I hate phone bills!

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Discussion

davek_964

Original Poster:

8,796 posts

174 months

Monday 1st September 2014
quotequote all
And I haven't even received the first one yet.

I am in the fortunate position that my employer provided a phone and number that could also be used for personal calls, and that's been true for many years. Unfortunately, such things come to an end, so I got a Tesco sim on Thursday 28th August. But it appears that my previous situation has made me rather naive about what these "inclusive" deals really mean.

Until today, I've been fairly impressed. The monthly charge isn't too high and for £12.50 I get 1000 minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB data - all of which are far more than I will ever use. I downloaded the tesco mobile app, so can track my useage and all is great. Except that - when I checked it today, I discovered I already have an "extra" charge of £5.95 - and for some reason, my payment period ends on 22nd next month not 27th.

So I called customer service.

Apparently, the long call I made to my credit card company today was not included in my minutes - and cost me £5.75 (most of which was on hold!). And the long text I sent to somebody went as MMS - also not included, and hence cost me 25p. Slightly ironic really considering MMS is essentially packet data and I have a data allowance.....

Oh, and the nice lady informed me that Tesco have fixed billing periods so the date I took the contract out isn't really relevant. Funny how the nice man in the shop didn't tell me that.

I have now read the T&Cs (which I wasn't given when I bought the SIM, despite the lady at customer service telling me I must have been), and will have to take more care. What annoys me is that I could have got away with the £10 deal fairly easily but I wanted "lots of spare" capacity thinking that way I would never go over it. As it turns out, it's very easy to add costs so I should have just stuck with the cheaper deal. I am still in the 14 day cooling off period so I may say I want to reduce it. I could of course go elsewhere, but I guess the same kind of charges apply.

Not happy!

kowalski655

14,599 posts

142 months

Monday 1st September 2014
quotequote all
I think every provider nails you for some non geographic numbers. Some are included in your allowance. www.saynoto0870.com will give you free to call inclusive numbers for a lot of places

davek_964

Original Poster:

8,796 posts

174 months

Monday 1st September 2014
quotequote all
kowalski655 said:
I think every provider nails you for some non geographic numbers. Some are included in your allowance. www.saynoto0870.com will give you free to call inclusive numbers for a lot of places
Thanks - just installed an app that uses that site, which should help in future.

Esseesse

8,969 posts

207 months

Monday 1st September 2014
quotequote all
Get the £12 GiffGaff. It's pay as you go so can't go 'over'.

Who me ?

7,455 posts

211 months

Tuesday 2nd September 2014
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Or if you live in a decent 3 reception area , get a 3 PAYG, 321 SIM.

surfymark

886 posts

230 months

Tuesday 2nd September 2014
quotequote all
davek_964 said:
Thanks - just installed an app that uses that site, which should help in future.
Also the app weq4u https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/weq4u-0870-0800-08... does the same as this but if you get stuck on hold, you dial 9* and they ring you back when you get to the front of the queue. All for free!

M

voyds9

8,488 posts

282 months

Tuesday 2nd September 2014
quotequote all
Whatsapp sends your MMS using your data allowance

marshalla

15,902 posts

200 months

Tuesday 2nd September 2014
quotequote all
voyds9 said:
Whatsapp sends your MMS using your data allowance
But only works if the person you are sending to also has Whatsapp.

davek_964

Original Poster:

8,796 posts

174 months

Wednesday 3rd September 2014
quotequote all
marshalla said:
But only works if the person you are sending to also has Whatsapp.
Actually, I think the main person I text does and has been hassling me for years to get it. However, despite people telling me it's free - it looks like you have to pay for it after the first year?

pavka007

522 posts

128 months

Wednesday 3rd September 2014
quotequote all
davek_964 said:
Thanks - just installed an app that uses that site, which should help in future.
What app is that? Do you have a link?

leglessAlex

5,384 posts

140 months

Wednesday 3rd September 2014
quotequote all
davek_964 said:
marshalla said:
But only works if the person you are sending to also has Whatsapp.
Actually, I think the main person I text does and has been hassling me for years to get it. However, despite people telling me it's free - it looks like you have to pay for it after the first year?
Woha, you're right! I've been using whatsapp for years and never knew that, but in fairness it's $0.99 a year so hardly breaking the bank.

davek_964

Original Poster:

8,796 posts

174 months

Wednesday 3rd September 2014
quotequote all
pavka007 said:
davek_964 said:
Thanks - just installed an app that uses that site, which should help in future.
What app is that? Do you have a link?
I just searched the play store for saynoto0870 and chose the top app.

Kapenta

1,591 posts

195 months

Wednesday 3rd September 2014
quotequote all
What is the problem paying £0.69 for Whatsapp after a year? It is probably the best money that I have ever spent on a mobile application. (Next is HulloMail, Ulysse Speedometer, NexusMediaImporter, SMS Backup +).

pavka007

522 posts

128 months

Wednesday 3rd September 2014
quotequote all
davek_964 said:
I just searched the play store for saynoto0870 and chose the top app.
Cheers