Issues with Texting

Hi:

My Galaxy S3 just started having issues with texting. I use Virgin Mobile. It takes hours for a text to reach me and even longer for a reply text to send. Additionally, I can't connect to Google Play. This started about a week ago. Initially Virgin Mobile said that they were working on one of their towers and that's why it was so slow. Well the tower was repaired but the texting is still a nightmare and I can't connect to Google Play. I called Virgin Mobile again and this time I was elevated to a technical expert. She said that there was a known problem with the software in the phone. She said that I could do a master Reboot but that there was no guarantee that this would solve the problem.

Has anyone had similar issues with this phone or Virgin Mobile? I would love to know. Does anyone know of a fix? Is this a Virgin Mobile issue?

Thanks,
NMP222