Tesco Extra Tariff

The Tesco Extra tariff seems unbeatable to me so why don't I see any
comments on it in here?

Spend £15 a month (£13.50 after discount if you set up an automatic
monthly payment) and that buys you 150 minutes cross network. Use all of
it and just top up for some more....no huge bills for going over plan.
Use none of it (or some of it) and it builds up indefinitely....you
never lose what you've paid for.

I can't see a downside. Apart from you have to buy your own phone. But
of course you 'buy' your own phone on the contract deals, it's just masked.

So, tell me where I'm going wrong chaps?

Sounds good, except if you need free texts, email / data access?

Mind you, I'm paying the thick end of £40 per month for 200 minutes +
30 texts + 4mb data

However, my cashback deal means I pay less than £10 per month over the
year. And I got a "free" Orange SPV which I love because it syncs with
Outlook, I run TomTom on it for sat nav, and has pretty good email
handling.

Swings and roundabouts, but the Tesco deal does sound good.

"Jim" <jimbo20729@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:443b5fd0$0$211$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...
> The Tesco Extra tariff seems unbeatable to me so why don't I see any
> comments on it in here?
>
> Spend £15 a month (£13.50 after discount if you set up an automatic
> monthly payment) and that buys you 150 minutes cross network. Use all of
> it and just top up for some more....no huge bills for going over plan. Use
> none of it (or some of it) and it builds up indefinitely....you never lose
> what you've paid for.
>
> I can't see a downside. Apart from you have to buy your own phone. But of
> course you 'buy' your own phone on the contract deals, it's just masked.
>
> So, tell me where I'm going wrong chaps?
>

It is a good deal although for my usage o2 online payg is good. For £15 top
up you get 150 off peak minutes cross network and 300 free texts + 1 Mb
GPRS. You can then spend your £15 as you wish. Out of that £15 I spend £7.99
a month on a 50 anytime minutes and £4 a month on 5Mb GPRS (making 6 Mb a
month in total!)

I then have £4.01 left over from my top ups and o2 give me 10% of my top ups
back every 3 months (Just got £4.50 back!) Oh and with o2 treats I get free
voicemail as well.

Now as far as I am concerned that's unbeatable!

(No I don't work for o2!)

Tim


>

In article <1144744632.006669.166790@g10g2000cwb.googlegroups .com>,
SPAMMEIFYOULIKEBUTIWONTREADIT@gmail.com says...
> Sounds good, except if you need free texts, email / data access?
>
> Mind you, I'm paying the thick end of £40 per month for 200 minutes +
> 30 texts + 4mb data

Not quite - the £15 is not actually for 150 minutes of cross network
calls. What it does is put you on the "Extra" tariff, which is 10p a
minute cross network, or 5p a text. So you could get 100 minutes and 100
texts. Or any variation of.

Only downside is cost of GPRS which is £4 per MB.

--
AG

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Alan Gauton E-Mail agauton @ postmaster.co.uk

Never for me the lowered banner, never the last endeavour!
(Damon Hill - 16th June 1999)

Jim <jimbo20729@hotmail.com> wrote:

> The Tesco Extra tariff seems unbeatable to me so why don't I see any
> comments on it in here?

Oh, I've mentioned it! It's perfect for my needs.

> Spend £15 a month (£13.50 after discount if you set up an automatic
> monthly payment) and that buys you 150 minutes cross network. Use all of
> it and just top up for some more....no huge bills for going over plan.
> Use none of it (or some of it) and it builds up indefinitely....you
> never lose what you've paid for.

Exactly, and unlike so many contracts, _everything_ is 'inclusive'- even
roaming.

> I can't see a downside. Apart from you have to buy your own phone. But
> of course you 'buy' your own phone on the contract deals, it's just masked.
>
> So, tell me where I'm going wrong chaps?

It's a great plan. The gprs cost is a little high IMO at £4 per MB, but
that's not so out of sync with other pay as you go plans. I keep an
orange sim for when I want unlimited daily gprs.

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org

"Jim" <jimbo20729@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:443b5fd0$0$211$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...
> The Tesco Extra tariff seems unbeatable to me so why don't I see any
> comments on it in here?
>
> Spend £15 a month (£13.50 after discount if you set up an automatic
> monthly payment) and that buys you 150 minutes cross network. Use all of
> it and just top up for some more....no huge bills for going over plan.
> Use none of it (or some of it) and it builds up indefinitely....you
> never lose what you've paid for.

