Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

stefano

But the network coverage of Three and Virgin will cause you some concern. I was on Virgin, once upon a time, and was struggling to get a signal in a building in Mayfair, Central London, and so where my colleague on Three, whereas our colleagues on Vodafone and O2 could get signals in the basement level of the same building.

cami2203

I am going to switch to virgin for a £6 sim only deal (it's the £15 tariff but for £6 cos my brother is already a customer)
I am with o2 right now but the prices are expensive compared to others

ledrex

Just thought I'd share as I've had success (in the end) with O2.

Spoke to O2 on the 'O2 chat' last Friday to try and get them down on their £20 sim only 12 month contract for unlimited texts, minutes and 1GB data. They refused, so I said I was going to a similar contract with vodafone or the t-mobile full monty contract and got my PAC off them.

Since Monday they've been trying to get hold of me and I spoke to them today, and was offered the £20 contract with £60 credit added, so effectively £15 a month, which is what I was after.

Septimus_ii

Just tried this with O2. I was originally on a £10 per month contract (unlimited texts, 50 mins, 24 months) which included a phone but looking to change to a slightly lower tariff sim-only and maybe pay-as-you-go. Elsewhere I've found a couple of deals for about £5 for contract and pay as you go including 100mins and unlimited texts from Virgin.

When I phoned O2 (and got to the disconnections bit) the guy asked me what the other deals I'd found were, but made no attempt to persuade me to stay. I wonder if low usage people like me aren't worth their time?

EDIT: Looking through here, it looks like it's just O2 not making much effort to retain their custom. It'll be interesting to see if this effects their market share. As for coverage, they use orange (=t-mobile) signal when there isn't virgin signal so I don't expect any problems there.

grumbler

Septimus_ii wrote: »

...Virgin.
... they use orange (=t-mobile) signal when there isn't virgin signal

There is no any 'virgin signal'. It's a virtual network using tmobile (+orange).

sid2001

Hi! I'm new to this forum but I'm really hoping that someone will be able to help! I've been with T-Mobile for at least 3 years. My 24 month contract with my phone ended in May 2012. I upgraded at that time to an Iphone 4 but due to signal problems, which this phone is apparently renowned for, I returned it within the time given and said I would wait for the IPhone 5 to come out as there would probably be some good deals on the 4s. All was fine and then a short time later I received a call saying why don't I reduce my monthly payments? Made it sound like I should have thought of this already so I said ok but told them that I was going to be upgrading my phone in the near future and made ABSOLUTELY certain that this wouldn't affect it and I was assured that it would not. They even offered to send me an email when the IPhone 5 was released so that I could upgrade straight away. No email arrived but I have contacted T-Mobile and spent hours trying to get through to them only to be told that I have been tied into a contract until May 13! I explained that I did not agree to ANY contract and was eventually told they would allow me to upgrade my phone. As they had no interesting offers & I didn't have the money on that day to pay £50 for the phone that I was hoping I might get for free, I asked them to reduce my monthly payments until I got paid, to the minimum possible as I haven't got a phone that works and I was told they could only reduce it by £5 and that I had to take it up with Customer Relations if I wasn't happy. I tried to do this and asked them to recall the conversation in which I 'agreed' to take a contract, but they responded by saying they weren't able to take emails at this time and I should call the number they gave me. I decided to wait a few more days and simply upgrade because I was fed up with it BUT when I am now being told that they won't allow me to upgrade unless I buy out of this contract that I didn't take out or go to see the company 'LIQUID' who sold it to me!! I have never heard of them before and said that they must be paid by T-Mobile if they are tricking people into being tied to them but they said they couldn't answer me. So I asked to speak to a manager who wasn't available and suddenly became permanently unavailable after holding for 20 minutes. I am at my wits end!! I can't get hold of customer relations as the phone number takes me back to the department I have already spoken to which is no good as they won't let me speak to a manager and I can't find any way to get hold of this 'Liquid' company either. Please please can anyone help! Even with a contact number or information on Liquid? What are my rights? Please help as I'm now paying for a contract and I don't have a phone!

grumbler

sid2001 wrote: »

...Please help as I'm now paying for a contract and I don't have a phone!

Well, sim-only contracts are very common and often are a very good value for money.
You have made a typical mistake when having agreed to something offered by some company cold calling you - without recording the conversation or requesting all the details in writing first and without doing any research. You seem to have not even checked your bills or online account after agreeing to the new tariff. Apparently you were missold, but proving this will be very difficult, especially as it was some third party.
It is obvious that T-mobile must have the details of this 'Liquid' company as they pay commission to them. So, you can keep complaining and spend next few months on trying to cancel this sim-only contract.
Otherwise, you can take it on the chin, relax until May, that is not that far away, and learn this lesson that will be very useful for the rest of your life.

Honey_Bear

In at the deep end.

Are there any simple PAYG deals available? Orange have withdrawn theirs now they have gone over to EE. I've been spending less than £50 a year for years and don't ned any bells and whistles - I just want to be able to make and receive calls and texts. Nothing else.

grumbler

Honey_Bear wrote: »

Are there any simple PAYG deals available?

Yes. Loads. At any provider.

Orange have withdrawn theirs now they have gone over to EE

They have not - as you've been told many times. For some reason you chose not to listen.

http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/plans/paygPlanList.jsp

However, Orange is unlikely to be the cheapest option.

I've been spending less than £50 a year for years and don't ned any bells and whistles - I just want to be able to make and receive calls and texts. Nothing else.

http://mobilenetworkcomparison.co.uk/compare/

Talkmobile Essentials, Virgin, Family Mobile, iCard

Honey_Bear

grumbler wrote: »

Yes. Loads. At any provider.
They have not - as you've been told many times. For some reason you chose not to listen.

http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/plans/paygPlanList.jsp

I think this must be a misunderstanding. My understanding of PAYG was that I could top up on a random basis. What you're suggesting is that I sign up for a PLAN at £5 a month. That might be a great deal for most people, but as I've spent about £1.50 a month over the last year on my mobile, it's a pretty carp one for me.

When I read, on the Orange website that they will no longer be 'supporting a PAYG tarriff', I tend to believe them. It doesn't really matter how many people tell me I'm wrong, you don't dictate their PAYG policy, Orange does and they are withdrawing it.

grumbler wrote: »

However, Orange is unlikely to be the cheapest option.

http://mobilenetworkcomparison.co.uk/compare/

Talkmobile Essentials, Virgin, Family Mobile, iCard

Thank you for that, that was helpful.