My first mobile phone.

[Mr Wiggy]

At the age of 68+ I got myself a mobile phone, mainly because Orange is absolutely bl**dy useless, so after ten years of putting up with them, I now intend to send a letter of termination of my contract.

Back to the phone, I purchased a card from SFR and managed to activate the card but the next step is a bit of an unknown quantity as I need to deposit monies to use the phone. What is the procedure for doing this? Any tips appreciated.

[Quillan]

You can do through their website if it is pay as you go. To be honest they do a SIM for 4.99 Euros a month with 2hrs of calls, unlimited SMS and 100mb of data. If your like me and don't make many calls then it saves the hastle of recharging the phone with money. If you are an existing user you also get 15 days over the summer holidays with no roaming charges in Europe.

It's call SFR Red and you can see the tarrifs HERE

It seems it is all 4G these days although I can just about get 3G and because I joined so long ago I stay on the old tarrif and get extra data and hours (I think it is 4hrs now). It talks about the option to "bloquée" what ths is about is that once over the 2 hours of calls you start paying at the current rate. If you bloquée the phone it stops making calls (you can still recieve them) when you get to 2 hours unless you de bloquée it, handy if you have kids which is why they offer it. Other suppliers offer the same.

The money goes from your bank every month but there is no contact so you can stop at any time. You can change to Red via their website.

Others here use Free which is cheap and gives you international calls for free but it runs in many places off the Orange network which it seems you want to avoid. I use SFR because whilst I have Orange for everything else the mobile signal for them here is rubbish.

Hope that helps.

[Mr Wiggy]

Hi Quillan,

I have already set up the mobile with SFR, my point is, how do I go about topping up the sim card to be able to use the phone? This is my problem and as complete novice as mobile phones are concerned.

I certainly will not be a constant user but for health reasons I need to maintain a reliable means of communications this is why I chose SFR.

[Chancer]

Freemobile doesnt have Free international calls AFAIK, they are very good value though.

A Free internet abonnement will give free calls to landlines in France and to most international destinations, the more expensive Freebox revolution gives free calls to mobiles in France.

[Quillan]

If it is not "Pay as You Go" then they must have asked for your bank details and money will cme out f your French bank account every month. They send you an SMS message to tell you the amount they are taking. Therefore no activation is required.

[Mr Wiggy]

Hi again Quillin.

The card is indeed an SFR pay as you go. this is why I need to find out what my next step is.

[Quillan]

Right OK, you didn't say that at the begining.

Have you put the card into the old Orange phone? If you did then did the Orange phone come as part of the contract you had with them?

[Mr Wiggy]

The sim card is in a SFR phone that's why I was given it.

[YCCMB]

Quill an, I think you may be at cross purposes. As I am reading it, the OP is or was having trouble with an orange landline hence getting what he says at the outset is his first mobile phone. Thus, he couldn't have had an Orange mobile.

[YCCMB]

Mr wiggy...

Here are your options according to the SFR website:

http://assistance.sfr.fr/runtime/mobile-et-tablette/offres-mobile/sfr-la-carte-comment-recharger.html

I wasn't sure so I checked, but it appears you can still go to a tabac, SFR shop or any of the big supermarkets and buy c credit . This is, I guess, still sold at the till and comes in the form of a receipt with a longish code number which you tap into your phone and then the credit is registered. You do this by calling, or texting the code to 952 from your mobile.

If you're a bit hesitant, why not pop into your nearest SFR shop and get someone to walk you through it?

You can also set up an account in their Espace Client online so you can pay by debit card if you prefer.

[Mr Wiggy]

Hi call me Betty.

You are spot on, I had an Orange live box originally back in 2005 This was my first mistake as these Orange live-boxes were rubbish as I was forever loosing the internet connection. I did try to return it to the shop from whence it came but they refused to accept it without even looking at it

My only alternative was to get a Net gear modem /router. Which is still working even now. Doesn’t say much for the live-box.

Now for the last three weeks I originally lost both internet and phone which occurred after a storm, fortunately the internet returned after two days but still no phone .

This is why I bought this mobile which is already on SFR. I do now have it completely active thanks for your help.

This is why I shall be sending a letter of termination to Orange by Lettre Recommandée avec Accusé de Reception.

[YCCMB]

Glad you're sorted Mr Wiggy.

BTW, I hope I'm not preaching to the converted here, but if you still need your internet and you cancel your landline contract, you do realise you'll lose the Internet as well, don't you? I assume you will be making alternative arrangements?

[Quillan]

Have you actually contacted Orange on their English speaking helpline? If the Livebox is faulty you need a returns number to get it replaced. The majority of Livebox 1's and 2's are actual Sagemcom routers rebranded. If you take the Livebox back to the shop they will, as you discovered, refuse to take it unless you have the correct paperwork. The helpdesk will also sort the phone out for as I guess because your using Netgear router is not voip but just a normal phone plugged into the wall socket.

Think you would have been better off with the SFR Red SIM. You can still change it via their website. If you don't keep the existing SIM 'charged' you will lose the money after so many days, you need to check that out in Terms and Conditions. There is no penalty if you dump the PAYG sim and move to the monthly one. Thats why I went this route, it's worth it for 5 Euros a month and the piece of mind.

