"Your balance was too low to get your monthly allowance"

[Anonymous]

I used to have O2 home broadband, and got a reduced tariff if I topped up a O2 PAYG phone sim every month or quarter (can't remember which). Anyway, because I didn't use the O2 sim in my main mobile phone, I built up a big balance which I'd use in a spare phone when travelling abroad. I'm no longer using O2 home broadband so have stopped topping up the balance, and I now have just just over £30 left.

When I log into my account I now see a message saying "Your balance was too low to get your monthly allowance". Since I don't use O2 much I don't have a clue what this means. What monthly allowance are they referring to, and why don't I have enough for it? 

I want to continue using it on an ad-hoc PAYG basis, mainly using 'O2 travel' when abroad and making use of the £1.99/50MB mobile data deal - but only a couple of times a year.  Has something changed that means I can no longer do this, but need a "monthly allowance" instead? And if so, why is a £30+ balance insufficient for it?

[MI5]

Some of the PAYG tariffs changed recently and some were deleted but if you were on one of those tariffs you should of have a text to inform you.
It's probably best that you call 4445 or ask on Live chat to confirm which tariff you are on and to discuss the implications of it.

[jonsie]

When did you last use it? The sim has to be used to make a chargeable call every 6 months. If its longer than that call customer service to reactivate it and get the credit updated.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. If they sent me a text I wouldn't have seen it, because the sim hasn't been in a phone (in fact the phone that takes a full-sized sim is dead, so I'm in the process of swapping over to a microsim). I don't recall receiving an email, which is my preferred method of contact. I'll speak to O2 and see if they can communicate with my by email instead of text.

[Anonymous]

Ah. Maybe this is a new rule as well - it's definitely not how it worked in the past. Looks like the goalposts have moved significantly.

[Anonymous]

It may be that O2 doesn't suit me any more, if it's imposing monthly allowance and minimum usage rules. Do you know if I can get my balance refunded, or does the money now belong to O2?

[MI5]

Call CS and they will reactivate the sim which will restore your balance but you can't actually get it back as money.

[jonsie]

They haven't changed the terms, it was always been a condition that the phone had to be used every 6 months to remain active. You will get the credit back on the sim though.....

[Anonymous]

Thanks. My sim has never been deactivated, despite sometimes not using it for a year or more, and it hasn't been deactivated on this occasion. The message "your balance is too low" apparently means that, until I top up, I won't get any free UK calls or texts (free allowances). Which is fair enough - I don't need them because I rarely if ever use the SIM in the UK.  What it doesn't mean, which is what I'd originally feared, is that if I top up I'd have been forced to buy a bundle - I was worried about that because the new sim I received came in packaging that said 'Big Bundles', and the website implied that once I topped up, it would immediately make me buy a bundle, and then continue to do so monthly. This can be deactivated by O2 so I remain on my previous simple PAYG tariff. 

O2 have explained to me that once they've swapped my number/account from my old sim to my new one, my account will remain exactly as it was before, including the balance.   

One worrying thing was that as soon as I put the new sim in my new phone (which I needed to do to get a texted code from O2 befroe they could check my account) I got a message saying that £1 had been automatically deducted for data. O2 refunded that, but I'm left wondering why that happened. Hopefully it won't happen again. 

[MI5]

The £1 was for web daily internet charge. You need to turn off mobile data on your phone.