RWG

d123

ButtersUK said:

Just to add a further view of RWG Mobile, an MVNO based in Wales using the EE network.

1. I would have been able to select one of their plans as there's enough choice to find one that suits. The pricing was competetive and I particularly wanted to use the EE network as it operates efficiently in my area. Furthermore I liked the idea that they are in the UK and have a phone line which they say is available 9am to 5pm for customer service.

2. I usually try to make contact with a company before signing up to see how easy it is to make contact. I tried ringing on their advertised phone number during their opening hours. I was greeted by a machine inviting me to leave a message. No sign of a real person. I did this four times over two days and left two messages. No-one rang me back despite me saying in the message that I was hoping to join the company.

5. I've now obtained a PAC from my current provider and applied directly to join EE  

I have contacted RWG by email 4 or 5 times over the last couple of years and never waited more than a couple of hours for a reply. 

They've never failed to reply.

Going direct to EE isn't really a good MSE choice these days, even if you didn't want RWG or Now you could have looked at 1p Mobile and stilled saved £££'s.

virgo17

d123 said:

I have contacted RWG by email 4 or 5 times over the last couple of years and never waited more than a couple of hours for a reply. 

They've never failed to reply.

Going direct to EE isn't really a good MSE choice these days, even if you didn't want RWG or Now you could have looked at 1p Mobile and stilled saved £££'s.

I have had similar experiences as d123 with RWG. They have never taken long to respond to any query I have had. We have three RWG SIM cards in use in this family.

On one occasion I had an issue were voicemail was not working which turned out to be an issue with Now Mobile who RWG obtain their service from. This was a protracted issue due to the double liaison required but Tim at RWG stuck with it and eventually the issue was resolved. He always replied promptly to email and was pleasant and courteous.

Not a fan boy, just wanting to offer a balance to the earlier post.

ButtersUK

Thanks for the above responses. I can see by looking at reviews that there have been plenty happy RWG customers as well as the less glowing ones.

As I mentioned I really was hoping to join them for the reasons given. But if they don't reply to multiple messages then it doesn't give me confidence to believe they will reply if I had a minor problem or query.  What would you two do if you had had the same experience as I had?

Thank you also for the recommendation of 1p Mobile.  I obviously looked at other options including them and they were certainly a consideration (especially as they use EE which is the network I wish to use) - however as we speak 1p Mobile are charging £10 per month for unlimited calls & texts with 10GB data .... and I've just signed up to EE at a monthly cost of £9.50 with unlimited calls & texts and 25GB data. So no great saving there.

In view of this I welcome the thoughts of contributor d123 in regard to my having, apparently, made a poor MSE choice. It has been my experience that by going direct to EE I have been able to contact their customer service staff in a very short time and have spoken to advisors who (a) are in UK call centres and (b) seem to have decent knowledge of the systems and have been polite, friendly and efficient so far. In my experience it isn't always the case that contact with the MVNO's is as efficent.

I will say, though, that I did ring 1p Mobile to see if I got a reply ... the first two calls didn't go through but the third one did and a very polite and helpful lady (in Hampshire) answered and reassured me so I would confirm that, in that instance, I wouls definitely have considered them but could see no reason to go to them rather than direct to EE although I will concede that the main drawback with EE is the contract is longer.

Just for reference I can confirm I've used Three, O2 and Vodafone networks as well as EE/Orange/T.Mobile and have experienced all their respective customer services over many years and am aware that none are without their drawbacks and am aware that all receive dreadful reviews - but we have to use someone and we make a judgement based on what we think suits us best.

Thanks again for the replies.

alanjones60

Rwg have 2 email addresses. The 1 for the fastest response is. Support@rwgmobile.com
They reply fast on twitter also

ButtersUK

If they openly and publicly offer a phone number for customers to ring then why not answer it?  And if they're too busy to answer it then why not ring the customer back when he leaves two separate messages and a choice of two different contact phone numbers? I called nearly a week ago, they've had enough time. If they don't want people to use the phone then don't advertise the number.

Not everyone does Twitter and Facebook. I don't.

savergrant

Sadly it isn't a simple thing to say one network is cheaper than another. It all depends on your usage and whether your network are prepared to discount. As I doubt £9,50 pm was ee's advertised price I would say it is sound mse to 1) check out the competition and 2) haggle your network price down. Which you seem to have done imo.