[Quillan]

[quote user="You can call me Betty"]Glad you're sorted Mr Wiggy. BTW, I hope I'm not preaching to the converted here, but if you still need your internet and you cancel your landline contract, you do realise you'll lose the Internet as well, don't you? I assume you will be making alternative arrangements?[/quote]

Not if he changes ISP. They may include the phone with the router by running it viop. However if the line is dodgy then it won't make any difference who he uses the fault will still be there and Orange own the actual cable.

[YCCMB]

Quillan, which bit of "I assume you will be making alternative arrangements" was unclear to you? I am perfectly aware that if Mr Wiggy changes ISP (or Internet Service Provider, for those who do not necessarily speak acronym) he will still have the Internet, but I am just making sure that he is.

Rather than launching off into long winded jargon laden explanations about what he could/would/should have done, I have been trying to keep things short, sweet and, heaven forfend, simple.

I agree, SFR Pay as you go is not one of the best ever options on the market, as the validity limits of the credit options are pathetic. However, if the OP is new to the whole concept of mobile phones and has only just got the thing working, he can think about what to do next once he has managed to grasp the basics of being a first time mobile owner.

I think you are great at offering help and advice. However, if you stop and read the questions (and answers) before launching in with your own, it would be even more helpful.

[Mr Wiggy]

Firstly, My apolgies go to Quillin, I did have to send an IBAN and I do have the 4.99€ set up, does this then mean that whatever I use is then debited monthly from my bank account which would then make things a lot easier for me.

Secondly, I shall not be sending the termination letter until I have organised a box from SFR.

As I was without a phone until today, I did ask a friend to phone but the feed back from Orange was a complete waste of time because all the woman at Orange was on about was the same ol same ol, “have you checked the live-box for this and that”.

What really annoys me is because these people at the shop in Parthenay refused to exchange this box,I’m still stuck with it, paying for the privilege of its use or lack of, up to now that has cost me an extra 348€ in ten years.

[Chancer]

I just want to say how much I admire you for having resisted a mobile phone all this time and that I am jealous of you.

2014 when I backpacked around the world without a mobile against everyones wishes was the happiest time of my life.

I got a PAYG on arriving in France and then got shafted by many providers who stole my credit and cancelled my number, for a few years now I have had the FOC Free.fr package but the phone was always switched off, I rarely took it with me even when driving 50km as I would always forget it, it was for my convenience not for others.

Now that I am doing tourist lettings for the summer months all that has changed and I am much the poorer for it [:(]

[Quillan]

Yes they take the 4.99 every month. Only if you go over the two hours per month will it go up (only for that month) but then my biggest ever bill when Mrs Q was in hospital and using the phone was just under seven Euros in one month. If you want you can do what I said by going into the user area of your account on the Internet and setting it to block outgoing calls when the two hours is reached but to be honest I find two hours more than enough normally.

As I said they won't take the box unless you have a returns number from the helpline. If you're not using the Livebox then they really are not interested in fixing or doing anything. Personally I would plug it back in then phone them on your mobile now it works and see what they can do. If you tell them you're on a mobile they normally phone you back straight away. Orange now guarantee, according to their website, to fix any fault within 24 hours. This means that any line faults reported by third parties such as SFR etc will be low priority compared to their own customers.

[mint]

[quote user="Chancer"]

I just want to say how much I admire you for having resisted a mobile phone all this time and that I am jealous of you.

2014 when I backpacked around the world without a mobile against everyones wishes was the happiest time of my life.

I got a PAYG on arriving in France and then got shafted by many providers who stole my credit and cancelled my number, for a few years now I have had the FOC Free.fr package but the phone was always switched off, I rarely took it with me even when driving 50km as I would always forget it, it was for my convenience not for others.

Now that I am doing tourist lettings for the summer months all that has changed and I am much the poorer for it [:(]

[/quote]

Chance, I'm another one, just like you.  Had a mobile years ago because of work and then didn't have one for years.  Only when OH fell very ill 2 years ago that I bought one, second-hand from leboncoin so that he felt he could be in contact.

I have an ancient Tesco mobile that I take just so that he could ring me on it.  It has a small amount left in it and I ring home about once a year to keep the number active.

3G, 4G, whatever number G it is now, I don't want to know.  I can't think of anything worse than to be contactable at all times.  OH's sons have offered to buy us tablets, iphones, whatever there is out there and, so far, we have managed to resist accepting one.

BTW, when I was on the Compostelle for over 6 weeks, I took my mobile but not the charger and, after the charge was finished, that was it, no more phone[:D]

[YCCMB]

Ah, but you're all at a total loss without tinternet, though, aren't you?

And for me, for 3-4 months of the year, I wouldn't have the Internet if not for my mobile phone. I don't make many phone call at all...but as I baulk at paying silly sums for the privilege of any sort of Internet connection in France and as the arrangements for switch on/off or dongle Internet don't suit my requirements or my pocket, my mobile is my Internet lifeline for the times I'm in France.

[mint]

As with so much else, Betty, I see yours is a "special case"![:P]

For me, the advantage of the ordi is that it doesn't RING and I don't have to answer it or even go near it unless I want or have a need to.  Sometimes, the least is best and definitely NO overkill[:D]

[YCCMB]

Also, as Chancer is busy discovering, and as I've had to do for the last eleven or more years, being self-employed in providing a service...a mobile phone is frankly indispensable if you want your clients to be able to contact you. And if you want work, then the two are inseparable.