I've just turned on my spare mobile which is on Voda PAYG only to find that
they have decided to deactivate it!
Can I get it reactivated? If not I'm going to lose 30 quid in credit and
quite a memorable number...
I've rung Vodafone who explained that the SIM was deactivated because it
had not been used in 3 months and that they could do nothing about it. When
I suggested that this amounted to theft of the significant credit balance,
I was told to write to head office.
What are my chances and what's the best way to go about it?
Terry <gosh@lineone.net> wrote:
> I've rung Vodafone who explained that the SIM was deactivated because it
> had not been used in 3 months and that they could do nothing about it. When
> I suggested that this amounted to theft of the significant credit balance,
> I was told to write to head office.
I was told that they put SIMs into 'quarantine' after 3 months, then
disconnect them after 6. In quarantine the SIM will register and you can
see your balance (with *#1345#) and your number (*#100#), but texts don't
send and voice calls divert to the topup line.
They reactivated my more-than-3-less-than-6 SIM there and then, no
questions asked.
As always with call centres, try the best of three?
"Terry" <gosh@lineone.net> wrote in message
news:Xns9C13E04E0A52Dtedium@69.16.176.253...
> I've just turned on my spare mobile which is on Voda PAYG only to find
> that
> they have decided to deactivate it!
>
> Can I get it reactivated? If not I'm going to lose 30 quid in credit and
> quite a memorable number...
>
> I've rung Vodafone who explained that the SIM was deactivated because it
> had not been used in 3 months and that they could do nothing about it.
> When
> I suggested that this amounted to theft of the significant credit balance,
> I was told to write to head office.
>
> What are my chances and what's the best way to go about it?
>
>
Voda a couple of years ago did it to me too, after they reduced their disuse
time from 6 to 3 months (Which AFAIK is now the shortest of any network)
Although they won't admit it, it is intentional policy and as you say
planned theft
The answer is to port to a PAYG network with a long disuse policy like
Virgin
Or if you have to use the Voda network, use one of their Virtuals instead
Keep complaining, you might be lucky and get it reactivated
"Steve Terry" <gFOURwwk@tesco.net> wrote in message
news:gv7bt1$8lv$1@news.albasani.net...
>
> "Terry" <gosh@lineone.net> wrote in message
> news:Xns9C13E04E0A52Dtedium@69.16.176.253...
>> I've just turned on my spare mobile which is on Voda PAYG only to find
>> that
>> they have decided to deactivate it!
>>
>> Can I get it reactivated? If not I'm going to lose 30 quid in credit and
>> quite a memorable number...
>>
>> I've rung Vodafone who explained that the SIM was deactivated because it
>> had not been used in 3 months and that they could do nothing about it.
>> When
>> I suggested that this amounted to theft of the significant credit
>> balance,
>> I was told to write to head office.
>>
>> What are my chances and what's the best way to go about it?
>>
>>
> Voda a couple of years ago did it to me too, after they reduced their
> disuse
> time from 6 to 3 months (Which AFAIK is now the shortest of any network)
>
> Although they won't admit it, it is intentional policy and as you say
> planned theft
>
> The answer is to port to a PAYG network with a long disuse policy like
> Virgin
>
> Or if you have to use the Voda network, use one of their Virtuals instead
>
> Keep complaining, you might be lucky and get it reactivated
>
I'd recommend Virgin - got my SIM 5 years ago with 5 pound on the thing,
still working despite being out of the UK 7-8 months a year -- and nearly 3
pound left to spend.
I must be close to one of their most unprofitable customers.
"Peter" <occassionally-confused@nospam.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4oif15pb7n6a1p5pnan56ru71bbbu04h13@4ax.com...
>
> "Mark BR" <briley@x-privat.it> wrote
>
>>I'd recommend Virgin - got my SIM 5 years ago with 5 pound on
>>the thing,
>>still working despite being out of the UK 7-8 months a year --
>>and nearly 3
>>pound left to spend.
