Sim only.

jeff_chandler

My Daughter is with three and her contract has ended. She came to re-new but they have quoted her £46 per month. Her phone is also locked to that network. 
She doesn't want to leave three but has seen a monthly sim only at £8.00 pm on uswitch. 
I and my Daughter have no clue as to what the process is to change over to this. I have read something about a pack code that needs to be got to keep her number, can someone please tell me how she goes about this please. 
Thanks in advance 
Jeff. 

Detail_Merchant

jeff_chandler said:

My Daughter is with three and her contract has ended. She came to re-new but they have quoted her £46 per month. Her phone is also locked to that network. 
She doesn't want to leave three but has seen a monthly sim only at £8.00 pm on uswitch. 
I and my Daughter have no clue as to what the process is to change over to this. I have read something about a pack code that needs to be got to keep her number, can someone please tell me how she goes about this please. 
Thanks in advance 
Jeff. 

How long has she had the phone?

Reading here - https://www.three.co.uk/blog/what-is-an-unlocked-phone - it says three stopped selling locked phones as of 1 January 2014.

And all companies were banned by Ofcom from selling locked phones since December 2021 - https://www.ofcom.org.uk/news-centre/2020/mobile-firms-banned-from-selling-locked-handsets

To get a "Porting Authorisation Code" aka PAC - you text PAC to 65075 on your existing mobile - https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/costs-and-billing/switching/switching-mobile-phone-provider

Unfortunately you can't use a PAC to switch to the same company, only to switch to a different company.

But there is no way your daughter should be paying £46/month if the phone is all paid for. £8/month sounds more realistic, but it might be difficult to get that applied as an existing customer.

Sometime people use a PAC to switch to another company for a day or two, and then get another PAC, from that company, to switch back to their original company as a new customer.

DE_612183

£46 a month sounds a lot - what is she getting for that?

I can't actually see a contract for more than £37 a month on 3 - are you sure she's not getting a new phone for that as well?

jbrassy

The phone will not be locked to Three. They haven't sold locked phones for years. 

It would be useful to know how many minutes, texts and data she gets on her current contract. Also, why does she want to stay with Three?

If it's because Three has good signal in your area, I would recommend switching to Smarty. They have some really good value PAYG SIM deals and use the Three network. They also allow free roaming in Europe.

jeff_chandler

Yes, they have offered a new phone with free ear buds and a 12 month subscription to some TV channel. 
She lost her husband almost twelve months since from a heart attack and is struggling to pay her rent. She now needs to get things like mobile phones and other costs down. 
Can she still keep the same number and transfer to another company. They did offer a sim only contract but that was £24 per month. I think they're trying to fob her off as she isn't very tech savvy. 
Jeff. 

jeff_chandler

She's willing to move companies but, what is the procedure to change but keep her number. Everything seems to be done online and both myself and Daughter are a bit wary to say the least.   
Jeff

jbrassy

If she wants to keep her number, the first thing to do is request a PAC number from Three.

https://www.three.co.uk/support/switching/leave-three/how-to-get-a-pac-or-stac-code-when-leaving-three

When she signs up to a new network, she will be given the option to transfer her Three number over. At this point, you give the PAC number to the new network. 

Using Smarty as an example, there is often a form to submit and is takes 1 working day to transfer: https://help.smarty.co.uk/en/articles/7019273-keeping-your-number

It's quite an easy process and not as difficult as people think it is.

jbrassy

One final thing I forgot to mention. If and when you do switch, do not cancel the direct debit with Three. What will happen is Three will send you a final bill which is pro-rated depending on which day of the month you switched. Three will then process any final payments or refunds automatically.

For some reason a lot of people on this forum seem to cancel the direct debit as soon as they initiate the switch and then end up in a pickle when a final bill is sent.

jeff_chandler

Thanks for all the replies. 
She came back to me earlier when she asked a question I haven't a clue again. It asks if she wanted a plastic sim or some other. All her photos are on either the sim or the phone. Will she require a new sim card or will her current one be ok. 
Jeff

Detail_Merchant

You will need a new SIM if you are changing to a new company.
I guess the alternative to a plastic SIM is a new thing called an eSIM, but I think only very new phones use these.
The photos will be in the phone's memory, a SIM card doesn't have enough memory for photos.
There might be contact names and numbers on the current SIM, so it could be worth copying these to the phone's memory before switching to a new SIM.

saajan_12

If she doesn't want / need a new phone, then stay away from anything except a "SIM only", either as a contract or as a PAYG bundle. A new phone will massively up the monthly cost. 

To port the number, ask Three for a PAC code - either via their website or by texting 'PAC' to 65075 from her Three mobile. They might ask for a birth date but you should get an instant answer. 

Next work out how much data she uses. For this, she can go into "data usage" somewhere in the settings menus. Scroll back through the months and pick a number slightly higher than the average. If really unsure, I'd suggest 10GB will be plenty for all except very heavy users (eg regularly watching videos without WiFi). 

Then find an alternative company offering a plan with enough minutes and data. Sign up, and she'll temporarily get a new number. Provide them the PAC code either when ordering or on their website afterwards. It should take 1-2 weekdays, and she might be without connection for a couple of hours, but then the number will switch and she can use the new SIM. The Three SIM should shut off and they'll send a final bill.