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

MindEcho

Actually I just found this.

w w w.tescomobile.com/help/usage-and-top-up/pay-as-you-go/pay-as-you-go-tariffs#accordion-a7fbe92d85-item-e805ac83b4

I think that explains most of it but it's still not clear how you top up the credit without purchasing a bundle.
It also says that the auto-renew cost is taken from your credit.

Very difficult to get in touch with Tesco - the webchat has never worked.


Do you have a link to this Sky deal?

MindEcho

Here are the T&C
w w w.tescomobile.com/content/dam/tesco-mobile/terms-and-conditions/pay-as-you-go/Pay%20as%20you%20go%20essentials%20terms%20and%20conditions%20July%202025.pdf

MindEcho

Noticed that if you go to make a complaint via email the only option seems to be for Pay Monthly. However the PAYG link is still valid, if hidden.

w w w.tescomobile.com/contact-us/pay-as-you-go/pay-as-you-go-complaints

RL11

Sky SIM is on MSE site as a potential option

It's here:
https://www.sky.com/shop/mobile/plans

patray

RL11 thanks for the info. Do you have to be an existing customer if Sky. Phone or TV.

RL11

I do already have TV & phone but I think the mobile offer is there for all

PHK

MindEcho said:

Tesco's website is very poor as it seems inconsistently updated and contradictory. The store staff know nothing, the phone help know nothing and the complaints team are of now help (seems like AI).

I might be wrong, my understanding after a lot of research is:

Regarding the 3G switch off, if your phone supports 2G (most do) then you'll still be able to make calls/texts using the 2G network until that too is terminated in 2033. 
2G doesn't support data, so you'll loose that ability unless you use 4G or above. 

The VoLTE calling requires three things:

1. a sim card that supports it
2. a device that supports it
3. a tariff that supports it.

The classic PAYG tariff didn't, so even if you had the device and sim, it wasn't an option. Not sure this was entirely Tesco's fault as they're subject to what O2 decide, although in that respect the promise on their website of bringing it to PAYG customers is very misleading.

Regarding the Essentials tariff
You'll keep your credit and use your phone as you did before, but at the unattractive standard rates. 
In addition to that you can buy a bundle (data/mins/texts) which expires after a month.
During that month your use will come out of the bundle, unless you completely deplete part of it (i.e. use all the data)  in which case you can purchase some sort of top up or revert back to your credit at the standard rates. 
You can choose to auto-renew the bundle.

I think vouchers will be a thing still as I got one recently with "Essentials" on it, Currently not sure how you'd buy the bundle; I imagine you'd need to give some details in order to support the auto-renew.

In the unlikely event you have a 2G sim then you can't be switched, presumably because you can't have any data and Tesco will "be in touch".

Asda do a similar tariff but the standard call rate is 10p cheaper and voicemail is free.

Just to point out that O2 (and Tesco) are migrating customers away from 2g. It will be reserved for emergency use and machine to machine communications until it is switched off. 

So, it's advisable to make your next phone purchase one with VoLTE 

MindEcho

Good point. Probably difficult to get a new one that isn't 4G now though.

The Sky deal looks good, but I'd be concerned about the price being increased as the possibility is referenced quite a few times. Oddly, it's right next to a £5/m plan for only 100MB and the 1GB plan without the offer is still £3/m

croaking_goat

So this morning we received the text alerts regarding the migration to the Essentials tariff for our two oldest phones.

These Nokia 113 PAYG phones were bought from Tesco in 2013 and run on GPRS. They are evidently not 3G phones, although we were sent texts in June to say that these phones would need to be replaced with 4G/5G phones to stay connected.

"General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), also called 2.5G, is a mobile data standard that is part of the 2G cellular communication network Global System for Mobile"."

I was expecting today's text to set out the options for those who still have phones running on 3G, 2.5G or 2G. But today's text is the same wording as the notifications we have already received for our 4G phones, offering the same free 30 day bundle then the option of a £2.50 a month bundle (which gives very little mobile data) or staying on the (increased price) standard tariff. For these phones the migration date will be between 10 November and 5 December.

There is no information about whether the numbers and balances of 3G, GPRS (2.5G) or 2G phones can be ported to existing or to new 4G PAYG phones or whether lower than 3G phones will still work for calls and texts or are actually capable of being migrated to the Essentials tariff. 

We don't really need these old phones but we live in a village where some roads have very poor 4G signal and we can often get a signal on these old phones when 4G is not strong enough to receive/send a text or make a call on any of our newer phones. Also, I've got nearly £30 credit left on these two old phones which I would quite like to keep.

croaking_goat

MindEcho said:

Actually I just found this.

w w w.tescomobile.com/help/usage-and-top-up/pay-as-you-go/pay-as-you-go-tariffs#accordion-a7fbe92d85-item-e805ac83b4

I think that explains most of it but it's still not clear how you top up the credit without purchasing a bundle.
It also says that the auto-renew cost is taken from your credit.

Very difficult to get in touch with Tesco - the webchat has never worked.


Do you have a link to this Sky deal?

MindEcho said:

Actually I just found this.

w w w.tescomobile.com/help/usage-and-top-up/pay-as-you-go/pay-as-you-go-tariffs#accordion-a7fbe92d85-item-e805ac83b4

I think that explains most of it but it's still not clear how you top up the credit without purchasing a bundle.
It also says that the auto-renew cost is taken from your credit.

Very difficult to get in touch with Tesco - the webchat has never worked.


Do you have a link to this Sky deal?

After the initial free 30 day bundle, unless you ask to remain on a bundle the account defaults to the new standard tariff rates.

When you need to top up:

If you have a phone that has internet access you can download and top up via the Tesco Mobile app using a credit/debit card.

If you don't want to use the app, can't download the app or don't want to use expensive standard rate mobile data, you can still buy a top up voucher online which will be delivered by email and enter the code via the 4488 customer top-up line.