WIBU to change phone network after 14 years?

[MCorbett86]

Hi all,

I have been happily using Pay as You Go on the Three (3) network for over 10 years now without issue. For the last few years I have been getting their 'All You Can Eat 90' Add On every three months, where I pay £90 for Unlimited Data, Unlimited Texts and Unlimited minutes. This has always served me very well and I have been happy on Pay As You Go.

Unfortunately, my Add On runs out tomorrow and since I last purchased it in December Three seemingly have stopped offering this option. The only option they have similar is a £35 Add On Sim for 'All You Can Eat Data' that I can buy from Amazon, not Three? Very confusing!

I have come to the conclusion that I would be better off - reluctantly - shifting to a Pay Monthly option, as this would be easier than purchasing a Sim from Amazon each month and appears to be cheaper also.

I have always preferred Pay As You Go as I have never had any form of credit contract before. I suffer quite badly from anxiety - especially surrounding things like this. My neurodiverse condition possibly heightens this! I will only proceed if it is easy to set my spend cap at Zero, so that I do not accrue any extra charges. At the moment, if I try to call a premium number on PAYG it simply says I do not have enough credit. I hope that this will be similar if I set a £0 spend cap?

Having looked at my Data Usage since December 14th, I have used 375GB, which is pretty typical of my usage over the last few years. I therefore feel that I may not need the All You Can Eat tariff, and would suffice with a 12 month 150GB/250GB per month contract. I'm conscious that the prices being offered are going to increase by CPI + 3.9% in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately, I can't wait that long to top up so I am going to have to just accept that.

I have had a look online and Three offer a 12 Month Sim Only deal for 250GB Data for £20 (possibly around £23 after April) per month or unlimited data for £24 (£27 after April) per month. I assume that these come with unlimited calls and texts, as my current plan does but I will check this in store before I commit.

I am completely new to the idea of a Pay Monthly changing their Add On range. I am quite anxious about it all, so I would appreciate your advice and insights surrounding Pay Monthly Sim contracts. Would you say the 250GB contract (£20 per month) is good value? Has anyone else on here been with Three for Pay Monthly and could share their experiences?

Also, and something that I would be open to, I have noticed that other networks also offer Pay Monthly contracts and I have not ruled out the idea of changing networks. Three have had my custom now since 2009, but I know that loyalty does not always pay. I see below that 02 offer a 150GB per month Sim for £25 per month. A bit more expensive than Three but allows for 25GB of European Roaming for free, something that I would now need to pay for under Three. I travel to Europe about six times a year, so I was really annoyed to see that Three have introduced a charge for Go Roam. This 02 contract also seemingly offers perks like Apple Music that the Three one does not.

I am in all honestly so confused, and a little anxious and apprehensive about it all. Could you please give me some tips and advice about Pay Monthly contracts in general and if you know of the best one that would suit my needs? Should I stick with Three or move elsewhere?

Thanks so much for any insights or advice - sincereely, a very confused poster!

www.o2.co.uk/shop/sim-cards/sim-only-deals?setTTSelectedStack=legacy#deviceType=phone&contractLength=P12M

I was about to move to France 2 years ago and my contract ran out so I bought a 1penny mobile SIM, got the phone unlocked and the number ported.

You buy a £30 start and then buy what you need after that. Good thing is, everything is 1p. 1p a minute, 1p a text and 1p per MB.

And as long as you buy another top up within a year, you can use it as much or as little as you want.

I still have it here in France for all calls I make to the UK plus all my roaming here is done on it. I have a code to give people a £5 bonus if you want it. Just DM me.

Hmm, thanks for the reply @AlisonDonut . I think though that option would not work for me given that there are 1000MB in a GB. Given that would mean £10 per GB, and I use 375 of them every three months, my bill for data alone would be over £1,250 per month under this sim!

Ask 3 which is the best deal they can offer you on a sim only contract. I have been with them for years and have a sim only deal for £6 a month, that's for unlimited texts, calls and Internet data (can't remember how much) but I use my home wi fi for that anyway.

I would certainly look at other networks. I moved from o2 to Tesco mobile last year and it worked out a lot cheaper.

Definitely shop around for other networks, Tesco, Giffgaff etc, but... how are you using 125gb a month??

Misses point of thread 😂

@Sirzy - How did you compare the deals? Is there a price comparison site that lists them all clearly?

