Hi.

A word of warning regarding Tesco Mobile. Following our recent experiences it is apparent that Tesco Mobile has neither the appropriate software nor operational policies to effectively manage a mobile network.

There is a "fair use policy" - apparently, as it cannot be shared with the customers. The unlimited texts are not unlimited. The system will send a warning text when an arbitrary number of texts is reached (I never found the number) and then within hours then block the SIM, even though no further SMS have been sent. The on-line billing is many days behind current usage so this can't be used to monitor usage. After the arbitrary limit has been reached, but before the SIM has been blocked the system will automatically bill for any "extra" SMS sent - again without warning until the bill notification comes through. The same system means that the customer services agents also can't tell you about your most recent usage.

Customer service agents will reassure you that this won't happen again - but it will as their systems are unchanged. Do have patience with the poor customer services agents - they have to use the same systems. These are systems that seem to crash once per call (the on-hold music could be considered a form of torture after the 10 minutes it takes to reboot the system!). The system that sends the automatic warning SMS then blocks the SIM is not available to the customer services agents.

The next level managers were, in my experience, unfailingly polite and tried to be helpful - though they may not actually get around to phoning you back as promised. However they are also working using the same systems so whatever they assure you will happen really won't.

It really isn't worth the hassle of spending a long time on the phone each month sorting out something that in effect won't be sorted at all.