PAYG SIM card kept alive without regular top-up, only with some activity

ermepb

Hello!

I had a 3 SIM card which I did not use very often. Now it has been deactivated. The helpline told me that I need not just some activity on the SIM card, but also a regular top-up at least every 6 months.

According to Which? http://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/06/which-investigates-lost-credit-on-payg-mobiles-217614/, what is needed is some kind of chargable activity. There are some older threads here (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2572925 and https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1009989) which also suggest that it is activity that matters. Since the threads are a bit old, I open a new thread.

Which PAYG SIM card is recommended if I want to avoid regular top-ups? Making a call or sending a text every 6 months would be ok.

Many thanks!

grumbler

ermepb wrote: »

I had a 3 SIM card which I did not use very often. Now it has been deactivated. The helpline told me that I need not just some activity on the SIM card, but also a regular top-up at least every 6 months.

You dealt with either an incompetent idiot or a liar.

According to Which? http://www.which.co.uk/news/2010/06/which-investigates-lost-credit-on-payg-mobiles-217614/, what is needed is some kind of chargable activity. There are some older threads here (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2572925 and https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1009989) which also suggest that it is activity that matters. Since the threads are a bit old, I open a new thread.

It's better and easier to check the T&C of the provider you are interested in instead.

Which PAYG SIM card is recommended if I want to avoid regular top-ups? Making a call or sending a text every 6 months would be ok.

For the majority of providers a short chargeable call or a text every 180 days will do the job. For some networks it may be 90 days, not 180. For Orange it is 180 and even an incoming call will suffice according to the T&C.

NFH

grumbler wrote: »

For Orange it is 180 and even an incoming call will suffice according to the T&C.

Indeed. I believe that Orange is unique globally in allowing an incoming call to keep a SIM active. Note that an incoming call to voicemail is not sufficient; the call needs to be answered on a phone.

zagfles

grumbler wrote: »

For the majority of providers a short chargeable call or a text every 180 days will do the job. For some networks it may be 90 days, not 180. For Orange it is 180 and even an incoming call will suffice according to the T&C.

According to the Vodafone T&Cs you need to make a chargeable outgoing call every 180 days, there is no mention of texts. Does anyone know if texts will actually keep the SIM alive? My kids send the occasional texts but they rarely make calls.

I did ask Vodafone about this a while ago but got some numpty who insisted it was 90 days, not 180 which it states in the T&Cs, so if they can't even get that right I'm not going to believe anything else they say...

grumbler

zagfles wrote: »

According to the Vodafone T&Cs you need to make a chargeable outgoing call every 180 days, there is no mention of texts. Does anyone know if texts will actually keep the SIM alive? My kids send the occasional texts but they rarely make calls.

I don't see that they have a minimum charge for a call or round the minutes up. If so, a short call will be cheaper than a text. Also, unlike other providers, they give you 90 days to reactivate the line without losing the number and the credit:

6b If we suspend the mobile phone because you have chosen not to use the services (as defined in 6a, 3) for 180 days, we will, if you ask within 90 days of the suspension, reconnect the services and make available any previous credit held on your account at the time of the suspension. If you have not kept to this agreement or not used the services for 270 days, and we disconnect your mobile equipment, you will lose any credit held on your account.

zagfles

grumbler wrote: »

I don't see that they have a minimum charge for a call or round the minutes up. If so, a short call will be cheaper than a text. Also, unlike other providers, they give you 90 days to reactivate the line without losing the number and the credit:

Yes, good point thanks. They send texts at least every 3 months so guess they'll notice in time if they've been suspended.

Vodafone do have a min charge for calls of one minute, cheapest way is to call an 0870/0800 number which are charged at 14p. But no need if texts count...

ermepb

Hello and thank you for your replies. I took some time to collect the various T&Cs (correct to my best knowledge as of 14 April 2012)

O2
7.1. If you do not make or receive a chargeable call at least once in any 6 month period your Mobile Phone will be disconnected and you will lose any remaining credits balance on your Account. If you wish to be re-connected after this time you will be given a new Mobile Phone number.

Vodafone
6a, 3) You choose not to use the service for 180 days. Using this service means making any chargeable outbound calls (but not calls to 191, see your price plan for charges) or topping up your account. [...]
Plus reconnection option as described above.

Orange
3.4 We will disconnect your Device if during the previous six months, you have not Registered a new Top Up or you have not made chargeable calls from your Device or received incoming calls on your Device. For the avoidance of doubt calls shall include but not be limited to voice calls, data calls and text messaging.

T-Mobile
(c) You must make a connection action at least once every 180 days. If you do not your SIM will be disconnected from the network and you will not be able to use the service at all.

Three
(a) if you have not activated a Pay As You Go Voucher on your account or undertaken any chargeable events or activities (for example, made telephone calls, sent text or photo messages, accessed content or the internet or any other 3 Services for which a charge is made) using any credit or allowance on your account within the preceding 6 month period.

TescoMobile
5.4 If you do not use your Mobile Phone for six months we will disconnect you and you will lose your Credits and Mobile Phone number.

As you can see, it is 6 months or 180 days everywhere. Apart from that, there is no limit to a lawyer's fantasy when writing T&Cs. What is a "use of the service" at Vodafone? Or a "connection action" at T-Mobile? If I "use" my mobile phone to hit someone on the head, is this a use of the phone according to TescoMobile?

At the end of the day it is a matter of how strictly they implement their policies

ioscorpio

icardmobile is only 90 days

T&C 9.3. We reserve the right to suspend your Services if you choose not to use the Services (meaning making a chargeable call or SMS, not including those to 263 or 265) or do not top-up your balance for a continuous period of 90 days

FAQ Q21 Your credit will never expire providing there is activity on your account (either a chargeable call, SMS or top-up). If there is no activity for a continuous period of 90 days, we reserve the right to terminate the account in accordance with our general terms and conditions

J_B

Daughter2 has 'free' three to three calls on her contract, so, we have a Three PAYG sim in an old phone on the table at home (Me and Mrs B are on Orange)
It has *NEVER* had any credit on it.
We have used it successfully for over 12 months!

:think:

ermepb

@ioscorpio: I was going to check Virgin too, but I grew tired. Smaller providers are also missing...

@J B, I also had a Three SIM card (the original SIM I mentioned in my first post) for some *years* without using it and it even had £5 credit on it. This is why I thought that Three would not care and would not deactivate it. But all of a sudden it stopped working.

If I were you, I would charge the smallest possible amount on the card and send a text twice a year. This is not a big deal and keeps you the SIM and the number.