Time to change my mobile!

[Russethouse]

I have a mobile phone, on contract, which I rarely use - this costs around £200 pa so I think I would better off on PAYG.

I'm happy with my phone - I really don't need a new one (and I think I could keep it under the terms of my O2 contract)

Is it possible to keep my existing number or not ?

Can anyone recommend a way for me to get rid of the contract,change to PAYG and still be able to phone France/phone the UK from France.

Which company is best?

You can tell from the questions I'm 'low tech' !!

[Cacknanty]

We used to have a contract with Orange, last year we changed to PAYG and we still have the same number and it works in France ok.

However the call charges are horrendous on PAYG, make sure you have plenty of credit, it's £1.20 pm to make a call and 60p to receive. A text is 40p This is about double the cost of a contract call. At least when the money runs out thats all you pay, with a contract you could come back to a huge bill.

cheers

[George]

Gay

I agree with you about the contract price (O2 as well), but the reason I changed to contract from PAYG was because of a weekend trip.  When desparately awaing a call went through £20 voucher within minutes just collecting voicemail, some just saying welcome to Prague.
Like you, mine doesn't get a lot of use, but can't justify PAYG abroad either.

 

[suein56]

We are with Virgin on PAYG, paid monthly in arrears by direct debit. My OH has recently come back from Portugal and the costs for the calls/texts he made were as follows:

To make calls - 60p a minute

To receive calls - 30p a minute

Texts from - 25p each

It only cost me 3p to send him a text as I am with Virgin too - quite a change from when we were with One2One ( or whatever it is called now)

I kept my old number when I transferred to Virgin and my old phone - as the phone is nifty and it was only a year old.

Sue

[LesLauriers]

Like SPG we use Virgin Payg via direct debit, we only pay for the airtime we use and do not have to worry about expiry dates. At the time it was far cheaper than any other UK network for Payg in France and for low usage is ideal. It also has the benefit of roaming in France unlike a French Payg which is dedicated to one network.

[Cacknanty]

The Virgin deal looks pretty good, presumably there is no monthly fee ? and nothing to pay up front ?

Is there a minimum charge for each month ?

If the answers are no I think a change in provider is required !

Thanks 4 the info.

 

[suein56]

Hi Cracknanty

If you transfer to Virgin with your own phone then, AFAIAA, there is only an initial charge for the sim-card (£10) which includes £5 of credit, so net cost of change is £5.

That's all there is to it if you do not mind having the Virgin number that comes with the sim card. If you want to keep your old number then it is transferred, or ported, to Virgin. You must state to your old supplier that you want to port your current number when you give them notice. Virgin will sort the rest.

On the 'nifty' front: as my OH had already swapped to Virgin he recommended me to Virgin (something about 'glue') so he got a free £10 credit. I paid Virgin £10, got a sim-card and £5 credit and promptly recommended my daughter so then I got a free £10 credit too. Then I did the decent thing and paid her initial £10 payment so she transferred for free and got £5 credit. Result - one happy family!

As I do not use my mobile much I now pay about £4 or £5 a month, instead of the £120 per annum I paid before for the same amount of airtime but which also had a rental factor built in.

Sue

Edit**You asked about minimum charge - there is none so no use no bill. Also you only pay for the seconds/minutes that you use, no rental charge.

[Russethouse]

Progress report on this - today I phoned O2 to settle an outstanding bill and change to PAYG. Now I remember why I have given up on this project before!!

Firstly I had to hold on in a queue with 'supermarket musac' for a full 30 mins, then told I was in the wrong queue and transferred, more musac, gave details again (for goodness sake I wanted to GIVE them money !)and then transferred again more details, more musac - by this time I had been on the phone 45mins and refused to be transferred again and requested a supervisor, eventually I was told I could give them 30 days notice immediately, over the phone and request my PAC/PUC number which would be sent to me within 10days.

I would give this number to my new service provider, O2(in this case)when I got my new sim card.