>
> I recommend Virgin too. Been with them for a few years and
> never had
> any problem, including SIMs used for just data and not used for
> a few
> months at a time.
>
> Vodafone are a bunch of ripoff merchants, with scams like
> £10/MB for
> data unless you are getting it in a very specific way...
>
> I have finally managed to unlock my Thinkpad laptop 3G modem so
> I am
> done with Voda for good.
>
> Vosa support is the pits, with never the same answer twice.
>
> A 3m unused credit confiscation policy stinks. This is what the
> satellite phone networks do...
>
Point of interest, which Voda 3G modem are you using? Is it he
PCMCIA type made by some Chinese outfit beginning with H? If so,
how did you unlock it?
"Terry" <gosh@lineone.net> wrote in message
news:Xns9C13E04E0A52Dtedium@69.16.176.253...
> I've just turned on my spare mobile which is on Voda PAYG only to find that
> they have decided to deactivate it!
>
> Can I get it reactivated? If not I'm going to lose 30 quid in credit and
> quite a memorable number...
>
> I've rung Vodafone who explained that the SIM was deactivated because it
> had not been used in 3 months and that they could do nothing about it.
For a start this is utter bollox. Everyone, including Vodafone CS and shop
staff, seem to spout this 3 month cut-off bullshit - it is NOT 3 months - they
can suspend the service after 6 months, but you can ask them to reactivate it
and reinstate previous credit *for another* 3 months after they've suspended the
service.
So they can't nick your credit unless you've not used the service for 9 months.
> When
> I suggested that this amounted to theft of the significant credit balance,
> I was told to write to head office.
> What are my chances and what's the best way to go about it?
Quote them their own T&C's and demand your credit & number are reinstated or
you'll see them in the small claims court. That's unless of course you've left
it 9 months since last using it...
I went through this a few months ago - the service was suspended because I
hadn't used it for 6 months - they told me "it's a 3 month cut-off", I pointed
them at their own website and demanded they reactivate the service, which they
did (and they gave me a bit of credit free for pissing me around...).
"Peter" <occassionally-confused@nospam.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4oif15pb7n6a1p5pnan56ru71bbbu04h13@4ax.com...
>
> "Mark BR" <briley@x-privat.it> wrote
>
> >I'd recommend Virgin - got my SIM 5 years ago with 5 pound on the thing,
> >still working despite being out of the UK 7-8 months a year -- and nearly 3
> >pound left to spend.
>
> I recommend Virgin too. Been with them for a few years and never had
> any problem, including SIMs used for just data and not used for a few
> months at a time.
>
> Vodafone are a bunch of ripoff merchants, with scams like £10/MB for
> data unless you are getting it in a very specific way...
They're a rip-off for some things but nothing can touch their legacy Smartplus
tariff for off-peak use and roaming. It'll be even better this summer as they're
abolishing roaming charges for most of Europe and even some other places like
Australia - 5p/min for calls back to the UK. What other PAYG even gets close to
that?
"Andy Pandy" <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:77qounF1i7rf0U1@mid.individual.net...
> "Peter" <occassionally-confused@nospam.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:4oif15pb7n6a1p5pnan56ru71bbbu04h13@4ax.com...
>> "Mark BR" <briley@x-privat.it> wrote
>>
>> >I'd recommend Virgin - got my SIM 5 years ago with 5 pound on the thing,
>> >still working despite being out of the UK 7-8 months a year -- and
>> >nearly 3
>> >pound left to spend.
>>
>> I recommend Virgin too. Been with them for a few years and never had
>> any problem, including SIMs used for just data and not used for a few
>> months at a time.
>>
>> Vodafone are a bunch of ripoff merchants, with scams like £10/MB for
>> data unless you are getting it in a very specific way...
