Mobile Providers Joining Forces: More Change

[opps]

Three have always been, to me anyway, like that girl in the nursery rhyme;

When they're good, they're really, really, good,
And when they're bad, they're horrid.



Cheap enough, and reliable enough, for me though

I know other people that are happy with them, but when something network related goes wrong, customer services can be rubbish.

That said, in all the years that I have been with my provider, I have had numerous odd things happen that took multiple calls to resolve.

The first was misrouted voicemails. I would press the voicemail shortcut key (1) and then have loads of messages from northern people talking about the houses that they just looked at. When I first rang customer support they warned me that hacking other people's voicemail boxes was a crime... I resorted to ringing my own number and leaving a voice message, in it I explained that our voicemail boxes had been switched, I then left my number. The guy, a northern estate agent rang me back and mentioned that he thought it odd that he had Londonders asking about prices to repaint their homes. It took about 7 calls to customer support but on the last call, the tech support realised that my phantom mail box number had been switched with the estate agent's.

The next was being charged twice for every SMS I sent. I would send one, the recipient would receive two, I would be charged for two. Again, many calls to customer services, but it got sorted because one identified it as database corruption on their system.

My concern with a virtual network is that the staff will not be willing to escalate the problem with the likes of EE.

Yeah, fair enough, how many people have those kind of problems? Through no fault of mine, I have. I may need to make many phone calls and insist that things are escalated but I am more confident that the network owner has a better chance of finding the solution than a virtual network.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

All of the above sounds like self-justifying imaginary excuses rather than actual issues that people actually experience.

I've been using various MVNOs for many years. They're no better or worse than buying from the network. In fact there's probably just as much political distance between the customer service person at Vodafone or whatever network you speak to and the actual network operations as there would be if it was an MVNO. They're not going to pop over to the network operations desk and have a natter, they're probably in different buildings, cities or countries and probably won't even have the ability to talk directly.

Plus I'd imagine that Vodafone has a huge multi-million incentive to ensure that Lebara (and therefore its customers) are kept happy. If I moan at them, the person from Lebara that talks to Vodafone will be taken extremely seriously. But I've never needed to moan, it all just works, it's definitely not a second class service, that sort of expectation is just snobbery or fear of the unknown.

Ultimately, if they fail to deliver then you can just take your number and clear off elsewhere. It's a free market, switching is very easy and fast.

I have 5GB of data (previously 3GB) and have never hit the limit, even streaming local radio via the web while driving and watching the odd bit of telly. I use it completely carelessly, don't even look at what's left. For those paying for massive or unlimited allowances it may be worth looking at what you actually use. If you exceed it ocasionally then you probably only need to pay a small amount extra anyway.

I'm very happy pay £4.50 a month or £54 a year. I'm probably getting the same actual usage as someone paying £30 a month or £360 a year, most of whom will be using less than 5GB anyway, and will have £300 less in their bank every year than they could have.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Other than network provider, they can be handset manufacturer dependant. iPhones have never supported them.

It is an Iphone..

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Plus I'd imagine that Vodafone has a huge multi-million incentive to ensure that Lebara (and therefore its customers) are kept happy. If I moan at them, the person from Lebara that talks to Vodafone will be taken extremely seriously. But I've never needed to moan, it all just works, it's definitely not a second class service, that sort of expectation is just snobbery or fear of the unknown.

I have heard that voice data rates are reduced, possibly making some difference to the audio quality?

 

[opps]

All of the above sounds like self-justifying imaginary excuses rather than actual issues that people actually experience.


I'm very happy pay £4.50 a month or £54 a year. I'm probably getting the same actual usage as someone paying £30 a month or £360 a year, most of whom will be using less than 5GB anyway, and will have £300 less in their bank every year than they could have.

I was in hospital with pneumonia and sepsis for a few weeks a couple of years ago. The first few days I was so out of it that I didn't need internet access. Once I started recovering, I became bored. I decided to stream all of Family Guy via my phone. I would wake up, watch family Guy, fall asleep and continue watching Family Guy once I woke up (and whilst I was asleep), or movies. If I had gone over my limit, it would have cost me, probably hundreds to continue accessing the internet.

I guess that that I am paying 60% more than I need to, but if something goes wrong, I take comfort from knowing that I won't hit a prohibitively expensive top up limit.

If my broadband at home falls over, I know that I can edit customer's websites regardless.

Your usage may be very different, but don't assume that you will never need to exceed your limit.

I used to be on a 6Gb limit. I had to install a new TV for a customer, the firmware would not allow it to download the update via their WiFi. I downloaded it via my phone (hotspot), it took two attempts. I paid £7.50 for the extra data until the end of month reset.

 

[opps]

I'm very happy pay £4.50 a month or £54 a year. I'm probably getting the same actual usage as someone paying £30 a month or £360 a year, most of whom will be using less than 5GB anyway, and will have £300 less in their bank every year than they could have.

