Re: Any disadvantages to moving from contract to PAYG?
On 16 Mar 2007 12:29:25 -0700, "dg" <drgreen2k@hotmail.com> wrote:
>I am finding that I don't need all my free minutes and texts from my
>contract plan, and may not use any some months.
>
>I've seen some good offers from various PAYG plans, so I am
>considering moving to one of these.
>
>There is a potential big cost saving, but are there any disadvantages
>in moving to PAYG?
>
>Cheers
>
>dg
Disadv.
1. Sometimes you have to pay to access voicemail.
2. You might run out of credit.
3. You have to pay to complain to customer services.
Adv.
1. You might save money if you are a low user.
2. No looming bills.
Depending on how much you need there are various offers worth looking
at.
The T-Mobile Flext - sort of between a contract and PAYG
The PAYG is 12p/min to landline or mobile and capped at £1 to the Net.
At 12p/min works out cheaper than Virgin tariff if you do less than
about 6 mins a day.
If you use as much as £10/month O2 is worth looking at.
Remove 'no_spam_' from email address.
Re: Any disadvantages to moving from contract to PAYG?
"Brian A" <no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:4lslv2de7cko6tufq4pvb94fgabg5nqkmn@4ax.com...
> On 16 Mar 2007 12:29:25 -0700, "dg" <drgreen2k@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>>I am finding that I don't need all my free minutes and texts from my
>>contract plan, and may not use any some months.
>>
>>I've seen some good offers from various PAYG plans, so I am
>>considering moving to one of these.
>>
>>There is a potential big cost saving, but are there any disadvantages
>>in moving to PAYG?
>>
>>Cheers
>>
>>dg
> Disadv.
> 1. Sometimes you have to pay to access voicemail.
> 2. You might run out of credit.
> 3. You have to pay to complain to customer services.
>
> Adv.
> 1. You might save money if you are a low user.
> 2. No looming bills.
>
> Depending on how much you need there are various offers worth looking
> at.
> The T-Mobile Flext - sort of between a contract and PAYG
> The PAYG is 12p/min to landline or mobile and capped at £1 to the Net.
> At 12p/min works out cheaper than Virgin tariff if you do less than
> about 6 mins a day.
Surely it depends on how many voicemail calls you receive. Isn't Virgin now
unique in terms of offering free voicemail access (other than the
T-Mobile/One2One Standard Plan which some people still have)? In any case
free voicemail access in not something to be ignored. Also Virgin direct
debit PAYG offers cheaper roaming charges than Virgin pure PAYG (and iirc
the cheapest roaming data rate of any provider). Most of the disadvantages
you cite are absent with Virgin direct debit PAYG (10p to call CS).
The T-Mobile £1 GPRS capping is very, very attractive though - it certainly
steals the thunder from Orange World. I was with someone recently who used
it to access the internet during a long train journey. The amount of data
that was downloaded was really quite scandalous. And it only cost £1. It
begs the question - why do the virtual T-Mobile providers charge such silly
amounts for GPRS access?
Re: Any disadvantages to moving from contract to PAYG?
"Gareth" <hotmail.com@dgareth.spm> wrote in message
news:45fb267c$0$22117$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...>
> The T-Mobile £1 GPRS capping is very, very attractive though - it
> certainly steals the thunder from Orange World. I was with someone
> recently who used it to access the internet during a long train journey.
> The amount of data that was downloaded was really quite scandalous. And it
> only cost £1.
Got a link for this? I heard rumour of this but couldn't find it on thir
website. Bloke in T-mobile shop was even worse: "Data? Sorry we don't do
business services here sir."
Re: Any disadvantages to moving from contract to PAYG?
"Mark" <markincambs@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:m1oov2tkb5ondvpollfaiuo802d27l8pks@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 19:47:12 GMT, Brian A
> <no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> >On 16 Mar 2007 12:29:25 -0700, "dg" <drgreen2k@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >>I am finding that I don't need all my free minutes and texts from
my
> >>contract plan, and may not use any some months.
> >>
> >>I've seen some good offers from various PAYG plans, so I am
> >>considering moving to one of these.
> >>
> >>There is a potential big cost saving, but are there any
disadvantages
> >>in moving to PAYG?
> >>
> >>Cheers
> >>
> >>dg
> >Disadv.
> >1. Sometimes you have to pay to access voicemail.
> >2. You might run out of credit.
> >3. You have to pay to complain to customer services.
>
> add also that call forwarding (diverts) to anything other than
> voicemail are normally not possible, AFAIK.
>
>
It is also reputed that at times of heavy system usage contract
customers will get system priority over PAYG.