>
> They're a rip-off for some things but nothing can touch their legacy
> Smartplus
> tariff for off-peak use and roaming. It'll be even better this summer as
> they're
> abolishing roaming charges for most of Europe and even some other places
> like
> Australia - 5p/min for calls back to the UK. What other PAYG even gets
> close to
> that?
> Andy
>
>
I think you can Skype back to the UK (or anywhere) from 3 Australia,
roaming using a 3 UK Skype PAYG?
"Andy Pandy" <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:77qounF1i7rf0U1@mid.individual.net...
>
> "Peter" <occassionally-confused@nospam.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:4oif15pb7n6a1p5pnan56ru71bbbu04h13@4ax.com...
>>
>> "Mark BR" <briley@x-privat.it> wrote
>>
>> >I'd recommend Virgin - got my SIM 5 years ago with 5 pound on
>> >the thing,
>> >still working despite being out of the UK 7-8 months a
>> >year -- and nearly 3
>> >pound left to spend.
>>
>> I recommend Virgin too. Been with them for a few years and
>> never had
>> any problem, including SIMs used for just data and not used
>> for a few
>> months at a time.
>>
>> Vodafone are a bunch of ripoff merchants, with scams like
>> £10/MB for
>> data unless you are getting it in a very specific way...
>
> They're a rip-off for some things but nothing can touch their
> legacy Smartplus
> tariff for off-peak use and roaming. It'll be even better this
> summer as they're
> abolishing roaming charges for most of Europe and even some
> other places like
> Australia - 5p/min for calls back to the UK. What other PAYG
> even gets close to
> that?
>
> --
> Andy
>
>
>
Beware - it is only applicable until the end of August.
"Woody" <harrogate3@ntlworld.spam.com> wrote in message
news:5jYRl.186484$i%2.159237@newsfe15.ams2...
> >> >I'd recommend Virgin - got my SIM 5 years ago with 5 pound on
> >> >the thing,
> >> >still working despite being out of the UK 7-8 months a
> >> >year -- and nearly 3
> >> >pound left to spend.
> >>
> >> I recommend Virgin too. Been with them for a few years and
> >> never had
> >> any problem, including SIMs used for just data and not used
> >> for a few
> >> months at a time.
> >>
> >> Vodafone are a bunch of ripoff merchants, with scams like
> >> £10/MB for
> >> data unless you are getting it in a very specific way...
> >
> > They're a rip-off for some things but nothing can touch their
> > legacy Smartplus
> > tariff for off-peak use and roaming. It'll be even better this
> > summer as they're
> > abolishing roaming charges for most of Europe and even some
> > other places like
> > Australia - 5p/min for calls back to the UK. What other PAYG
> > even gets close to
> > that?
> >
>
> Beware - it is only applicable until the end of August.
I know - but even the normal Vodafone Passport rate are pretty good, certainly
better than most if not all other PAYG rates.
"Steve Terry" <gFOURwwk@tesco.net> wrote in message
news:gv9h8k$1rp$1@news.albasani.net...
> "Andy Pandy" <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote in message
> news:77qounF1i7rf0U1@mid.individual.net...
> > "Peter" <occassionally-confused@nospam.co.uk> wrote in message
> > news:4oif15pb7n6a1p5pnan56ru71bbbu04h13@4ax.com...
> >> "Mark BR" <briley@x-privat.it> wrote
> >>
> >> >I'd recommend Virgin - got my SIM 5 years ago with 5 pound on the thing,
> >> >still working despite being out of the UK 7-8 months a year -- and
> >> >nearly 3
> >> >pound left to spend.
> >>
> >> I recommend Virgin too. Been with them for a few years and never had
> >> any problem, including SIMs used for just data and not used for a few
> >> months at a time.
> >>
> >> Vodafone are a bunch of ripoff merchants, with scams like £10/MB for
> >> data unless you are getting it in a very specific way...
> >
> > They're a rip-off for some things but nothing can touch their legacy
> > Smartplus
> > tariff for off-peak use and roaming. It'll be even better this summer as
> > they're
> > abolishing roaming charges for most of Europe and even some other places
> > like
> > Australia - 5p/min for calls back to the UK. What other PAYG even gets
> > close to
> > that?
