Is there a true PAYG left? (and is it normal for 02 to kill a payg without warning?)

Werewolf

Werewolf

Werewolf

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Hi

Younger brother is more than a little annoyed with O2, he's been on their classic PAYG for years because he doesn't actually use his phone much*, and they appear to have killed his sim without warning** (he last made a paid text about a month ago, IIRC the T&C were once every 6 months?), which has locked him out of his ability to use his cards online as he now isn't getting texts.
What's especially annoying him is that it seems that they've killed it outside of what their T&C said they would do.

Looking around it seems that there is no such thing as a "PAYG" just "pay us every month and lose any leftover credit" plans or 12+ monthly contracts..

So is there such a thing as a proper, classic PAYG deal left that anyone knows of, or a really cheap sim only deal - he really objects to paying a giver a month or more when he's literally only using the phone to receive sms messages and emergency calls.

I'm also going to have to do the same thing for my dad's emergency mobile, as O2 have done the same to that (it'll make 999 calls obviously, but that's not much use if he needs to call a family member).


*It hasn't helped that hasn't needed his phone for anything other than authentication for things like his bank and whatsapp, so it's rare for him to actually use it as a phone (although he did text me a couple of months back)..

**No text message or email saying "hey you need to top up or make a call or we're cutting you off!".
 
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Whenever I need to use a different number to my normal one, I use an EE sim and sign up to their Talk and Text plan, 100min/200txt/10mb for 7 days. Costs £1 for the 7 days so even if you were to renew straight away every week it would be just over £4/m.

/Edit Alternatively go to uswitch.com, can get Lebara for £3.95/m for 200min/unltxt/1GB. Rolling 30 day contract.

True PAYG, ie. Paying for mins, text, data only as you use it, is a thing if the past as for £4/m you can easily get the above.
 
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You have just scared me for a moment. I too have an old O2 PAYG SIM with 1p per MB of data, 2p for a message and 3p for a minute of phone call. In my personal experience, if you do not make a single phone call or send a message within 3 calendar months of a last phone call/message, then the SIM will be blocked and the balance lost. That being said, the phone call does not have to be a paid one, free 0800 numbers count towards an "active" SIM. I had two SIM cards blocked by LYCA and Vodafone, didn't receive any notification beforehand either. The best PAYG SIM offers are listed on MSE (moneysavingexpert) website under Household Bills -> Best PAYG SIM deals. Currently there is only one notable mention RWG mobile (EE) 1p/MB 5p/min 5p/text without the need of monthly payments.
 
Years ago but O2 did the same to me on a backup phone - cut it off without warning. They seem a bit of a shambles of left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.

There are still a variety of plans available having a browse on Argos for sim cards, with relatively low cost 24 month pre-paid, etc. I'm a bit out of the loop on true payg.
 
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Contracts on a monthly basis, like Lebara have superseded PAYG. It's understandable that we pay a small amount each month, rather than have the service for free. To be honest, even the cheapest tariffs come with a reasonable amount of bundled minutes/texts/data.
 
Fairly sure Giffgaff still offers PAYG, although it's hidden behind a one month contract (e.g. the £6 1GB one). Once the month is out though it uses credit for any calls/texts

Best SIM only deals | giffgaff

Compare our best SIM only deals. Contract. Pay as you go. Monthly Rolling. Flexible plans. Unlimited minutes and text. No credit check.
www.giffgaff.com www.giffgaff.com

What happens when my plan ends

If you haven't got your next plan queued or set to auto-renew standard pay as you go rates will apply. You’ll need to add credit to continue using giffgaff.
Click to expand...
 
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cheers guys, it seems he may have managed to get the sim card reactivated with his old number on his third attempt at calling (why is it every telecoms company seems to have phone lines that are barely 1930's quality?*), he's going to see if the old PAYG tariff applies and if it does he'll make sure to sent a text or something every month with a reminder from his echo/calendar;)
If it doesn't allow him to use his old tariff he's going to try and port to something like giff gaff or EE.

I think what really annoyed him was the fact they did it without any warning, and it's the number the likes of his GP and bank have as his primary.
He has actually just ordered a new phone which is what caused him to notice this (as he didn't get the "is this you" sms from the bank), which will hopefully encourage him to use it a bit more whilst out of the house (I suspect the only reason I don't run into the same problem with my phone is because I have whatsapp running all the time, I barely make calls or texts on it).


*I was stood behind him as he called, and the line quality was like using voice comms back in the 90's whilst play CS, but worse (the first two calls dropped out at their end before he managed to do much more than say a couple of words).
 
An update, the sim is working again with his old number.

I think he's about to put some more money on it, check the tariff and move it over to a new phone tonight (I ended up ordering him a pixel 7 as he was looking at a 6 or 7 and because his sim wasn't working he couldn't verify with the bank).
 
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I've used O2 PAYG for ages, haven't had this problem. Use about £1 a month. I think any chargeable activity (just using data) keeps it alive, I use very little data but there's always some background stuff going on when I'm out and about.

I have these bookmarked as a decent alternative if the O2 PAYG randomly ends:

www.1pmobile.com

Great value pre-pay tariffs and the UKs best coverage

1pMobile - great value prepay SIM only deals from PAYG to Unlimited. Switch today - keep your number.
www.1pmobile.com www.1pmobile.com
 
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throwaway4372 said:
I've used O2 PAYG for ages, haven't had this problem. Use about £1 a month. I think any chargeable activity (just using data) keeps it alive, I use very little data but there's always some background stuff going on when I'm out and about.

