GiffGaff

[Sue]

I'm thinking of buying my next mobile outright and moving to GiffGaff on their monthly bundles which you can set to recur but can stop or change each month, ie no lengthy contract.

Has anybody done this, and if so did you have any problems?

I haven't done all the calculations yet but it seems likely to be cheaper and more flexible over a year or two.

Interested to hear of others' experiences.

I like that they're community run and give some of their profits to charity, too, though that's not my main reason for considering them.

ETA:. Oh dear. Its recent reviews on Trust Pilot are terrible.

So even more interested to hear of local people's experience .....

[red devil]

I'd try and find out if GG gets a decent reception in your area, no point in using any supplier/tariff if their reception is crap...

[Loz]

Virgin Mobile aren't too shabby (unlike their broadband). Five quid gets you 250 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of internet. It does me for the month. And they use the EE network, so the coverage is good.

If you have BT broadband, they do a pretty good deal as well.

[Blah Blah]

Have a look at LIFE MOBILE. They use the EE network too and have amazing sim only deals with no minimum term (better than your deal with Virgin Loz). All my family now use them with no problems and customer service is based in the UK and is very good.

https://lifemobile.co.uk/Info/Tariffs

[Sue]

Thanks all, I need to do more research obv.

Good customer service is as important to me as cost.

And a decent phone and data service obviously.

Reading reviews, I think I must have been very lucky so far. Been with EE and previously Orange since my first mobile in the mists of time.

Oh and I want 4G. Just had a quick look at Life Mobile and it seems they only have 3G?

Money Supermarket suggests some very good monthly sim only deals. Should have looked on there before posting on here. Duh!

[Mick Mac]

I was thinking of switching to GG - a mate of mine who lives nearby is on it and he works in telecoms, so that's suggests its good - ill check with him though.

I'd be sceptical about all the charitable stuff - is it not owned by BT?

[DirtyBox]

It's always going to be cheaper to buy the phone and then get a sim only deal. I bought an iPhone 6 for ~?500 and then got a sim only 4G deal with EE for ?13/month - when I worked it out I saved in the region of ?300 over 2 years. If you can afford the upfront cost it's deffo the way to go

[jacks09]

I use GiffGaff and have been really pleased with it.

[Jules-and-Boo]

I use Giffgff and have done for a number of years. I've had no problems with reception at all and pay ?5 a moth.

I would highly recommend it

[miga]

GiffGaff uses the O2 network underneath, so the reception will be as good as the O2 network.

I'm on it - I dislike intensely the idea of credit and interest for a thing as trivial as a mobile phone. Very pleased with it - it's "free" to msg other people on GG (my wife is on), and msgs and calls to UK numbers are unlimited on their ?10 plan (I think). The other thing I like is that the data allowance is pretty generous.

O2 reception in our ends is pretty rubbish - not much of an issue really because of WiFi, WhatsApp and Viber, but would be worth checking.

[miga]

Oh Yeah - they have these eager beavers with too much time on their hands racing to answer any support questions on their forum (incentivised by GG credit), so I found support to be pretty good since I never had to call anyone.

[Sue]

Jules-and-Boo Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I use Giffgff and have done for a number of years.

> I've had no problems with reception at all and

> pay ?5 a moth.

>

> I would highly recommend it

Crikey, with all the moths presently in my house I'd be paying a fortune :))

I'm looking for probably between 1 and 2GB data. I'm on 500 mb at the moment, and it isn't enough, but EE have this stupid system where if you pay to get more it doesn't last till the end of the month, but just a day or a week.

The current best deal on moneysupermarket is ?5 a month for 250 minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB data. I make very few calls so that would be fine for me. It's with ID (Carphone Warehouse) and they use the Three 4G network, which so far as I know is OK. They seem to have some other deals with data rollover, but they cost more.

I haven't yet checked out what happens at the end of the month, and whether you can set it to automatically renew as you can with GiffGaff. I don't want to have to keep faffing about getting new monthly contracts every month, except maybe at the start when I'm trying things out.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/mobile-phones/brands/sim-only/sim-card/

[Sue]

miga Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> O2 reception in our ends is pretty rubbish - not

> much of an issue really because of WiFi, WhatsApp

> and Viber, but would be worth checking.

Where abouts are you?

I always use WiFi where it's available, but often it isn't. Doesn't data come via the phone line, so you'd be stuffed if there was bad reception? eg for satnav?

I'm not much of a techie as you can see .....

I've never had any reception problems at all with EE, and I really don't want to start having them .....

