http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/new...ow-your-rights

http://www.mobilenewscwp.co.uk/2014/...obile-closure/

Here's the reason why they closed then...

Got my PAC code through this morning from Ovivo. Anyone know if I can ponder into a Three store and pick up a PAYG sim on the 123 plan? If so, will they charge me for it?.

I've ordered one off their website but could be Saturday/Monday before it arrives, thought it might be easier just to walk into a store tomorrow and pick one up.

They're free, though you may need to top-up.

Good to know, will my credit stay on the Sim when my number ports over?

Interesting info. Thanks

Yes

Seems silly that Ovivo took this route, surely there would have been other providers out there capable of providing what they required, or not?

perfect, thanks. Will go get one tomorrow before work then. Looks like I'll have to wait till Monday before my number gets ported over though unfortunately, will have to live without calls/texts for a weekend.

yes, and I think Three will give you £10 bonus credit for porting your number.

Do you have a link? I remember them doing this some time ago but can't find anything on the website about it now.

I was thinking of topping up £10 today but forgot, tried to text today and got an error, didn't think anything of it ... then my son told me they were gone.
As said no notice but apart from that I'm happy enough to have got over 7 months for my £15 and had used £11 of that phoning abroad.

Can't decide between 3's PAYG or Giffgaff... Any advice?

That's exactly what 20p for 20MB means though, you pay 20p for a block of 20MB. It's not a per megabyte charge (that in itself is fairly arbitrary, as they're often charged per kilobyte but prices published per megabyte)

Vodafone do the same on contract overrage charges, e.g. £5 for 250MB. The second you go over by 1KB you're charged for a full 250MB.

Did the agreement contain a provision for one party to unilaterally cancel it without notice or recourse?

If not then the agreement wasn't cancelled. Failure to perform isn't the same as cancelling.

Both take the p***. For Giffgaff, advertising a daily Internet rate, for what is just 20MB is insane (in my opinion - so that's subjective!) and Vodafone is also being downright sneaky. I do like the fact that EE will just stop working and make you pay for more data, which means no nasty surprises.

Given my own experience of O2 at home (I thought they'd improved 4G, but now I'm back to sitting on 2G until I repeatedly toggle flight mode to try and get it to connect to 3G or 4G) and out - mainly in London - I would not recommend Giffgaff to anyone, especially those who, like me, had commented on just how slow the data was on Vodafone. It's hardly likely to be much better on an O2 MVNO.

I'd go for Three's PAYG deal (if you haven't got a tablet) or look at any MVNO using EE's network. Or indeed EE itself.

Samba is working well for me, but there's the need to watch so many videos that I can't see myself coping with it in the long term.

TBH other companies had similar charging practices in the past too.

I got quite annoyed a few times on my Three PAYG SIM that charged 50p a day for 120MB. I chose that package as it was the best value (MB's per pence) but it reverts to some silly rate like £3 per MB the instant your allowance runs out.

Worst part about it is they didn't stop you when your allowance runs out, they instantly started charging you the run on rate. They didn't even provide a proper warning - several times, the text that was supposed to warn me of exceeding 80% of my allowance arrived several hours after I'd already gone over and they'd already taken a good £5 or so off my balance. Not only that the data usage counter in My3 only updated periodically, so one minute it could say 20MB remaining and refreshing it a few minutes later - oops, already gone over and £5 off my credit!

Last time I had a "pay per day" data package on O2 it was something like £1 a day for 150MB (fair use limit) with no cap or run-on charges if you went over. Pretty decent but I don't think they do it anymore.

P.S. Regarding your (and my) weird experiences with inter-RAT switching on O2 - it should be noted that the 4G rollout includes upgrading and replacing all their 2G, 3G and 4G equipment, and sites running on upgraded equipment are connected to different RNCs than those yet to be upgraded. Hence, you frequently get several 3G sites next to each other on different RNCs which makes switching between them - and between technologies - inconsistent at best. I suspect the situation will improve once all sites are eventually upgraded so they're all properly "aware" of each other and they don't have to juggle switching between cells, technologies, frequencies, and network controllers as well every time your phone wants a better signal.

