Best Mobile Phone comany to be with?

Mellotron · May 19, 2015

In the middle of a frankly ridiculous set of problems with Vodafone - any recommendations?

I get the sense you can either go with the bigger companies (EE, o2 & Vodafone) and get the best phones but dreadful customer service, or go with a smaller company (Tesco Mobile), get better customer service but rubbish phones?

Anyone?

ram1992 · May 19, 2015

Can't complain with what I'm getting from 3 at the moment - 4G signal pretty much everywhere at no additional cost + their 'At Home Abroad' scheme is fantastic - which lets you use your normal phone contract data/minutes/texts in Spain, France, Australia, USA etc for free

Gullflyinghigh · May 19, 2015

I can't find fault with EE so far and I've been with them for a year now, after jumping from the incredibly bad Vodafone.

surrey jim · May 19, 2015

Purchased an iPhone outright for around £500 from Smartfonestore, and am now on a £12 a month contract with Tesco mobile. The equivalant phone contract would be ~£45 per month on a 24 month contract with EE/Vodafone.

Signal is excellent and customer service much better than I had with EE previously. That said talking to a brick wall was better than EE customer service.

Badger · May 19, 2015

ram1992 said:
Can't complain with what I'm getting from 3 at the moment - 4G signal pretty much everywhere at no additional cost + their 'At Home Abroad' scheme is fantastic - which lets you use your normal phone contract data/minutes/texts in Spain, France, Australia, USA etc for free

This. I've been with Three for a few years now, the service used to be patchy but it's pretty decent now and can't fault them for value-for-money.

TWOCHOICEStom · May 19, 2015

Been with O2 since forever. Very easy to get hold of and never had any problems at all. O2 Priority Moments can also be quite good at times.

soistes · May 19, 2015

ram1992 said:
Can't complain with what I'm getting from 3 at the moment - 4G signal pretty much everywhere at no additional cost + their 'At Home Abroad' scheme is fantastic - which lets you use your normal phone contract data/minutes/texts in Spain, France, Australia, USA etc for free

This for me too. I've tried most of them, and they all have occasional problems with coverage etc, but the advantages of 3, including the At Home Abroad, clinch it for me.
Also worth noting that there is a free "Three in Touch" app which will automatically switch into wifi when you don't have good network coverage (which is occasionally the case for me at home), and you can use texts and phone as normal.
http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Three_inTouch

beorhthelm · May 19, 2015

rather depends on what the problems are, and where you live/work/play. coverage is the number one criteria for phones imo, so if where you use the phone most has poor reception, best customer service or phone in the world is wasted.

bear in mind many of the mobile providers (T-mobile, giffgaff, Virgin) use others networks and get down graded on service. they say they dont of course, but i know first hand that giffgaff can be poor while an O2 user next to me has good service. im ditching giff gaff as the service has deteriorated in the past few months, only about half the route to London gets data these days (even when strong signal shown).

SeagullCrow · May 19, 2015

O2 and Tesco both have excellent reputations for customer service.

I've been with EE for longer than I care to remember, and their customer service has been atrocious.

Gwylan · May 19, 2015

I've been with 3 for about six years now. I was looking for a replacement for dreadful Vodafone service and opted for 3 purely because the woman in the shop gave me her personal phone number and said to call her if I had any problems - I thought this was exceptional customer service.

I haven't been disappointed with the choice: it's not the cheapest but pretty good value for money, the At Home service is great, the reception is excellent (I believe it has the widest coverage); there's a good choice of phones and when I have had a problem, it's been solved really quickly. I can't see any reasons to change

Steve in Japan · May 19, 2015

beorhthelm said:
rather depends on what the problems are, and where you live/work/play. coverage is the number one criteria for phones imo, so if where you use the phone most has poor reception, best customer service or phone in the world is wasted.

bear in mind many of the mobile providers (T-mobile, giffgaff, Virgin) use others networks and get down graded on service. they say they dont of course, but i know first hand that giffgaff can be poor while an O2 user next to me has good service. im ditching giff gaff as the service has deteriorated in the past few months, only about half the route to London gets data these days (even when strong signal shown).

