Pay as You Go Mobile Problem

[martinsh]

Hi folks,

Got a weird problem with my Pay as You Go Mobile. I topped up at a cashpoint (adding £10 credit), and though I received a slip saying "top up has been successful" nothing has been credited to my account ! The phone number and network (Orange) I typed in were definitely correct.

Anyone had a similar experience, or any advice ?

I'm going to check with my bank that the money has actually come off my account, and then contact Orange

All the best

Martin

 

[Emyr]

It's been a long time since I was last a PAYG customer. The only way to get a "good" deal on PAYG is to spend so much that you should have got a contract in the first place.

For my next handset I'm intending to buy a Google Nexus phone outright and get a SIM-only contract.

 

[swj99]

........I topped up at a cashpoint...... £10 credit.........nothing has been credited to my account ! The phone number and network (Orange) I typed in were definitely correct. I'm going to check with my bank that the money has actually come off my account.....

I've not had this happen, and hopefully it's just a glitch that can be easily sorted out.
However, if you don't get any sense out of the bank, or Orange, and assuming the money has been taken from your account, instruct the bank that the transaction was not authorised by you. The transaction you authorised was the one for credit to your mobile phone account. So any other transactions in favour of the phone company were not the one you authorised, and as such you are entitled to a refund from your bank or card issuer.

 

[Hyphen]

For my next handset I'm intending to buy a Google Nexus phone outright and get a SIM-only contract.

(Apologies for hijacking the thread, but...) +1 for this.

For years I've kept my phone and SIM very, very separate from one another. For one thing, I don't like being locked into lengthy contracts if it's avoidable, and I like to be able to replace my phone at my own leisure.

On the down side, it does tend to hurt the old pocket a bit when I want a new handset (I tend to get whatever is the highest end handset at the time, usually at a cost of £600-700), but I do tend to make them last 3-5 years. But there's always the smug satisfaction that the TCO over that time is much lower than getting a phone on a fixed term contract.

I also know that I'm not stuffed if (read: when) I get fed up with my current network provider. This was very useful to me when T-Mobile merged with Orange (who I had left 3 years before), and the quality of the service dropped almost overnight. In that instance, I began seeing the exact same problems which caused me to leave Orange in the first place - namely regularly dropped GPRS sessions.

I'm not one to decide to leave one company (be it mobile, broadband, banking, etc) on a whim - but once I've decided enough is enough, I usually tend to do anything in my power to make sure I'm moving

Most people do seem to think I'm mad for this approach though, even those in phone shops when shopping around finds they have the best price on SIM-free handsets.

 

[richw]

It's been a long time since I was last a PAYG customer. The only way to get a "good" deal on PAYG is to spend so much that you should have got a contract in the first place.

For my next handset I'm intending to buy a Google Nexus phone outright and get a SIM-only contract.

Although you say a good deal, I have a cheap end contract but would be better on PAYG due to my usage so low.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Hi folks,

Got a weird problem with my Pay as You Go Mobile. I topped up at a cashpoint (adding £10 credit), and though I received a slip saying "top up has been successful" nothing has been credited to my account ! The phone number and network (Orange) I typed in were definitely correct.

For many years, I was content with hand-me-down phones from my kids and a PAYG sim. I haven't come across this problem myself but I am sure that the customer services can be persuaded to help you - you will be able to prove that the provider has let you down.

 

[martinsh]

Relieved to report that the credit did eventually come through - about 8 hours later !

However, before it did so, I did try using a different cashpoint, and (after typing everything in) got a message to the effect "sorry top up service not currently available - please contact your phone service provider" - interesting !

 

[jon0844]

What day was this? EE (now 'owns' Orange) had a day or two this week where all balances reverted to zero. Likewise anyone checking how much data they had left were told 0MB. It was only the 'front end' reporting incorrectly so you could still spend the money or use data, but it caused a fair bit of bother as you can imagine.

If you kept refreshing your balance online, it would have possibly worked every now and then! It's not the first time it's happened and probably not the last.

 

[radamfi]

I have an Orange Cash card so as long as I spend £300 a month on it, I get 50 minutes and 150 texts free, which is more than enough for me. I top up the card in the EE shop using a cashback credit card so I get both cashback and free calls. I can't see any contract being better than that.

 

[fowler9]

I have a Moto G and am on pay as you go and quite frankly it ****s all over the £50 a month my mate pays for his i Phone 5. Over the 2 years of his contract I will have paid £500 he will have paid £1200.

 

[radamfi]

I have a Moto G and am on pay as you go and quite frankly it ****s all over the £50 a month my mate pays for his i Phone 5. Over the 2 years of his contract I will have paid £500 he will have paid £1200.