> > Andy
> >
> >
> I think you can Skype back to the UK (or anywhere) from 3 Australia,
> roaming using a 3 UK Skype PAYG?
The 3 website implies you can only use Skype from the UK.
On 2009-05-23, Andy Pandy <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote:
>
> "Peter" <occassionally-confused@nospam.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:4oif15pb7n6a1p5pnan56ru71bbbu04h13@4ax.com...
>>
>> "Mark BR" <briley@x-privat.it> wrote
>>
>> >I'd recommend Virgin - got my SIM 5 years ago with 5 pound on the thing,
>> >still working despite being out of the UK 7-8 months a year -- and nearly 3
>> >pound left to spend.
>>
>> I recommend Virgin too. Been with them for a few years and never had
>> any problem, including SIMs used for just data and not used for a few
>> months at a time.
>>
>> Vodafone are a bunch of ripoff merchants, with scams like ?10/MB for
>> data unless you are getting it in a very specific way...
>
> They're a rip-off for some things but nothing can touch their legacy Smartplus
> tariff for off-peak use and roaming. It'll be even better this summer as they're
> abolishing roaming charges for most of Europe and even some other places like
> Australia - 5p/min for calls back to the UK. What other PAYG even gets close to
> that?
You can roam in Australia for free on 3, and call the UK for as little as
3.6p/min if you have a stretch activated. You can also use data there
for £5/month.
Unfortunately that promotion ends at the end of June. I ordered a
Vodafone SIM to use for this summer's travel, I'm not sure what I'll
do after that promotion ends.
"Dennis Ferguson" <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:slrnh1hg4e.nc.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com...
> On 2009-05-23, Andy Pandy <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote:
> >
> > "Peter" <occassionally-confused@nospam.co.uk> wrote in message
> > news:4oif15pb7n6a1p5pnan56ru71bbbu04h13@4ax.com...
> >>
> >> "Mark BR" <briley@x-privat.it> wrote
> >>
> >> >I'd recommend Virgin - got my SIM 5 years ago with 5 pound on the thing,
> >> >still working despite being out of the UK 7-8 months a year -- and nearly
3
> >> >pound left to spend.
> >>
> >> I recommend Virgin too. Been with them for a few years and never had
> >> any problem, including SIMs used for just data and not used for a few
> >> months at a time.
> >>
> >> Vodafone are a bunch of ripoff merchants, with scams like ?10/MB for
> >> data unless you are getting it in a very specific way...
> >
> > They're a rip-off for some things but nothing can touch their legacy
Smartplus
> > tariff for off-peak use and roaming. It'll be even better this summer as
they're
> > abolishing roaming charges for most of Europe and even some other places
like
> > Australia - 5p/min for calls back to the UK. What other PAYG even gets close
to
> > that?
>
> You can roam in Australia for free on 3,
I couldn't find how on the 3 site - have you got a URL? Their page on PAYG
roaming charges made no mention of this.
> and call the UK for as little as
> 3.6p/min if you have a stretch activated.
That contradicts what you wrote above (3.6p/min or free?).
Also isn't a "stretch" something which you have to buy in advance with a limited
life (eg 30 days) which you lose if you don't use it? Vodafone have similar, I
think the call them freedom bundles or something. I never bother as I don't have
a crystal ball which tells me how much I'll need to use the phone. People whinge
about their PAYG credit being nicked after 9 months of non use but then buy
these sorts of things where your credit gets nicked if you haven't used it *in
ONE month*!!
> You can also use data there
> for £5/month.
>
> Unfortunately that promotion ends at the end of June. I ordered a
> Vodafone SIM to use for this summer's travel, I'm not sure what I'll
> do after that promotion ends.
