Pay As You Go

strangeotron

When did PAYG become "pay X for 30 days worth of service"?

Where can i find a proper PAYG deal; ie where i only need to buy more when I run out of credit, the way it used to be.

It seems every network has this 30 day nonsense. That's a contract by any definition: if you don't top up you lose all remaining credit.

mac.d

PAYG is still exactly the same as it always has been, what you are looking at is bundles which you can buy on a monthly basis and give you a set amount of calls, texts & data for 30 days. This is different from the standard credit that you top up and doesn't expire. You can use both on your PAYG phone, if for example you know you are going to need extra data or to make a lot of calls one month, you can buy a bundle, once it's expired after 30 days, you'll still have whatever credit you had on the phone prior to the bundle.

See Ken's Tech Tips PAYG comparison for a round up of the different prices you pay on PAYG.

Ian011

For calls to
- UK geographic numbers starting 01 and 02
- non-geographic numbers starting 03
- UK mobile numbers starting 071-075 and 077-079
you can pay a per-minute rate or buy a bundle.

If you choose to pay a per-minute rate, providers charge anywhere from 3p per minute to 55p per minute.

If you buy a bundle you can have hundreds of minutes and hundreds of text messages for £5 and many hundreds more every time you add another few pounds.

If you go for a deal where calls are charged per-minute and you end up spending more than £5 per month, you chose the wrong deal.

AndyPK

EE enable these packs by default. And are 7 day packs.


You can txt STOP PACK to 150
to stop them renewing and using your credit

strangeotron

mac.d wrote: »

PAYG is still exactly the same as it always has been, what you are looking at is bundles which you can buy on a monthly basis and give you a set amount of calls, texts & data for 30 days. This is different from the standard credit that you top up and doesn't expire. You can use both on your PAYG phone, if for example you know you are going to need extra data or to make a lot of calls one month, you can buy a bundle, once it's expired after 30 days, you'll still have whatever credit you had on the phone prior to the bundle.

See Ken's Tech Tips PAYG comparison for a round up of the different prices you pay on PAYG.

Firstly Ken's PAYG comparison is wrong: Vodafone charges 55p a minute.

Secondly, the last time I had a mobile it was PAYG and it was never this dear. Not even close. They gave me a credit card thing and that was used to top up credit. THere was none of this time limited bundle nonsense, which is an absolute scam (and this site is supposedly about spotting deals? Give me a break!)

THe whole industry seems to have gotten even worse.

strangeotron

Ian011 wrote: »

For calls to
- UK geographic numbers starting 01 and 02
- non-geographic numbers starting 03
- UK mobile numbers starting 071-075 and 077-079
you can pay a per-minute rate or buy a bundle.

If you choose to pay a per-minute rate, providers charge anywhere from 3p per minute to 55p per minute.

If you buy a bundle you can have hundreds of minutes and hundreds of text messages for £5 and many hundreds more every time you add another few pounds.

If you go for a deal where calls are charged per-minute and you end up spending more than £5 per month, you chose the wrong deal.

A 'deal' that expires after 30 days without letting you keep unused allowances is not a deal. This is a complete scam.

strangeotron

AndyPK wrote: »

EE enable these packs by default. And are 7 day packs.


You can txt STOP PACK to 150
to stop them renewing and using your credit

I have no idea what you just said.

And this is a major part of the problem. When i asked about what 30 day meant at the point of sale I was lied to. How are customers to know any different if some spotty kid in his first job, compelled by management to lie and cheat customers in order to make a living, treats them like this.

On top of that you have a whole load of jargon and sales blather that is impenetrable. I looked at the giffgaff website and all i could se was 'goodybags' and 'bundles' with no explanation of what was included and for how long. Nothing is clear or easily understood to people unused to this nonsense. The whole industry is a con.

billsavings

You clearly can't be arsed to look there are plenty of payg tariffs that only require you to make a call or send a text every 180 days to retain any balance. The cheapest being Three Payg. , and the relatively new O2 Classic Payg.Or Talk Mobile if you make longer calls.

Prices start at 3p a minute.

If you bothered to read Kens Technical tips your see he refers to what your seeking as Traditional Payg.His site is very accurate and 30p a minute for Vodafone pay as you go is correct.

mac.d

My apologies, didn't realise you can't really be bothered to read and understand the difference between bundles and standard PAYG, and just wanted to moan!

Personally, I've just about always used PAYG and as a light user, have rarely bothered to purchase a bundle, instead just topping up my £5 or £10 credit every few months. Even after getting a smartphone, I at first used Giffgaff and occasionally bought a bundle when I knew I was going to be using my phone more than normal), but then switched to 3 PAYG and topped up £5 every month or two, again not needing to buy one of their bundles, since their PAYG prices are so cheap anyway.

But hey, if you think PAYG is more expensive than it used to be, and it's all just a con....

mobilejunkie

strangeotron wrote: »

Firstly Ken's PAYG comparison is wrong: Vodafone charges 55p a minute.

Secondly, the last time I had a mobile it was PAYG and it was never this dear. Not even close. They gave me a credit card thing and that was used to top up credit. THere was none of this time limited bundle nonsense, which is an absolute scam (and this site is supposedly about spotting deals? Give me a break!)

THe whole industry seems to have gotten even worse.

I have a Vodafone PAYG. It charges 30p per minute. Seems like a lot of what you have come up with is nonsense. The credit doesn't dissapear and I only have to carry out one chargeable event every 270 days. I haven't topped it up in YEARS.

billsavings

The original poster must have missed this http://kenstechtips.com/index.php/payg-inactivity-account-termination-and-credit-expiry