I have these bookmarked as a decent alternative if the O2 PAYG randomly ends:

www.1pmobile.com

Great value pre-pay tariffs and the UKs best coverage

1pMobile - great value prepay SIM only deals from PAYG to Unlimited. Switch today - keep your number.
www.1pmobile.com www.1pmobile.com
Click to expand...

The minimum top-up requirement is at least £10 every 120 days (4 months), obviously if you use all your credit you can top-up earlier. At the end of the 120 day period any unused credit will roll over.
 
Yearly deal with 1p mobile seems the best bet now, unlimited min/text 250mb data/month, @ £36 a year.
 
Troop said:
Yearly deal with 1p mobile seems the best bet now, unlimited min/text 250mb data/month, @ £36 a year.
Click to expand...

I can't find that one but found this instead - https://www.1pmobile.com/classic-sim
I want a backup sim on another network.

In fact I've put my money where my mouth is, worth a go for £10

Thank you for your order​

Your basket​

Joining top-up
SIM
P&P
Total

clear​

£10.00
Free
Free
£10.00​

neworder4.jpg

Thank you for joining 1pMobile and welcome!​

Your SIM card is now on its way to you via Royal Mail first class post and should arrive in the next couple of days.
Once it arrives, log in to your 1pMobile account at www.1pmobile.com (with the password we have emailed you separately) and activate your SIM by entering the activation code you will receive with your SIM card. The activation code is printed on the sheet in the Welcome Pack that contains your address details.
 
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Werewolf said:
Hi

Younger brother is more than a little annoyed with O2, he's been on their classic PAYG for years because he doesn't actually use his phone much*, and they appear to have killed his sim without warning** (he last made a paid text about a month ago, IIRC the T&C were once every 6 months?), which has locked him out of his ability to use his cards online as he now isn't getting texts.
What's especially annoying him is that it seems that they've killed it outside of what their T&C said they would do.

Looking around it seems that there is no such thing as a "PAYG" just "pay us every month and lose any leftover credit" plans or 12+ monthly contracts..

So is there such a thing as a proper, classic PAYG deal left that anyone knows of, or a really cheap sim only deal - he really objects to paying a giver a month or more when he's literally only using the phone to receive sms messages and emergency calls.

I'm also going to have to do the same thing for my dad's emergency mobile, as O2 have done the same to that (it'll make 999 calls obviously, but that's not much use if he needs to call a family member).


*It hasn't helped that hasn't needed his phone for anything other than authentication for things like his bank and whatsapp, so it's rare for him to actually use it as a phone (although he did text me a couple of months back)..

**No text message or email saying "hey you need to top up or make a call or we're cutting you off!".
Click to expand...
I have a backup pay as you go SIM with giffgaff which I normally use if I'm ordering something online and they require a mobile number. Haven't topped it up in several years and it's still working fine, I just have a reminder set in Google calendar to send a text every couple of months. The actual requirement is every 180 days but I set it to 2 months to be on the safe side.

You might find this useful: https://kenstechtips.com/index.php/best-payg-sim-for-low-usage

Edit: I checked O2 and they have a requirement to top up at least once in any 6 month period, so that's probably why he had his number disconnected.
 
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I've been on the same PAYG for a very long time even through it changing names.

Not 100% if EE is giving me the boot or not: https://ee.co.uk/help/mobile/manage-use/3g-plan-changes

Says I will lose access to mobile data (which I don't use) but I would remain on an "unsupported plan" that can still make and receive calls and texts...

Unless I'm mistaken I just ignore this and carry on stuffing in £20 a year or whatever and I won't get cut off?
 
SexyGreyFox said:
I can't find that one but found this instead - https://www.1pmobile.com/classic-sim
I want a backup sim on another network.

In fact I've put my money where my mouth is, worth a go for £10

Thank you for your order​

Your basket​

Joining top-up
SIM
P&P
Total
​

clear​


£10.00
Free
Free
£10.00​

neworder4.jpg

Thank you for joining 1pMobile and welcome!​

Your SIM card is now on its way to you via Royal Mail first class post and should arrive in the next couple of days.
Once it arrives, log in to your 1pMobile account at www.1pmobile.com (with the password we have emailed you separately) and activate your SIM by entering the activation code you will receive with your SIM card. The activation code is printed on the sheet in the Welcome Pack that contains your address details.
Click to expand...


Here you go, good deal for call/txt.

1p Mobile one year prepay deal.
 
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Had the 1p mobile this morning so see how I go over the next 120 days, the only problem is I may never use it, it's just a backup in case I get no signal with Three.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
Had the 1p mobile this morning so see how I go over the next 120 days, the only problem is I may never use it, it's just a backup in case I get no signal with Three.
Click to expand...
1p mobile require a £10 top up every 120 days after the first year so it's no good as a backup SIM, you'd be better off with giffgaff.
 
Eddie99 said:
1p mobile require a £10 top up every 120 days after the first year so it's no good as a backup SIM, you'd be better off with giffgaff.
Click to expand...

That's why I mentioned 'over the next 120 days' if I find it useful I'll put another £10 on.
No way I'd go on O2 again with GiffGaff, absolutely useless in my area.
 
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