A new Vodafone SIM will be on their Simply tariff which is 20p/min,
unfortunately (although it's the same rate peak and x-net). Still, guess even
that's better than most other rip-off PAYG roaming charges.
> > > They're a rip-off for some things but nothing can touch their legacy
> Smartplus
> > > tariff for off-peak use and roaming. It'll be even better this summer as
> they're
> > > abolishing roaming charges for most of Europe and even some other places
> like
> > > Australia - 5p/min for calls back to the UK. What other PAYG even gets
close
> to
> > > that?
> >
> > You can roam in Australia for free on 3,
>
> I couldn't find how on the 3 site - have you got a URL? Their page on PAYG
> roaming charges made no mention of this.
On 2009-05-24, Andy Pandy <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote:
> "Dennis Ferguson" <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in message
> news:slrnh1hg4e.nc.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com...
>> On 2009-05-23, Andy Pandy <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote:
>> >
>> > "Peter" <occassionally-confused@nospam.co.uk> wrote in message
>> > news:4oif15pb7n6a1p5pnan56ru71bbbu04h13@4ax.com...
>> >>
>> >> "Mark BR" <briley@x-privat.it> wrote
>> >>
>> >> >I'd recommend Virgin - got my SIM 5 years ago with 5 pound on the thing,
>> >> >still working despite being out of the UK 7-8 months a year -- and nearly
> 3
>> >> >pound left to spend.
>> >>
>> >> I recommend Virgin too. Been with them for a few years and never had
>> >> any problem, including SIMs used for just data and not used for a few
>> >> months at a time.
>> >>
>> >> Vodafone are a bunch of ripoff merchants, with scams like ?10/MB for
>> >> data unless you are getting it in a very specific way...
>> >
>> > They're a rip-off for some things but nothing can touch their legacy
> Smartplus
>> > tariff for off-peak use and roaming. It'll be even better this summer as
> they're
>> > abolishing roaming charges for most of Europe and even some other places
> like
>> > Australia - 5p/min for calls back to the UK. What other PAYG even gets close
> to
>> > that?
>>
>> You can roam in Australia for free on 3,
>
> I couldn't find how on the 3 site - have you got a URL? Their page on PAYG
> roaming charges made no mention of this.
My mistake, though, since Australia in particular is only available with
a paid-monthly plan. I use it regularly in Ireland, Italy and Hong Kong
with a PAYG SIM and it works pretty well.
>> and call the UK for as little as
>> 3.6p/min if you have a stretch activated.
>
> That contradicts what you wrote above (3.6p/min or free?).
The price of calls and data is the same as they'd be in the UK, so
the fact that you are roaming isn't costing anything extra. I'd call
that "free roaming", though feel free to call it something else.
> Also isn't a "stretch" something which you have to buy in advance with a limited
> life (eg 30 days) which you lose if you don't use it? Vodafone have similar, I
> think the call them freedom bundles or something. I never bother as I don't have
> a crystal ball which tells me how much I'll need to use the phone. People whinge
> about their PAYG credit being nicked after 9 months of non use but then buy
> these sorts of things where your credit gets nicked if you haven't used it *in
> ONE month*!!
3's pay-as-you-go rate for calls is 12p/minute to any phone, at any time of
the day. If you know you'll use more than 208 (or 166, or 125) minutes
in the next 30 days you can pay in advance and get more minutes for the same
price. If you don't know, don't bother.
If there's a good chance I'll use 700 minutes in less than 30 days I'd
certainly prefer to pay £25 for it rather than £84.
>> You can also use data there
>> for ??5/month.
>>
>> Unfortunately that promotion ends at the end of June. I ordered a
>> Vodafone SIM to use for this summer's travel, I'm not sure what I'll
>> do after that promotion ends.
>
> A new Vodafone SIM will be on their Simply tariff which is 20p/min,
> unfortunately (although it's the same rate peak and x-net). Still, guess even
> that's better than most other rip-off PAYG roaming charges.