Slightly unfair as the iPhone 5 is much more expensive than a Moto G. But even if you bought an iPhone 5S for £500 on PAYG, you would still only have paid £900 over two years.

 

[fowler9]

Slightly unfair as the iPhone 5 is much more expensive than a Moto G. But even if you bought an iPhone 5S for £500 on PAYG, you would still only have paid £900 over two years.

Nearly twice as much but if you have the money then what the hell.

 

[jon0844]

The Moto G is a stupidly cheap and bloody amazing phone. The 4G version is even better still.

The good news is that the new owners of Motorola, Lenovo, plan to continue releasing high-spec low-cost devices, which is now giving a real kick up the backside to the likes of Samsung, that always made low-end phones with really super-low specs.

Even the cheaper Moto E is pretty damn respectable, although very restricted by its internal storage (thus making it impossible to install lots of large apps or games, even though you have a memory card slot to store loads of media).

 

[fowler9]

The Moto G is a stupidly cheap and bloody amazing phone. The 4G version is even better still.

The good news is that the new owners of Motorola, Lenovo, plan to continue releasing high-spec low-cost devices, which is now giving a real kick up the backside to the likes of Samsung, that always made low-end phones with really super-low specs.

Even the cheaper Moto E is pretty damn respectable, although very restricted by its internal storage (thus making it impossible to install lots of large apps or games, even though you have a memory card slot to store loads of media).

It is an amazing phone. Me and my mates don't really use our phones for games etc. as we get older and this does absolutely everything you need. Most of my mates are paying more than they need for more phone than they need.

 

[Kite159]

It's been a long time since I was last a PAYG customer. The only way to get a "good" deal on PAYG is to spend so much that you should have got a contract in the first place.

For my next handset I'm intending to buy a Google Nexus phone outright and get a SIM-only contract.

New Nexus will probably be out in the next couple months (in line with the release of Android "L"), so keep an eye out for any price drops of the Nexus 5 (The Nexus 4 had a sale late August last year with £80 knocked off the price in preparation for the N5)

Add with a £7.50 Sim only deal from Tesco (which got axed when 4G came out replaced with a frankly rubbish £7.50 tariff offering)

Saves being tied into a £20+ month contract for 2 years.

 

[jon0844]

Tesco uses O2 so I wouldn't rate it for data. 4G (and upgraded 3G) sites will be fine, but they're thin on the ground compared to EE and Three (the latter being very solid for 3G but behind on 4G for now). There are a fair few MVNOs that use EE or Three, although I don't know how many offer 4G yet.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

 

[hassaanhc]

Tesco uses O2 so I wouldn't rate it for data. 4G (and upgraded 3G) sites will be fine, but they're thin on the ground compared to EE and Three (the latter being very solid for 3G but behind on 4G for now). There are a fair few MVNOs that use EE or Three, although I don't know how many offer 4G yet.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

I've been on TalkMobile (Carphone Warehouse own brand) for almost 2 years now, they use Vodafone and their network coverage is so annoying (although I did like the smug feeling when I was the only one with reception inside a school building in Heston, West London other networks struggle there outdoors let alone in that building). Before that I used T-Mobile and their 3G connection was very good, however reports are they've gone massively downhill since the merger with Orange :?. I've been meaning to get PAYG T-mobile and Three SIMs to see how their networks are like, my contract ends at the end of September

 

[jon0844]

T-Mobile users should be fine. Since T-Mobile worked with Three to merge networks (for 3G), everyone should have benefitted from the vast 3G network that has also been mostly updated to support the fastest version (DC-HSPA) and speeds of 20-30Mbps in the real world (theoretical max 43.2Mbps).

However, Orange users may suffer as many old Orange sites (really old GSM or extremely slow 3G) aren't being brought in and are simply being decommissioned.. meaning some people losing signal that they've had for years. In theory, T-Mobile users never had a signal to lose there.

4G will eventually help solve a lot of the issues. Due to the way it works, you'll generally get a very good data throughput even with just one bar - and at 800MHz you can also provide a better service indoors and in rural areas. Problem is, 4G is data only for now - but voice over 4G will come either at the end of this year, or more likely next year.

Not that every handset on offer today supports VoLTE or can be upgraded to support it...

 

[ac6000cw]

As I'm looking to change networks very soon, due to inadequate coverage by Three outside urban areas, any opinions on networks with decent rural coverage (for voice mostly, so 2G is OK) ?

(With Three, data speeds are great when service is available, but there are too many no-service 'Emergency calls only' areas for my liking).

 

[BlueFox]

The only way to get a "good" deal on PAYG is to spend so much that you should have got a contract in the first place.

That's just not true. Certainly for low users, PAYG can be much cheaper than the cheapest contract.

