Contract ending soon - next steps?

ForumUser7

My phone contract with EE is ending shortly. I will of course try to negotiate again with EE, but their contracts are now nearly double the cost of some of the opposition. I’m not against leaving EE due to a recent poor customer service experience with them.

I was after some advice on the following please:

• I recently turned 18 and have no credit products (other than current accounts, but no ODs) in my name, I also have no salaried income. I think it would likely be a waste of time to try and apply for the contract in my own name and should instead get my parents to organise it in one of their names. Does this sound about right, or are mobile providers less strict than credit card companies about lending please?
• How have people found signal with cheaper providers like iD please? I used to be with them, but moved to EE a few years ago after finding signal poor. Which network/MVNO do you think would be best to try re network, but at a reasonable price? Any to steer clear of?
• Anyone found customer service particularly good at any providers, and any particularly bad?
• Is it a bad idea to use third party stores such as ‘affordable mobiles’ that appear on comparison sites?
• Apart from EE and BT, are there any other providers with UK based call centres only please?

Thank you

ForumUser7

Neil_Jones

If you were under 18 on the contract that's due to end it will already be in somebody else's name (probably a parent) as you would have been a minor at the time and unable to agree to something like that as credit check would have been needed.

So that answers that question, so the easiest solution if you think you've going to fail a credit check is PAYG, which needs no credit check and you can port your existing number.

Re: Signal, that depends where you are.  ID Mobile piggybacks onto Three.  There's a table here of who piggybacks onto who:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/piggybacking/#whichnetworks

Farway

Neil_Jones said:

If you were under 18 on the contract that's due to end it will already be in somebody else's name (probably a parent) as you would have been a minor at the time and unable to agree to something like that as credit check would have been needed.

So that answers that question, so the easiest solution if you think you've going to fail a credit check is PAYG, which needs no credit check and you can port your existing number.

Re: Signal, that depends where you are.  ID Mobile piggybacks onto Three.  There's a table here of who piggybacks onto who:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/piggybacking/#whichnetworks

Or get a pay monthly SIM, rolling contract is for one month only and can be paid direct from debit card / credit card

MSE has list and offers, like Lebara, it just depends on how much data etc you need

sully1311

Maybe 1p Mobile using one of their 30 day plans? You get EE's full range of 4G/5G signal (due to VoLTE enablement) and WiFi Calling.

ForumUser7

Neil_Jones said:

If you were under 18 on the contract that's due to end it will already be in somebody else's name (probably a parent) as you would have been a minor at the time and unable to agree to something like that as credit check would have been needed.

So that answers that question, so the easiest solution if you think you've going to fail a credit check is PAYG, which needs no credit check and you can port your existing number.

Re: Signal, that depends where you are.  ID Mobile piggybacks onto Three.  There's a table here of who piggybacks onto who:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/piggybacking/#whichnetworks

You're right - my current contract is in my parents name. They are happy for my next one to be too if I struggle to get an agreement approved with a provider in my own name.

I think I would likely need a Pay Monthly contract, because I use quite a bit of data and make a few calls outside the house (the rest use wifi calling), so PAYG may become pricy.

Thanks for the link - I'll have a look.

Farway said:

Neil_Jones said:

If you were under 18 on the contract that's due to end it will already be in somebody else's name (probably a parent) as you would have been a minor at the time and unable to agree to something like that as credit check would have been needed.

So that answers that question, so the easiest solution if you think you've going to fail a credit check is PAYG, which needs no credit check and you can port your existing number.

Re: Signal, that depends where you are.  ID Mobile piggybacks onto Three.  There's a table here of who piggybacks onto who:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/piggybacking/#whichnetworks

Or get a pay monthly SIM, rolling contract is for one month only and can be paid direct from debit card / credit card

MSE has list and offers, like Lebara, it just depends on how much data etc you need

Pay Monthly SIM seems like a great idea for now - I have no credit card so it's good it can be paid by debit card. I'm not sure yet if I need a new handset (although I like latest/newest tech so I do really want one!) so this sounds like a good thing to do while I work out what to do about that.

sully1311 said:

Maybe 1p Mobile using one of their 30 day plans? You get EE's full range of 4G/5G signal (due to VoLTE enablement) and WiFi Calling.

Thanks for this - I have found EEs signal great, but their service poor.

Farway

ForumUser7 said:

Neil_Jones said:

If you were under 18 on the contract that's due to end it will already be in somebody else's name (probably a parent) as you would have been a minor at the time and unable to agree to something like that as credit check would have been needed.

