Phonexpat advice please

[Guest CFrost]

Hello

I'm sure this topic has been covered before but as I'm new to all this I thought the best way is to just ask.

I have recently been sent a copy of the Connexion an English written French news paper.  With it came an offer from a company called Phonexpat.  As I am about to pay my latest France telecom invoice, it is of great interest to me.  They state there is no subscription and you can change from them at any time.  The comparisons look very attritive, saving 86% in some cases.

Can anyone tell me of their experiences with this company, or is there a better more reliable one to use.  If I do decide to sign up, how easy would it be to go back to good old FT.

Your comments are most welcome

Dotty 79

 

[Miki]

Hi Dotty0,

We have been with them Phonexpat for some while now and we reckon we have saved a fair amount of money on telephone calls, both in France and more especially, to the UK.

It really is extremely easy to join. In fact they will do most, if not all of the work for you in informing FT. You will still be paying FT for the line rental, as Expat state but you can quit Expat at anytime, couldn't be easier to do either. You will be billed monthly online, and the amount used taken from your chosen bank, not sure about credit card, we pay by automatic payment, (prelevement) and you can see all your calls made, on your facture.

If you quote my reference number on joining, which is :101182 you will get your first 240 minutes absolutely free and quite usefully, so do I get the same.

[Guest CFrost]

Thanks Miki

I will ponder it a while, but if I go ahead then I will use your ref number to join.  How do these 240 free minutes work.  Are they limited to France or can they be used to the UK and/or mobile numbers.  Do you have to hang up after 59 minutes, of course I'm never on the phone for that long you understand.

Thanks

Dotty

[Junlesley]

Hi, we use Phonexpat and we are very pleased with them, in fact we've just had our bill for the last 2 month's worth of calls to the UK, and it came to the pricely sum of €16.37

[Miki]

[quote]Thanks Miki I will ponder it a while, but if I go ahead then I will use your ref number to join. How do these 240 free minutes work. Are they limited to France or can they be used to the UK and/or ...[/quote]

The free minutes can be used for the UK, a fair saving eh !

You do not have to hang up after any time at all. Talk with the chap on the number you have in the mag. He will tell you everything and you will be under no obligation whatsoever.

You can go to their site http://www.phonexpat.com/ and choose to read it all in English.

[Deimos]

Last time I looked (and rates may have changed since), Phone ex-pat was quite a lot more expensive than Tele-Rabais (http://www.telerabais.com/index2.php). with Tele-Rabais you don’t open any accounts, no paperwork, no credit cards, nothing like that. You don’t tell them who you are, just start using them and get their low rates. If you don’t want to use them, just don’t (no aspects of telling them anything, so nothing like moving back to FT as you never leave FT).

Different carriers target different aspects of the market. Tele-Rabais are best for overseas calls (i.e. don’t use them for calls within France). Calls to the UK off-peak rate are 1.4 centimes per minute.

As there is no account, you can use them immediately. Calls are charged to your FT bill (e.g. the 1.4 centimes per minute to UK, Australia, etc.). If you do not dial their prefix number then the call will be routed through whatever carrier you use already (e.g. FT).

There a few down-sides to consider – you start paying for the call as soon as you dial their prefix code and thus pay for calls that are engaged or not answered (though at that rate this is a trivial cost). Also no "free minutes" as you never open any accounts or anything.

As with all these things, read their (and anybody else’s) info carefully so you are fully aware.

Ian

[Miki]

We chose to use Ex-pat after reading about them on here.

It is somewhat cheaper I believe, than Tel Rabais with local and

National French calls. The saving on calling the UK was slightly higher

with T-R at peak rate time (now dropped to 2.8 cts and so all of .002

cts cheaper !! (so no huge saving there) but now they have a lower rate

at off peak times.

Now to make those savings, you have to add in all the aggravation of

dialing in on a pre-fix number first before you can get through and

then are billed immediately, even if  the line is engaged. The joy

of not having to return to doing that, means I am happy to pay slightly

more but then we gain it back and more, with cheaper French calls, yer

pays yer money etc and if one really wants to get down to cheap...then

there are more and more companies offering totally free calls. Makes me

wonder where it will end and still people will no doubt say, "my calls

are more free than yours"

I can't be doing with constantly searching out ways of saving centimes

and so watch for those of here who know their stuff and follow their

advice and at the time a member on here put the case for Ex-Pat,

checked it out and it has done what it says on their site and saved me

money.