T eriffic Mobile (One2One Tariffs)

Member Name: criple

Product:	One2One Tariffs
Date:	27/11/02 (811 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent Tariffs, Excellent Customer Services, Free Voicemail And Itemised Billing

Disadvantages: None

In a world full of expanding technology and new innovations it becomes very difficult to keep up with what's happening in the world. You buy one new gadget and just as you learn how to use it another one appears and yours becomes out of date. The same is to be said for mobile phones. Not long ago they were absolutely huge! When I look back and think about what I must have looked like carrying one of those things around with me I cringe with embarrassment. I was never a yuppy or anything but as a lone female walking around collecting money in some rather dodgy areas it was a necessary safety precaution (note I said collecting and not earning! lol)

Nowadays it seems the smaller the better and it makes you wonder how they manage to increase technology and decrease the size of the handset?

So you can now use phones for web browsing, taking photo's, picture messaging and all manner of things. In order to take full advantage of your mobile phones capabilities you need a network provider that can pull it off. It would be like having a top of the range DVD player but having no television player to watch it on.

A mobile phone is no use without a network provider offering you the service you need to meet all your requirements, T-Mobile is one of the worlds leading mobile communication companies and they can provide a service that is second to none and suitable for everyone.

A good network/service provider should have something for everyone. The main contenders are, Orange, O2 (previously Cellnet) Vodaphone, Virgin and T-Mobile (previously one2one) they all have different tariffs, price plans and special offers to entice its customers. The question is, can they deliver?

I have previously used the Orange and O2 network and although they had their good points I felt that customer service was poor. I was dubious about using T-Mobile, which was previously one2one when I first joined them. I believed that as Orange and O2 wer

e bigger companies I would receive better service and coverage. Having used them and being disappointed I felt it was time for a change. When browsing on the Carphone Warehouse website I saw a fantastic offer for a Nokia 3310 which gave me a full 12 months line rental rebate, therefore it was an offer I couldn't refuse. The network provider was T-Mobile and I thought what the hell, I've nothing to loose by giving them a try. I had to sign up for a 12 month contract on a certain price plan that I had to keep for 3 months, after three months I would receive a cheque for 12 months line rental and I could change tariffs if I wanted too.

I received my phone and all was well, I contacted T-Mobile to activate the phone and followed their instructions of waiting for a text message to arrive and charging up the phone. I remember thinking at the time how nice the person was who took the call and that they actually seemed pleased to talk to me. They made sure I understood what tariff I was on and that I understood the terms and conditions.

A couple of months later I decide to check out what new tariffs were available in anticipation of there being something better when I was able to. I found a tariff that allowed me 750 free off peak minutes and 50 free text messages for only £13.99 a month. I contacted T-Mobile to ask for further details and they told me it was a new tariff on special offer, they didn't know how long it would be available. I had one problem, it was a couple of weeks before I was due to receive my cash back and I didn't want to jeopardise that. As it was a Carphone Warehouse promotion they advised me to wait until I received the cheque before changing price plans. The lady was very helpful and explained that as far as they were concerned I could change plans whenever I wanted. It would take effect from my next monthly billing cycle and I could do it all by phone.

I waited for the cheque to come along (thankyou
very much) and promptly visited T-Mobiles website to check out all the available tariffs before phoning T-Mobile. Incidentally, when you have a contract phone you can call them direct from your mobile, free of charge on a short code of 150. I hate paying for customer service calls and don't feel that you should have to. The freetime 750 tariff was still available and it seemed like the ideal solution, as most of my friends and family at the time were also T-Mobile customers. At the date of writing 25/11/02 this is still available. It allowed 750 free off peak calls to other T-Mobile customers and landlines and 50 free text messages per month. One of the main differences with T-Mobile is that their off peak time band starts at 6.00 p.m. and not 7.00 p.m. on weekdays and all weekends. I think this makes a big difference as you can call people on your way home from work. It also means that you can save money on your home phone bill by using up the free minutes. Best of all the cost of this was only £13.99 per month. Another advantage with any of T-Mobiles price plans is that voicemail retrieval is free!

Of course if you use the phone during the day or in excess of the 750 minutes you will incur additional call charges. It would be very long and boring if I listed them all and as this op is on what T-Mobile can offer as a company I won't go in to any more detail.

***** WHAT IF MY CHOICE ISN'T YOURS *****


One of the best things about T-Mobile is that there is a price plan to suit everyone. You may not want a contract phone for example and you would feel happier with a pay as you go option. You can buy a new phone with a sim card included or buy a sim card on its own for £9.99 provided that your existing phone is compatible with T-Mobile. With T-Mobile the more you use your pay as you go phone the cheaper your calls are. If you spend up to £10 per month your calls will cost 30p per minute, £10-£20 will be 20p per minute and a
nything a
bove £20 will be 10p per minute. You will receive no bills and have no contract to sign and you pay for your calls and text messages as you pay for them. It's free to check your voicemail messages as long as you're in credit on the phone. You can use it abroad too depending upon the type of phone you have. The minimum voucher or top up with a swipe card is £10 but there is no expiry on them.

