Frustrating time with new Asda mobile sim

macman

Please can anyone who has successfully completed the transfer to EE advise if the voicemail has to be set up again from scratch, or is it transferred over? Similarly, if you have a debit card number registered for top ups, does this have to be set up again? Thanks.
Progress? None, my OH has now been waiting a week for the transfer to complete...and now out of credit on the temporary number.

boxofdelights_2

macman wrote: »

Please can anyone who has successfully completed the transfer to EE advise if the voicemail has to be set up again from scratch, or is it transferred over? Similarly, if you have a debit card number registered for top ups, does this have to be set up again? Thanks.
Progress? None, my OH has now been waiting a week for the transfer to complete...and now out of credit on the temporary number.

Hi Macman


I can't really advise on Asda Vodaphone to EE transfer as I transferred from o2 because it gave me a better genuine PAYG deal.


However, re credit, I phoned and got through fairly quickly to customer services and registered my debit card and added credit to the temporary number on the sim. This credit was retained when my old number eventually went live. I was able to use the temporary number while waiting and I only lost service totally for about one day.


I think you'll need to set up your voicemail - instructions are given on FAQ on the Asda mobile webpage. You do need credit to do it as it isn't included in the 'starter' pack.


I seem to have been lucky and found the transfer process fairly frustration free.

boxofdelights_2

I too considered Three, but check that you have a good 3G service in your area. They do not do 2G and do not allow roaming to other networks. I live in semi-rural location and needed to be sure the network coverage has both 2G and 3G coverage.

morski

What a total joke Asda mobile have become!!

So back in December I get my new EE sim card through the post, read all the instructions that cam with the new sim so that I could transfer my number and started that process. Something I now wish I had never done!!

So, 12th December I start the whole process off and I'm told my number will trasfer in 2-5 days, obviously it don't so I finally call them on the 20th December and they don't seem to have a clue what's happened, after much messing about it becomes apparent that I'm actually talking to the wrong Adsa mobile call centre because there are 2 now!! There is one for the old Asda mobile on Vodafone and a new one for the new Asda Mobile on EE, because my number hasn't yet transferred over to EE and I'm using the last bits of credit on my old Asda sim card I'm talking to the wrong call centre. :huh:

So now I need to call the other Asda (EE) customer services (if you can call them that), can't do that off my new Asda sim because I've got no credit on it.... So it looks like a call to the other 0845 number is needed now (yes there are 2 of those as well now!!, one for each call centre).

After a 38 minute wait on hold I finally get through to the EE Asda mobile call centre, they assure me that the number transfer will happen on the 21st December and they hadn't got a clue why it hadn't happened!

So, 21st December and shock horror my number has transferred!! Only now I have a new problem, my phone (Android) doesn't know the Asda APN, easily enough rectified because they just use the standard EE access point, and they do list the new settings on the website as well. Then comes the next problem.....

The adult content filter!!

Facebook - Over 18
Twitter - Over 18
Instagram - Over 18
Money Saving Expert forum - Over 18!!!
National Lottery - Over 18
Plane Finder App - For some random reason can't retrieve any data on Asda.

So, another call to Asda on the 0845 number (getting costly this now) to ask for the adult content filter to be removed, after a stupidly long wait (nearly an hour) I finally get through to someone who tells me that I need to take ID into an Asda store and they will get the content block lifted, minor inconvenience but ok if that the only way it can be done then I suppose so.

On the 22nd I visit the Asda store with ID and they knew exactly what I wanted, people had been coming in with ID all morning because they couldn't access all sorts of sites, they called Asda Mobile from the store and after yet another stupidly long wait they finally get through to the EE call centre who assure them the content block will be taken off within 24 hours, so the latest by the 23rd December.

So.... it's now the 4th January 2014 and the content block still hasn't been lifted but Facebook & Twitter do now work, Money Saving expert forum is still blocked though as is the Planefinder App and just about anything to do with gambling. So it looks like another call to the costly 0845 number is needed.

Once again yet another call, yet another 30 minutes on hold, and this time they admit they messed up and it should have been done ect, and lift the block straight away, all good you would think? Sadly not!!!

Since Christmas it's been talking a long time for the 3G (or E or G) symbol to appear on my phone, about 1/2 hour after the phone is switched on every time. I mentioned this and we run through the phone settings together, all seems to be exactly as it should be, I've tried the sim card in other phones with the same result. We eiliminate the local EE site because I travel around the country and it's doing it wherever I am, and I've also tried an old T-Mobile sim card in the same phone and it's been fine.

At this stage Asda mobile decided to totally reset my account, whatever that does?? And see if the not logging onto the data problem improves over the next 48 hours, if it hasn't then call them back and they will send a new sim card out because the one I'm using could be faulty now :mad::mad::mad:

Well today I tried to call them, waited on hold for over an hour and still no answer.

Tomorrow I get my PAC, sick of them now. They have turned a perfectly reliable service into an absolute shambles. Well done Asda :mad::mad::mad:

[Deleted User]

morski - you are certainly not alone in your problems with coverage - I found the same thing with a trial sim sent to me by Asda.

50% of the time my phone would fail to connect to the internet so it seems that Asda customers are low priority with EE.

I am guessing that the priority levels set on the network are -

1 - Orange, T Mobile and EE customers on contract
2 - Virgin contract/ PAYG and EE PAYG customers
3 - Asda customers.

So when the network is busy Asda customers get connected to the internet last, although calls should work as normal.

A similar system is in operation with O2/Tesco/GiffGaff I believe.

morski

Deleted_User wrote: »

morski - you are certainly not alone in your problems with coverage - I found the same thing with a trial sim sent to me by Asda.

50% of the time my phone would fail to connect to the internet so it seems that Asda customers are low priority with EE.

I am guessing that the priority levels set on the network are -

1 - Orange, T Mobile and EE customers on contract
2 - Virgin contract/ PAYG and EE PAYG customers
3 - Asda customers.

So when the network is busy Asda customers get connected to the internet last, although calls should work as normal.

A similar system is in operation with O2/Tesco/GiffGaff I believe.

Looks like you've got it spot on. Went out and picked another Asda Mobile sim card up this morning.

Tried it in a Samsung Galaxy Ace 2, Huawei Y300, and an Alcatel T'pop on all 3 phones it's taking anything up to an hour today to get the data connection.

A T-Mobile PAYG sim card gets the data connection pretty much straight away in all 3 phones using exactly the same EE APN that Asda mobile is using.

So that's 2 Asda Sim cards in 3 different phones all with the same problem, should be interesting to see what Asda say about this.

The £5 a month bundle seemed ideal for what is my backup phone, looks like I'm going to have to try elsewhere now

morski

Now all I have to do is get through to them again, 3 times so far my call has dropped with a full 2G and 3G signal, so yet another 75p wasted. :mad:

virgo17

Well I guess all this must be doing Tesco Mobile and Mobile By Sainsbury's quite a lot of good.

morski

Still trying to get through to these idiots now :mad::mad:

£1.75 so far now in wasted credit trying to get through to these jokers today. The latest one nearly 45 minutes on hold then it just goes dead, the call is still connected but just no sound on the line at all. I'm sick of hearing the phrase "we are experiencing a very high volume of calls" now. Yeah well looking at the state of the service I bet they are!!!

All I want now is my PAC, not interested in listening to anything else they've got to say.

:mad::mad:

[Deleted User]

Morski - If you've got good coverage where you need it you could use Network Three as their PAYG rate is 3p a minute, 2p a text and 1p MB for data.