Lebara 35GB monthly data SUM MSE blagged

bohica

My wife and I are both with Lebara on a 5GB contract and we run out of data every month before the renewal date. This MSE blagged offer of 35GB for £3.30PM for the first year and £7.90 thereafter would be ideal for us. I did an online chat with Lebara and they would not answer whether I could move to this deal (and even told me I'd lose my number!) even when I threatened to cancel - it just resulted in a complaint being logged. I thought mobile operators couldn't offer deals to new customers existing customers can't get.

So, should we be entitled to this deal or not?
What's to stop us cancelling our 1 month contract and talking up the MSE blagged deal?

Neil49

No, you are not entitled to the deal. If this was allowed you would have customers chopping and changing every month. 

There are plenty of posts on here explaining that you have to port out to another provider (in other words get a pac and take your number to a different provider), typically for a month, then open up a new account with Lebara and port your number back again.

Getting and using your pac from Lebara and using it within 30 days will ensure your account is closed. 

Yes, it's a hassle but that's how it works 

oldernonethewiser

As it is a deal offered through MSE you can't just change to it.  You can change to another deal offered directly by Lebara as explained on their site.

As Neil49 has pointed out plenty of posts explaining how to port to another provider then move back to Lebara.

bohica

Thank you Neil49 and oldernonethewiser. This is a new area for me and I thought there was a rule saying you could no longer offer deals to new customers you didn't also offer to existing customers (I obviously got this wrong). It seems unfair to me that other people are going to get 7* my data for less than I pay already (£3.40 vs £5.90). I'd actually pay the £7pm for the 35Mb and forget the introductory deal but not even that is available as an existing customer. Seems I'm forced to switch to another operator. I contacted Lebara via web chat, got an obviously Indian person (obvious by name) who didn't seem to understand the issue and tried very hard to warn me that if I switched I'd lose my phone number (yes, I have the transcript and can prove this). I threatened to leave and got a complaint number and was told someone would contact me via email to provide an offer (not received yet).

As an aside Neil49, you said "If this was allowed you would have customers chopping and changing every month"
Fine, but then what is the benefit of Lebara having a monthly contract that is continually renewed.

dc_scotland

bohica  As an existing customer, you should be able to take advantage of the £7.90 rate.

Go to this page: https://www.lebara.co.uk/en/msm/p/44000017

Ignore the £1 introductory offer, as you know now you won't get that unless you port out/in.  So it's the £7.90 rate you will get, regardless of what the current screen may suggest.

Click on BUY

The next page asks you to enter your personal details.  Don't do that !  Instead, you should now open this page:

https://www.lebara.co.uk/en/cart/lebara-sim-choice

Log in if necessary and select 'Order 35gb Plan on an existing sim card'.  Select your sim on the next page and continue from there.

I have switched plans multiple times without issue, although not recently.  But I have gone as far as I can through the process just now to make sure it still works.

bohica

Thank you @dc_scotland. I've done as you suggested for my wife. I was charged £1. No idea if it will work but I'll report back when I find out.

Detail_Merchant

bohica said:

I thought mobile operators couldn't offer deals to new customers existing customers can't get.

I think the "can't offer new customers a better deal" rule only applies to home and motor insurance - https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-confirms-measures-protect-customers-loyalty-penalty-home-motor-insurance-markets

For Ofcom related stuff, including mobile phone deals, the closest thing is a "must tell customers about best deals" rule - https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/service-quality/companies-must-tell-customers-about-their-best-deals
The Ofcom rule even states that when you come to the end of a minimum term in a contract, your current provider should tell you their "best deals, including any prices only available to new customers" but it doesn't say they have to offer those new customer only deals to existing customers.

oldernonethewiser

bohica said:

Thank you Neil49 and oldernonethewiser. This is a new area for me and I thought there was a rule saying you could no longer offer deals to new customers you didn't also offer to existing customers (I obviously got this wrong). It seems unfair to me that other people are going to get 7* my data for less than I pay already (£3.40 vs £5.90). I'd actually pay the £7pm for the 35Mb and forget the introductory deal but not even that is available as an existing customer. Seems I'm forced to switch to another operator. I contacted Lebara via web chat, got an obviously Indian person (obvious by name) who didn't seem to understand the issue and tried very hard to warn me that if I switched I'd lose my phone number (yes, I have the transcript and can prove this). I threatened to leave and got a complaint number and was told someone would contact me via email to provide an offer (not received yet).

As an aside Neil49, you said "If this was allowed you would have customers chopping and changing every month"
Fine, but then what is the benefit of Lebara having a monthly contract that is continually renewed.

This is relevant in what way?

Neil49

bohica said:

As an aside Neil49, you said "If this was allowed you would have customers chopping and changing every month"
Fine, but then what is the benefit of Lebara having a monthly contract that is continually renewed.

Having a monthly contract means that you can move to another provider giving one months notice. 

I'm with O2 on a 12 month contract. If I decided to switch to someone else (such as Lebara) when only 3 months into my contract I would be liable to pay off the other 9 months. 

bohica

bohica said:

Thank you @dc_scotland. I've done as you suggested for my wife. I was charged £1. No idea if it will work but I'll report back when I find out.

Unfortunately @dc_scotland Lebara sent a new Sim card so now I'm a bit stuck as it has a new number. Can you move a number from one SIM to another at the same operator?

bohica

bohica said:

bohica said:

Thank you @dc_scotland. I've done as you suggested for my wife. I was charged £1. No idea if it will work but I'll report back when I find out.

Unfortunately @dc_scotland Lebara sent a new Sim card so now I'm a bit stuck as it has a new number. Can you move a number from one SIM to another at the same operator?

Just for clarity. It doesn't seem you can move a mobile number from one SIM to another on the same network but I found a cheap workaround. Buy a pay as you go sim card (£1), move number to it, cancel the original Lebara plan, move the number to the new pay as you go SIM then move it again to the new Lebara SIM. A bit of a hassle but worth it in this case.