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What the heck?

Paffman
7: Helper
7: Helper

In my ignorance I bought a £30 PAYG bundle expecting that after the freebies ended at the end of the month I would still have £30 that I would then eat into until I had used it up and then I would top up again.

Er no, at the end of the month I have NO credit left and can't make any calls.

What is the point of that then? It is the same as having a monthly contract for £30.

I just want to top as and use that credit until I use it all. 

When my bundle runs out again, am I locked into putting £30 on it? Do they expect me to keep loading up £30 every month?

How can I just put say £10 on and use that up?

Sorry I must be very naive..

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Mobile Device: HTC One M8
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4 REPLIES 4

Annie_N
Community Champion (Retired)
Community Champion (Retired)

@Paffman

The problem that you've run into is that the Big Value Bundle is a bundle which you actually buy, unlike the Freebies, where you get a bonus of minutes or texts or data when you top up, and you get to keep the top-up.

So, yes, it's not totally unlike having a monthly contract, except that you can take a break whenever you want, you don't have to pass any credit checks, and your credit rating is totally unscathed, and there are no penalties, if you decide to stop tomorrow.

What you actually need, from your description, is indeed a Freebie - see the Freebies tab here - so that you top up, you get your Freebie allowance, and then you start eating into your credit at standard PAYG rates. The trick is to switch as effectively as possible, preferably without accidentally buying a further BVB before you switch.

So, is your original £30 BVB still running? If so, you should be able to opt out of automtic renewal, either via your online My Vodafone account if you've set one up, or by calling 2345, and fighting your way through the IVR - which is, of course, heavily influenced by the product(s) you have at present, but if you make as though you are going to choose a new BVB, it should offer you the opportunity to opt out of renewal. Then wait for the BVB to expire, opt in to the Freebie which you want, and only when you are confident that your opt-in has been accepted, top up by at least £10 at one go, and you should activate your Freebie.

If your BVB has already expired, you should be able to opt in to your chosen Freebie, wait for confirmation of the opt-in, then top up.

As long as you didn't top up by a further £30 before the original BVB expired, you should be OK with either of those schemes of action, as you won't get a lower-value BVB unless you specify that you want to swap to that. But a top-up made before you've opted in won't trigger a Freebie, so you don't get the "bonus" allowance on top of your credit.

Sorry, it isn't particularly easy to explain. I've been doing it since the year dot, and it's a bit like falling off a log for me, but I still struggle to explain it coherently. If you find yourself in a situation I haven't covered, please provide details, and I'll see what I can suggest!

I presume your previous experience of Vodafone is on a monthly contract - PAYG is rather different, and I think that's so for all the networks. I seem to remember seeing a comment from you a while back, about lack of phone signal in rural Norfolk? None of the networks are great - well, there just aren't enough of us in the rural areas - but things are gradually improving, and 4G creeps slowly towards my neck of the woods.

Thanks Annie,

 

My BVB runs until 6th July. I could not understand how they can auto renew if you don't top up any money? You just get a text message saying that we have tried to renew your BVB but there was not enough credit in your account or something along those lines.


What a PITA.

 

I am going to try the 1pMobile sim out - www . 1pmobile . com

 

Thanks again...

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Mobile Device: HTC One M8
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Annie_N
Community Champion (Retired)
Community Champion (Retired)

@Paffman wrote:

I could not understand how they can auto renew if you don't top up any money? You just get a text message saying that we have tried to renew your BVB but there was not enough credit in your account or something along those lines.

 

 


@Paffman

'Xactly so! But they go on checking your account for the next 7 days, so that, if you top up by £30 in the meantime, the BVB would renew. After 7 days, they opt you out, after which you would run in "plain" PAYG mode, unless you deliberately opt in to a Freebie or buy a further BVB of some value or other.

Edited to add that the link you posted will get edited out by a moderator i.d.c. although the rest of the text will remain.

Thanks, thought they would remove the link, I mean who wants a 1p per minute, 1p text etc 🙂

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Mobile Device: HTC One M8
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