked as ordered yesterday) with a "SIM replacement charge" of £5.
So the SIM is not free.