BEWARE the hidden costs of changing mobile phone provider!

Dibbly

I recently tried out the extremely informative onecompare.com website and discovered my current network provider (Orange) was fifth on the list of "best" (ie, cheapest!) options for my current Pay As You Go mobile usage. Hence I am in the process of changing to T-Mobile, who currently rate as most economical for me.

HOWEVER - and if you think I'm naive for not realising, well, I've never done this before! - oh, the hidden costs, they really add up! (1) I got a Porting Authorisation Code (PAC) from Orange (in order to keep my existing number) and called the "special" number listed by T-Mobile in order to facilitate this - 0870 60 60 139 - the call cost me nearly £4.00. I nearly passed out when I realised! (2) The £10 it cost me to have my phone unlocked (Orange would have charged me £15, and it's an LG phone, so no bypass unlocking code for me!). (3) When you buy a T-Mobile SIM for your existing phone, the literature (on-line and the welcome pack booklet) says that you start out on the standard (Everyone) package, then "call 146 free from your T-Mobile phone" to change tariffs. Implication being that this happens pretty well instantly. What it doesn't say is that you aren't instantly transferred to the tariff you actually want: in my case, I requested the text tarriff on 5th June, but it won't be activated on my phone until 2nd July, ie, more hidden costs, as the standard package is more expensive for my usage.

Oh, what a big old moan - ! But I am on a tight budget and have a fiver max per month for my mobile, so am just trying to squeeze it for the best possible value all round.

PS: Good news! I emailed T-Mobile to complain about the cost of the PAC phone number transfer call - and I've just heard that they've refunded it in full - hoorah! Feel a bit better now! :j

HugoSP

I've NEVER been charged to port my number over!

I have ported my numbers from 3 to Orange, back to 3 and then to T Mobile - a few weeks ago.

H

Agent47

Same here, Orange to Virgin and no charge, well VIrgin are starting to do LG phones and thankfully dont charge for unlock codes (You need to have topped up with £30 airtime) but then again the last one i got didnt work lol

Agent 47

DonnyDave

I suggest you check out Say no to 0870! for more on the scam that is expensive covert premium numbers (0844/0845/0870/0871).