Non - Mobile phone providers

blandford_cherry said:
Just wondered if anyone could recommend a new mobile phone provider? I have been with o2 for decades but, if you google o2 and trust pilot you’ll see why I want to leave. I thought about sky mobile but they look equally as bad.
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I recently switched from O2 to Lebara (Vodafone) SIM only and haven't looked back. If you go on the money saving expert site, they have a link to exclusive MSE contracts with Lebara, which is what I'm on.

£5.90 for 5GB data and unlimited calls and texts.
 
blandford_cherry said:
new phone, coming to the end of a 36 month contract, happy to try anything really. Like iPhones, maybe the 14, need good coverage was work all over the county. Aside from that I’m easy.

This iPhone is 3 years old now and battery health and life is very poor.
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If you can, buy the handset outright and get it insured. If not, put it on interest free or low interest credit card if not and pay off every month. Nearly always works out cheaper, especially with contracts like the Lebara one.
 
Red Sky said:
If you can, buy the handset outright and get it insured. If not, put it on interest free or low interest credit card if not and pay off every month. Nearly always works out cheaper, especially with contracts like the Lebara one.
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The Iphone 14 deal I posted above would not be cheaper I dont think.
 
Druss_the_Legend said:
The Iphone 14 deal I posted above would not be cheaper I dont think.
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Handset is 800 which makes it about £6 a month which is decent. 15 GB data very good but it's on 3 network which I've found has some blind spots. Vodafone is excellent, better than 02. So depends what you need and if it's worth spending the extra.

Sorry that was the 15. The 14 is a very good deal for current handset prices.
 
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dragonm8 said:
Think about buying it outright, and spread those payments over 12 months.

That's not buying outright is it?

You get fcked sideways with the monthly 'add ons'
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I bought the iPhone 14 pro max.
It was on sale for the same price on all the sites I looked at. Purchased it on 12 months interest free credit that one company offered.
So I would say that’s pretty much outright , except I’m paying over 12 months.
No add ons.
So I don’t see what you’re on about.
 
northstandmark said:
I'm with 3 and have found them pretty good for many years.

However since deciding my current mid-range Android Samsung was perfectly good beyond the initial contract lifetime, I switched to a sim only plan so I can run my current device into the ground on a cheaper bill. Great, only hardly a week goes by without 3 phoning me trying to sell me the latest and greatest iPhone or suchlike which I just don't need.

I gather there's a merger afoot between 3 and Vodafone which would presumably reduce choice if it goes ahead.
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I used 3 for a few years around 10 years ago. Didn't have any issues with coverage or anything tbh that indicated they were more tinpot (as some seem to think) than the usual providers tbh.

Iirc they were a bit more ropey during their initial years in the market.

People seem to recommend them if travelling abroad a lot now. Haven't looked into them, but assume they still offer decent/cheap roaming, whereas the other suppliers (Vodafone at least) have ramped theirs up (for US travel anyway).
 
MB1980 said:
I used 3 for a few years around 10 years ago. Didn't have any issues with coverage or anything tbh that indicated they were more tinpot (as some seem to think) than the usual providers tbh.

Iirc they were a bit more ropey during their initial years in the market.

People seem to recommend them if travelling abroad a lot now. Haven't looked into them, but assume they still offer decent/cheap roaming, whereas the other suppliers (Vodafone at least) have ramped theirs up (for US travel anyway).
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Yes they're quite flexible with that sort of thing, so I can see why they might appeal if that's a requirement. If you're a regular traveler you can add various tiers of roaming for various parts of the world onto your contract at the outset. Or you can go without for a cheaper rate, and then with a few clicks on their web portal add it on for a week or a month and then drop it again. I can't compare price wise with others but it's not expensive.
 
Whatever you do avoid Lyca
Absolute nightmare at present my partner has been without service since the cyber attack at the end of September and we can’t get hold of anyone that can help within their customer service centre
Lesson learned that you get what you pay for I suppose
 
AFCBilbo said:
Whatever you do avoid Lyca
Absolute nightmare at present my partner has been without service since the cyber attack at the end of September and we can’t get hold of anyone that can help within their customer service centre
Lesson learned that you get what you pay for I suppose
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That's the key isn't it. Not always about cheapest, if they're cheap and solid fair enough, but often there are usualky concessions when dealing with more micky mouse/tinpot outfits.