So that answers that question, so the easiest solution if you think you've going to fail a credit check is PAYG, which needs no credit check and you can port your existing number.

Re: Signal, that depends where you are.  ID Mobile piggybacks onto Three.  There's a table here of who piggybacks onto who:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/piggybacking/#whichnetworks

You're right - my current contract is in my parents name. They are happy for my next one to be too if I struggle to get an agreement approved with a provider in my own name.

I think I would likely need a Pay Monthly contract, because I use quite a bit of data and make a few calls outside the house (the rest use wifi calling), so PAYG may become pricy.

Thanks for the link - I'll have a look.

Farway said:

Neil_Jones said:

If you were under 18 on the contract that's due to end it will already be in somebody else's name (probably a parent) as you would have been a minor at the time and unable to agree to something like that as credit check would have been needed.

So that answers that question, so the easiest solution if you think you've going to fail a credit check is PAYG, which needs no credit check and you can port your existing number.

Re: Signal, that depends where you are.  ID Mobile piggybacks onto Three.  There's a table here of who piggybacks onto who:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mobiles/piggybacking/#whichnetworks

Or get a pay monthly SIM, rolling contract is for one month only and can be paid direct from debit card / credit card

MSE has list and offers, like Lebara, it just depends on how much data etc you need

Pay Monthly SIM seems like a great idea for now - I have no credit card so it's good it can be paid by debit card. I'm not sure yet if I need a new handset (although I like latest/newest tech so I do really want one!) so this sounds like a good thing to do while I work out what to do about that.

sully1311 said:

Maybe 1p Mobile using one of their 30 day plans? You get EE's full range of 4G/5G signal (due to VoLTE enablement) and WiFi Calling.

Thanks for this - I have found EEs signal great, but their service poor.

Have a look at Voxi, poor man's Voda, unlimited social media, calls & text,

https://www.voxi.co.uk/sim-only-plans

simax

Talkmobile do a 1 month sim plan with unlimited calls/texts and 70GB of data, including EU roaming for £10 a month. Uses Vodafone and is 5G ready too. Deal is available via U-Switch. Also, they don’t do a credit check, just an ID check.

mgfvvc

Neil_Jones said:

If you were under 18 on the contract that's due to end it will already be in somebody else's name (probably a parent) as you would have been a minor at the time and unable to agree to something like that as credit check would have been needed.

My 17 year old daughter has a Lebara SIM in her name.

ForumUser7

mgfvvc said:

Neil_Jones said:

If you were under 18 on the contract that's due to end it will already be in somebody else's name (probably a parent) as you would have been a minor at the time and unable to agree to something like that as credit check would have been needed.

My 17 year old daughter has a Lebara SIM in her name.

I think I would’ve possibly been able to get a PAYG SIM in my name when I was under 18 - the problem was it was a pay monthly contract with handset included, so became a credit agreement which had to be in a parents name.

Neil_Jones

PAYG there is no credit check.  You could probably (wisely or unwisely) give one of those to a 10 year old, though the parents would probably be the one topping it up as its doubtful a normal 10 year old would be able to save/generate enough to feed it regularly, since paper rounds don't become a thing until you're 13.

But of course many people just add their offspring's phone to their own contract as another user, which is probably what happened with the OP if its in the name of the parent.

savergrant

ForumUser7 said:

My phone contract with EE is ending shortly. I will of course try to negotiate again with EE, but their contracts are now nearly double the cost of some of the opposition. I’m not against leaving EE due to a recent poor customer service experience with them.

I was after some advice on the following please:

• I recently turned 18 and have no credit products (other than current accounts, but no ODs) in my name, I also have no salaried income. I think it would likely be a waste of time to try and apply for the contract in my own name and should instead get my parents to organise it in one of their names. Does this sound about right, or are mobile providers less strict than credit card companies about lending please?
• How have people found signal with cheaper providers like iD please? I used to be with them, but moved to EE a few years ago after finding signal poor. Which network/MVNO do you think would be best to try re network, but at a reasonable price? Any to steer clear of?
• Anyone found customer service particularly good at any providers, and any particularly bad?
• Is it a bad idea to use third party stores such as ‘affordable mobiles’ that appear on comparison sites?
• Apart from EE and BT, are there any other providers with UK based call centres only please?

Thank you

ForumUser7

Are you looking to replace your phone? If so do you know what you want?
Do you know how much data you need and whether that could change soon? Do you plan to use your phone abroad, and if so where and for how long?
Your answers will dictate what is a good deal and what isn't.