Best mobile deal?

[DILLIGAFF]

Just had another row with my service provider, Vodafone.
Basically I negotiated a reasonable deal with them last year but notice they have been billing me too much   


Got me wondering, who has the best deal?????


I have the phone (Galaxy Ace), 300 minutes, 500 texts and 1.25GB data allowance for £ 9.50/mth incl. VAT.


Now excluding those of you who may work for a service provider or get one free in your job, can anyone beat that?




Oh and BTW the very nice lady I just spoke to in S.Africa has agreed this deal AND sent me a credit of £14 to cover the incorrect bills.

[darrsi]

These days it's worth getting as much data as possible and then mainly use Whatsapp.
A lot of people are on it now, and the texts, picture/video messaging and now even calls are "free" (calls to other Whatsapp users).
And it's world wide too. 

[BBROWN1664]

Doesn't sound like a bad tariff to me Delboy. Mines £12 or £15 a month with unlimited calls/texts and 1GB of data. I'm happy to pay that though at the moment as they are about the cheapest for roaming charges (calls/text and data) and spending a reasonable amount of time in France each year it makes a difference. Towards the end of the year I will be looking again when they are meant to be getting rid of roaming charges throughout the EU. Remains to be seen how this will affect things though as I don't believe it will be free.

[Dead Eye]

These days it's worth getting as much data as possible and then mainly use Whatsapp.
A lot of people are on it now, and the texts, picture/video messaging and now even calls are "free" (calls to other Whatsapp users).
And it's world wide too. 

Be warned that Whatsapp has been looking to introduce a yearly subscription to use the service beyond the first year ( http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/general/23014681 ) - granted it is very cheap still.

However, your underlying point is spot on as internet services are generally a great option. I personally make use of Google Hangouts (though I preferred the Desktop client GTalk until it was discontinued) and Skype on my phone

[mickvp]

Well mines is not the "cheapest" deal, but I am a heavy phone user (for both business and leisure), I got unlimited messages/unlimited calls, and 5Gb of Data for £34.50 a month with an iphone 6 (EE). its not a bad deal for what it is. . .

[darrsi]

These days it's worth getting as much data as possible and then mainly use Whatsapp.
A lot of people are on it now, and the texts, picture/video messaging and now even calls are "free" (calls to other Whatsapp users).
And it's world wide too. 

Be warned that Whatsapp has been looking to introduce a yearly subscription to use the service beyond the first year ( http://www.whatsapp.com/faq/general/23014681 ) - granted it is very cheap still.

However, your underlying point is spot on as internet services are generally a great option. I personally make use of Google Hangouts (though I preferred the Desktop client GTalk until it was discontinued) and Skype on my phone

First year free then £2.59 for FIVE years. 


When I'm on the laptop at weekends I have Whatsapp Web as well, I have it as a saved tab, it's very handy for me as I text a lot, so I don't have to ponce about with the phone.

[Dead Eye]

Yeah, WhatsApp Web makes it a useful service - I generally like to use ones that I can seamlessly switch between various devices; Desktop, Laptop, Mobile Phone, Tablet etc

My personal phone use is very low, but I got an ok deal at the time just to get the phone really which is a Galaxy Note 3. I have 600 Minutes (I use about 10...), Unlimited Texts (again, I use about 10) and 750MB of data. Before I got the contract I was usually using circa 100-150MB of data as I was always at home and sponging off of the WiFi network but I spend more time out now and typically use 500MB+ each month so I'm beginning to have to keep an eye on it.

Unfortunately I'm with O2. They used to be a good network but it seems they just haven't kept up with the times and certainly wouldn't recommend them. I was previously with Orange and never had any issues. Pending any major network changes, I will probably be switching to EE or Three when my contract expires though there is talk of Three purchasing O2 from Telefonica

[DILLIGAFF]

Forgot to mention that I don't have BB at home so I tether the phone to my laptop and just about have enough for emails, surfing and "Private Browsing"   

[Punkstig]

Heavy data user so mines not cheap- I think about £45 pm, but that's with 20gig data (that I use!)

[darrsi]

Yeah, WhatsApp Web makes it a useful service - I generally like to use ones that I can seamlessly switch between various devices; Desktop, Laptop, Mobile Phone, Tablet etc

My personal phone use is very low, but I got an ok deal at the time just to get the phone really which is a Galaxy Note 3. I have 600 Minutes (I use about 10...), Unlimited Texts (again, I use about 10) and 750MB of data. Before I got the contract I was usually using circa 100-150MB of data as I was always at home and sponging off of the WiFi network but I spend more time out now and typically use 500MB+ each month so I'm beginning to have to keep an eye on it.

