Asda Mobile terms & conditions .... frequency of top ups.

ButtersUK

Final update.

After having received such outstanding service from Tesco Mobile (o2) call centre staff and having successfully registered for a PAYG Lite plan that needs no top ups  .... and having been give a £10 introductory opening top up for free, I couldn't help getting another one from the Tesco mobile phone shop in a different Tesco store (a big superstore) and sticking it in another spare Nokia 3110C  My local shop had run out of (working) PAYG SIM cards .... [I did buy two defective SIM cardws from there that wouldn't register and were refunded].

The second SIM, from the superstore, worked fine and the bloke in the store was great - I registered the SIM in the same way as the first one ... admittedly I was super polite to the advisor and buttered her up as much as could be considered decent and acceptable, and was rewarded for my politeness with another free £10 top up.

Everything is sorted, I've turned off voicemal on both phones and will regard the phones as emergency spares in the cars - and must remeber to make qualifying calls with them. .. be that monthly, two monthly, three monthly or whatever.

The Tesco Mobile PAYG app I downloaded on to my regular phone isn't all that special and, to be honest, need not be downloaded.

I'm pretty darn chuffed and consider myself a qualified moneysaver

PHK

Didn't register that you wanted to keep them in a car. 
Remember to charge the phones. 

Lithium batteries don't cope well with storage if fully charged. Especially when there will be fluctuations in temperature and possible condensation.

For longer term storage it's recommended to charge to no more than 50 to 60%. 

So I would make a calendar note every month to turn the phones on for a day or so then charge to about 50%

If I'm brutally honest, I've see a few threads on here where these emergency phones turned out to be a waste of money. 

flaneurs_lobster

PHK said:

Didn't register that you wanted to keep them in a car. 
Remember to charge the phones. 

Lithium batteries don't cope well with storage if fully charged. Especially when there will be fluctuations in temperature and possible condensation.

For longer term storage it's recommended to charge to no more than 50 to 60%. 

So I would make a calendar note every month to turn the phones on for a day or so then charge to about 50%

If I'm brutally honest, I've see a few threads on here where these emergency phones turned out to be a waste of money. 

There's some interesting/useful advice there. I keep an "emergency" phone in the car and the only "emergency" it has been used for was getting to Tesco, forgetting what my partner had asked me to buy and realising I'd left my regular mobile on the sofa.

They didn't answer because the number was unknown (a text sorted it out).

It's really finding a use for an old phone that has negligible trade-in value. It has RWG & 3 Data Reward SIMS, both with about a fivers-worth of credit and is completely unsecured.  

ButtersUK

All received ... ta.

As mentioned the two phones with the Tesco SIMs in are old Nokias with 3.7volt BL5 Li ion batteries in and I have to note that they are the most remarkable things - the charge in them simply doesn't deteriorate  no matter how long you leave them... it's amazing. Yes. natrurally I do check them but they rarely need any sort of top up charge. ... and even if you leave them turned on they last and last. (well, you know what I mean).

Additionally, they're in cars and one of them is always geting hot standing in the sun and cold as they remain outside in winter but still function when turned on.... and I confess I've topped them right up to full every time for years and years.

Over the years one or two of them (I've had a good few of these old phones) have died and been replaced with Duracell equivalents and they've been just as good too.

When I say "emergency" use it means there's a phone in the car in the event me or the Mrs has forgotton our phone and wanted to take one into a shop or somesuch to make contact ... not really "emergency" but handy, and I like to have phones on altrernative networks just in case (we're in Devon and the coverage on places like Dartmoor are patchy).

flaneurs_lobster

ButtersUK said:

All received ... ta.

As mentioned the two phones with the Tesco SIMs in are old Nokias with 3.7volt BL5 Li ion batteries in and I have to note that they are the most remarkable things - the charge in them simply doesn't deteriorate  no matter how long you leave them... it's amazing. Yes. natrurally I do check them but they rarely need any sort of top up charge. ... and even if you leave them turned on they last and last. (well, you know what I mean).

Over the years one or two of them (I've had a good few of these old phones) have died and been replaced with Duracell equivalents and they've been just as good too.

When I say "emergency" use it means there's a phone in the car in the event me or the Mrs has forgotton our phone and wanted to take one into a shop or somesuch to make contact ... not really "emergency" but handy, and I like to have phones on altrernative networks just in case (we're in Devon and the coverage on places like Dartmoor are patchy).

Are those old Nokias not 3G only or 2G/3G? 

