magnetman

Wondered what the best mobile phone deal was at the moment in Oz.

Have got 4 virgin mobiles in the family in Uk at the moment (on prepay/direct debit). Had a look on the virgin.com.au site and it didn't look that cheap. Expiring vouchers etc etc, minimum monthly payments - a blast from the nasty early days of UK mobiles. Are there any good deals out there, or will we just have to confiscate the kids phones?

There have been posts in the past on this subject but some up to date info would be nice

scoobydooathome

Sounds like rip off UK in OZ, confiscate the kid's phone's untill the prices drop's ...

magnetman

So - do none of you Aus based posters have mobiles? Or don't you want to tell us how expensive they are!

anzen12

Most of the deals are some sort of rip off - in the sense that the offer looks good, but usually involves a long commitment

Telstra's service is incredibly bad. I recently spent two months arguing over a $400 incorrect charge. They pushed me from one department to another, knowing that I would never take them to court over an amount like that. I use Optus for my home phone and they have gradually changed my charges so that I now pay 4 times as much as the original deal.

For kids, I would look at one of the deals that involve a prepaid amount. That way they can access the phone but not go crazy on the charges (calls back to the UK??).

Claire

Hi

Both my hubby and I have Virgin pre pay mobiles. They are pretty good virgin-virgin but the rest of the calls are not as cheap as we were used to in UK. We mainly use it for text messages both to each other and friends in UK and Australia so for us it serves it's purpose. And besides, it seemed better than the other alternative which was Optus. The only downfall really is the voucher expiry. Although, the more you top up with , the longer they last and the cheaper the calls.

Hope this helps a bit

Claire xx

Snickers

Hi Magnet, bring your UK mobs with u but make sure they work on all networks, ie get them unblocked this can be done at most indi mob shops in the UK and should be less than a tenner.
Mobs are dear ere

We brought ours all 6 of em and they all work, and we got pay as u go Vodafone as it is the same cost to any network and landline, I enquired about a monthly plan but they r a rip off, I have hammered mine since we got here 6 weeks ago but that was job hunting, and I will ease up now I am working.

ps don't forget to bring UK extension leads for the ghargers

Good luck

Paul

renth

Can't they be unlocked in Oz then?

Dan

Snickers

I don't know the answer to that, just thought it was one less hassle when we got here

Stan J

Optus used to sell SIM cards for $50 which included $50 of calls and a free Optus to Optus call scheme after 9pm. Is that still the case.

Whilst calling was expensive, I was glad of the phone when my car broke down three quarters the way between Rocky and Mackay.

Texting UK phones seemed to be the same price as tecting local phones.

magnetman

I got an Optus prepay sim when i was over in September - $30 with $30 of calls and a 6 month expiry date. Only problem was the call rates seemed pretty high so managed to use it up very quickly. They did have some other 'free call' scheme as you say but I didn't take much notice of it at the time

Sandra

We have three mobiles - all with communic8.com.au

I paid $25 came with $25 of free calls and two months connection, calls can be expensive, at the moment you have an offer if you top up card before end Jan top up amount is doubled and contract extended.

My son uses this scheme and pays for all his own top up cards, he is traumatised by the amount he goes through and very rarely phones now mostly texting. We bought him a $20 Apple Card for main house phone calls to the UK - to keep in contact with friends when he wants, gets him about 400 mins 4.7 cents a min! He is in control of how much of that he uses and we will replace every so often for him, the calls to the UK have tailed off as he makes friends here. My son is 12, he is also responsible for calls to his friends mobiles on our main phone. He has a once weekly paper round to help support the phone and things (he gets about $15 for 180 houses - you should see the route it is backbreaking). I believe he also dips into his Christmas and birthday money from the UK and us to help support the phone at times.

I just topped up mine with $60 doubled to $120 (because of the offer) - and I use my phone very very rarely but like it for those emergencies. This extends my expiry date by 6 months. If I put $100 on the phone at any point this would extend my expiry dates up to an additional 24 months - this is the max regardless of credit.

Like all mobile schemes it depends what suits your needs but the deals are getting better here all the time, unlike the blasted banks and the charges. (My son gets charges from his bank account!!!).

Cheers

Stan J

Popped into the Optus shop and sure they do still have the free 20 minute calls Optus to Optus after 9pm, there was also a special deal to upgrade to a Nokia 3315 handset for $199 (another handset upgrade was less than $100)

KellyD

Definately, definately get your mobiles 'de-barred' in UK. I got here in October and did not know that they do that to your phone in UK until I went into Telstra shop and assistant told me. I have not found anywhere in Perth that can help (although have not looked THAT hard). I have conatcted Orange in UK and the lovely people there told me that without the phone they could do nothing about it.

Have just bought a phone with Virgin over here. (All the deals seem more expensive than the UK). Virgin will give you a 'free' phone if you subscribe to a monthly plan. Type of phone depends on plan. I have signed to a $30 plan and have got a Nokia 5210. The deal is that I pay $30 a month, which goes on texts and calls, and they pay off the $13something monthly repayment for the phone. I have to stay on the $30 plan for 2 years and then the phone is paid off. If I decide to leave before 2 years then I have to pay what is owing on the phone.

Devlin

Pretty sure it's illegal in Oz and UK to "unlock" network locked phones and they seem to enforce this much more strictly in Oz.

percyp

I kow it wasn't the cheapest way to get my phone unlocked, but it was legal. I phoned Orange, and they did it, £20, and it took over a week to get it done.

On the other hand there's an advert in our local shop offering to do it for £8, is that legal, I can't see the problem, they only lock you in to keep your business.

Jo