Also, generally speaking PAYG only works overseas if the country being
visited has a PAYG system of its own - Belgium being a good example of
where (Orange) PAYG does not work. Contract is universal.
Re: Any disadvantages to moving from contract to PAYG?
On 17 Mar, 21:53, "Joe Harrison" <newscont...@crylo.com> wrote:
> "Gareth" <hotmail....@dgareth.spm> wrote in message
>
> news:45fb267c$0$22117$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...>
>
> > The T-Mobile £1 GPRS capping is very, very attractive though - it
> > certainly steals the thunder from Orange World. I was with someone
> > recently who used it to access the internet during a long train journey.
> > The amount of data that was downloaded was really quite scandalous. Andit
> > only cost £1.
>
> Got a link for this? I heard rumour of this but couldn't find it on thir
> website. Bloke in T-mobile shop was even worse: "Data? Sorry we don't do
> business services here sir."
If you look on the T-Mobile PAYG page, below the list of the 3 types
of PAYG plans are some T&C's in grey - right at the bottom are the
references to the web n' walk service.
"If your phone is web'n'walk compatible, you can use the internet as much as
you like and you won't pay more than £1 per day - this is called a Day
Pass."
Re: Any disadvantages to moving from contract to PAYG?
On 16 Mar, 19:29, "dg" <drgree...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> I am finding that I don't need all my free minutes and texts from my
> contract plan, and may not use any some months.
>
> I've seen some good offers from various PAYG plans, so I am
> considering moving to one of these.
>
> There is a potential big cost saving, but are there any disadvantages
> in moving to PAYG?
I use Virgin PAYG, with a direct debit mandate so that I can use the
phone overseas. I get itemised billing, a reasonably cheap call rate
(most months my bill is less that 75p) free connection to voicemail in
the UK, and perfectly good service. I can browse the whole internet
if I am feeling financially reckless, and it all seems to work. I can
see no reason to have a contract.
on one SIM I turned off voicemail, because when in countries where you
pay to recieve calls I was paying for calls to go to voicemail, but
the voicemail was purged before I returned to the UK and could access
it. I had charges of about £35 on the phone for which I had received
no benefit and for which Virgin could not even provide the number that
had called me (I think this is because I was in India)
The only other downside I have found - apart from Virgin's relentless
"yoof" style of talking to you when you call customer service - is the
total absence of any way of reporting network problems. Being told
to return my phone for repair when it worked all over the UK but not
on Plymouth Hoe was simply ridiculous. But I have little doubt that
contract customers would be treated no better, although I cannot
compare directly.
I would not hesitate. If the money makes sense, do it. After all, if
you do find a snag there is no long-term contract to cancel!
Re: Any disadvantages to moving from contract to PAYG?
"harrogate3" <harrogate3@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:h88Lh.12179$GI.3824@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net...
>
> "Mark" <markincambs@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:m1oov2tkb5ondvpollfaiuo802d27l8pks@4ax.com...
>> On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 19:47:12 GMT, Brian A
>> <no_spam_bca1000@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> >On 16 Mar 2007 12:29:25 -0700, "dg" <drgreen2k@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >>I am finding that I don't need all my free minutes and texts from
> my
>> >>contract plan, and may not use any some months.
>> >>
>> >>I've seen some good offers from various PAYG plans, so I am
>> >>considering moving to one of these.
>> >>
>> >>There is a potential big cost saving, but are there any
> disadvantages
>> >>in moving to PAYG?
>> >>
>> >>Cheers
>> >>
>> >>dg
>> >Disadv.
>> >1. Sometimes you have to pay to access voicemail.
>> >2. You might run out of credit.
>> >3. You have to pay to complain to customer services.
>>
>> add also that call forwarding (diverts) to anything other than
>> voicemail are normally not possible, AFAIK.
>>
>>
>
> It is also reputed that at times of heavy system usage contract
> customers will get system priority over PAYG.
>
> Also, generally speaking PAYG only works overseas if the country being
> visited has a PAYG system of its own - Belgium being a good example of
> where (Orange) PAYG does not work. Contract is universal.
Not true. The problem is connected with the charging systems used by the
home and host network. Virgin pre-pay works in Belgium and also, for
example, in Sri Lanka and India despite the fact that Virgin occasionally
believes (according to the tubbies) that their pre-pay service doesn't work
in Sri Lanka. It works with some networks and not with others. If Orange
doesn't work at all - with any network - then this is a flaw with Orange's
restrictive roaming service.
Any disadvantages to moving from contract to PAYG? 
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