Have a look at MoneySavingExpert, in the weekly newsletter there’s a roundup of all the best SIM only deals, both contract and PAYGO. I changed a couple of ours over a couple of weeks ago and it’s no hassle

@takealettermsjones - Personal Hotspot! It is a great thing! I use it to hotspot my Internet Roberts radio so I can listen to programmes on-demand, and I use it also to hotspot catch-up on my TV and my laptop whilst I am out and about and don't want to use public wifi.

Is there anyone else on here that has been using Three's PAYG Add On's and feel slighted that they have quietly changed them over the last few months?

I’d recommend Smarty, they are owned by Three so uses their network. It’s a monthly rolling contract, no roaming charges within the EU & you get unlimited calls, texts & data for £20 a month (there are cheaper plans available depending on what you want). I was with them for 2 years & had no complaints.

When I started with my mobile, I was with EE. It wascsupposedctonhave the best coverage at that time. But it got too expensive and I couldn't find any good deals. So I stopped around. I've used BT (which is actually EEs network), Sky, Vodafone and three. They're all much of a muchness and I haven't had problems with any of them. It's just taking that first leap into the unknown! It's scary.
I'd say concentrate on finding your best financial deal and don't worry about the network.

If you have a BT account, you can get a discount on EE. I have a number of sims (mine plus 3 kids) on unlimited data/calls/texts for £16.40pm each, which is the best value I've found anywhere (also has a spend cap).

If not, I think you should take a look at giff gaff, as they're pretty reasonable too.

@Oubliette86 - I've taken a look at Smarty, they look good! So it is not technically a contract as you pay for the sim in advance? Once you have the sim, for the subsequent months do you just top up rather than needing to change sim every month?

Given that Smarty uses the Three network, does it offer the same standard of coverage (speeds etc.) as Three themselves offer? Again, all new to me! I have only just learnt that there are only four UK networks (o2, EE, Three and Vodafone) and the rest tether off of these!

£16.50 EACH that's mental.
I've got 3 sims on BT for £22, unlimited calls and text 12gb data each. On a family contract.

Op shop around. None of the companies really seem to be doing PAYG they all seem to have a monthly charge which means it's easier to just take out a contract.

I have 3 on one deal and can cap all of them so nobody goes over costing me more money.

@Sugarfree23 - Is there a price comparison site that displays all of the options? Something like Go Compare or the sort? I think that's the name. The one with the meerkats!

Op I never answered your opening question no you are definitely not unreasonable for wanting to change providers.
You are a customer not marriage partner. It used to be a thing that the second you asked for your PAC code you'd get better deals thrown at you.

So you need you PAC code to give to your new phone company so you can take your number with you.

Actually I think that is Compare the Market!! 😂

Moneysupermarket is good for comparing mobile deals.

Go compare do insurance but might be worth a look too.

The first one that comes is 3 25gb for £8

I've just realised your usage is 125gb.

Would you not be worthwhile considering a broadband only deal and adding a much cheaper phone onto it?

How much data do you typically use in a month?
It might be worth looking at GiffGaff: pay up front each month with no credit arrangements needed.
www.giffgaff.com/sim-only-deals (see bottom of screen for pay-as-you-go plans).

Have a look at the Moneysaving Expert article on this.

www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/sim-only/

From what you've said, the iD Mobile (owned by Currys, uses the 3 network) does 200 Gb a month for £14 on a rolling monthly contract, so you're not tied in. You also get roaming in 50 countries, but maybe not the same allowance.

I'd be careful about tying in to another network if you're not sure about how the coverage works, but for just about everyone SIM only is the way to go, by far the cheapest way unless you are such a low user that even the £5 a month minimum plans are more than you need.

Or you want a very high end phone but to not pay for it all in one go, so prefer to pay £40+ a month.

Take a look at Smarty or Voxi. Both are child companies of bigger networks.
Both work on a rolling monthly contract. I am with Voxi. You can add on extras when you need them and change tarring with a months notice. They often have very good deals on Black Friday.
So you order a free sim with them, once it arrives, you activate it and select your tariff and then off you go. Just pay the fee monthly. You can stop it whenever you want and swap to another network/go back to pay as you go.

Do you travel?

the three PAYG sim is one of the few that will cover you worldwide. International roaming charges are huge (mine is £6/day just to “activate”, then call/data charges on top). I am going to get a second 3 sim for holidays.

otherwise moneysupermarket or other comparison site. I pay £8 a month for 50GB with rollover (so can carry over any unused allowance), unlimited texts and calls.

I use my data for similar things to you, and rarely use more than 20GB. I have wifi at home though so only use data out and about. That’s hotspotting two teenagers on car journeys etc as well!

have you tried resetting your stats and measuring what you use in a month? 150GB sounds massive.