I spend around £4 a month on Three PAYG. 3p a minute, 2p a text, 1p a MB. When you top up £5 they give you 150MB free.

I paid £90 for my Moto G. So assuming my phone lasts two years, I'll pay a total of £186, which is £7.75 a month. Buying the same phone on the cheapest contract would cost much more, and the cheapest tariffs wouldn't cover my current usage.

Until a few months ago I was using an Ovivo sim. That cost a one off fee of £5, and I had 18 months of calls, texts and data from it before they closed down. So my current £4 a month seems expensive by comparison.

 

[DarloRich]

I have never had a contract phone and can’t ever see myself getting one. I have an ancient deal on T mobile that for £10 per month gives me unlimited texts, unlimited data and £10 worth of calls, as long as I top up at least £10 per month each month. It comes from a time when mobile internet was new and they were trying to tempt people to use it. They are desperate to get me on a contract and reduce my mobile data use! Unlucky!

If I want a new phone I either buy a second hand one. Why pay over the odds?

 

[richw]

As I'm looking to change networks very soon, due to inadequate coverage by Three outside urban areas,

This surprises me as in Rural Cornwall Three has the most coverage, shortly followed by EE.

 

[Kite159]

Tesco uses O2 so I wouldn't rate it for data. 4G (and upgraded 3G) sites will be fine, but they're thin on the ground compared to EE and Three (the latter being very solid for 3G but behind on 4G for now). There are a fair few MVNOs that use EE or Three, although I don't know how many offer 4G yet.

Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk

Agree, the data on O2 sometimes is rubbish. I would go with 3, but the signal in this area is rubbish

 

[Emyr]

I paid £90 for my Moto G. So assuming my phone lasts two years, I'll pay a total of £186, which is £7.75 a month. Buying the same phone on the cheapest contract would cost much more, and the cheapest tariffs wouldn't cover my current usage.

I didn't mean a "phone-included" contract, just "a contract" i.e SIM only.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
3's cheapest at £7/month:

http://www.three.co.uk/_standalone/PricePlan_Details?content_aid=1220491051413

500MB,
200 minutes
All-you-can-eat texts.

 

[jon0844]

I think the plain PAYG offering is pretty good in most cases. Indeed, some add-ons still exist that should be axed (like 500MB for £5, which is pointless as you pay 1p per MB and don't have to use it within 30 days if you just pay as you go).

The fact you get 150MB of data for a £5 top-up (so always top up in £5 amounts) means you can get 650MB for £5 or 1.3GB for £10. I'm excluding calls and texts here, but only because I've gone from someone who could chat for 5-6 hours PER NIGHT to maybe using 20-30 minutes PER MONTH. I rarely text either, preferring an email or IM.

PAYG can also be used abroad in 'Feel at home' countries if you purchase an add-on (there's a £10 add-on with calls, texts and data).

In all cases, if you have a 4G phone then you'll be able to use 4G wherever it exists at no extra cost. Oh, and if you download the inTouch app - you can also make and receive calls & texts on Wi-Fi networks, meaning you can use it on the Underground and, potentially, in-flight Wi-Fi connections!

 

[richw]

The fact you get 150MB of data for a £5 top-up (so always top up in £5 amounts) means you can get 650MB for £5 or 1.3GB for £10. I'm excluding calls and texts here, but only because I've gone from someone who could chat for 5-6 hours PER NIGHT to maybe using 20-30 minutes PER MONTH. I rarely text either, preferring an email or IM.

Like wise because I've discovered what's app and Skype, and 9 times out of 10 there is some kind of free wifi available. As soon as my contract expires I will be going PAYG

 

[BlueFox]

3's cheapest at £7/month

I'm not sure how that helps your argument, it's nearly twice what I currently pay per month on payg.

There's no point paying for lots of inclusive minutes and texts if you're not going to use them.

 

[jon0844]

Three's new tariffs do mean there's no longer anything available around the £2.50-£5 a month mark, although I think there are perhaps still mobile broadband/tablet tariffs.

Presumably, PAYG is cheaper for such low usage. Certainly seems to me that this would be the best option. Sometimes you might spend a bit more, but those times you don't will save you even more money.

 

[ac6000cw]

It's good that 3's 'Feel at Home' is available on PAYG, especially as it includes the US - didn't realize that

 

[radamfi]

Once 4G calling over the internet becomes standard, hopefully that will be the end of paying a high premium for a mobile compared to a tablet, as the old technology that enables you to make a call on a mobile will no longer be required.

It's good that 3's 'Feel at Home' is available on PAYG, especially as it includes the US - didn't realize that

Be careful, though, as the US generally uses different frequencies to Europe, so you need a compatible device. Calling and texting on 2G is normally fine, but many handsets sold in Europe won't work in the US on 3G.