If you prefer a contract they have designed different price plans depending on when you use the phone most and what type of calls you make. If you visit the website www.t-mobile.co.uk and click on phones and service at the top of the page and then our price plans you will be met by a series of scenarios. I call all networks anytime>I usually call off peak> etc if you click on any of these it will come up with the best price plan for you. They range from off peak plans, daytime plans, cross network plans to business plans. It will tell you exactly how much the monthly tariff will cost and what is included.

You can take advantage of 'add on packages' as well to tailor your plan even further, like purchasing extra text message packages. It will depend on which price plan you are already on as to what extra services are available to you but it is so easy to find out by either visiting the website of making a phone call.

**** WHAT IF YOU'RE LIKE ME AND KEEP CHANGING YOUR MIND ****

I seem to be one of those people who get bored quite easily but not only that I also like to be able to change my price plan if my circumstances change without having to wait until my contract expires. Although I had already changed my price plan once, my mobile usage changed because my husband purchased an Orange phone and my stepdaughter went on to Vodaphone. She didn't have a home telephone line and it was becoming expensive to make cross network calls and even from my own landline. T-Mobile brought out a tariff for only £15 pe
r month which would include 200 free off peak minutes to any land line number, and T-Mobile number and cross network calls as well. As I wasn't using my 750 minutes I wasn't concerned about reducing my allowance. The only thing that did concern me was the fact that this price plan didn't include the 50 free text messages. I asked if they could help me with this and they explained that I could purchase a 50-text message pack for £3.50 extra per month. I normally use at least 50 so effectively at 10p per text message I would save £1.50 per month. I could take this off at any time if my text messaging reduced enough for it not to be worth my while. There was no paperwork, no having to call back when my monthly billing cycle starts again, it was all arranged over the phone in a matter of minutes. You can change price plans once a month and it's free of charge! They always ask if there is anything else they can do and are very polite.

***** OTHER THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW *****

Some price plans allow minutes to be rolled over in to the next month and others don't, if you don't use them, you loose them.

The best way to pay your bill for a contract phone is by direct debit, any other method will incur a £3 monthly change. You can change the direct debit date to suit you if it is inconvenient.

All contract customers can set up a facility to view their bill online, even before the bill is produced. You can check your unused calls and text allowance and monitor the calls you are making.

All bills are itemised, free of charge! VAT of 17.5% will be added at the end of your bill.

You can register a debit/credit card on your account to top up if you're a pay as you go customer in addition to buying vouchers or using a swipe card. You will soon be able to top up by using a facility online.

All calls to customer service on a contract phone are free by using a short dial on your phone. If yo
u are on pay as you go it is a fixed cost of 25p, no having to worry about using your call time by lengthy customer service calls.

You can use both contract and pay as you go phones abroad (handset dependent) but always contact T-Mobile first to set up roaming and explain the costs involved. There are always extra costs when using your phone abroad.

Off peak calls are generally from 6.00p.m. In the evening and not 7.00p.m and official bank holidays in England and Wales are classed as off peak.

Text messages to other networks and T-Mobile customers are 10p, email via text message send or receive is 10p.

Network coverage is 99% of the UK and you can use the phone in Northern Ireland.

If you wish to transfer your existing number to T-Mobile you will need a PAC code from you existing provider who may charge but T-Mobile don?t.

If you wish to upgrade your phone at any point and keep your existing number it will depend on how long you have has the phone as to how much they charge, for this information you need to phone 0500 525 525.

If you wish to contact T-Mobile for whatever reason I've always found them to be very helpful. I had trouble understanding the email messaging service and they explained it with patience. I forgot my pin number etc for the online billing facility and they sent me new ones through the post without delay. I had a twin sim in my phone that kept messing up my voicemail retrieval; they sorted that out for me too. They have over 72 million customers so they must be doing something right!

The contact details are as follows:

150 from a T-Mobile phone free on contract 25p on PAYG
0845 412 5000
0800 956 5000 to buy a phone, although you can buy phones direct from T-Mobile you may get a better deal elsewhere (like dial-a-phone, check op, lol)

They have specially trained advisers for disabled customers:
Voice 0808 212 122
Textphone 08081 219
783

If you wish to use them for business purposes:
0800 956 5001 (more than 20 phones)
0800956 5002 (less than 20 phones)

www.t-mobile.co.uk

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