Vodafone or Talkmobile?

twodoctors

I'm itching to upgrade to Samsung Galaxy S2 from HTC Desire. I'm with Vodafone sim-only at the moment, paying around £20 for 900 minutes and 500mb data. Anyway saw a deal with Talkmobile for the S2, £30 a month, £99 for the phone for 12 months, 400min, 1Gb data. Works out about £460 which is roughly the cost of the phone new. Pretty good deal I thought. Spoke to Vodafone just now. They can only match it with a 18 months deal, £30 a month, £140 for the phone, 600min and unlimited internet. They used the "scare tactic" saying that they use vodafone network and don't have the priority and I'll get worse data speed compare to vodafone. I'm slightly tempted to stick with Vodafone. What do you guys think?

Adrian

grumbler

I think they are lying.

twodoctors

So do I.

Just thinking if they do indeed offer unlimited internet, then it might be a better deal for me as the shackles would be off and I can watch internet TV/YouTube etc without worrying about going over on data, battery life allowing of course...

...but where I live I have virtually no signal from Vodafone indoors. Outdoors is fine. I might just blag a "SureSignal" from them as well to sweeten the deal for me!

Adrian

supamar1o

below i've pasted a reply i left on two similar questions. i took out the exact contract you mention, and this is what i've been through and still am going through:

i have very mixed feelings about them. i chose them because the phone i want, on a 12month contract, was cheaper by more than £70 to any other company.

but:
i was a customer for one week and had to cancel my contract because they messed up my number porting (it took nearly 2hours of phone time to speak to someone and establish the problem). had to return my handset. had to call them up again in order to get a refund of a £100 deposit they took (they don't automatically refund it). just found that this contract wasn't immediately cancelled and so they debited £16 from my bank account. i just called to query this and they've finally cancelled the account, but i have to call back on monday to request the refund of the £16 (they can't refund this automatically).

because i was keen on this particular phone, 12mnth contract and the saving, i took out a contract with them again. went reasonably smooth, it's been two weeks.
but:
i found that whilst using mobile internet (they piggyback on vodafone, btw. signal and data speeds are the same as what you'd find using vodafone), certain websites would be blocked with an error message stating the site contains 18+ adult content and i must contact my provider in order to lift the block. this error message is created by vodafone (as is made clear by the url in the address bar, online.vodafone.co.uk/ blah blah).

note that the website i was trying to access is a page for an oktoberfest in london this weekend... nothing more dubious.

i contacted talkmobile, and to my utter surprise, disappointment, and frustration i was told that i would have to pay £100 deposit (refunded after 6months!) or they have to receive three months of successful direct debits from me, before they can lift this block. their reasoning behind this is that some websites can bill high charges to my mobile account, and they need consolation that i am able to pay that back (by £100 deposit or 3months direct debits).

they were absolutely resolute about this. it is vaguely stated in their t&c's, and i mean very vaguely. what is even more frustrating to me, considering this is a vodafone system, vodafone piggyback (i know talkmobile is a carphonewarehouse company), is that vodafone simply requires their customers to provide proof of age! that's all! one could call them and give them your credit card details, or walk into a vf shop and show them id, and they'd lift it. not talkmobile!

anyway, i don't know what i'm going to do... live with this for three months, or fork out another £100 deposit. that's my problem.

hope i was able to give you some insight into their operation and enabled you to make an informed decision before choosing them.

chrispafc

I was enticed by the £8 a month SIM only 30 day contract offering 200mins, 200 texts and 500mb of data. A few months later, I was wondering why I was getting a terrible signal. It was in a pub in Cornwall when I needed to call a taxi firm but could not get a signal whatsoever; yet the people sat near me (who were on Vodafone) had full bars! The 3G signal on Talkmobile is awful - very poor data transfer rates.

Although it is not written anywhere, Vodafone prioritise their own customers during busy periods at the expense of Talkmobile customers. I initially went to Talkmobile having been trapped on Virgin Mobile for 18 months with terrible signal problems.

O2 treat Tesco Mobile customers with contempt I am told also. Stick with the main 4 networks: O2, Vodafone, Everything Everywhere and 3.

grumbler

chrispafc wrote: »

...It was in a pub in Cornwall when I needed to call a taxi firm but could not get a signal whatsoever; yet the people sat near me (who were on Vodafone) had full bars! The 3G signal on Talkmobile is awful - very poor data transfer rates....

I can understand lower data transfer rate, but obviously poor signal was because of your handset (iPhone by any chance?) or because the 'people near you' were connected to 2g.

chrispafc

No, HTC Desire actually. I tried to get a 2G or 3G signal but got neither. Vodafone prioritise their own customers on the signal! I will amend my suggestion earlier about going to one of the main networks - check your mobile coverage with 3 before you choose them. 3 are cutting back on the 2g and you may find yourself without a signal!