BTW, as a self employed person, you are paying for me to have the luxury of paying for more than I potentially need xxx

 

[Mottie]

I have 5GB of data (previously 3GB) and have never hit the limit, even streaming local radio via the web while driving and watching the odd bit of telly.

I pay £8 month with ID mobile and get unlimited calls and texts and 20Gb data. unused data (up to 20Gb rolls over each month. As I’ve either not been working or only working there part time these days at my workshop, I did away with the £25 per month landline/internet at the start of lockdown and just use my mobile personal hotspot for the PC internet and my firestick to stream the telly. Inclusive EU roaming included too.

 

[Brigadier]

I have 5GB of data (previously 3GB) and have never hit the limit, even streaming local radio via the web while driving and watching the odd bit of telly.

I have just checked my app and, on average, I use 16gb a month.

I download a few podcasts, check emails and bank, use a bit of WhatsApp, and this place.

Very infrequently, watch some YouTube for solutions / help.

Quite how you manage to do what you do on less than 5gb per month, I don't get.

Are you sure you've not got your WiFi on?

 

[opps]

Because I pay for unlimited internet access, I now use a bluetooth speaker when working rather than my digital radio. The speaker is IP rated, I can leave it on the scaffolding.

If i am in the pub and the pub wifi goes down, I will let people, that I know, piggy back on my 5G.

If I walk in to a pub, with Wifi that wants me to log in, I will use my 5G, which on the balance of probability is faster than the pub wifi.

 

[opps]

I have 5GB of data (previously 3GB) and have never hit the limit

Years ago, I used to be on a 3Gb limit and it was more than enough most of the time. One day I had to install a Samsung TV for a customer, it would not connect to their Wifi. I rang Samsung, they recommended that I update the software. I didn't have an ethernet cable with me so I used my phone as a hotspot to download the software. I didn't realise that it was 1.5Gb.

As soon as I went over my data allowance I was being charged silly money. From memory, I paid almost a tenner for the next 4 days until my billing cycle reset.

I would rather pay for redundancy than pay punitive prices when I go over my limit.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

I was in hospital with pneumonia and sepsis for a few weeks a couple of years ago. The first few days I was so out of it that I didn't need internet access. Once I started recovering, I became bored. I decided to stream all of Family Guy via my phone. I would wake up, watch family Guy, fall asleep and continue watching Family Guy once I woke up (and whilst I was asleep), or movies. If I had gone over my limit, it would have cost me, probably hundreds to continue accessing the internet.

I guess that that I am paying 60% more than I need to, but if something goes wrong, I take comfort from knowing that I won't hit a prohibitively expensive top up limit.

If my broadband at home falls over, I know that I can edit customer's websites regardless.

Your usage may be very different, but don't assume that you will never need to exceed your limit.

I used to be on a 6Gb limit. I had to install a new TV for a customer, the firmware would not allow it to download the update via their WiFi. I downloaded it via my phone (hotspot), it took two attempts. I paid £7.50 for the extra data until the end of month reset.

When I get hospital-bound, I'll just open up the Lebara app and pay an extra £20 to go unlimited that month, instantly.

After I recover I'll switch back.

 

[securespark]

I did have a period when I was in and out of hospital and had a couple of long stays. It was very handy to have a large screen phone and data to watch films.

But then, I have always been PAYG, so if I run out of data (have not yet), I don't get stung for excess charges.

 

[Ivor Windybottom]

I did have a period when I was in and out of hospital and had a couple of long stays. It was very handy to have a large screen phone and data to watch films.

But then, I have always been PAYG, so if I run out of data (have not yet), I don't get stung for excess charges.

I was PAYG for years until very recently.

These days the distinction between pay monthly and PAYG hardly exists anyway. Most PAYG tariffs require a minimum monthly payment, those that don't have horrendous call/data charges. Low-priced monthly tariffs are often lower priced than PAYG equivalents.

I'm not even sure what Lebara is. They charge upfront, per month. I don't think they bothered credit-checking me, as there's no risk to them if I don't pay - it will just stop working. Exactly like a PAYG in fact. You can pay a month at a time, or get a 10% discount for committing to a year (while paying monthly). I have the £5/month tariff, but pay £4.50 as I agreed to a year's service after trying it for a few months at the introductory £2.50/month.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I was PAYG for years until very recently.

These days the distinction between pay monthly and PAYG hardly exists anyway. Most PAYG tariffs require a minimum monthly payment, those that don't have horrendous call/data charges. Low-priced monthly tariffs are often lower priced than PAYG equivalents.

Me too, until I twigged to the fact that a monthly mobile contract, was cheaper than paying the extra for unlimited calls via my landline. Monthly mobile, with free unlimited calls/texts, 6gb of data - easily beats unlimited calls on the landline, as well as being more useful.