I have to concur re Giffgaff. I like everything about them, EXCEPT the poor network coverage, particularly around the Eastbourne area. Its a shame because the monthly cost is very reasonable (although I accept now there is probably a reason for this!). 3 seems to have good network coverage in comparison.

bluenitsuj · May 19, 2015

I have been with Orange for years and now EE with no problems whatsoever ...........so far

Thunder Bolt · May 19, 2015

beorhthelm said:
rather depends on what the problems are, and where you live/work/play. coverage is the number one criteria for phones imo, so if where you use the phone most has poor reception, best customer service or phone in the world is wasted.

bear in mind many of the mobile providers (T-mobile, giffgaff, Virgin) use others networks and get down graded on service. they say they dont of course, but i know first hand that giffgaff can be poor while an O2 user next to me has good service. im ditching giff gaff as the service has deteriorated in the past few months, only about half the route to London gets data these days (even when strong signal shown).

Virgin use TMobile & Orange for coverage. I've had no problems at all with them, getting good customer service for over 14 years. I saved up and bought an Iphone, so have a sim only contract for £17 a month with an £8 loyalty discount, making it just £9. That's for 1000 texts, 1000 minutes and unlimited data.

Fungus · May 19, 2015

beorhthelm said:
rather depends on what the problems are, and where you live/work/play. coverage is the number one criteria for phones imo, so if where you use the phone most has poor reception, best customer service or phone in the world is wasted.

bear in mind many of the mobile providers (T-mobile, giffgaff, Virgin) use others networks and get down graded on service. they say they dont of course, but i know first hand that giffgaff can be poor while an O2 user next to me has good service. im ditching giff gaff as the service has deteriorated in the past few months, only about half the route to London gets data these days (even when strong signal shown).

Thanks for the heads-up about down-graded service. I was thinking of going with giffgaf, as they are cheap. But wife is with O2 (the network giffgaf use), and as we're also in an area of poor reception it would seem better to use an alternative network. Bu99ered if I know which though! Currently with Orange/EE and a dump-phone.

BBassic · May 19, 2015

GiffGaff gets my vote.

I was on O2 for years being robbed by their subtly increasing charges. What I was paying £36 for on O2 I get from GiffGaff for £10. The really amazing thing though is that GiffGaff use the O2 network. So I'm getting exactly the same coverage for a fraction of the cost.

Also, GiffGaff periodically send me notices saying "You've not used much of your data on this plan, why not consider saving money and switching to a cheaper plan?"

It's bloody excellent customer service and because its just a direct debit you have absolute control over when you change providers though, barring some sort of massive mistake on their behalf, I really can't see that ever crossing my mind.

Mr Bronson · May 19, 2015

I swapped from O2 to EE earlier this year. I got very poor 3g at London Bridge and O2 doesn't do 4g on the iphone 5. With the exception of that I had very few issues with o2 over 10 years or so.

Unfortunately I can't say the same for EE. I'll get to the end of my 12 months and move. Terrible customer services from day one. Everything from the relatively inconsequential sending out my new SIM (and keeping in mind I was a brand new customer) second class and it taking five days to get to me, to not setting my direct debit correctly and charging me to pay by debit card to putting the price up after a short period with them as part of their regular RPI increase. I signed up for 12 months at £15.99 not four weeks at £15.99 and then 11 months at £17. I going to have to sit quietly in dark room for 10 minutes now.

seagull_in_malaysia · May 19, 2015

If you make international calls often GiffGaff's rates are very good (cheaper than their domestic payg rates!). 3p/min compared to around £1.20/min on Vodaphone calling Malaysia when I used them.

Nibble · May 19, 2015

I find EE coverage poor. Many a time I've lost signal but seen those around me are still able to get online. Customer service is quite poor too.

Zebedee · May 19, 2015

I'm with 3. Fantastic customer service and very good PAYG rates. No complaints at all and would recommend highly.

brightn'ove · May 19, 2015

They're all shit.

Good luck.

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