It isn't necessarily so much for me since I have a fairly good idea of how
much I'll use the phone over 30 days (Freedom Pack...). If your 5p/minute
rate is only off-peak, though, what time would it be in Australia when
you get that rate: off-peak in the UK, off-peak in Australia or off-peak
both places? And if you don't know and need to call customer service to
ask, I'll bet you don't get the same answer twice.
The other thing about the Simply tariff is that you apparently need to be
on it to opt into Vodafone International, which makes the overseas call
rates cheap enough to use regularly (ignoring the rip-off of charging 3
times as much as a landline call to call mobile phones in Hong Kong and
Singapore).
"Dennis Ferguson" <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:slrnh1kfqn.104.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com...
> >> >> Vodafone are a bunch of ripoff merchants, with scams like ?10/MB for
> >> >> data unless you are getting it in a very specific way...
> >> >
> >> > They're a rip-off for some things but nothing can touch their legacy
> > Smartplus
> >> > tariff for off-peak use and roaming. It'll be even better this summer as
> > they're
> >> > abolishing roaming charges for most of Europe and even some other places
> > like
> >> > Australia - 5p/min for calls back to the UK. What other PAYG even gets
close
> > to
> >> > that?
> >>
> >> You can roam in Australia for free on 3,
> >
> > I couldn't find how on the 3 site - have you got a URL? Their page on PAYG
> > roaming charges made no mention of this.
>
> It's here:
>
> http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/...me_Pay_Monthly
>
> My mistake, though, since Australia in particular is only available with
> a paid-monthly plan. I use it regularly in Ireland, Italy and Hong Kong
> with a PAYG SIM and it works pretty well.
Good job you didn't make that mistake for real - buying a "stretch" and then
finding it totally wasted as instead of using the minutes you bought they
charged you £1.40/min !!!
> >> and call the UK for as little as
> >> 3.6p/min if you have a stretch activated.
> >
> > That contradicts what you wrote above (3.6p/min or free?).
>
> The price of calls and data is the same as they'd be in the UK, so
> the fact that you are roaming isn't costing anything extra. I'd call
> that "free roaming", though feel free to call it something else.
OK - but's it's moot anyway since it doesn't apply to Australia anyway, it
applies to only 6 countries, and only to those for another month.
> > Also isn't a "stretch" something which you have to buy in advance with a
limited
> > life (eg 30 days) which you lose if you don't use it? Vodafone have
similar, I
> > think the call them freedom bundles or something. I never bother as I don't
have
> > a crystal ball which tells me how much I'll need to use the phone. People
whinge
> > about their PAYG credit being nicked after 9 months of non use but then buy
> > these sorts of things where your credit gets nicked if you haven't used it
*in
> > ONE month*!!
>
> 3's pay-as-you-go rate for calls is 12p/minute to any phone, at any time of
> the day. If you know you'll use more than 208 (or 166, or 125) minutes
> in the next 30 days you can pay in advance and get more minutes for the same
> price. If you don't know, don't bother.
>
> If there's a good chance I'll use 700 minutes in less than 30 days I'd
> certainly prefer to pay £25 for it rather than £84.
So that's where you get the 3.6p/min. It only applies if you use *exactly* 700
minutes and can predict that in advance.
> >> You can also use data there
> >> for ??5/month.
> >>
> >> Unfortunately that promotion ends at the end of June. I ordered a
> >> Vodafone SIM to use for this summer's travel, I'm not sure what I'll
> >> do after that promotion ends.
> >
> > A new Vodafone SIM will be on their Simply tariff which is 20p/min,
> > unfortunately (although it's the same rate peak and x-net). Still, guess
even
> > that's better than most other rip-off PAYG roaming charges.
>
> It isn't necessarily so much for me since I have a fairly good idea of how
> much I'll use the phone over 30 days (Freedom Pack...). If your 5p/minute
> rate is only off-peak, though, what time would it be in Australia when
> you get that rate: off-peak in the UK, off-peak in Australia or off-peak
> both places?