Be it slower/poorer speeds, throttling etc or abysmal customer service when trying to resolve problems that occur.

Can be a false economy, depending on how you derive value from a product/service.

That said, I don't think the big suppliers are great with customer service for resolving certain issues. I recall the backwards and forwards, jumping through hoops with Vodafone when they kept failing to add (subtract..) my employee (I don't work for vodafone). discount to my bill.

Live chat, phone calls, emails over a couple of months. People on the phone just seemed to be from another planet tbh, not grasping what was a fairly straightforward issue (in my eyes). As is the cliche of certain call centres, they seem to reference a runbook/knowledge base, and if your issue doesn't fit neatly into an article they have access to, they don't always seem to have ability to join the dots together for some reason... zero common sense.
 
zigger zaggar said:
Call me old fashioned but I own my handset and pay Lebara £4.99 a month for unlimited UK texts and calls, 100minutes of free worldwide calls and more Data than I ever use.
Would recommend Lebara if in same situation.
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Bit weird I know, but i usually judge it as a potential solid good sign of character when I come across people who don't have latest phones. Not thst everyone that does have a new phone is not worth knowing, lol.

I've been seeing someone new for a month, and she has a really old iPhone. And that was one of the initial 'tells' she may be worth spending some more time with :D. (Nothing to do with her other... urg 'assets'? Of course...) She did lose a few marks for owning an Apple product, but you can't have it all I gues! :D

Indication they may be less of a consumer, follow the herd, spend frivolously imo.

She could turn out to be a complete lunatic of course, but there yiu go :D. Guess I should update my profile on some sites saying don't bother if you own xyz phone :)
 
5 months ago I needed a new phone due to low storage space.
found a Samsung with 128 GB £200, if i changed to a new provider with a 6 month contract @£10 monthly i would get £70 off. I was paying £10 monthly with my old provider.
After 3 months my old provider rang and said I could swap back to them once the 6 month contract was up and would provide me with a cheaper monthly deal at £7 per month. first 2 months free.
so a new phone has cost me £130 and I now get an even cheaper monthly contract than I had before. Both providers have free roaming in Europe which is nice when visiting Sweden and Portugal on golfing trips. When visiting Kenya I just buy a monthly sim down there.
 
MB1980 said:
Bit weird I know, but i usually judge it as a potential solid good sign of character when I come across people who don't have latest phones. Not thst everyone that does have a new phone is not worth knowing, lol.

I've been seeing someone new for a month, and she has a really old iPhone. And that was one of the initial 'tells' she may be worth spending some more time with :D. (Nothing to do with her other... urg 'assets'? Of course...) She did lose a few marks for owning an Apple product, but you can't have it all I gues! :D

Indication they may be less of a consumer, follow the herd, spend frivolously imo.

She could turn out to be a complete lunatic of course, but there yiu go :D. Guess I should update my profile on some sites saying don't bother if you own xyz phone :)
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Many people buy second hand phones as the prices today are way over the top.
I always keep my old phones just in case i need it in an emergency.
 
Kenya Cherrie said:
Many people buy second hand phones as the prices today are way over the top.
I always keep my old phones just in case i need it in an emergency.
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Insane how much some people are willing to spend on phones sometimes, when something much cheaper will provide pretty much tge same utility. And I dont mean buying an old Nokia, non smart phone instead.

Obviously I don't know their financial status, but recall hearing people who looked like in late teens working in tescos discussing latest iPhone deals they'd secured. They may hsvd rich parents or whatever, but spending 60 quid a month on shiny new phone seems insane, assuming they're part time and at uni or even if full time and unlikely to be earning mega bucks working in a shop.

Power of marketing, fitting in I guess.

Tbh Samsung and other premium brands have been just as expensive or very close to Apple costs last few years, with their flag ship phones.
 
Saw this early black Friday deal and thought of this thread. This is cheaper than buying the phone if someone is looking for the very latest flagship phone.
 

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Quick query for you lovely folks.

iPhones - Ignore the arguments over android etc, if you need a new iPhone because your old one has gone kaput, is it best to go for the latest one or a bit older?

I know Apple love to cut old phones out of updates etc, so just wanting to work out (in a rush) where’s the best value? (Oxymoron granted in regards to iPhones I know)

Thank you
 
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