Mobile phone.

[James]

Hello,

We have a pay as you go french mobile with SFR but it takes the credit away after a certain time limit which is very annoying.

I did do a search of this site for a new sim card that has no time limits but they all seemed to have some snag. eg make at least one call or still time limited.

Is there any network in france that has no time limit to use your credit?

We only keep the phone for occasional emergency use.

Many thanks James.

[Cassis]

I don't think so.  I think NRJ was the last one and they turned double-crossers once they had enough subscribers aboard.

[Department71]

Have there been any further stories in the French press about NRJ's  double cross. Have they lost customers, it would make me feel better if they have.

 

Steve

[pete charente]

Have a look at neuf.fr they do sim cards with no time expiry but I think you have to be a customer of theirs first, as I am, with broadband and free phone calls. They also give you 10 mins per month of calls for free, and the sim card was free. This could suit you.

[James]

Hello,

   Thank you all for your replies. It seems that all mobile phone networks in France take your credit away after so long then.  We may just stick with our UK mobile although it is very expensive to phone out and call, on the very few occasions that we use it. It is a very old Ericsson and always works even after not putting credit on it for over 6 months. But the signal strength is very poor where we live.

   We were thinking of Neuf but thought against it at the moment as we had heard people are having problems with neuf and broadband in general. We may have it in the future as the free national/ International phone calls would be good. We were not that bothered about broadband as our dial up works as good as the uk. But would of had broadband for their 34.90 month scheme. 

                      Many thanks James.

[Cassis]

Around November last year I recall a post about a new UK operator supposed to be starting beginning 2007 - you had to pay about 20 quid for the card and an initial charge-up, but the credit did not expire.  Call rates within France and to the UK from France were a lot better thanthe usual UK operators.  If you dig around with the search facility you may be able to find it (and post the link back here if you find the operator is now up and running).  Happy Hunting!

[PossumGirl]

Orange has a plan that is 7€ per month and then you just pay the communication. It's less expensive per call than the pay as you go and you don't have to worry about topping up credit. 

PG

[Ecossais]

James,

You mention that using your UK mobile in France is expensive, what network is your mobile on?  If it’s O2, have a look at their “My Europe” scheme – it’s free and makes incoming and outgoing calls to almost any European landline or mobile number 35p per minute.  There are details on the O2 website.

Regardless of which network you have, I'd suggest you make a quick chargeable call every 3 months, if you don’t, you risk having your number disconnected and losing any credit you have.

[Dave Plumb]

Hi James

I Have just got my sim from oneroam.co.uk  claim it dont run out, wont know the truth for a while, same as you, only need it for short periods and normal roaming charges put my back up.  [6]

[fulcrum]

James

I use the Orange pay as you go here in France. I just buy a ten euros top up every few months (cant remember exactly how many) to ensure I keep my number. I haven't been able to find anything cheaper.

[berkey]

We have a phone on contract with O2 and when we come over to France we subscribe to O2 My Europe Extra.  It costs £10 per month and you can just subscribe for a month at a time.  All incoming calls are free and outgoings calls are 25p per minute. We send a text to people and ask them to phone us back, it just costs them the same as a normal phone call.  Details are on the O2 website.    

[fulcrum]

I realise that pay as you go isn't cheap for calls actually made, but then I don't make many calls. However one of the main reasons that I stick with PAYG is that you can't get zapped for any "extra charges". If you have a regular monthly account then all sorts of charges can get added to the monthly bill.

[James]

Hi

The phone provider is T mobile and is a old ericsson. I like the PAYG as I dont use it enough to have it as a contract and use it for an emergency only. It makes sense to make a call now and then to keep the phone online.

Dave plumb wrote:

"I Have just got my sim from oneroam.co.uk  claim it dont run out, wont know the truth for a while, same as you, only need it for short periods and normal roaming charges put my back up."

This sounds very interesting, did you buy in the UK or did they post  it? Will be interesting to see if it is time limited.  I will have a look at their website.

                                             Many thanks James.