Then they looked at my current contract and miraculously found a better plan and included the ITS (international use)FREE. They would also have given me a FREE upgrade on my phone to a camera phone, but of course that would have tied me in for another year so I refused.

So I ended up still on a contract, but at £8 + Vat rather than just over £16.........I'll see how that works out.(But will probably end up changing)

In all it took 80 mins on the phone at local rate, (thank goodness we are on Onetel)

By the way O2 PAYG rates are on their web site at www.o2.co.uk

[LesLauriers]

O2 payg is still more expensive than Virgin or am I missing something?

[Russethouse]

http://www.o2.co.uk/productsservices/boltons/eurodesc

It says something about a 'Euro Bolt on' but I cant see the price of that at all!

For any one who is thinking about changing to PAYG it is easy, (but in my case time consuming) and as your contract company will probably want to keep you, it may possible to get a better deal on your contract phone.

[Ecossais]

The minimum term of a Pay Monthly Contract mobile phone is 12 months.  After that you have the following options:

 

·         Do nothing (and the contract / tariff will continue).  You can then cancel at any time by giving 30 days notice.

 

·         Get a new handset at a subsidised price (termed an “upgrade”), in which case you extend your contract for a further 12 months.

 

·         Retain your number on the same network and change to Pay As You Go (except T-Mobile).  Usually you will have to pay for a SIM card from the network – about £10.

 

·         Cancel the contract and take your number to another network, either Contract or PAYG.  To do this you need to request a “PAC” Number (Porting Authority Code) from your original network and then take the PAC number letter with you when you go to the dealer to get your new Contract mobile.  If it’s a PAYG that you are buying you will need to contact the new network yourself to arrange the number change (it normally takes effect in 7 days).

 

·         Cancel the contract altogether, by giving 30 days notice.

 

As Russethouse has found out – getting through to most mobile networks is a nightmare and if you are trying to cancel a contract or jump ship to another network you will be passed from one person to another as they try to wear you out and persuade you to stay with them!  Generally new subscribers get better deals than existing customers who upgrade their handset so it can pay to shop around the networks each year, but remember to check all the costs as, eg, international calls can vary substantially between networks.

 

The £8 + VAT line rental deal sounds good if it includes International Traveller Service (ITS) as you would normally pay £3 per month for this unless you had one of the dearer tariffs.  How many minutes do you get on your new deal?

 

The “Euro bolt on” you mention only applies to PAYG phones.  It costs £1.99 per month out of your call credit and can be set up for a month at a time.  It is well worth taking if you have an O2 PAYG mobile – Receiving a call in Europe is 49p per minute (£1.49 without bolt on); a call back to the UK is 69 ppm (99 ppm); a call within Europe is 69 ppm (£1.49 ppm)

 

Further details at http://www.o2.co.uk/productsservices/boltons/eurodesc

 

Generally Virgin is the cheapest PAYG operator for international calls (either calling abroad from the UK or calling back to the UK when abroad), especially if you have a direct debit set up to pay for the calls (there is no line rental charge).  Further details at http://www.virginmobile.com/mobile/services/abroad/paymonthly/tariff_coverage.jsp

 

The cheapest way to phone France (or many other international countries) from a UK mobile is by using services like “Just Dial” – You dial 0870 794 4195 and then dial your international number once you are connected.  Calls to 0870 numbers are included in O2 Contract call allowances and cost the normal rate on O2 PAYG, so after 3 minutes of calls, you’d o

[Russethouse]

I 'think' my new contract is 20 mins (you are right, the whole process was very wearing, I was beginning to lose the will to live), but some months I have no calls at all so that should be ample. I have an arrangement with my son (who doesn't want the embarrassment of his Mum phoning him when he out) that he will text if he is going to be later than expected or stopping at a mates....so might use it a few times for that in a billing period.

I think you are right about the sales side, I'm sure the idea is that they give you this that and the other and then you agree to the free phone and you are tied in for another year. Thanks for the tip about the Euro bolt on.

It might seem a bit mad to want to stay with O2 but the coverage seems good, where as Orange can be patchy locally, no experience of Virgin though.