I seem to remember that when O2 first launched GPRS, it had no way to actually bill and so you never paid run-on charges. But you could buy different allowances, so the smart people just went for the lowest/cheapest. This must be going back a bit!

This reminds me of when they introduced PAYG before anyone else, including being able to be used abroad, but bodged it by having the credit controlled on the phone (Philips Diga ring any bells?) and then just giving everyone what was basically an unrestricted 'contract' account.

It didn't take long for the software to be hacked to give unlimited credit, and it was usable for bloody ages. Cellnet appeared to think that if it just allowed a 'few' people to rip them off, it was still cheaper than introducing a proper billing system... but I doubt shareholders ever realised how widespread it was. I knew so many people with them, and there were people selling the modified phones (or advertising the modification) all over Loot and the like.

Ovivo's T&C say about termination -

"6 Termination
6.1 Either party may terminate this Agreement at any time without notice or explanation
6.2 On termination of this Agreement We may require You to return the SIM Card at your cost
6.3 In the event that We terminate the Service and You have paid for credit remaining on your Account We shall refund the amount to You, provided We have received the SIM Card back. Refunds will be credited to the credit or debit card used when topping-up
6.4 You will not be entitled to any refund where You terminate the Agreement (other than in accordance with clause 5.1) or where we have terminated the Agreement as a result of a breach of these terms and conditions by You
6.5 Refunds on free credit provided in relation to any promotions, shall not be refunded in the event of Service being terminated by either Party
6.6 Should You transfer your number away from OVIVO, this constitutes a termination of this Agreement and any outstanding credit on your account, whether paid for or promotional, is forfeit and non-refundable."

Three gives you £10 credit for porting your number over.... anyone tried this ?

And is it true that when porting number over to any other supplier - your credit goes with the number ? I didn't receive any transfer of credit when I ported my nymber over to Ovivo !

The thing is, OVIVO were very convenient and cheap for low users at the poorer end of the market who still need a mobile phone and where £10 frequently to top-up is a considerable expense and takes money away from extras, and landlines are completely out of the question because of the even greater expense of line rental there.

The poorest, occasional phone users in society will be the biggest losers of all this, PAYG a more expensive service overall but unable to justify the continuing cost of a pay monthly contract with minutes, texts and data that'll be wasted, which for those with poor credit ratings will be out of reach completely. It's like the scandal around pre-payment meters for electric and gas all over again.

OVIVO filled a niche for these users, now taken away and people reliant on a more expensive (in the scheme of things) service just to communicate with family, friends, potential employers, current employers and so forth. The people gloating about the misfortune that has hit many tens of thousands of people I suspect are doing so comfortably being able to afford their £74.99 a month premium EE 4G package, maybe some tact and understanding for the low user and low cost end of the market would be nice.

Also worth noting that most people are recommending Three as the cheapest, no bundle PAYG service for people to migrate to. This needs a 3G(/4G) phone, and the vast majority of these phones are the smartphones that some people have an issue with when it comes to a poor person being in possession of.

For the cheapest 2G phones on sale, the next cheapest PAYG providers, ASDA Mobile and giffgaff are far more expensive per unit than Three. They also don't subsidise 2G phones so buying them SIM only costs more too unless you go through the process of unlocking (more expense). A triple whammy.

Makes no sense. Failing contractual obligations cost big big money.

Its a nothing statement.

I have yet to find a field in which you do not consider yourself to be an expert.

as a broad principle the things they get to do, like use your email address, show you ads are in return for the air time that they give you. if they stop doing that then then they can't do the other either. the quid pro quo is the basis of the agreement.

of course their terms allow them to cancel at any time.

Of course not.

no the credit gets lost, but I have tried it with Three and they gave me £10 free credit about a few weeks after porting from another network.