Lebara deal ended - £1.30 MSE price going up to £4.90 tomorrow - call them? Or switch to Talk Home?

makara

UPDATE to the below -

I found a Quidco offer - although if I cancel within a month it might not take effect - but that's OK

£8 Cashback for a 1 month x £6 SIM -

https://www.quidco.com/merchant/lyca-mobile/

which linked an offer on Lyca's website for £3 (instead of £6) for the first 3 months - and only ONE month commitment -

https://www.lycamobile.co.uk/en/affiliate-offers/best-value-everyday-plans-1 - note you need to click on the "Pay Monthly" slider - as it defaults to "PAYG"

After Month # 1 - I'll port back into "Lebara" using their MSE affiliate link

++++++++

Original OP -

I got caught short - the £1.30 MSE deal for 5 GB plus unlimited minutes from Lebara is going up to £4.90 tomorrow - I didn't realise they don't alert you in advance about the upcoming change

Do Lebara haggle? If so - how do I call them? I've never had the need for any interaction

If not / or if they don't budge - then maybe better to move to Talk Home mobile (that my Mother is already on) for £2.74 per month for 2 GB plus unlimited minutes? I BARELY use mobile data myself

Or any other deals for unlimited minutes plus at least 1 GB of Data currently cheaper than that?

I assume it's now too late to disconnect from Lebara - assuming you have to give 30 days notice or something like that?

EDIT - I called 5588 - Lebara advisor said they couldn't do anything for me

makara

Aha -

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SMARTY-1-Month-Flexible-Plans-Available/dp/B09CLHW6TS

I just turned off my Lebara "auto-renew" - so that I won't incur the £4.90 charge for the next month - and got my PAC code from them

As I have Amazon Prime - I'm going to order the above Smarty SIM for £0.10 pence - and port into it

Once I have ported in - I assume I can then request a PAC from Smarty to port out - and rejoin Lebara on their new £2.02 deal for 7 months deal on MSE…?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/lebara/

Or is there a waiting period you must adhere to with Lebara to port out / then back in? Like a month etc?

Edit - I've also ordered a free Rolling Contract SIM from O2 - as I'm not sure if either Smarty or O2 let you activate WITHOUT paying for a month

(I hardly make any calls - so can live with receiving calls only for a few days - before porting back in to Lebara)

flaneurs_lobster

For Smarty I think you have to take a month's worth of plan to activate, so that's a minimum of £6.

Asda have a talk'n'text PAYG plan (no data) for £4 or £5 for 3GB. You'll need to pay for at least that to activate.

Think O2 is a minimum of £10 to activate any SIM.

makara

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82072820#Comment_82072820

Thanks - it seems then that most (all…?) mobile providers have tightened up on allowing free Activation

The posts I saw on Reddit mentioning some did it (especially "3" etc) were from around 8 or 9 months ago - and even within those threads some were mentioning Free activation used to work - but no longer does without at least ONE (initial) payment

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82072824#Comment_82072824

Think that's absolutely right, the free Asda SIM used to come activated with some free credit, ostensibly so you could call/text their CS to sort out paypoint cards etc.

Needless to say it became the SIM of choice for anyone looking to bounce in'n'out back to their original network.

Same with the free 3 PAYG SIM.

I'm not aware of a SIM that can be activated (so that you can port a number to it) for free anymore.

makara

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82072836#Comment_82072836

Many thanks

Seen a £3.50 deal from Lyca Mobile - but can't tell if it's a 12 or 24 month contract - or if I can leave at any time -

https://www.lycamobile.co.uk/en/media/best-plans-uk-plan-smart-pd

versus -

https://www.lycamobile.co.uk/en/bundle/uk-plan-smart

flaneurs_lobster

The 30% Lyca deal is a PAYG with a 1 month plan. No contract.

makara

Many thanks for confirming

I found a Quidco offer - although if I cancel within a month it might not take effect - but that's OK

£8 Cashback for a 1 month x £6 SIM -

https://www.quidco.com/merchant/lyca-mobile/

which linked an offer on Lyca's website for £3 (instead of £6) for the first 3 months - and only ONE month commitment -

https://www.lycamobile.co.uk/en/affiliate-offers/best-value-everyday-plans-1 - note you need to click on the "Pay Monthly" slider - as it defaults to "PAYG"

After Month # 1 - I'll port back into "Lebara" using their MSE affiliate link

(I'll update my OP with the above so that others see this offer)

GrubbyGirl_2

Seems like a hell of a lot of effort for very little benefit, also so much to go wrong

savergrant

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6676573/lebara-deal-ended-1-30-mse-price-going-up-to-4-90-tomorrow-call-them-or-switch-to-talk-home

The lebara deals I've used clearly state the date when the discount ends every time I login to my account, so not sure why you haven't seen that. You should also be able to turn off autorenew until midnight then you'll just go onto payg (check autotopup isn't enabled though) if you want to keep that number request a pac and find a different provider