Few questions re upgrading vodafone sim only via mobiles.co.uk

isayhello

Currently out of contract on a vodafone sim only plan direct with vodafone, about £14 p/m. It's a plan from 2021 and includes european roaming.

I've seen a few people mention they've upgraded (on voda) via mobiles.co.uk, I've looked at the deals and seen that I'm able to get more data than I currently have, 70GB or 200GB for £7 p/m with cashback.

Why would anyone get the 70GB option if 200GB is the same price? I don't get the sense behind those deals.
Second, I haven't had cashback before but friends have had hassle getting money back sometimes, has anyone gone through this with mobiles.co.uk? what is the process and is it easy?
Third, they also have some basics deals where there is no cashback but the package seems restrictive e.g. even paying to phone a freephone 0500 number, do any people on the forum use these deals? are they worth it. I'm currently on a 4G handset and see that basics only have that.

Is it worth making the change and losing the roaming package that I currently have, I travel abroad a couple of times a year and its nice to know that I already have it covered for europe.

Thanks

On-the-coast

i assume the prices you’re talking about are after accounting for cashback?

I’ve used mobiles.co.uk several times, including “upgrading” from Vodafone to Vodafone (both through mobiles.co.uk)

the actual deal you end up with is pure Vodafone so I think you’ll still get European roaming (I do…)
the cashback involves submitting your Vodafone bill to mobiles.co.uk from time to time. I’ve always got the cash back.  A quaint old cheque… which I pay in through my iOS banking app.  No problems except putting in the reminders to do so in my calander.  

The only caution I have is that I very much wanted (needed) to keep my number. 

Prior to buying the new upgrade contract I did my research and was assured I’d keep my number. 

What actually happened was that about 30 minutes after signing up they automatically terminated my current Sim… and put a new one in second class Royal Mail post!
after waiting for a week without service I went into a Vodafone shop (as advised by mobiles.co.uk) and got them to give me a new sim on the basis the other one was lost in post. When Vodafone activated the new Sim in shop it activated on my old number.  The staff were very impressed with my deal too. 200GB of 5G at effectively £8/month on Vodafone red (inc roaming to Europe)

Mobiles.co.uk don’t need to cancel my old sim or send a new sim… but they do (or did) 3 weeks ago, which is frustrating and a bit scary as you doubt you’ll keep your number even though you do…,

ps the very next day the posted sim turned up.  I’ve ignored it. 

PHK

Just to add 0500 numbers stopped being "free" in 2017. *They were odd anyway as they were "usually" free and not universally free like 0800

flaneurs_lobster

I'm on my second mobiles.co.uk upgrade deal, full-fat Voda 100GB/mth for £8. No roaming included, can be had for about £8/week in Europe.

The difference that you are seeing between the £7/mth deals are (as @On-the-coast says) the prices after cashback, the contract that you have with Vodafone will have you paying either £12 or £15 a month (not seeing exactly the deals you've described, the prices can move frequently). I pay £16/mth.

I've never had a problem claiming cashback, you upload your bill every couple of months (you can exclude the call breakdown pages if you like), it's verified quickly and a cheque arrives about 6 weeks later. Do as suggested and set a reminder in your calendar, they won't prompt you.

Don't forget the April price rise, CPI + 3.9% (do we know this number yet?). I've arranged my annual contract so that it ends April 1. I've managed to "upgrade" to the same deal for the last two years for no annual increase in cost, in fact it decreased by 50p/month this year.

You do get a SIM in the post, I just chucked it in a drawer and the service simply continued on my existing Voda SIM/account.

isayhello

On-the-coast said:

i assume the prices you’re talking about are after accounting for cashback?

I’ve used mobiles.co.uk several times, including “upgrading” from Vodafone to Vodafone (both through mobiles.co.uk)

the actual deal you end up with is pure Vodafone so I think you’ll still get European roaming (I do…)
the cashback involves submitting your Vodafone bill to mobiles.co.uk from time to time. I’ve always got the cash back.  A quaint old cheque… which I pay in through my iOS banking app.  No problems except putting in the reminders to do so in my calander.  

The only caution I have is that I very much wanted (needed) to keep my number. 

Prior to buying the new upgrade contract I did my research and was assured I’d keep my number. 

What actually happened was that about 30 minutes after signing up they automatically terminated my current Sim… and put a new one in second class Royal Mail post!
after waiting for a week without service I went into a Vodafone shop (as advised by mobiles.co.uk) and got them to give me a new sim on the basis the other one was lost in post. When Vodafone activated the new Sim in shop it activated on my old number.  The staff were very impressed with my deal too. 200GB of 5G at effectively £8/month on Vodafone red (inc roaming to Europe)

Mobiles.co.uk don’t need to cancel my old sim or send a new sim… but they do (or did) 3 weeks ago, which is frustrating and a bit scary as you doubt you’ll keep your number even though you do…,

ps the very next day the posted sim turned up.  I’ve ignored it. 

Thanks, yes it was after cashback.