Good advice about different network SIMs, spouse & I deliberately have dual SIM phones with all 4 networks covered.

ButtersUK

Nokia 3110 Classic  .... 2G only according to what I just read

My old Nokia 1100 and 1200 are certainly 2G only too.

PHK

ButtersUK said:

All received ... ta.

As mentioned the two phones with the Tesco SIMs in are old Nokias with 3.7volt BL5 Li ion batteries in and I have to note that they are the most remarkable things - the charge in them simply doesn't deteriorate  no matter how long you leave them... it's amazing. Yes. natrurally I do check them but they rarely need any sort of top up charge. ... and even if you leave them turned on they last and last. (well, you know what I mean).

Additionally, they're in cars and one of them is always geting hot standing in the sun and cold as they remain outside in winter but still function when turned on.... and I confess I've topped them right up to full every time for years and years.

Over the years one or two of them (I've had a good few of these old phones) have died and been replaced with Duracell equivalents and they've been just as good too.

When I say "emergency" use it means there's a phone in the car in the event me or the Mrs has forgotton our phone and wanted to take one into a shop or somesuch to make contact ... not really "emergency" but handy, and I like to have phones on altrernative networks just in case (we're in Devon and the coverage on places like Dartmoor are patchy).

I'm afraid you're misunderstanding what you are seeing.  I'll try not to be too technical.

The charging process is a chemical one, inside the battery lithium ions move from one electrode to the other.

When fully charged the current changes, and  this is how the phone knows charging is complete. If you leave the phone fully charged then the lithium ions get permanently attached to the electrode. So the phone will think the battery is fully charged. But the ions aren't free to move to the other electrode. So you'll only get a short period of use and then the phone will suddenly switch off as the current falls to zero.

On the other hand if a phone is 50% charged then all the ions are between the two electrodes. This is why phone manufacturers ship phones with partially charged batteries.

So for reliable use its important to charge to about 50% and regularly refresh them.

Temperature is important because heat speeds up the reaction and reduces the overall life of thr battery. There's also a small risk of fire, if the temperature exceeds 60 degrees Celsius.

Manufacturers recommend storage between 5 and 20 degrees.

ButtersUK

The above duly received, thanks.

I may not understand the science or adhere to the manufacturers recommendations but the fact of the matter is I DO charge the phones up until I get max bars showing - and I DO leave them in the cars because that's where I store  them and they DO get hot in the summer and cold in the winter because that's what it's like inside of a car left out in the open BUT they continue to function and have done, despite this treatment, for the past 15 years or so. I regard them as utilitatian objects and not something to be mollycoddled and they're there to serve me and my requirements.

PHK

I just don't want you to come to use them only to find they won't work properly (eg after a few minutes the phone shuts off even though it has an apparently "full" battery) as other forum members have found.
Far better to spend a short amount of time each month doing some  simple maintenance.

4_Pete's_Sake

ButtersUK said:

I might be wrong but I thought I saw mention that an amendment to their T's and C's dictated that subscribers to their PAYG plan at 15p per minute were now required to TOP UP every 180 days rather than just make a chargeable call or text. 

I have two, long standing but infrequently used, numbers on their PAYG and do make six monthly calls, and have done for years, and have had no trouble and haven't been asked to top up every six months - and both numbers still work fine.

I rang them just now and got through after two rings and the assistant went away and looked up the book of rules and came back saying there is still NO NEED to TOP UP every six months. 

Maybe I was mistaken all along but am pleased we can still maintain a number for infrequent use without having to pay an annual sum for the pleasure of it.

Are there any others available to new customers that permit that benefit? I'm not aware of any.  Obviously O2 Classic 321 is no longer available without regular top ups and the THREE plan isn't either.  The 1p Mobile is £30 a year ..... am I missing anything?

Almost 180 days ago I did a lot a research for a friend who is in their 70s who never makes phone calls and and just had an expensive landline to receive calls. I eventually got him a 4g Doro phone and put an Asda PAYG Sim in it which I topped up with £5.00. There is no requirement to make any chargeable calls but the phone must be topped up with at least £1.00 every 180 days, which I have just done for him by phoning Asda Mobile Customer Services and making the £1.00 payment by tapping my card details into my phone during the call. This is a very simple method for Ultra Low users or those who never or rarely make calls. I have a calendar reminder on my phone to remind me each time we reach 180 days, therefore I'll never forget to keep his phone topped up. I did consider The Tesco Lite but this requires making occasional chargeable calls. I think it is either every 3 or 6 months.