But what if you find your usage is only £10 a month average after a year? Can you
downgrade, or do you have to carry on paying £15 a month and try to artificially
increase your usage to use what you've paid for?

> I can't see a downside. Apart from you have to buy your own phone. But
> of course you 'buy' your own phone on the contract deals, it's just masked.
>
> So, tell me where I'm going wrong chaps?

What are the roaming charges?

--
Andy

Andy Pandy <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote:

> "Jim" <jimbo20729@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:443b5fd0$0$211$db0fefd9@news.zen.co.uk...
> > The Tesco Extra tariff seems unbeatable to me so why don't I see any
> > comments on it in here?
> >
> > Spend £15 a month (£13.50 after discount if you set up an automatic
> > monthly payment) and that buys you 150 minutes cross network. Use all of
> > it and just top up for some more....no huge bills for going over plan.
> > Use none of it (or some of it) and it builds up indefinitely....you
> > never lose what you've paid for.
>
> But what if you find your usage is only £10 a month average after a year?
> Can you downgrade, or do you have to carry on paying £15 a month and try
> to artificially increase your usage to use what you've paid for?

The way it works is that if you don't top up with the £15 (13.50 if
auto-top) each month, you're moved automatically to the standard plan.
You can move back to the extra tarrif any time.

> > I can't see a downside. Apart from you have to buy your own phone. But
> > of course you 'buy' your own phone on the contract deals, it's just masked.
> >
> > So, tell me where I'm going wrong chaps?
>
> What are the roaming charges?

90p in/out in all of Europe, more elsewhere- details on the website. Not
sure of the gprs charges, though it works, as I used gprs recently in
Denmark and Norway. I'd use something like riiing for roaming, though I
did make a couple of calls using the tesco sim.

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and prestwich tesco
24h offy" <this_address_is_for_spam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1hdncjz.11s9h2d1p72nk2N%this_address_is_for_s pam@yahoo.com...
> > > Spend £15 a month (£13.50 after discount if you set up an automatic
> > > monthly payment) and that buys you 150 minutes cross network. Use all of
> > > it and just top up for some more....no huge bills for going over plan.
> > > Use none of it (or some of it) and it builds up indefinitely....you
> > > never lose what you've paid for.
> >
> > But what if you find your usage is only £10 a month average after a year?
> > Can you downgrade, or do you have to carry on paying £15 a month and try
> > to artificially increase your usage to use what you've paid for?
>
> The way it works is that if you don't top up with the £15 (13.50 if
> auto-top) each month, you're moved automatically to the standard plan.
> You can move back to the extra tarrif any time.

Ah right - so AIUI the credit stays on the phone but if you realise you're not
spending £15/month you can stop topping up and you'll use up the credit at the higher
standard rates.

> > > I can't see a downside. Apart from you have to buy your own phone. But
> > > of course you 'buy' your own phone on the contract deals, it's just masked.
> > >
> > > So, tell me where I'm going wrong chaps?
> >
> > What are the roaming charges?
>
> 90p in/out in all of Europe, more elsewhere- details on the website. Not
> sure of the gprs charges, though it works, as I used gprs recently in
> Denmark and Norway. I'd use something like riiing for roaming, though I
> did make a couple of calls using the tesco sim.

That's always the big let down - rip-off roaming charges. Otherwise the tariff sounds
quite good. I know you can get a riiing sim or a local sim but then you either need
to take two phones or keep switching the sims between making calls and making sure
you don't miss calls/texts on your normal number.

--
Andy

Andy Pandy <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote:

> "David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
> prestwich tesco 24h offy" <this_address_is_for_spam@yahoo.com> wrote in
> message
> news:1hdncjz.11s9h2d1p72nk2N%this_address_is_for_s pam@yahoo.com...
> > > > Spend £15 a month (£13.50 after discount if you set up an automatic
> > > > monthly payment) and that buys you 150 minutes cross network. Use all of
> > > > it and just top up for some more....no huge bills for going over plan.
> > > > Use none of it (or some of it) and it builds up indefinitely....you
> > > > never lose what you've paid for.
> > >
> > > But what if you find your usage is only £10 a month average after a year?
> > > Can you downgrade, or do you have to carry on paying £15 a month and try
> > > to artificially increase your usage to use what you've paid for?
> >
> > The way it works is that if you don't top up with the £15 (13.50 if
> > auto-top) each month, you're moved automatically to the standard plan.
> > You can move back to the extra tarrif any time.
>
> Ah right - so AIUI the credit stays on the phone but if you realise you're
> not spending £15/month you can stop topping up and you'll use up the
> credit at the higher standard rates.

