PAYG costs

[andrewkennedy]

I am new to having a PAYG.  What do Vodafone mean by ...your credit will last for 30 days? are they telling me in a roundabout way that they will top up my credit after every 30 days whether or not I ask them to do so?!?   I only need the sim card and its credit for emergencies and possible would not be making a call or text for 2/3 months. If anyone out there could fill me in with how it works, I would be grateful.  I appreaciate I need to open an account to TOP UP but hopfull only when I want and need too

[BandOfBrothers]

A top up of crefit will remain available as long as the account is used to make calls etc for at least every 180 days to stop the account de activating. 

The 30 day stipulation is that typically data and minutes and texts allowances last 30 days although now some roll over for 1 month if not used. 

You maybe interested in Payg1 for your needs. 

pay-as-you-go1.

[andrewkennedy]

Many thanks for the input!!!!  Let’s just make sure I have 'Got It'.  If I put £10.00 on the sim, the sim will remain in credit if not use for up to 180 days?  Vodaphone will simple roll over the credit month after month?  A question......If I were not to use the sim for 180 days - do Vodafone send me a text saying that my credit is in jeopardy if not used?

[BandOfBrothers]

A person needs to use their payg SIM card by making a call or sending a text , using data or top up every 180 days to keep it activated. 

If it de activates then any allowances and credit is lost. Vodafone says on their Payg T&C they will make contact and then give a further 90 days but if it was my decision I would not wait for a warning text in case I missed it or it didn't reach me. Much  simpler to make a call etc.

Any credit applied to the account would simply remain in situ if not used. 

Snapshot. 

[AnnS]

Hi @andrewkennedy

I notice from your previous threads that you live in France.  As has already been advised, you can't permanently live in France and be constantly roaming on a French network.  This is taken from the Global Roaming Terms and Conditions.

Is there a fair usage policy?

Yes. Roam-free is intended for periodic travel. It isn’t meant for users roaming on a semi-permanent or permanent basis. 

We’ll send you a text requesting you moderate your usage in our Roam-free destinations if you use them for a total of 2 months or more during any 4-month period. If your usage in any of our Roam-free destinations continues to exceed this allowance after a 2-week period from which you first received this text, we may charge you for further use or bar your roaming services. We’ll always let you know before we do this.

As far as your PAYG SIM is concerned, credit does not expire and will go on for pretty well as long as you wanted. However, with it being an Ofcom regulation that all PAYG SIM's have to be in use, the networks ask you to make sure you make a chargeable activity every 180 days.  If you refer to your Terms and Conditions, this will give you all the information you need.

I notice from one of your previous posts that you have purchased a Big Value Bundle, with Big Value Bundles being valid for 30 days, this means you will need to change to Pay as You Go 1 before the bundle expires.  If you dial 41146 from the phone, you will be opted out of your Big Value Bundle and will be able to take advantage of Pay as You Go 1.  

[ToniCa]

I let my back-up phone go to 180 days without usage on one occasion. I did receive a reminder text from Vodafone - BUT your phone has to be switched on and taking notice at the time. As far as I'm aware, these reminders are not "persistent", so you won't receive them if your phone is switched off for a few days. Put a note in your diary to make a call every 150 days - and 150 days roll by sooner than you'd expect!

[andrewkennedy]

Thanks. Understand all you advise.  I purchased a "Rewards top up, treat, repeat Total Rollower" SIM in the UK and activated it in the UK.   As I will not require to use the sim very often I do need to be a PAYG 1customer.  I am in France at the moment and the telephone number you suggested is not conntecting.  Perhaps I can make the change over on the on line?   I am not very computer savvy so any advice you can give will be gratefully received!! 

[ToniCa]

You should be able to effect the change through the online account - unless you've already set one up, you can register via https://www.vodafone.co.uk/myvodafone/faces/register You'll be sent a security code to your phone, so need to have the phone to hand to receive the text.

Post amended to correct the link.

[ToniCa]

I started wondering whether you could switch from a BVB to PAYG1 via the My Vodafone app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myvodafoneapp - and it looks as though that may be possible. There's certainly rather more functionality for PAYG within the app these days, and I seem to have arrived (via My Products and Services) at an option to switch from a BVB - but I don't want to opt out of my own BVB, so I daren't experiment any further!

[Daveh45]

Vodafone contacting you- don't be daft. I've been with Vodafone for about 20 years on PAYG( WIFE SIMILAR LENGTH OF TIME), and with family since it started. When Vodafone "discontinued" family, we stopped recieving reminders to top up. By this time, I only used Vodafone for family ,as Swimbo /I & other family could keep in touch for free on my £5 a month payment. Several times, even getting through to a manager to find out "WHY" we recieved no reminders. NO RESPONSE.

In the meantime, I'd experimented with another network and moved to a 3g PHONE ,with calls at 3p/min, as oppossed to 40p /min on Vodafone. No fancy packages, just an honest make calls every 180 days.