[miga]

SE6 (I'm an intruder round here). In my house the mobile signal is rubbish, but it's not a huge issue because of all the internet based apps like WhatsApp, Viber etc. + the landline for any work calls. I'd check with your neighbours to see if any of them use O2 and what their signal is like, if this is likely to be an issue. In my old office the O2 signal was pants, in my new office it's great, but people on EE suffer - I'm not sure there's any network that will have excellent coverage everywhere.

As far as Sat Nav goes, I've rarely had problems with the signal on the road. I believe there's an "offline" mode in Google Maps, anyway, which should allow you to download the maps beforehand (how old fashioned Sat Nav devices worked, more or less).

[DulwichFox]

I'm with EE..

500MB Data. 500 mins Unlimited Texts in the UK to all Major UK Networks..

?16.00 Monthly ?19.20 inc VAT.

Been with Orange / E.E. 23 years. Never had a problem anywhere with poor signal or loss of service.

Brilliant

Foxy

[Jeremy]

Think I'm on the same package, Fox. 500MB is pretty poor these days though - and it's not even 4G! Phone coverage is OK-ish but data drops out all the time. I really need to shop around...

[red devil]

Foxy, if you're not tied into your contract and happy with your current phone, you should move onto a SIM deal with EE.

I was on the same tarrif as you, and once my fixed 2 year contract was over I moved to a similar SIM deal for only ?12/month...

Oh, it's 4G too...

[Jeremy]

Fox - assuming you're still on the old Orange plan, log into your account on the website, click "upgrade to EE", and there are cheaper/better options to be had.

[DulwichFox]

Jeremy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Fox - assuming you're still on the old Orange

> plan, log into your account on the website, click

> "upgrade to EE", and there are cheaper/better

> options to be had.

I'm on E.E. and have 4G..

I also have BT landline with Infinity for my Broadband..

I'm at home most of the day and use my Ipod with Wi-Fi at night when in the pub.

I seldom use my Phone Data allowance so 500MB is more than adequate. I don't even use 100MB

500 minutes.. ? I don't use 50 mins a month. and less than 50 texts a month..

My phone is purely for emergencies..

Foxy.

[Loz]

DulwichFox Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I seldom use my Phone Data allowance so 500MB is more than adequate. I don't even use 100MB

> 500 minutes.. ? I don't use 50 mins a month. and less than 50 texts a month..

>

> My phone is purely for emergencies..

>

> Foxy.

... then you are *definitely* paying too much for it.

[red devil]

Very good Foxy, now stop throwing your money down the drain and get yourself a SIM deal tarrif with EE...

[miga]

Not that I'm advertising, and sure others have similar, but the ?5 plan on GiffGaff sounds adequate Fox:

https://www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-plans

[Sue]

DulwichFox Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm with EE..

>

> 500MB Data. 500 mins Unlimited Texts in the UK

> to all Major UK Networks..

>

> ?16.00 Monthly ?19.20 inc VAT.

>

> Been with Orange / E.E. 23 years. Never had a

> problem anywhere with poor signal or loss of

> service.

>

> Brilliant

> x

> Foxy

Fox, you are paying way over the odds! Unless the deal included a very good phone!

Every time your contract ends you need to tell Ee you're thinking of leaving.

Then look around for the best deal elsewhere (on EE if you want to stay with EE) and get them to meet it.

If they won't, move elsewhere!

You can have a contract with someone else but be on the EE network. That's what I have at the moment because EE directly couldn't meet the price on the phone model I wanted

[DulwichFox]

Sue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> DulwichFox Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > I'm with EE..

> >

> > 500MB Data. 500 mins Unlimited Texts in the

> UK

> > to all Major UK Networks..

> >

> > ?16.00 Monthly ?19.20 inc VAT.

> >

> > Been with Orange / E.E. 23 years. Never had a

> > problem anywhere with poor signal or loss of

> > service.

> >

> > Brilliant

> > x

> > Foxy

>

>

> Fox, you are paying way over the odds! Unless the

> deal included a very good phone!

>

> Every time your contract ends you need to tell Ee

> you're thinking of leaving.

>

> Then look around for the best deal elsewhere (on

> EE if you want to stay with EE) and get them to

> meet it.

>

> If they won't, move elsewhere!

>

> You can have a contract with someone else but be

> on the EE network. That's what I have at the

> moment because EE directly couldn't meet the price

> on the phone model I wanted

I got a Windows Lumia 640 LTE which I really like..

Currently running Windows 8.1 but Windows 10 compatable when microsoft sort it out.

Could upgrade but still a few nagging problems.

Foxy

[Mick Mac]

> Been with Orange / E.E. 23 years.

You had a mobile in 1993 foxy? that was early

I thought only Alex Higgins had one then.