Yes, exactly. The standard rate is 20p a minute to any phone, but 10p to
three favourite numbers.

> > > > I can't see a downside. Apart from you have to buy your own phone.
> > > > But of course you 'buy' your own phone on the contract deals, it's
> > > > just masked.
> > > >
> > > > So, tell me where I'm going wrong chaps?
> > >
> > > What are the roaming charges?
> >
> > 90p in/out in all of Europe, more elsewhere- details on the website. Not
> > sure of the gprs charges, though it works, as I used gprs recently in
> > Denmark and Norway. I'd use something like riiing for roaming, though I
> > did make a couple of calls using the tesco sim.
>
> That's always the big let down - rip-off roaming charges. Otherwise the
> tariff sounds quite good. I know you can get a riiing sim or a local sim
> but then you either need to take two phones or keep switching the sims
> between making calls and making sure you don't miss calls/texts on your
> normal number.

I've found it to be not such a big hassle. I have two T610's, so just
take both with me when abroad. Even in the UK, I often carry the other
one, though it's usually in my bag (with bluetooth on) where it serves
as a modem sometimes for Orange PAYG unlimited daily GPRS for £1.

As for the roaming charges, all the UK companies are a rip-off,
unfortunately.

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org

David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
prestwich tesco 24h offy wrote:

> Yes, exactly. The standard rate is 20p a minute to any phone, but 10p to
> three favourite numbers.

I realise the Extra tariff probably hasn't been around long enough but
if you frequently switch between the two tariffs, do you have to
re-specify the 3 favourites every time you switch to Standard?

In article <1144839066.713274.42580@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups. com>,
chris.leuty@gmail.com says...
> David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
> prestwich tesco 24h offy wrote:
>
> > Yes, exactly. The standard rate is 20p a minute to any phone, but 10p to
> > three favourite numbers.
>
> I realise the Extra tariff probably hasn't been around long enough but
> if you frequently switch between the two tariffs, do you have to
> re-specify the 3 favourites every time you switch to Standard?

No - they mention this in the blurb. You set them up once and they are
tied to your account until you want to change them (once every 30 days
is minimum time period).

--
AG

Remove removes from address to remove anti-spam measures.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Alan Gauton E-Mail agauton @ postmaster.co.uk

Never for me the lowered banner, never the last endeavour!
(Damon Hill - 16th June 1999)

In article <MPG.1ea6f3d28756b30989e91@news.cc.strath.ac.uk> ,
Alan Gauton <agauton-remove@postmaster.co.uk> wrote:

> In article <1144839066.713274.42580@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups. com>,
> chris.leuty@gmail.com says...
> > David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
> > prestwich tesco 24h offy wrote:
> >
> > > Yes, exactly. The standard rate is 20p a minute to any phone, but 10p to
> > > three favourite numbers.
> >
> > I realise the Extra tariff probably hasn't been around long enough but
> > if you frequently switch between the two tariffs, do you have to
> > re-specify the 3 favourites every time you switch to Standard?
>
> No - they mention this in the blurb. You set them up once and they are
> tied to your account until you want to change them (once every 30 days
> is minimum time period).

How sensible!

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and prestwich tesco
24h offy" <this_address_is_for_spam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1hdni7p.1sa09w31dk2g0xN%this_address_is_for_s pam@yahoo.com...
> As for the roaming charges, all the UK companies are a rip-off,
> unfortunately.

Some much more than others, though. 90ppm is just ridiculous.

On my wife's PAYG Vodafone it's 75p per call (incoming and outgoing) plus the UK ppm
rate, in countries where "passport" operates, so a 5 min off peak call to a UK
landline from France would cost £1. An incoming call cost 75p (up to an hour IIRC).

Vodafone PAYG is actually quite good value in the UK too if you are mainly an
off-peak user - with Stop the Clock you can get an hour for 15p (landline or
Vodafone), or £1.05 (x-net).

