Mobile phone users 'overpaying by £200' per year

WelshBluebird

spaceboy wrote: »

Not sure about that. You arent allowed to use the giffgaff SIM with USB dongles.

Their official stance is that you can't use the sim card in a usb dongle, in a MiFi type device or use the tethering features offered by smartphones (to get your laptop online via your phone).
Fair enough.

However, if you legitimatly use a lot of data on your phone (so not tethering), they will still accuse you of tethering (and so breaking their rules).

Personally, I do have a problem anyway with companies charging extra for tethering (its all data at the end of the day). But in situations where it can be abused (like on an unlimited tariff) I can understand not allowing it.

But the network then needs to realise that there are many different uses of data on a mobile phone, and just the fact that you use a lot of it, does not mean you are tethering.

grumbler

Guys_Dad wrote: »

The point is that I pay for the amount of data, calls and texts that will comfortably ensure that I don't pick up swingeing charges for going over. The amount I pay is miniscule and the value to me outweighs the costs.

Come on. We don't pay for everything that we want.
And £30-£40 p.m. may be 'miniscule' for you, but not for many people paying this sort of money.

Majority of people don't need these hundreds and thousands of minutes and would have never bought these contracts if they came without flashy phones.

£200 'wasted' on average is in fact a part of the indirect price of the 'free' phones. Only a part because they waste more in fact. For the same price on PAYG they would have used less minutes/texts/Mb.

Having said that, I waste my free (really free) 300 minutes on calls abroad, saving just 0.5 p/min compared to calling from a landline. And I hardly ever use 10% of my really free 500Mb because I am almost always on WiFi.

Snakeeyes21

I dont know about other people but I picked a plan that would suit my needs for the next 24 months, alot can change in that time..
Its pretty pointless getting on a tariff that exacally matches your needs at the time of signing it, if that were the case I would have got one with 100 minutes, then suddenly found myself paying for 300+ minutes extra a month just a few months later.

I think we get a very good deal in this country compared to the likes of the USA, what they have to put up with is enough to make your eyes water, 3 year contracts, paying paying huge costs towards the phone, higher tariff costs with lower allowances and some paying for incoming calls and texts.

I would say for myself paying £20 a month that gives me 500 minutes, 5000 texts, 5000 3-3 minutes and 3gb of data, and a very decent smartphone is a bargain, I use around 1000 texts, 300 'normal' minutes, 200 - 300 3-3 minutes and most of my data allowance, so even though it could be said im over paying by quite a bit, I personally see it as still great value for my usage and it gives me that extra buffer without having to worry about racking up a larger bill.

Although there are probably many more people who are on the same plan just to get a smartphone then only use a couple of texts, a few minutes of calls, and less than 100mb of data, its madness.

Guys_Dad

grumbler wrote: »

Come on. We don't pay for everything that we want.
And £30-£40 p.m. may be 'miniscule' for you, but not for many people paying this sort of money.

.

£30 - £40 ? Where did you get that from? I get 400 mobile minutes and unlimited landline calls, 500Mb data and 300 texts for £10 per month - plus a LG Android phone that actually cost me £22 one off.

I have no sympathy for people who are gadget driven and commit to exorbitant monthly contracts just to get the latest bit of harware. Nor for those garrulous compulsives who can't relax for 5 minutes without communicating absolute trivia to like minded cyber inhabitants either by text of voice.

The point is that I don't need a band of Oxford mathematicians who have come up with this research from goodness knows where to try to run my life.

Snakeeyes 21 is correct - we do get a good deal here in the UK and I prefer to have the buffer to avoid out of bundle costs..

MorrisonsEmployee

WelshBluebird wrote: »

You mean the network that advertises their package as having actually unlimited data, yet accuse you of tethering (and thus breaking their rules) if you use over a certain amount?

...And then totally bar your account to stop any use of data!:rotfl:

MorrisonsEmployee

I think the article is very subjective - I mean i might be paying too much but for £35 a month with 600 minutes, Unlimited texts and Unlimited data with an iPhone 4 was a far better option for me than having to find £510+ in one go to be able to buy the iPhone 4 sim/contract free.

And seeing as data now comes as a standard on most mobile contracts then of course the average usage will be pulled down as there are many people simply not interested in using their phone to access the net.

boliston

I think a lot of people would be better off on PAYG where you do not have to commit to using a certain number of minutes or a certain number of MB of data.
I only use about 1 hour per month on voice and about 150mb/month so payg is a no brainer as I pay less than £10 most months.

Stuart_W

boliston wrote: »

I think a lot of people would be better off on PAYG where you do not have to commit to using a certain number of minutes or a certain number of MB of data.
I only use about 1 hour per month on voice and about 150mb/month so payg is a no brainer as I pay less than £10 most months.

Better off on PAYG? Why?
You only pay less than £10 most months?
With T-mobile 100 mins 100 texts and 500MB internet is only £6 per month
With Talkmobile 100 mins 100 texts and 100MB is only £5.11 per month
You could be paying less than £10 every month, provided you get a SIM-only that you stay within.
Both of these examples are 30-day only SIMs so it's easy enough to move to another deal if usage changes.

grumbler

To be fair, neither of the above include 150Mb. You'll struggle to find a rolling deal with interned for less than £10 (unless you factor in a cashback, like £80ish for t-mobile)

EDIT: I missed that a booster is available on Chitter-Chatter.

spaceboy

grumbler wrote: »

To be fair, neither of the above include 150Mb. You'll struggle to find a rolling deal with interned for less than £10 (unless you factor in a cashback, like £80ish for t-mobile)

yeah that's why I've now switched to pay as you go. Contracts just arent good for people trying to save money.