O2 Pay as you go Experiences

[Insurgent2021]

Hi Everyone,

What’s everyone think of o2 pay as you go as a whole? I’m thinking of joining

Looks like some very good offers on. Are there any plans for 4G calling and WiFi calling in the future?

Also do you get voicemail and call waiting on pay as you go? Also what are data speeds like/is it capped? Or would I be better on Giffgaff?;

Thanks in advance

[MI5]

giffgaff is better if you want classic payg,

No wifi or 4g calling and unlikely to be either.

No cap on speeds but can be limited by number of users on a mast at the same time.

Voicemail is available if required Guide: All you need to know about O2 Voicemail 901 

[Cleoriff]

If you have a good recent phone @Insurgent2021 you might be better going for a sim only contract deal.

You will be eligible for Wifi calling if you have a compatible phone. There are also more benefits when you are on a contract.

https://www.o2.co.uk/connectivity/wifi-and-4g-calling 

All sim only deals can be found in the shop.

https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/sim-cards/sim-only-deals#deviceType=phone&contractLength=P12M 

[Insurgent2021]

Yeah I’ve got an IPhone 11 sim free. I’m on Three but currently with 0.5mb speeds and 1 bar of 3G... it keeps getting worse and worse. I can’t get a sim only contract as due to billing errors this has affected my credit. I had to wait 3 months for them to resolve a billing error, (bill was over £700) for roaming in EU and they couldn’t work out why I was charged. I got black marks on my credit file. I don’t want to try for anything else for a while as I know this can damage it further. I’ve got enough money to buy out my unusable contract - my phone is unlocked so going to buy out it tomorrow as their contact centre is horrendous good riddance to bad rubbish. Not bothered about keeping my number, happy with a new one so I’ll just pick a new sim up tomorrow.

O2 is more reliable than Giffgaff isn’t it?

[MI5]

@Insurgent2021 

giffgaff and O2 is the same thing really.

I'm not sure either is more reliable than the other as if O2 goes down, so will giffgaff.

[jonnymk]

correct they are the same RAN.... but giffgaff has been plagued with slow speeds and I have experienced it myself quite close to an o2 mast late late night unable to get even get 2Mbps. If you don't believe me, just go on their community forums and you will see hundreds of posts saying this. Looks like giffgaff service is still throttled. Having been on o2 PAYG for 5 months now I can say o2 PAYG is NOT throttled, eassily reached 100Mbps or so from some towers. Makes giffgaff seam like a joke really, just to make customers feel like they're part of some community driven network.

Also looking at the deals on giffgaff the whole thing makes no sense. £10/month goodybag gets you 6GB of data on giffgaff, but for a while now o2 PAYG has been offering 15GB on the £10/month bundle (5XDATA deal), and now 18GB on the same £10/month bundle.  In terms of Pay Monthly on o2 direct you can get 12GB data for £10/month if you use one of the many online referral links from comparison sites, this is double the data of giffgaff - plus Wi-Fi calling, 5G, eSIM, visual voicemail, o2 priority perks, a call centre when things go wrong, proper complaints handling etc...

If you want a simple bundle each month, do yourself a favour, ignore giffgaff, get o2 PAYG SIM and setup a reoccuring payment for the bundle. Or go Pay Monthly SIMO and set a spend cap of £0 ! :D,

o2's aggressive PAYG deals over the last year, and the decision to pull 5G on giffgaff both rings alarm bells to me on the future of giffgaff tbh.

[Insurgent2021]

That’s what I thought, I’ll be joining o2 like the fact if something goes wrong you’ve got customer service to ring

[Cleoriff]

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@Insurgent2021 wrote:
That’s what I thought, I’ll be joining o2 like the fact if something goes wrong you’ve got customer service to ring

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More than that @Insurgent2021, you also have this forum. Sometimes better than O2 customer services.

[MI5]

Always!

[Insurgent2021]

Thanks guys! My minds made up. Deffo going with o2 now. I’ll be topping up tomorrow o2 has a better deal than Giffgaff now anyway

Plus I remember years ago when I was like 13 o2 sent me a free o2 genie sim with 300 texts, o2 was the network to be on then