Unfortunately I'm with O2. They used to be a good network but it seems they just haven't kept up with the times and certainly wouldn't recommend them. I was previously with Orange and never had any issues. Pending any major network changes, I will probably be switching to EE or Three when my contract expires though there is talk of Three purchasing O2 from Telefonica

I've always been with O2, and found the reception, and customer service, to be very good.
Was with Vodafone for about 20 hours once, and during that time about 5 hours of it was talking to customer service, and I'm not joking!
During that time I attempted SEVERAL times to cancel the contract through sheer desperation and their true colours really came out.
A horrible horrible company, I would never go near them ever again. 

[Dead Eye]

O2 always had a good reputation and were the only company to offer a 14 day cancellation period when I worked at The Carphone Warehouse. Times have changed though I just don't find their network satisfactory. Coverage has been very limited for me in all 4 of my living locations (I move around a lot apparently ) and network speed (inernet) hasn't been great

[BBROWN1664]

O2 though seem to have good coverage. The only issue I have at the moment is related to the 4G rollout. Where I live I am on the edge of the 4G range for the transmitter. Whenever the phone gets connected to it, it seems to try and hang on to it with a slow connection rather than connect to the stronger 3G signal. I know I can disable 4G on my phone to avoid it but it is such a minor irritation, its not worth it.

Three on the other hand.....

Over the last 20+ years I have used all of the providers and the worst by far was 3 followed by the M25 network (T-Mobile) and Skodaphone. Orange and O2 have always seemed to have the best coverage and for me, at the moment, O2 do the best EU roaming deals though my broadband dongle does have an Italian Vodaphone SIM in it because it only costs me 3€ a day for 500MB per day rather than use the £2 a day O2 option..

[darrsi]

We always used O2 at my work, then some knob decided to save money a couple of years ago.
2 providers later and the reception is still absolute shite, so Vodafone decided to fit about 8 reception boosters around our building.
And the reception is still shite.
Only difference now is that the boosters interfere with our film camera wireless transmitters, so when I give them to film crews I have to firstly apologise then tell them they may or may not work in the building when they test them out, it's bloody embarrassing!

[taylor]

I get 500 mins, and unlimited txt, and a phone, they have never taken any money. at all. so I wont be getting a better deal anywear,

[Dead Eye]

It's always hard to compare networks from our individual use as we live in various areas and use our phones for different purposes. The most frustrating thing I've found is the lack of signal in rural areas such that I can never load maps to find out where the hell I am. I should probably clarify that phone coverage isn't actually that bad with O2 (although it is almost non-existent at the office) but the internet coverage is my issue.

However, Ofcom's latest report doesn't really help O2's case as they didn't do particularly well - in fact quite far behind the likes of Three and EE. Again, a few years ago Three had atrocious coverage outside of any large urban area but they have grown in to a large and well covered network. EE is now the largest after rebranding Orange and taking over T-Mobile unfortunately they also have a very large user base which can saturate their network and cause performance issues. I imagine this is likely to happen to Three if they do buy O2.

As for Vodafone... well... yeah, they've always been shit imo and can mirror the customer service issues. If a customer came in with an issue on O2 or Orange (which wasn't terribly often) it was usually sorted fairly easily. Vodafone, Three and T-Mobile were a friggin nightmare. Three got better before I left though...

All of my experience is a bit outdated now as I left CPW nearly 4 years ago

[esetest]

I cancelled my contract with Orange last year due to bad customer service  and  poor coverage , I have kept my Vodafone pay as you go and use the freedom freebie vouchers , where you decide how much you want to put on it eg. £10per mth  = 150mins unlimited texts and 0.5 data , I don't use the data on the phone as I find the screens to small , I mainly text , before we went to USA I bought a Fire hd6 for £ 79 , and set up Skype on it and was able to talk to our daughters for free , the screen size is better for the internet , I can email on it , takes fantastic pictures which I was able to upload onto Facebook using the hotels free Wifi  and no contract or monthly fee to pay .

[Dead Eye]

I do like my Galaxy Note for its screen size (5.7") - it seems massive when you first see and use it, but you soon get used to it. This makes it large enough to see shit but small enough to still fit in most pockets unlike a tablet

[taylor]

well as if by magic they have taken a payment lol, any grasses on here,