Tesco Mobile pay-as-you-go customer? Be prepared: it may push you to buy a bundle

ih8stress

I am a long-time Tesco Lite Tariff customer and got the text in December to say that I would be put on the Essentials tariff in January - with the £2.50 bundle offer.

Annoyingly I have nearly £20 in my account (minimum top-up of £10, then a £10 'goodwill gesture' after that due to sim card issues).

Obviously I don't want to lose this money. I rarely use the account now.

I have toyed with the idea of ringing Tesco to see if I could be credited with the balance but can't see them going for that, especially the 'goodwill amount'.

How do I go about moving onto the Essential tariff, and NOT losing my credit?

Thanks

MindEcho

You won't lose any credit when switched to essentials.

If you don't renew the £2.50 offer bundle then you'll just carry on as before apart from any calls/texts you make will be at standard rates instead of the lite ones.

So you'll have the same classic PAYG setup except that £20 won't go as far as it did on the Lite tariff.

dnpark38

I did nothing and they just cut me off. Store were no help also Mobile customer service did not understand the situation. 
Got another Provider and they could not get my long standing number transferred.

Phones4Chris

dnpark38 said:

I did nothing and they just cut me off. Store were no help also Mobile customer service did not understand the situation. 
Got another Provider and they could not get my long standing number transferred.

How long since they cut you off? If it's only a few days they should be able to recover your number.
Raise a form complaint, that should get some appropriate attention, and if no resolution then go to the ombudsman and if you don't get your number back, press for some appropriate compensation for the problems that will arise from having to change your number and advising people that would try calling you on your old number (eg. Bank maybe, text verifications etc.).

ih8stress

Thanks @MindEcho- hopefully that is the case with mine and I don't get cut off like dnpark, as I have just over £17 currently still on it.

Will update in February hopefully, when the deadline has passed

Roasty

I thought I'd share my experience so far with the £2.50 tariff. I accepted it last November and as I had money in my account, didn't need to top up until recently. I tried to top up with a card but the system said I needed to use a voucher. I tried to buy a voucher but there seemed to be only the choice of buying a bundle. The advisor on the chat then wrongly advised me that I had to choose a bundle and pay at least £5 a month and that the £2.50 was only for the initial months. I didn't do this and rang them instead. I was told that I was correct and I was on a £2.50 tariff. I said I had a problem topping up and they gave me £5 credit because of the trouble I'd had. She said it's not yet possible to top up with a card but they are working towards that being available. If this doesn't go ahead the only way I can see is to buy a voucher in a Tesco store. Anyone had any different experience that I can learn from?

ih8stress

I've just been switched to the Essentials tariff at £2.50, with the first month free.

Being moneysaving, I obviously want to take advantage of this free month but going forward I will just want to use it as always, on a very infrequent as and when basis, using my remaining credit of £17 for calls and text, albeit now on the standard rates instead of the lite rates.

Do I just use the phone over the next month and make sure that I DON'T renew the £2.50 bundle?

Thanks

whattochoose

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81857533#Comment_81857533

As far as I'm aware, if you have existing credit, isn't that used to fund your Essentials tariff, and once that is all used up, you then pay the standard charge for each call you make or text you send?

Happy to be corrected.

BargainHunter234

I am a current Tesco Mobile customer and my 80 year old father was a Tesco Mobile PAYG customer for 10 years until recently.

Initially, when my father initially joined Tesco PAYG he had a Rocket Pack which tripled his credit - then they stopped doing those and he was spending around £20 per month some occasions to TopUp.

I switched him over to the £10 Bundle which was fine for a while until they stopped taking the £10 automatically from his credit. To get a bundle he had to request one each month by either calling an automated line or creating an online account. He is not tech savvy in the slightest so it was becoming very complicated to be a PAYG customer. If you don't select a bundle they automatically put you on their new Essentials plan which is very expensive. After 10 years he is now with TalkMobile paying £5.95 per month on a 30 day rolling SIM. He doesn't need the data so it works well for him and is much more cost effective as he now as unlimited minutes.

As for me I entered into a 12 month contract with them paying £12.50 per month for 30GB data. I encountered issues when the network went down and O2 listed an issue on their website. Tesco blamed my phone, the SIM anything else and it took weeks for them to admit there was an issue. Unfortunately, their customer service is no longer UK based and it really shows - After an almighty battle they gave me a free month but wouldn't release me from my contract.. When it came to contract renewal they were very uncompetitive but oddly I am on a 30 day rolling plan with the same data and price. 30 day rolling plans aren't even on their website so I am wondering how long it will last before that changes.