Cheap Mobile Contracts Article Discussion

grumbler

neiliowff wrote: »

...I notice my new plan now splits out the cost of the handset and the cost of the call plan which makes me think these companies have noticed this issue.

AFAIK, O2 is the only provider offering this sort of contracts - along with the old-fashioned ones.

buglawton wrote: »

Should have discovered MSE 5 years ago

One doesn't need MSE for switching to a sim-only contract or PAYG after the minimum term expires. It's just a common sense, not a rocket science, although MSE could help with finding the best deal to switch to.

50Twuncle

Any current cheap deals for SIM only unlimited internet - with say 100 Texts and no speech (I do not speak) !!!
preferably on a month by month basis

grumbler

I think Giffgaff's £12 or Three's £12.90 will be difficult to beat.

marks7389

A few comments on the recent article updates...


1. Hullomail can be a good tool for avoid voicemail calls in some circumstances. However it will not work with many PAYG services, and for those where it will (e.g. Giffgaff) there is a charge for forwarding the calls to Hullomail which may end up costing more than the voicemail retrieval otherwise would have.


It can be more useful for avoiding calls to voicemail when roaming, especially on monthly contracts where the forwarding is often taken from inclusive minutes.


2. Ovivo has been around for a couple of years now so not that new. Its future is not guaranteed as the article points out, but the fact that free allowances are slowly increasing (most recently to 250 mins from 200, and from 150 not long before Christmas) seems to indicate that it is successful.


I use it; if you can put up with the ads (which can be a pain if you have low reception) and it meets your usage requirements, it is fine.


3. Worth noting that Three 'feel at home' offers inclusive roaming across a number of countries now, including the US. If you travel a lot a Three sim only service (starting from £6.90/month for light users) could be a relative bargain when roaming costs are considered.

marks7389

neiliowff wrote: »

I am sure the phone companies would push me down the route of saying I did not read the terms and conditions correctly or that the way they billed back then is different to how they bill today…..but it strikes me that this could be a bit of a PPI scenario all over again as countless customers must have been misled into this very same mistake and subsequently overpaid massively for their handset.

The fundamental issue is that people often think the contract rates are the going price for a service, and they are somehow getting the handset "free" because that is usually how it is presented. Even MSE has been known to use the term... :eek:


Shop around and you will find that is not the case, that the rates include substantial mark-up to cover the handsets and consequently you do not want to carry on paying them beyond the minimum term, unless you are getting a replacement handset and you feel it is worthwhile on that basis.


It's not in the interests the mobile providers to tell you that you're paying more than you need to, and since they are still providing a perfectly usable service for the money what they are doing is not illegal.


As with anything else you buy it is up to you as the consumer to make sure you understand your options across the whole market and are getting best value for money. The vendors won't do that for you.

50Twuncle

Is a PAC code free of charge ?
Plus - if I get one now - from EE - and don't use it - will it ANNOY them ?
My contract expires in 2 months time ...

212

Ovivo's internet isn't just 'slow' it's atrocious. I live on the outskirts of a town centre, where all networks have fairly good reception. I get 4 out of 5 bars, and my Facebook will barely load. BBC News loads text, and then images 1 by 1, at a rate of about 1 per minute.

They told me it's related to 'SmartData' (essentially traffic shaping) - so I said fair enough for large downloads (e.g. speed tests), but surely it's not supposed to be THIS slow when I have 3G signal, and before the speed test, and they ignored me.

It's still stupidly slow days later. I'd be interested to hear from anyone with respectable internet speeds on a tablet! I've got another SIM from them for my phone, but think I'll wait before activating it!!

buglawton

Hmm I have an Ovivo and a separate Vodaphone data sim, will have to test these at same location. I too suspect there's something up with Ovivo's data.

50Twuncle

212 wrote: »

Ovivo's internet isn't just 'slow' it's atrocious. I live on the outskirts of a town centre, where all networks have fairly good reception. I get 4 out of 5 bars, and my Facebook will barely load. BBC News loads text, and then images 1 by 1, at a rate of about 1 per minute.

They told me it's related to 'SmartData' (essentially traffic shaping) - so I said fair enough for large downloads (e.g. speed tests), but surely it's not supposed to be THIS slow when I have 3G signal, and before the speed test, and they ignored me.

It's still stupidly slow days later. I'd be interested to hear from anyone with respectable internet speeds on a tablet! I've got another SIM from them for my phone, but think I'll wait before activating it!!

The bars themselves are meaningless - try a speedtest such as OOKLA

CarolCompLady

I'm a pensioner and my daughter reckons Ovivo Freedom SIM deals are best for old folks like me. You don't get a phone and they're 30 day contracts but very cheap and great if you don't mind a bit of extra advertising on your browser. I'll be getting one (when she gets around to it!!) soon - will report back on it!