ButtersUK

savergrant said:

Sadly it isn't a simple thing to say one network is cheaper than another. It all depends on your usage and whether your network are prepared to discount. As I doubt £9,50 pm was ee's advertised price I would say it is sound mse to 1) check out the competition and 2) haggle your network price down. Which you seem to have done imo.

* It's very clear that no one network is consistently cheaper than another. As with almost  everything in life a certain amount of homework is necessary. No surprises there then.

* Yes, of course it all very much depends on usage and dependability and network coverage, I think that much we took for granted.

* My most recent experience with O2 and EE was that both are prepared to haggle, but we always knew they would - they're known for it.

 * Finally - yes, of course I did.

It was during the course of my homework that I discovered that RWG don't answer their phone and despite the fact that myself and the other two recent contributors here don't entirely agree I still maintain that due diligence when deciding who to give your money to includes finding out how good a company is at staying in touch with their fee paying clientele.

We've all dealt with companies and institutions who conduct their activities diligently and efficiently .... and we've also all had dealings with those that don't.

ButtersUK

By way of an update, this morning  I received the promised SIM card from EE (within a couple of days of my order) and I stuck it in my phone and within no time my number had been ported from O2 to EE. It works fine and, using mobile data, the internet is much, much faster now it's on EE.

Obviously the signal / reception is a personal thing based on location but I have to say the whole swap from O2 to EE has been free of trauma.  I'm hoping not to have issues with O2 billing regarding leaving them half way through my 12 month contract.  I'm not expecting trouble as my O2 records are apparently showing that they have agreed to release me free of penalty due to poor reception with their local transmitters. If that remains the case then all credit to O2 for recognizing a problem and showing some leniency and understanding - although it would all have been much simpler if their masts actually worked as well as the EE masts seem to. Incidentally my monthly O2 bill has just increased with inflation and, if I were staying with them, would have gone up from £6 to £7.03p per month.  Still not a horrendous amount (quite the opposite and shows the value of a little bit of negotiation with them).

My Mrs. is still with O2 on their Classic Pay As You Go 3p 2p 1p plan which in all honesty, for low users, takes some beating in terms of cost.  Again I say one of the RWG plans would have served as a suitable replacement for her 321 plan but we come back to the same issue of whether I/she want/s to subscribe to them given the issues we have been discussing here.

ProDave

ButtersUK said:

.... I'm hoping not to have issues with O2 billing regarding leaving them half way through my 12 month contract.  I'm not expecting trouble as my O2 records are apparently showing that they have agreed to release me free of penalty due to poor reception with their local transmitters. If that remains the case then all credit to O2 for recognizing a problem and showing some leniency and understanding - although it would all have been much simpler if their masts actually worked as well as the EE masts seem to. I

I similarly moved from O2 (in my case to 1p mobile) for much the same reasons, we completely lost the mobile signal at home, and O2 never could get wifi calling to work on my phone, so like you they agreed to release me from my contract.

I was pleasantly surprised that as the move happened mid month I got a partial months refund from O2

Agree it is a shame that O2 could not solve why we used to get a signal at home but it stopped, and why wifi calling would not work with them on my phone.  Wifi calling worked immediately I put the 1pmobile sim in.

I am now still waiting for RWG to implement wifi calling so that my leisure phone will become usable at home.

d123

ButtersUK said:

Thank you also for the recommendation of 1p Mobile.  I obviously looked at other options including them and they were certainly a consideration (especially as they use EE which is the network I wish to use) - however as we speak 1p Mobile are charging £10 per month for unlimited calls & texts with 10GB data .... and I've just signed up to EE at a monthly cost of £9.50 with unlimited calls & texts and 25GB data. So no great saving there.

In view of this I welcome the thoughts of contributor d123 in regard to my having, apparently, made a poor MSE choice. 

Could you link to this £9.50 25GB contract as it doesn't appear on the EE website? EE shows a price of £23 a month.

With regard to the price, be aware that you will be liable for two increases during your contract if 24 months contract signed. This years increase was just under 15% of your monthly contract price.

You will also be speed capped on most cheap deals on EE, at or under 100Mbps.

1p Mobile is part of a £billion company, the customer service is very good and based in the UK.