PAYG but have to have big bundle?

[UK_sparrow]

I just want PAYG, whereas what's on offer is more like a monthly contract. Not the same thing. I rarely use my mobile so £10pm is too much. Looks like that is automatically taken, so I would need to try to keep my balance below that. A hassle. Hoping I've got this wrong! Missing network 3,but not option.

[jonsie]

Your guess is as good as ours.....

[Anonymous]

Unless I'm missing something, the Big Talker and the International Sim both offer the same call charges, and come with the same inclusive allowances. Even international call charges are the same. What if anything is the essential difference between the two?

[MI5]

We've asked the same question before - it makes no sense?

[Anonymous]

Thank you, for a moment I thought I was cracking up

[Anonymous]

Not at all mate

[jonsie]

It helps on here if you're half crazy....

[Anonymous]

It helps in most places lol.

There used to be more tariff options to switch to if you're an existing customer, even if the new customer options were more limited. It seems both are now.

I think having 2 identical tariffs with different names is simply a marketing tactic to attract people who want to talk a lot or contact people internationally regularly.

They frequently change the new tariffs/sims/offers/bundles/boltons available. It often appears older offers are no longer available when that's not necessarily the case. You either have to know where to look, hunt thoroughly, or ask them!

The basic prices are going up soon. I'm sure it's partly to encourage people to switch to regular bundles and boltons, then they get a fairly guaranteed income from customers who are regular users who don't want to pay the earth for their calls/texts/data.

They don't seem to consider there really are still people who don't have their mobiles glued to their hands 24/7, who may not have/use internet on their mobiles, who simply want to be able to say call and text occasionally when necessary, eg in emergencies and when away from home. They want to be able to topup when necessary to have enough credit to pay for that usage, but not necessarily want to topup monthly to either buy a bundle or get a Topup allowance, and want to worry about their credit being eaten up by bundles and bolt-ons when their credit is high enough and they're not using their phones, like the op. I can see why some, especially new customers can be confused or put off by what appears to be available, especially as depending on where you look the amount of information and detail varies and can be confusing especially if you're not familiar with O2, their website, etc. The way some pages are laid out you can actually get 2 sets of info on the same page and it's not always clear which sim they're referring to. It's easier if you're a long standing, regular mobile user, possibly with experience of more than one network and their websites and customer service. However if you're an occasional mobile user you're likely to find the process of switching networks and/or tariffs daunting and confusing.

I hope the op has managed to sort out their problem and will be happy with O2.

[Cleoriff]

Hi @Anonymous Thanks for posting again. The only thing I would dispute is where you say 'older tariffs are still available if you know where to look for them'. Not the case I am afraid. If you are a customer already on an old tariff then you can stay on that one. However once you choose a different tariff you can't go back to the old one at all. O2 provided a Basic Tariff up till a few weeks ago. We cant find that nowadays and are waiting for clarification from @Toby and @Anonymous to see if it has indeed been scrapped.

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous 

I think you're right about the marketing angle (in regard to the Big Talker and International Sim). In fact, that's exactly the explanation I was given by an O2 Guru the other day. I think they've missed a trick here though, as they should be using the low cost of international calls as a selling point, which should benefit people even if they only occasionally call or text abroad. Offering an "International Sim" with exactly the same benefits as the Big Talker is clearly designed to attract custom from those people who regularly phone abroad (e.g we have a large East European contingent who are resident in the UK nowadays), but all they needed to do was highlight that as another benefit of the Big Talker.

They just need to keep it simple 

[Anonymous]

I've just spent a month going through all of this with O2. There is no simple PAYG tariff (there used to be) - unless it is very, very well hidden and the live chat people have not heard of it. It always ends up as a monthly payment. Even BIGTALK, which will take your £10 credit as a monthly payment as soon as you use the phone once. I now have an ASDA SIM where you have the choice to have a monthly bundle or not.