Do you do your cashback redemption online or have to post your bill? I remember posting was the method for some companies a while ago.

I would like to keep my number as well so I'm a bit cautious about how to proceed with this. I was considering switching to TalkMobile, is this one of the companies you upgraded or switched to? I may start up a new contract first then use my PAC code to port across.

isayhello

flaneurs_lobster said:

I'm on my second mobiles.co.uk upgrade deal, full-fat Voda 100GB/mth for £8. No roaming included, can be had for about £8/week in Europe.

The difference that you are seeing between the £7/mth deals are (as @On-the-coast says) the prices after cashback, the contract that you have with Vodafone will have you paying either £12 or £15 a month (not seeing exactly the deals you've described, the prices can move frequently). I pay £16/mth.

I've never had a problem claiming cashback, you upload your bill every couple of months (you can exclude the call breakdown pages if you like), it's verified quickly and a cheque arrives about 6 weeks later. Do as suggested and set a reminder in your calendar, they won't prompt you.

Don't forget the April price rise, CPI + 3.9% (do we know this number yet?). I've arranged my annual contract so that it ends April 1. I've managed to "upgrade" to the same deal for the last two years for no annual increase in cost, in fact it decreased by 50p/month this year.

You do get a SIM in the post, I just chucked it in a drawer and the service simply continued on my existing Voda SIM/account.

@flaneurs_lobster thanks, thats really good info. What I meant is even after the cashback 2 deals were costing the same amount but one had far more data on it, I just couldn't understand why someone would pick the 70gb plan instead of the 200gb one.

When you do the voda upgrade, have you been taking a new upgrade contract directly with vodafone through mobiles.co.uk or do you mean you've been switching to a different mvno? I've been reading up on the different deals and it seems TalkMobile gives an even better deal with roaming included so this is the one I'm considering now as in theory the network coverages etc should be the same.

flaneurs_lobster

isayhello said:

When you do the voda upgrade, have you been taking a new upgrade contract directly with vodafone through mobiles.co.uk or do you mean you've been switching to a different mvno? 

The former. Haven't looked at other suppliers as I use a linked Vodafone service for my 4G watch.

On-the-coast

Do you do your cashback redemption online or have to post your bill? I remember posting was the method for some companies a while ago.

I would like to keep my number as well so I'm a bit cautious about how to proceed with this. I was considering switching to TalkMobile, is this one of the companies you upgraded or switched to? I may start up a new contract first then use my PAC code to port across.

A) it’s all online (maybe post too, but online is best)
if you’re swapping networks with a pac you’re guaranteed to keep number. 

The first time I used mobiles.co.uk was from TalkMobile to Vodafone so PAC. 

The second time (last month) was from Vodafone to Vodafone so relied on keeping my number - which I did, though with some worry.  There is a section on the mobiles.co.uk website for the latter sort of upgrade. But be careful. 

isayhello

flaneurs_lobster said:

isayhello said:

When you do the voda upgrade, have you been taking a new upgrade contract directly with vodafone through mobiles.co.uk or do you mean you've been switching to a different mvno? 

The former. Haven't looked at other suppliers as I use a linked Vodafone service for my 4G watch.

Cool, I see mobiles.co.uk have an upgrade option on their site, was it straightforward to just give them your existing number and your service continued on your existing sim with your same number?
Just cautious not to make a mistake and lose my number.

isayhello

On-the-coast said:

Do you do your cashback redemption online or have to post your bill? I remember posting was the method for some companies a while ago.

I would like to keep my number as well so I'm a bit cautious about how to proceed with this. I was considering switching to TalkMobile, is this one of the companies you upgraded or switched to? I may start up a new contract first then use my PAC code to port across.

A) it’s all online (maybe post too, but online is best)
if you’re swapping networks with a pac you’re guaranteed to keep number. 

The first time I used mobiles.co.uk was from TalkMobile to Vodafone so PAC. 

The second time (last month) was from Vodafone to Vodafone so relied on keeping my number - which I did, though with some worry.  There is a section on the mobiles.co.uk website for the latter sort of upgrade. But be careful. 

Thanks, I'm glad it went ok for you. I may go with TalkMobile, can I ask what your experience was with them vs now being on voda direct, is network coverage the same etc? customer service?

Just curious why you went to voda as TalkMobile deals seem to be a bit cheaper.

flaneurs_lobster

isayhello said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

isayhello said:

When you do the voda upgrade, have you been taking a new upgrade contract directly with vodafone through mobiles.co.uk or do you mean you've been switching to a different mvno? 

The former. Haven't looked at other suppliers as I use a linked Vodafone service for my 4G watch.

Cool, I see mobiles.co.uk have an upgrade option on their site, was it straightforward to just give them your existing number and your service continued on your existing sim with your same number?
Just cautious not to make a mistake and lose my number.

Yes, quick and easy to upgrade, service was continuous. Just be careful, as @On-the-coast says, the "new contract" and "upgrade" parts of the website look pretty much identical. If you're not asked for your existing number then you're in the wrong bit.