PAYG Sim with longest expiry

freccles

Having run out of data for the first time ever the other day and being in the middle of nowhere, about 200 miles from home, of course Waze wouldn't work. I do keep a spare phone in the car but naturally I'd forgotten to top up/use it within the last three months and mobile data wouldn't work. I've upgraded my data plan on my normal phone, despite the fact that I'll probably never use it now but what is the longest lasting PAYG sim to leave in my spare phone for emergencies. I know I won't remember to use it every month nor do I want a rolling contract that I have to pay every month as I'll only use it about twice a year. Recommendations please?

etienneg

Have a look at RWG. PAYG credit never expires. I'm not sure about the maximum time between "chargeable events" (that is a text or quick phone call) but you could "diarize" a reminder.

https://www.rwgmobile.wales/rates-plans-eng-per/
(Scroll to bottom of page for PAYG.)

TMSG

From RWG's T&Cs:

37. You must make an outbound call or text in any 90-day period for your SIM to remain active. If you don't do this, the SIM will enter a restricted state which means you will only be able to receive inbound calls and texts. If this happens you can contact our customer service team to reactivate the SIM. If you do not make at least one chargeable call or send one chargeable SMS/MMS every six months (in either case that results in a charge against your Account or a deduction from the credit or bundle allowance recorded against your Account), then we may terminate this Agreement by giving you 30 days’ notice in writing that your Account will be closed and your SIM Card deactivated. If we send you such a notice, we will close your Account and deactivate your SIM Card at the end of the 30-day period. This will mean that you can no longer use the Services and you will not be able to make or receive calls (though you will still be able to dial 999) or send or receive text messages. If we close your Account under this paragraph 7 h), you will not be entitled to a refund of any unused credit or Allowances.

The problem with that is that their CS is extremely variable. I had almost no problems but the wife had and has. Getting an answer or action from them seems near impossible. She's now at the point of giving up.

etienneg

TMSG - Thanks for filling the gap in my knowledge as shown in my reply. 

TMSG said:

The problem with that is that their CS is extremely variable. I had almost no problems but the wife had and has. Getting an answer or action from them seems near impossible. She's now at the point of giving up.

I have heard several times of RWG's poor CS and don't doubt for a moment that this is so. Like you, I haven't had any problems and so RWG PAYG suits me for similar requirement to the OP. Could I ask what kind of issue(s) your wife has experienced?

TMSG

Various problems. It started with her porting an existing number (something I didn't do ) which took weeks and many emails. Afterwards she wasn't able to top-up and now she can't get new bundles because apparently her new/old number isn't known to the RWG billing system. Numerous emails have gone w/o answer (other than the automatic ack RWG sends). So now she's ready to vote with her feet.

freccles

I had a roaming e sim from them for both my tablet and my phone specifically to use in Turkey and could never get either to work properly which has always put me off them. CS was non existant. However I noticed they do a one year data only sim for £5. Admittedly its only 100mb a month but for use purely as a spare phone I think this would do. I always tend to contact people via whatsapp and similar and even if I needed to use Waze again in an emergency, they reckon 3 hours of using waze would use 80mb and google maps is much less

etienneg

TMSG said:

Various problems. It started with her porting an existing number (something I didn't do ) which took weeks and many emails. Afterwards she wasn't able to top-up and now she can't get new bundles because apparently her new/old number isn't known to the RWG billing system. Numerous emails have gone w/o answer (other than the automatic ack RWG sends). So now she's ready to vote with her feet.

Hmm, clearly a sorry tale and not easy to suggest solutions! Technical issues are one thing, but there's no excuse for not responding in some way to emails, rather than hoping that ignoring things will somehow go unnoticed by customers! It's obviously an area RWG should address ASAP.