The Passport page on their website makes this crystal clear - it's the time in
the capital of the country you are visiting. Usually this will be the local time
but in countries like Australia with multiple time zones it may not be:
So if you're in Syndey, off-peak will be 1930-0730 local time, if you're in
Perth off-peak will be 1730-0530. UK time would be 0830-2030 (in the Australian
summer/UK winter). So off-peak is probably the most convenient time to phone
anyway.
> And if you don't know and need to call customer service to
> ask, I'll bet you don't get the same answer twice.
And if you do it'd probably be wrong.
> The other thing about the Simply tariff is that you apparently need to be
> on it to opt into Vodafone International, which makes the overseas call
> rates cheap enough to use regularly (ignoring the rip-off of charging 3
> times as much as a landline call to call mobile phones in Hong Kong and
> Singapore).
Is that for making international calls when in the UK? I've never needed to
phone abroad from my mobile while in the UK, I use my TT landline which is free
to all the countries I'm likely to phone.
On 2009-05-25, Andy Pandy <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote:
>
> "Dennis Ferguson" <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in message
> news:slrnh1kfqn.104.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com...
>> It's here:
>>
>> http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/...me_Pay_Monthly
>>
>> My mistake, though, since Australia in particular is only available with
>> a paid-monthly plan. I use it regularly in Ireland, Italy and Hong Kong
>> with a PAYG SIM and it works pretty well.
>
> Good job you didn't make that mistake for real - buying a "stretch" and then
> finding it totally wasted as instead of using the minutes you bought they
> charged you ?1.40/min !!!
They wouldn't get much. I don't keep credit on my SIM since I
seldom need any beyond what I'm going to spend immediately.
>> 3's pay-as-you-go rate for calls is 12p/minute to any phone, at any time of
>> the day. If you know you'll use more than 208 (or 166, or 125) minutes
>> in the next 30 days you can pay in advance and get more minutes for the same
>> price. If you don't know, don't bother.
>>
>> If there's a good chance I'll use 700 minutes in less than 30 days I'd
>> certainly prefer to pay ??25 for it rather than ??84.
>
> So that's where you get the 3.6p/min. It only applies if you use *exactly* 700
> minutes and can predict that in advance.
I don't get the "*exactly*". To use it all you just need to use
700 minutes in less than 30 days. When that's done you buy another
stretch if you want it.
And unfortunately, given the variety of pricing options UK operators
offer, just about everyone who'd like to optimize what they spend
probably needs to make some predictions about their future usage.
For example, I suspect you wouldn't like your tariff so much if you
couldn't reliably predict that you wouldn't be making a lot of daytime
calls. The predictions I need to make aren't much more difficult.
>> The other thing about the Simply tariff is that you apparently need to be
>> on it to opt into Vodafone International, which makes the overseas call
>> rates cheap enough to use regularly (ignoring the rip-off of charging 3
>> times as much as a landline call to call mobile phones in Hong Kong and
>> Singapore).
>
> Is that for making international calls when in the UK? I've never needed to
> phone abroad from my mobile while in the UK, I use my TT landline which is free
> to all the countries I'm likely to phone.
Special case for me, I guess. I have overseas numbers which I forward
to my mobile when I'm away from home. If someone calls and is going
to want to talk for a while I'd prefer to call them back at 5p/min
rather than paying the 12p/min or so the forwarding service charges
to deliver the call to a UK mobile.
"Dennis Ferguson" <dcferguson@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:slrnh1s8tn.5v.dcferguson@akit-ferguson.com...
> >> It's here:
> >>
> >> http://www.three.co.uk/Help_Support/...me_Pay_Monthly
> >>
> >> My mistake, though, since Australia in particular is only available with
> >> a paid-monthly plan. I use it regularly in Ireland, Italy and Hong Kong
> >> with a PAYG SIM and it works pretty well.
