Lebara 'contract'

JustIpsa

Lebara informed me this morning that they were 'a PAYG provider only'.  They do not offer contracts, including 1 month rolling.  Not normally an issue, at least you know your payments won't change (and I've been with them for about 2 years now - from memory, the T&Cs at the time did not mention PAYG).  This only came to light when I tried to enter a competition via text (thinking the charge would be added to my monthly bill) - no can do, not without topping up your PAYG first.  However, MSE have Lebara listed as offering 1 month contracts - nope.

oldagetraveller1

According to their homepage they offer 1 month rolling plans. I'm on one at the moment.

I suppose that could be described as PAYG? i.e. don't pay, don't go further than 1 month.

The competition entry  possibly had an extra fee over and above the standard SMS cost, not included in your plan.

savergrant

JustIpsa said:

Lebara informed me this morning that they were 'a PAYG provider only'.  They do not offer contracts, including 1 month rolling.  Not normally an issue, at least you know your payments won't change (and I've been with them for about 2 years now - from memory, the T&Cs at the time did not mention PAYG).  This only came to light when I tried to enter a competition via text (thinking the charge would be added to my monthly bill) - no can do, not without topping up your PAYG first.  However, MSE have Lebara listed as offering 1 month contracts - nope.

Technically I suppose they are a payg provider who offer recurring bundles (the screenshot calls them plans). They do not bill you for usage so if you wish to make calls outside your bundle you need to have a credit balance.

flashg67

They do offer 12 month 'plans' at 10% discount - so if you commit to 12 months, this becomes a 'contract' ?

savergrant

flashg67 said:

They do offer 12 month 'plans' at 10% discount - so if you commit to 12 months, this becomes a 'contract' ?

It would be a legal contract, an agreement to make repeat purchases for a period of time in exchange for an incentive (a discount on the normal price), but not in my view a mobile phone contract as there is no credit advanced or risk of loss to the provider. So there is no need for a credit check and it is very unlikely that they would report successful renewals to help your credit score.

timbald

savergrant said:

Technically I suppose they are a payg provider who offer recurring bundles (the screenshot calls them plans). They do not bill you for usage so if you wish to make calls outside your bundle you need to have a credit balance.

There are lots of providers working on a similar basis now - GiffGaff (I believe) pioneered this approach many years ago - pay for the month at a time but 'top up' a credit balance for out of package extras. SMARTY are 'one-month' also....