PAYG Sim-best deal/service

[ChickenDhansak]

Morning all

Virgin seem determined to lose our business. We both have a monthly PAYG Sim with them but they keep notching the price up every few months. The last straw was when my partner bought another phone, required a micro sim (which they sent) but they messed up the activation so that she was without a mobile for 24 hours.

3 seem to have some reasonable deals as do EE. She needs a plan with a lot of data and I'm happy with unlimited texts, 2-300 free minutes and a bit of data.

What would you recommend? Customer service for my good lady is as important as the package as she relies on her phone for taking payments & having reliable internet.

Thanks for any comments.

[Blue_Cookeh]

3 have always had notoriously bad coverage, but their roaming deals are something to look out for if you travel a lot.

 

Otherwise I'd pick EE, their service ought to only be getting better since they're taking on the emergency services contracts, meaning they can't afford to drop calls etc.

[HarryMonkey]

I'm sure I just saw an ad somewhere for BT for 500 mins, unlimited texts and 2 gig of data for a tenner.

[Geoff]

Otherwise I'd pick EE, their service ought to only be getting better since they're taking on the emergency services contracts, meaning they can't afford to drop calls etc.

 

Remember you get a free exploding external battery pack with EE as well!

[Arreks]

Remember you get a free exploding external battery pack with EE as well!

 

With a dodgy contract attached so if it isn't returned, you have to pay!

[Valyyn]

I left EE and would never go back, was with them for five years and their customer service was awful

 

When my contract finished, I unlocked my phone and went to O2 PAYG and haven't looked back!

 

I'm on the £20/month big bundle, which is 1500 minutes, 4000 texts, 2GB data and 4G. For £25/month they have 3000 mins, 4000 texts and 4GB data with 4G.

 

It does seem a bit more like a very cheap contract than a true PAYG, but as long as I top up to £20 credit at the start of the month, I'm set!

 

Edit: Link to the PAYG tariffs: http://www.o2.co.uk/tariffs/payandgo

[difinity]

I have just changed from the VIP unlimited package to the £12 one on Virgin. For that i get unlimited texts, unlimited minutes and 2GB of data. Did you complain to Virgin, everytime they mess up, i politely complain and usually get a free month.

If you do go to EE there shouldn't be any difference in coverage as Virgin use their network.

Having been with all of the operators apart from 3 over the last 20ish years , customer service tends to be the same whoever you call. Sometimes it's good, sometimes shockingly bad, all depends on who you speak to.

[Arreks]

On a serious note, I've been using Giffgaff for years and they've always worked out incredibly cheap - coverage is good since it uses O2's network and customer service is great.

[DMcGuigan]

On 3 here, never really had an issue with loss / lack of signal, I get a Bolt on for £20 a month and get 300 minutes, 3000 texts and unlimited data on 4G, never had a problem tethering on it either, so that's always a plus.

[MatthewL]

Do you have a EE contract as you can get a sharer deal with SIM and use the join allowance as a though?

[plexer]

Orange/EE here for the last few years never had much need for their customer service so that's not an issue, coverage and data speeds fantastic.

 

Ben