ASDA Mobile Ditches Vodafone for EE

Farway

I think there is also the problem, which I forsee for me, my phone is locked to Vodafone, works with Asda piggy back of course

I doubt it will work with EE, and there is no way I am going to buy a new phone or pay to get it unlocked, so it will be wait & see

macman

If you 'never use the phone', then why do you have £17 credit on it? The minimum ASDA mobile top up is just £5.
PS: if you haven't used it at all in the last 6m, then the number will have been recycled anyway, and the credit lost.
Farway: no it won't work on EE if locked to Voda, so you won't have much choice but to get it unlocked if you want to carry on using Asda Mobile after April 2014. From about a fiver depending on the handset. Rather cheaper than a new handset.

cashbag

Is there something about the following statements that is unclear?

I have a mobile phone on ASDA service. I rarely use it but keep it for emergency use should I break down or have an accident & need to be able to contact someone. For this reason I have always kept around £20 credit on the phone & tend to top it up once a year. I make very few calls & only send the occasional text - just enough to keep the account active.

I have absolutely NO REASON WHATSOVER to make phone calls that will use up this credit. Why should I spend my £22 on pointless calls to whoever?

There are a great many people who do not walk around with a mobile glued to their ear talking to whoever; for me it is far preferable to actually interact face-to-face with real people or use a landline from the comfort of home rather than chatter to the virtual world in the supermarket or on a bus! I got my first mobile when the public phone boxes seeemd to be becoming a dying species (even assuming they worked if you found one) & I am often out driving (alone) at night. For basic EMERGENCY use only! So yes - I object strongly to having to use up my "insurance money" of £20+ credit for no good reason.

So I have to be prepared to "throw away" my credit, get the new ASDA SIM (or move to another provider) & then top up ANOTHER £20 so I have my emergency cover. When my last handset died after 10 years it had clocked just 8 hours usage time!! I put about £5 credit on PER YEAR to ensure I can make occasional calls & have enough left to cover me in an emergency.

At 8p a minute for calls & 4p per text I have no issue with the new ASDA tariffs - for a low user like myself it really makes no sense to shop around ad infinitum. We are all different with different needs.

I also take the phone when I travel abroad & hire a car. Should I need to contact someone credit is soon eaten up as you pay to both make & receive calls in those circumstances.

macman

No doubt the ASDA Mobile T&C's allow them to change the carrier at their discretion. Especially if they give 7m notice.
To be blunt, customers who use less than £2 per month are customers that they'll have no interest in retaining, since they are not profitable.
The 'non-transferable' credit is another issue.

cashbag

Plenty of profit if they have taken my money up front & I have not spent the credit on calls etc! How about you hand them £20 at the till & tell them you'll have the groceries when your fridge & cupboards are empty? They'd be laughing all the way to the bank if enough people did this & then in a few months time they said "sorry - you cannot have the groceries now but we are keeping your money!" 100% profit in that case! Why do you think so many sales of goods these days demand full payment up front? It's all about cash flow - get the money in & supply the goods later (hopefully). Until the goods are supplied & the company you bought them off pay THEIR supplier in turn it is money in hand.

jrawle

macman wrote: »

If you 'never use the phone', then why do you have £17 credit on it? The minimum ASDA mobile top up is just £5.
PS: if you haven't used it at all in the last 6m, then the number will have been recycled anyway, and the credit lost.

As I said in my initial post, a lot of the credit was credit I received for free as part of a special promotion at the time I joined ASDA. I forget the details as it was a long time ago, but it was either a certain amount of credit free when you joined, or double credit.

I send a text once every 12 weeks to ensure the number stays active. I have it marked in my calendar to remind me.

macman wrote: »

No doubt the ASDA Mobile T&C's allow them to change the carrier at their discretion. Especially if they give 7m notice.
To be blunt, customers who use less than £2 per month are customers that they'll have no interest in retaining, since they are not profitable.
The 'non-transferable' credit is another issue.

As discussed above, the terms to allow them to discontinue the service and just give you time to use up the credit. The question is whether these terms are fair. I'm sure they don't want people like those of us who rarely use the phone, but as there is nothing in their T&Cs that says I can't use the phone as I do, they shouldn't just be able to take my credit away.

cashbag

I'm sure they don't want people like those of us who rarely use the phone, but as there is nothing in their T&Cs that says I can't use the phone as I do, they shouldn't just be able to take my credit away.

Quite agree. Besides every customer is valuable. At least I am faithful & am not particularly keen to move suppliers! Sometimes a customer might spend a small amount on one thing, but I do my entire shopping (food, clothes, housewares, entertainment etc) at ASDA, so am not of no value to them. And if/when I am ever in the market for an all-singing/dancing smartphone/tablet/iPad thingy then who is to say I will not be buying it at ASDA.

If £20 is of so little value to some people then perhaps they would be kind enough to send me £20! To someone on a low fixed income it is a not insubstantial amount to have to lose & replace.

macman - you are obviously not being inconvenienced by this action on the part of ASDA & your contribution seems to be to question why some of us do not conform to your idea of how we should use our mobile phones. Just because when I go out for a hike I walk 10-12 miles does not mean I think everyone should go that distance if they fancy a stroll in the country!

james_Roberts

I have two sims with Asda Mobile and plan to move to the three Network, but unhappy I lose all the credit when I ring them tomorrow for PAC Codes.

Kind regards

James

jrawle

james_Roberts wrote: »

I have two sims with Asda Mobile and plan to move to the three Network, but unhappy I lose all the credit when I ring them tomorrow for PAC Codes.

Perhaps it's best to do as someone suggested and text to donate the remaining credit to charity. Better a charity receive the money than ASDA keep it.

cashbag

Well - you lose your remaining credit at anytime you voluntarily move to a new provider if you want to take your number with you. As said - at least send the money to a charity who are more in need than Wal-Mart Inc!