I've just told O2 to sling their hook after they continually screwed up my on line account with them.

So, I'm now in search of a new mobile phone provider.

I don't really need a phone, mine works fine, unless it's free with the deal and is more up to date than mine, so I really only need the SIM card.

I want a contract that offers shed loads of text messages and some free minutes but not many. Any network will do except O2.

Any ideas?

Well I would have said Genie.

They are predominantly a text message centred provider so I'm sure they'd do a good text message tariff for you.
However upon checking they run off the back of the o2 network.
That's not to say that they will use o2 customer service staff, but it's still o2.

Orange recently had a deal on which gave loads of text messages in their service, but I forget what it was and for how much.

Have a look on the Orange website or Fones4U site maybe !

Just looked at Genie on the net and it seems that they are also called O2, so it wouldn't be like leaving and my protest against them would be laughed at by them.

Terrified by the Phones 4 U website, so many options.....will navigate it when the humidity drops and I feel less irritated. Need a beer...!

i dont mind O2 pay as you go £10 a month and i get 300 free texts :-)

I will shortly be using Orange after also ditching o2..

500 free txts and 200 minutes any network anytime for £30 plus a freebie phone, not bad for me but if u just use mainly txts they do have some deals on their site I believe..

DeeJ

Don'r go on Orange, their tariff is a ripoff, 40p a minute, WTF?!

A lot of my mates are on Vodafone which is allegedly good.

A friend recommended '3' to me last night. Has anyone dealt with them?

I'm sure they're pretty good. They have a good deal where you buy a £25 video talk voucher per month and it gives you 5p per minute calls to any network.

That's about 500 mins of cross network calls (not including SMS).
I'm not sure about coverage of their network though. I think their voice coverage (although I'm not sure) is basically the same coverage as everyone else. However the video aspect is not as great a coverage, and I feel to truly benefit from 3 a 3G phone is required (although not essential for just voice calls).

The £25 a month deal seems really good to me. I spend more than that with T-Mobile (who I've found to be great when it comes to coverage and billing) but I do tend to spend a lot with them... circa £50+ per month these days. :o

I'd never use 500 mins of calls though (unlike my mate who claims to get through 750 per month!). I do a fair bit of texting so would rather have a decent package including lots of texts.

So far I've found Orange have a fairly good package - still looking. 3 still mystifies me. I can't seem to get their website to tell me about text package deals.

isnt 3 the only one who do video phones?

I'm on O2 pay as you go at the moment, and lately I'm going through at least 2 £10 top up vouchers a month.

Back when I was on T-Mobile on my old phone a £10 top up used to last me about 6 weeks.

I'm half tempted to get my phone unlocked and put the T-Mobile sim card in it.

Might use DaBouncer's site.

how about £16 / month on vodafone ... u get 600 off peak mins + 250 sms / month (min 18 month contract).

Ummmm, I rarely use my phone for phone calls so anything more than 50 mins would be a waste really. I'd want at least 400 texts a month.

I went into the 3 shop on the Moor at lunchtime. The phones in there are really bulky, including the square shaped Nokia that supports their service. SIMS cannot be moved to phones that don't support the network. 50 mins and 500 texts for £25 sounded good, but no WAP (wrong generation phone) and a limited usage of news coverage. Big on video phones. The phone deal is ideal, but the phones are so bulky and big, not ideal for putting in your pocket really or comfortably holding in your hand.

So I'm looking for a deal similar but not on 3 and certainly not on O2.

Rich, I used to be on pay as you go and found that being on contract offered so much more value for money, more texts for your money and free minutes. I'd not look back now.

Originally posted by Classic Rock
Ummmm, I rarely use my phone for phone calls so anything more than 50 mins would be a waste really. I'd want at least 400 texts a month.

I went into the 3 shop on the Moor at lunchtime. The phones in there are really bulky, including the square shaped Nokia that supports their service. SIMS cannot be moved to phones that don't support the network. 50 mins and 500 texts for £25 sounded good, but no WAP (wrong generation phone) and a limited usage of news coverage. Big on video phones. The phone deal is ideal, but the phones are so bulky and big, not ideal for putting in your pocket really or comfortably holding in your hand.

So I'm looking for a deal similar but not on 3 and certainly not on O2.

Rich, I used to be on pay as you go and found that being on contract offered so much more value for money, more texts for your money and free minutes. I'd not look back now.

I only really have my mobile for emergency use so it doesn't get enough use to warrant forking out nearly half the price of my phone every month for a contract, and also being deaf I have to be very choosy of the type of phone I get as it has to be one that works with my hearing aid, and not all phones available on contract have this EXTREMELY essential feature annoyingly.

I've been looking at the idea of moving onto 3 myself but I don't know enough about them. I'm abit apprehensive incase they are unreliable.

Originally posted by Lickszz
I've been looking at the idea of moving onto 3 myself but I don't know enough about them. I'm abit apprehensive incase they are unreliable.

Same here.

My contracts up at the begining of August and i dont know weather to stick with vodafone and just upgrade or change to another network.

Id avoid 3 at all costs to be honest, my mate had a phone via their network and only promptly cancelled it within 3 days, said the coverage was garbage and wap was useless and slow..

DeeJ

Right, that's 3 out. Also would never consider O2 again - dreadful customer service, premium rate customer service phones, incorrect bills, overcharging, inability to get through to anyone who can help.....

Wonder what Orange are like?

Originally posted by Deejay
Id avoid 3 at all costs to be honest, my mate had a phone via their network and only promptly cancelled it within 3 days, said the coverage was garbage and wap was useless and slow..
Been hearing similar things from friends of mine too.. I know Daisy is less than impressed with them...

good customer service with orange when i used to use them

I fell out with Vodafone a couple of years ago over a massive GPRS bill, but I have to admit that they have the very best service on the planet! I actually kept my Voda account open after moving most of my phone use to Orange in a fit of pique one day :loopy: .

Orange are OK most of the time, but when they get it wrong there's no hope! Voda's service really passes water over the rest, but they won't admit to mistakes, and I'm too stubborn to go back to them full time.

Maybe I will go back next year when a little more water has gone under the bridge.

I spoke to O2 today to confirm that they'd received my online message that I'd cancelled, they hadnt, even though I had a written reply from someone to say they had.

I told them my complaint and they transferred me to the premium rate line at no extra cost to myself. After a half hour phone call during lunch (so glad I wasn't paying) the operator admitted she didn't know what the problem was and why they'd messed up my direct debits so much, and there were no guarantees that this wouldn't happen again. No offer of compensation, no nothing.

So, I have a month to serve and I'm out of there (got my PAC code!!!). I just cannot seem to find another provider who offers a similar tariff without doubling the price - I guess you get what you pay for, eh?

Originally posted by mr craig
Same here.

My contracts up at the begining of August and i dont know weather to stick with vodafone and just upgrade or change to another network.

I think I'll be up for changing around September but as I initially feared, 3 don't appear to be up to much by all accounts.

When are the other networks planning to launch video phoning, will it be in time for xmas?

I heard Orange are doing it, in fact don't quote me on it but I think they possibly already are.