Have OVIVO gone bust?

culpepper

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

I think a lot of the 50,000 OVIVO customers were probably low users who could keep a SIM card going for free, without really ever having to view an ad!

In order to view the offers in Ovivo's emails it was necessary to sign into your account. I could not be bothered to do this, so I simply deleted all emails from Ovivo without viewing them.

Same here, I imagine quite a lot of OVIVO customers paid nothing at all after the initial purchase of a sim and as you say, didn't really view an ad. I have a nokia phone which doesn't run android and I think I saw one advert from ovivo in 5 months of use.
I didn't even realise I could sign in from the emails I was receiving on my laptop.

Paul_Varjak

I, for one, have just ordered a GiffGaff SIM. The prices are pretty good, no matter the usage level and it is possible to match requirements on a month-by-month basis which suits me at this time.

GiffGaff's network, O2, gives me the best signal (GPRS and sometimes EDGE) on a mobile at home. Passable for phone calls and email but not Yahoo Messenger. It does work with some other instant Messengers, WhatsApp for example.

My house was flooded in December and I am living in a caravan on-site. My TalkTalk internet and phone connection is intermittent but I can manage my internet needs with Samba Mobile on the Chromebook when TalkTalk is not working.

I really need a reliable phone connection and I hope GiffGaff can satisfy that need when the SIM arrives in a few days. I found that I can get a better signal on my Moto-G than I can on an Huawei Ascend G300 and that if I use the loudpeaker (rather than holding the phone) the signal is less likely to get lost.

Those are the joys of living in a small village just a quarter of a mile from a tidal river.

marks7389

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

I cannot get a signal on Three at home either on my smartphone. But, on my Chromebook at home, I can get better Internet on Three than any other provider, so I plumped for Samba Mobile (an MVNO on Three) which gives free internet for watching a few adverts.

If you have a tablet/PC/Chromebook that takes a SIM card then such an arrangement may work for you too. But you cannot make standard phone calls over Samba Mobile - you would have to opt for VOIP calls.

Incoming calls and texts are really the issue. We have a landline so can make calls anyway.

We get nothing at all other than Vodafone and O2, and even then only weak 2G, and that's on one of the largest housing developments in the country with a few hundred metres of a major motorway.

Hopefully 4G/LTE will open up some more options when the roll outs reach us and the networks deploy VoLTE (voice over LTE), but until either that happens or we move we're a bit restricted.

Like you I'm returning to giffgaff in the mean time, having left them 4 months ago for Ovivo. At least their payg rates are somewhat less than most of the major networks, and there's always the chance of some payback.

Did you see they are offering £5 free credit to anyone porting from Ovivo?

Paul_Varjak

marks7389 wrote: »

Incoming calls and texts are really the issue. We have a landline so can make calls anyway.

We get nothing at all other than Vodafone and O2, and even then only weak 2G, and that's on one of the largest housing developments in the country with a few hundred metres of a major motorway.

Hopefully 4G/LTE will open up some more options when the roll outs reach us and the networks deploy VoLTE (voice over LTE), but until either that happens or we move we're a bit restricted.

Like you I'm returning to giffgaff in the mean time, having left them 4 months ago for Ovivo. At least their payg rates are somewhat less than most of the major networks, and there's always the chance of some payback.

Did you see they are offering £5 free credit to anyone porting from Ovivo?

Although I have had an Ovivo SIM almost since OVIVO launched, I never used it for incoming calls, never transmitted my CLI and never gave the number to anyone until the day before Ovivo pulled the plug! I was always worried that their business model was not sustainable.

Then MSE promoted them! Just shows how wrong we all can be. I now think it is better to stick with MVNOs linked directly to network providers (such as GiffGaff to O2) and to avoid the one-man start-ups altogether.

For the same reason, I used e2save as it is under the umbrella of Carphone Warehouse; less likely to collapse and, even if it did, would not shut up shop without notice. A lot of people moan about e2save but I found them to be about the best company I have ever dealt with.

It does not seem possible to get the contract super cashback deals from the main network providers that were available a couple of years ago and I am shying away from contract deals anyway since it ties me in for up to 24 months. I have a Talkmobile 24 months cashback deal (via e2save) with unlimited internet and around 200 minutes/month which worked out at under £5/month after cashback. That is coming to an end, so that is why I started giving out my Ovivo number.

No, I had not spotted that Giffgaff were giving were £5 credit for Ovivo customers porting to them. But it seems many are not getting their PAC code from Ovivo, so I don't think I will even attempt it. I could port my Talkmobile number at the end of the contract but I really need a working mobile now as the land-line is intermittent since the flood.

As for 4G. I figure that if I am struggling to get 3G then I won't get 4G when it becomes available, even if I had a 4G-capable handset (which I don't)

alinwales

I had 19 days of service from the 18 I paid last Valentine's weekend. Not totally bitter s for me was a punt. Credit card people are looking at it, but I know my chances are slim.
The only lucky thing was that on the very night of the closure, I made the decision to get the PAC for my usual number to port it to Ovivo, which I planned to do the next day.. glad I read about it first! So sticking with my 3 payg SIM now.

canterswest

Ovivo Mobile had recently signed up with Tradedoubler according to this


http://www.tradedoubler.com/uk-en/blog/ovivo-mobile-launches-on-tradedoubler/


Affiliates were not permitted to say things like ' “OVIVO is free” or “FREE Sim card” as in our £0 p/m tariffs there’s one off £20 upfront payment.'

buglawton

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

As for 4G. I figure that if I am struggling to get 3G then I won't get 4G when it becomes available, even if I had a 4G-capable handset (which I don't)

As well as faster data and bigger data capacity, the whole point of 4g is to improve coverage.

Herongull

I'd been with Ovivo around 20 months so had my money's worth.

I'd always wondered why they were never mentioned on Martin's main website or the newsletter. I thought perhaps it because he wasn't sure about their financial viability.

When he started actively recommending them, I took it as good news - he must have decided that they are now established and on sounder financial footing.

In the light of events, this wasn't the case. So why did he ignore them for 2 years?

marvin

Herongull wrote: »

In the light of events, this wasn't the case. So why did he ignore them for 2 years?

I suspect it is because they were not paying for a mention but I am an old cynic.

Li0nhead

A little bit of good news from Quidco for myself. Having ordered an ovivo sim a month back and gone through quidco to get the £2 cashback, just logged into quidco to see the following message:

Hi,



As you may be aware, Ovivo Mobile have closed down. We noticed you were due cashback from them and, as we don’t like our members to be disappointed, we’ve paid the cashback to you ourselves and you’ll be able to see this in your activity.



We share your disappointment when a retailer ceases to trade and we hope that this gesture demonstrates Quidco’s commitment to rewarding our members for shopping via our site.



Have a great weekend.



Best wishes,



The Team at Quidco

Thank you Quidco. Nice gesture.