--
Andy

Andy Pandy <spam8times@wonderful.spam.invalid> wrote:

> "David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and
> prestwich tesco 24h offy" <this_address_is_for_spam@yahoo.com> wrote in
> message
> news:1hdni7p.1sa09w31dk2g0xN%this_address_is_for_s pam@yahoo.com...
> > As for the roaming charges, all the UK companies are a rip-off,
> > unfortunately.
>
> Some much more than others, though. 90ppm is just ridiculous.

It's quite reasonable for pay as you go- cheaper than most in fact,
apart from the one you mention below, and it does work anywhere you can
generally roam on contract. Depending on where you are, it's cheaper
than some contract plans (new EU countries for example compared to
Orange's ripoff "Europe 2"), but I agree it's ridiculous, hence why I
use riiing.

> On my wife's PAYG Vodafone it's 75p per call (incoming and outgoing) plus
> the UK ppm rate, in countries where "passport" operates, so a 5 min off
> peak call to a UK landline from France would cost £1. An incoming call
> cost 75p (up to an hour IIRC).

The 'passport' plan is very good value, I agree. If I needed to make
more calls when abroad and spent time in those countries available, I'd
probably look into getting one. However, it does depend where you go.
That said, I figured out that passport would work in about 80% of places
where UK visitors (tourist or business) were likely to go. However, for
me? in the last half year I've been to Estonia, Latvia, Denmark, Norway,
the USA, and in the next few months, USA, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and
Italy. You guessed it, for the few days in Italy, I'd be able to use it.
That's it!

>
> Vodafone PAYG is actually quite good value in the UK too if you are mainly an
> off-peak user - with Stop the Clock you can get an hour for 15p (landline or
> Vodafone), or £1.05 (x-net).

That's another rub- I'm not a big offpeak user.

--
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk
http://homepage.mac.com/davidhornecomposer http://soundjunction.org

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor of the duchy of besses o' th' barn and prestwich tesco
24h offy" <this_address_is_for_spam@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1hdp0iq.1frvf0v1o0gqc3N%this_address_is_for_s pam@yahoo.com...
> > > As for the roaming charges, all the UK companies are a rip-off,
> > > unfortunately.
> >
> > Some much more than others, though. 90ppm is just ridiculous.
>
> It's quite reasonable for pay as you go- cheaper than most in fact,
> apart from the one you mention below, and it does work anywhere you can
> generally roam on contract. Depending on where you are, it's cheaper
> than some contract plans (new EU countries for example compared to
> Orange's ripoff "Europe 2"), but I agree it's ridiculous, hence why I
> use riiing.

Before VP we hardly ever made mobile calls from abroad - we'd use payphones and
telediscount or suchlike.

> > On my wife's PAYG Vodafone it's 75p per call (incoming and outgoing) plus
> > the UK ppm rate, in countries where "passport" operates, so a 5 min off
> > peak call to a UK landline from France would cost £1. An incoming call
> > cost 75p (up to an hour IIRC).
>
> The 'passport' plan is very good value, I agree. If I needed to make
> more calls when abroad and spent time in those countries available, I'd
> probably look into getting one. However, it does depend where you go.
> That said, I figured out that passport would work in about 80% of places
> where UK visitors (tourist or business) were likely to go. However, for
> me? in the last half year I've been to Estonia, Latvia, Denmark, Norway,
> the USA, and in the next few months, USA, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and
> Italy. You guessed it, for the few days in Italy, I'd be able to use it.
> That's it!

Yup. Horses for courses - although I sometimes think it'd be better to leave the
mobile at home - I'm sure holidays were more relaxing when I knew nobody could
contact me while away...

> > Vodafone PAYG is actually quite good value in the UK too if you are mainly an
> > off-peak user - with Stop the Clock you can get an hour for 15p (landline or
> > Vodafone), or £1.05 (x-net).
>
> That's another rub- I'm not a big offpeak user.

Probably no good for you then. But a bit like the OP I'm puzzled as to why Vodafone
are not seen as good value, I'm sure for many people esp. those who make mainly
offpeak calls and do a bit of roaming in VP countries, Vodafone would be the best
value PAYG for them. It definitely is for my wife, as we use it in combination with
my work Vodafone which has very reasonable rates for peak calls (but no STC or
passport).

--
Andy