> >
> > Good job you didn't make that mistake for real - buying a "stretch" and then
> > finding it totally wasted as instead of using the minutes you bought they
> > charged you ?1.40/min !!!
>
> They wouldn't get much. I don't keep credit on my SIM since I
> seldom need any beyond what I'm going to spend immediately.
OK, but you'd have wasted the £25 or whatever on the "stretch".
> >> 3's pay-as-you-go rate for calls is 12p/minute to any phone, at any time of
> >> the day. If you know you'll use more than 208 (or 166, or 125) minutes
> >> in the next 30 days you can pay in advance and get more minutes for the
same
> >> price. If you don't know, don't bother.
> >>
> >> If there's a good chance I'll use 700 minutes in less than 30 days I'd
> >> certainly prefer to pay ??25 for it rather than ??84.
> >
> > So that's where you get the 3.6p/min. It only applies if you use *exactly*
700
> > minutes and can predict that in advance.
>
> I don't get the "*exactly*". To use it all you just need to use
> 700 minutes in less than 30 days. When that's done you buy another
> stretch if you want it.
So unless you use exactly 700 mins, or an exact multiple of 700 minutes like
1400 or 2100, you will pay more than 3.6p/min.
If you use 500 mins having bought this stretch it'll be 5p/min. If you use 800
you'll have to pay 12p/min for the extra 100 mins, totalling £37 for 800 mins,
ie 4.6p/min. Or buy a 100 min stretch if such a thing exists, which will
presumably be more than £3.60.
You're thinking like the networks want you to think. Limited validity
bundles/stretches, inclusive minutes etc, they love them because they hope
people will simply divide the price by the minutes and think "that's cheap". You
can't make a valid comparison (in terms of pence per min) between a limited life
bundle/monthly inclusive minutes, and normal PAYG or a "pay for what you use no
inc minutes" type contract.
> And unfortunately, given the variety of pricing options UK operators
> offer, just about everyone who'd like to optimize what they spend
> probably needs to make some predictions about their future usage.
I don't. I have a contract phone provided by work, where I have to reimburse
private usage. No inc mins, just pay for what you use. Contracts with inclusive
minutes may seem cheaper if you simply divide the price by the included minutes,
but as per above, with any real-world variable usage, the deal I'm on through
work is definitely cheaper. Unfortuately it's not available as a personal
contract.
My wife has a PAYG, which we tend to use when roaming, as my work one isn't
eligible for Passport for some reason.
> For example, I suspect you wouldn't like your tariff so much if you
> couldn't reliably predict that you wouldn't be making a lot of daytime
> calls. The predictions I need to make aren't much more difficult.
Not really. It's quite easy to predict when you'll be making calls, it's far
harder to predict how long the calls will be.
In the case of roaming, any daytime calls would be occasional quick calls (under
a min) to each other eg if we split up. Any long calls back to the UK would
always be in the evening, rather than in the day when we're doing stuff. But the
number of mins would be impossible to predict, can you really predict how long
you're going to be when you phone someone for a chat?
>
> So they can't nick your credit unless you've not used the service for 9 months.
>
> See sections 6.1(c) & 6.2 of their T&Cs:
>
Which the Customer "Service" Representative almost gleefully pointed
out to me yesterday when I fell foul of this.
Not only that but they refused to re-instate the number.
Further digging around on the 'net though reveals that these numbers
*are* re-used after some period of months and re-attached to SIMs that
are sold or packaged with phones.
There are reports that people receive calls and texts destined for the
original licensee of the number - and also some charged for services
that use up the credit - even though the new owner has not personally
subscribed to them.
If this is true - then I'm wondering does the old SIM become usable
after the number is re-issued and receives its first credit. As this
SIM in question is a PAYG it can't be tied to a particular phone -
though of course any calls made could be identified as coming from
multiple phones.
Is this a logical loophole that has been overlooked that enables
fraudulent use ?
Expired Voda PAYG SIM 
Linear Mode
