Feedback on The People's Operator (TPO)

The_Last_Username

Crikey!

My experiences - and that of three other family members - have so far (over this past year, now) been positive.
Though I can appreciate where you are "coming from".

TBH there is no such thing as a "good" company when it comes to your mobile phone operator; a simple look through these forums is ample evidence of that.
I myself have very poor experiences with GiffGaff - who are very highly rated BUT also not perfect.

All of the concerns you raise are clearly covered and/or stated within the "Terms and conditions" as you have found.
If any areas cause concern, then this is reason for you NOT to enter into a contract - before you enter, not after.
As with any contract, the responsibility is with the customer to read, understand and accept before entering a contract.
So that said I find your wording in the title to be misleading and unfair.
Whilst you may not be happy with the service you have received from them, I'm sorry to say that this does appear to be because you did not fully read the terms and conditions before you signed-up to a contract.

There are quite a few MVNO's and providers of mobile phone services.
The People's Operator are among the least-expensive of these.
If you think that any of the alternative operators will be vastly different I'm afraid you are in for a surprise; they are not.
That not just from past experience but also from reading these forums.

printedinuk

To be honest, I can't argue with the logic of checking the terms before you enter into a contract but I think there are a few implied elements of trust, which people often assume (rightly or wrongly), when entering into a contract.

That's why I didn't make a blanket statement like "TPO is bad!" but simply that I had quite significant concerns since joining them. I merely wanted to warn people of some (clearly common) pitfalls so that they could make a more informed decision.

Like you (The Last Username), I abandoned giffgaff, mainly because I could not get their online payment gateway to work reliably (they kept replying that "most people use vouchers to top up") so I took it that although good for many, their service wasn't for me.

I have experience of a vast array of other mobile phone operators and yes, they all have their problems (some more than others), but I have not come across any which have such fundamental problems as TPO which is why I felt I should share this.

I think this is especially relevant given that we are, I would argue, in a consumer's heaven when it comes to competition, at the moment.

I fully expect that there will be many people out there who can speak of positive experiences with TPO - you sound like one of them and I'm genuinely happy it works for you and that none of the issues I raised concern you. :-)

noelphobic

I've been with TPO for a while on a SIM only rolling monthly contract. I'm thinking of getting a 4G phone so checked if TPO are offering 4G yet.

I've checked on their website and it seems that they have been offering a 4G plan to new customers since March. Existing customers have to wait until July. The only alternative is to cancel your contract and sign up as a new customer, but you will lose your number.

A while ago they contacted some of their customers to say they were drastically reducing their allowances - although I wasn't affected. At the same time the offerings to new customers became rubbish.

Soon after they brought new plans out which were much better.

I don't even know if I've got a question here but I am completely baffled by the way they do business so would be interested in opinions on this.

goldenseal

I had a monthly Sim with TP0 and the data didn't work. I rang them and they did something to 'fixit' It worked for 5 minutes then stopped working. Same thing happened 3 Times then after another call (where you have to wait 45 min before ya can speak to a person) they told me to re-set the settings in'the Access point names to 'pay as you go' Which made it work but then next day it didn't work again! I left but am still having problems with Delight mobile. Same thing as TP0. Long waits on phone, changing the settings, data worked yesterday, today my phone said 'refreshing Sim data' nothing worked Texts, phone, data all not working. When it had finished phone + text Worked but data didn't. I rang again and they said to install their configuration message and turn on roaming data. It still didn't work. I got pack code and am now waiting from EE Sim to arrive. Maybe these cheaper unknown companies aren't vey good. Theres no point in having lots of data if it doesn't work. Also 'Delight mobile' don't have a landline number so if your mobile won't work it costs a lot to ring their mobile number from your landline.

diamonds

goldenseal wrote: »

I had a monthly Sim with TP0 and the data didn't work. I rang them and they did something to 'fixit' It worked for 5 minutes then stopped working. Same thing happened 3 Times then after another call (where you have to wait 45 min before ya can speak to a person) they told me to re-set the settings in'the Access point names to 'pay as you go' Which made it work but then next day it didn't work again! I left but am still having problems with Delight mobile. Same thing as TP0. Long waits on phone, changing the settings, data worked yesterday, today my phone said 'refreshing Sim data' nothing worked Texts, phone, data all not working. When it had finished phone + text Worked but data didn't. I rang again and they said to install their configuration message and turn on roaming data. It still didn't work. I got pack code and am now waiting from EE Sim to arrive. Maybe these cheaper unknown companies aren't vey good. Theres no point in having lots of data if it doesn't work. Also 'Delight mobile' don't have a landline number so if your mobile won't work it costs a lot to ring their mobile number from your landline.

Could be a data provisioning issue that was not noticed by both them, EE might not resolve the issue without investigation if it happens again as TPO and Delight use EE!


You might get lucky and he provisioning staff member doing it at EE notices a issue.


Call EE and explain before they start the PAC in process that a note is added to your PAC request that these EE resellers had the same issue, something rogue is going on at EE provisioning to date.

creditcard123

Hi

Just received an email from TPO (the people's operator) to say my current tariff of £12.49 being increased to £19.99:shocked::shocked:
Think I may need to look for another mobile operator.:mad::mad::mad:

ryan121

They don't seem to have any tariff on their website that costs £19.99. There most expensive tariff seems to be £15. What is your tariff?

chrisw

I had the same thing on the 6gb package- they are removing people from the 3G packages and introducing them onto the 4g at much greater cost and less data. These new plans don't appear on the website yet. It's a shame really because I was happy with them, but I've moved to Talk mobile 15gb data for £15.

creditcard123

It was the unlimited text and calls and 6gb. I think I will change to id they are doing a 4gb for £10.
Really annoyed because we only moved to them in March now having to move again.

apples05

Hi ,

Just wondering if anyone else has been affected by the TPO tariff changes and if you have had any joy in getting through to them?

Yesterday I recieved an email from The Peoples Operator telling me that they are upgrading to 4G and if I want to keep my existing plan then the £12.49 per month cost will be increasing to £19.99 per month. A disgraceful jump of over 50%!

They are advising that I switch to the £7.50 per month 4G plan but of course that gives nowhere near the same allowances as the one I signed up for just 4 months ago! The sim is for my daughters phone and she has no need for 3G but it seems that TPO are not giving an option to remain on current plans. Quite frankly if I wanted to pay that much per month I'd have gone with one of the bigger networks in the first place.

I went with TPO after they were recommended here and I am very disappointed with the way they are handling this.Sadly unless they now honour the deal I originally purchased I'll be going elsewhere for sure , as there are many better deals out there now.

Terrible business practice from a so called ethical provider. :mad: