Cheap Pay-as-you-go Deals Article Discussion

Farway

bjbyorkshire said:

Hello, I have started the change over from Three PAYG to Asda PAYG.  First thing I’ve done is ordered a SIM card from Asda.  Now what to do next please.  How to get my credit refund and my PAC code then move over.  What should I do in which order?  

I have been with Three ever since having a mobile phone, the lovely little old grey and silver ones, no web browsing, just plain and simple calls and texts.  Fitted in a handbag no probs.  

Everything we know and have loved comes to an end.  

Many thanks

Very unlikely to get a credit refund, you lose whatever you have, unfair maybe but all PAYG are the same.

If it's a lot then I suggest use it up before moving over, or look into donating owed credit to a charity before you leave Three

Once you've decided what to do with your credit, and found the Asda SIM to work in your phone then simply text Three for your PAC, BUT seems Three can be awakward, want birthdate etc so maybe someone who has recently moved from Three will advise better than I on the PAC number aspect

flaneurs_lobster

Farway said:

Very unlikely to get a credit refund, you lose whatever you have, unfair maybe but all PAYG are the same.

Generally true, but Three have sent this to their PAYG customers

https://www.three.co.uk/payg-pricing1-2022

What's not clear from that is the exact method to get a refund and request a PAC. 

bjbyorkshire

Thanks for the replies.  I got the text message from three that their prices were going up and that I could move and may be able to get a refund.  It gave the web site to go to as 3.uk/2ma.Optout@My3.   I typed in the whole of that into my browser and it took me to the normal Three main page.  It doesn’t look very clear to me what you then need to do from this page.  Where is the web chat page?  Or is it on the phone under the 444 number?  I do have my account details but I haven’t got the app.

Can anyone who has done this very recently give any more advice please.

My Asda sim should arrive tomorrow so I want to be ready to move over asap.  

Many thanks 

flaneurs_lobster

bjbyorkshire said:

 It gave the web site to go to as 3.uk/2ma.Optout@My3.   I typed in the whole of that into my browser and it took me to the normal Three main page.  

It's poor formatting by Three in that message. Should be 3.uk/2ma . The second bit is to opt out of further messages and is not part of the address.

Qew

Farway said:

Once you've decided what to do with your credit, and found the Asda SIM to work in your phone then simply text Three for your PAC, BUT seems Three can be awakward, want birthdate etc so maybe someone who has recently moved from Three will advise better than I on the PAC number aspect

Send "PAC ddmmyy" (no quotes; also note there are no slashes separating day, month and year) to 65075. I've had to do this twice in the past, one of them nearly two months ago. If you just send PAC, then they text you back asking you to send again in the date of birth format that I mentioned above. Other than that, it works fine.

bjbyorkshire

Flaneurs - thanks for that.  It did look more what I was needing the way you advised.  I will try tomorrow when my new sim arrives and report back.  

Que, are you saying I should do this on the phone?  I was thinking to do it via web chat on line? Ask for my right to cancel as per the text they sent me, close the account the ask for PAC to be sent.  I dont want to get the pac which I presume closes the account before I get the credit if that is possible.  
Thanks

Qew

bjbyorkshire said:

Flaneurs - thanks for that.  It did look more what I was needing the way you advised.  I will try tomorrow when my new sim arrives and report back.  

Que, are you saying I should do this on the phone?  I was thinking to do it via web chat on line? Ask for my right to cancel as per the text they sent me, close the account the ask for PAC to be sent.  I dont want to get the pac which I presume closes the account before I get the credit if that is possible.  
Thanks

Firstly, don't just close the account down like you're saying, because you'll possibly lose the number that way.

The PAC is started by sending a text to 65075 typing what I said above. The PAC lasts for 30 days. After that, you can either carry on with your current provider or request a new PAC. Getting a PAC doesn't end your contract or your PAYG; it's totally safe, nothing changes if you merely request a PAC. Your contract or PAYG account will only end if you pass the code you received from Three to a new provider. Once that provider receives it and the number is ported, your Three account will close.

So, text your PAC request, get the text back from Three with the code, then you can request whatever you like from them in the meantime. Your PAC lasts for thirty days, they won't close down your account until you send the code to the new provider.

Here is a howto from USwitch giving details:

https://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/guides/porting-your-mobile-phone-number/

Here's an FAQ from MoneySuperMarket:

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/mobile-phones/guides/how-to-transfer-number-to-a-new-phone/

bjbyorkshire

Those 2 links have been so helpful.  I now feel much more confident that I will be able to do the change over by myself.  I will do the pac request first.  Hopefully the new Asda sim will come tomorrow so I will try it in the phone first.  Put back the existing 3 sim for now.  Call customer services to say can I have my credit back please.  Now that may be a stumbling block but I have £18:60 credit on there so I am not willing to give up easily.  

I will report back with my experiences, good or bad.

Thanks so much for all your help

virgo17

Farway said:

Very unlikely to get a credit refund, you lose whatever you have, unfair maybe but all PAYG are the same.

If it's a lot then I suggest use it up before moving over, or look into donating owed credit to a charity before you leave Three

Once you've decided what to do with your credit, and found the Asda SIM to work in your phone then simply text Three for your PAC, BUT seems Three can be awakward, want birthdate etc so maybe someone who has recently moved from Three will advise better than I on the PAC number aspect

I had a problem sending PAC + my birth date, the reply was there was a problem with their system, even though I knew my details were correct.

Three's online chat was useless at identifying the problem and just tried to sell me contracts that I didn't want.

So I simply installed the Three app on my phone and requested a PAC through that. It arrived immediately, both in the app and by text message.

Just mentioning this in case anyone else has the problem.

bjbyorkshire

UPDATE ……..  I logged on to three on line, got onto the chat, had to be transferred to customer services so a wait there.  Person then knew what I wanted to do as I had filled in the details with first chat guy.  She generated the PAC code which came within a few minutes to my phone. It said that my credit was £0 which was a bit disconcerting. I asked her how I would receive my credit back and she replied that it would be transferred to my new provider.  She decided that as I have my pac that she needed some digits from my bank account and the credit will be in there in 3 working days.  Now this is not as I expected.  I thought from you people on here that my account would stay live until I gave the new provider the PAC code.    so…. I now think that I have a phone which has no credit so will not be useable until I give Asda my PAC.  The flipping SIM card didn’t come in todays post so I am up the creek without a working phone.  I may try to text out and see if it works.  Blooming heck.  I hate this palaver.  My £16:72 credit is somewhere on route back to my bank hopefully but in the meantime I have no phone.