Asda mandatory 180 day top-ups

fryedslyce

 It's been well over a year since I last topped up my Asda Mobile but it still works fine for outgoing and incoming calls.
Maybe the 180 day rule only applies to newer customers?

pseudodox

fryedslyce said:

 It's been well over a year since I last topped up my Asda Mobile but it still works fine for outgoing and incoming calls.
Maybe the 180 day rule only applies to newer customers?

Interesting because I have been on ASDA mobile for over 12 years.  However I rarely make calls - just one text in the past 6 months.  Perhaps if you are using the phone regularly it does not get flagged up.  Shhh!!

I could dispose of this phone as non-essential but it is just so neat to carry in a pocket on hikes etc.  If I decide to keep it but in future they expect me to top up £5 every 180 days, which I will never use, I will immediately donate the £5 by text to one of the charities I normally support anyway.  

fryedslyce

I've only been a customer for just over 2 years, I rarely make chargeable calls mostly just 0800 numbers, I do though receive frequent texts mainly OTP for banking.

eDicky

pseudodox said

I could dispose of this phone as non-essential but it is just so neat to carry in a pocket on hikes etc.  If I decide to keep it but in future they expect me to top up £5 every 180 days, which I will never use, I will immediately donate the £5 by text to one of the charities I normally support anyway.  

There is no need to dispose of the phone (handset) just because using the Asda SIM has become inconvenient. Replace it with a SIM from another provider that has less onerous top-up requirements, such as Lebara or RWG, having the phone unlocked first if necessary.

savergrant

Asda mobile has changed underlying network (twice at least) and each time you would have needed to replace your sim. In each case you are agreeing to the t&c's in place at the time is my understanding (for example revised prices). However there is a difference between what they say and what they actually enforce and they may now be seeking to declutter accounts which don't generate revenue, which they have overlooked in the past.

pseudodox

savergrant said:

Asda mobile has changed underlying network (twice at least) and each time you would have needed to replace your sim. In each case you are agreeing to the t&c's in place at the time is my understanding (for example revised prices). However there is a difference between what they say and what they actually enforce and they may now be seeking to declutter accounts which don't generate revenue, which they have overlooked in the past.

Well if someone does not make calls which use up their credit then ASDA have got themselves some prepayment revenue on their balance sheet.  Deleting accounts let's them keep the money so it then becomes income in their P&L account.

Following the last network change t&c's remained the same - I read small print.  But I have never received a subsequent message advising of the update to now requiring to top up every 180 days as well as make at least one call.  Anyway now that I know that, it is not a problem. I will top up £whatever & donate unused ££ to charity & as a text donation involves making a chargeable call then that's 2 birds with one stone!  Win win.

savergrant

So you are paying asdamobile £5 every 6 months, and whatever credit you aren't using is going to charity (less the cost of the text to donate)

OR you could move to rwg, topup £15 and give it all to charity then just make one free call or text every three months and not need to topup ever again (while they are operating).

Proviso, I tried text to donate with the last of my 1pmobile balance and it failed to go through, so not sure the service is universally supported.

pseudodox

I have had no problem texting donations. My chosen charities get 100% of the amount I give & I pay for the text.  I can simply deduct any ££ given this way from my usual annual direct donations - or maybe the charity will get the texted ££ as a bonus.  What's wrong with that?

And of course I might not be paying ASDA £5 every 6 months but just £1.  Seeing as I don't actually use the phone (it is an emergency back up in my pocket in case I fall off a mountain & my everyday mobile in my rucsac gets damaged - sort of hoping one of them will survive if not both) then free calls are an irrelevance & I prefer to take whatever action is needed up to every 269 days than every 3 months.  Totally my choice.

I posted my recent experience with ASDA to alert other users to possibility of the £1 reactivation fee.  I was not suggesting it was an inconvenient blight on my life or looking for alternative provider as I don't need one due to the workaround I can choose to use.

oliverbrown

savergrant said:

OR you could move to rwg, topup £15 and give it all to charity then just make one free call or text every three months and not need to topup ever again (while they are operating).

Personally I would like to switch over to RWG but Wi-Fi calling is perpetually "coming soon".