Why is Pay as You Go Not Pay as You Go?

[GB273]

Pay as You Go implies and should be, you pay for an amount of service, data say.

You buy 10GB, you use 9.5GB in 3 months, then you buy more.

Being forced to pay something every 30 days is NOT Pay as You Go.

Your pack lasts 30 days???

Why, is that even legal?

I'll sell you a crate of wine but if you don't drink it all in 30 days, I'm coming to see you and take away what you haven't drunk.

It's little different from having a contract SIM only that resets every month.

Rip off Britain is where we live.

[XRaySpeX]

It can be if you like.

All EE PAYG SIMs come primed with a recurring Pack of allowances ready to bought out of your PAYG credit as soon as it is sufficient.

Text STOP PACK to 150 before you next top-up & you can use the SIM for calls & texts but not data as normal PAYG at standard per-unit rates paid for out of your standing PAYG credit balance.

To save the SIM going into hibernation due to lack of use, just remember within every 179 days (~ 6 months) to make a chargeable action like making a chargeable call or text, topping up or buying a Pack or Add-on, not just using your mins, texts or data from any Pack or Add-on you might have.

[GB273]

Thanks for your reply.

Unfortunately it doesn't resolve my issue, I should explain.

1st off i think what I need should be simple, but it appears not.

I run 2 cars, my summer car is a convertible, which normally is used May to October, just for social and leisure, weather permiting.

My other chug a lug car a zero tax, 60+mpg, helps pay for the other £320 tax & 24mpg.

Chug a lug has last week broken a front suspension spring, so I'm having to bring Sadie out of hibernation.

I have a journey planned for this weekend and want to use Google Maps on my Android head unit, which needs an internet connection.

It works fine tethered to my phone, but as I normally just use my phone as a phone, calls and texts, my SIM only contract only has 1 GB of data included, I can't upgrade this until March.

So I have a LTE wireless dongle, which with a SIM card works as a mobile hotspot.

As you can probably surmise, once setup it's not going to use a huge amount of data, I expect 5 GB will probably last 3 months.

So, commiting to buy packs, bundles whatever isn't viable, rolling over unused data etc is pointless, all it will do is accumulate ad infinitum.

The so simple thing I want to do is buy the data I need, use it and only add more just before it runs out, whether that be 1 month or 6 months.

To me the only reason this appears not to exist any longer, is greed, this 30 day pack/bundle is by stealth putting everyone on the same basis as a SIM only contract, ok people aren't tied to 12 or 18 months, but they are still paying every month for less than contracts offer.

In truth I would question the legality of selling something and compelling people to use it in a given time or it's gone.

If a person makes a purchase then how they make use and how often of that purchase should be totally at the discretion of the buyer.

[XRaySpeX]

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@GB273 wrote:

It works fine tethered to my phone, but as I normally just use my phone as a phone, calls and texts, my SIM only contract only has 1 GB of data included, I can't upgrade this until March.

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Why not? You may change an existing contract to a more expensive, more data plan mid-term. 

[bristolian]

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@GB273 wrote:

In truth I would question the legality of selling something and compelling people to use it in a given time or it's gone.

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If a product is time-limited in validity, then so long as that's made clear at point of purchase and is covered in T&Cs then it's perfectly legal.

It's a buyer's choice whether to proceed with that purchase or not, taking all relevant factors into account.

[GB273]

Most likely is legal, after all big business either dictate or manipulate the law to their own advantage, not exactly moral or fair.

Unless my memory is totaly flawed, right at the start of the mobile network, most if not all PAYG SIMS behaved in exactly the way I need.

[GB273]

My current contract is with Vodaphone.

They make you jump through hoops to use a PAYG SIM for tethering.

This is why after much research I opted for the EE SIM, my issue isn't with EE as such it's all service providers.

Currently I have it in my LTE 4G dongle, but after 2 days of battling it refuses to provide an internet connection.

I've used the settings as you advise in the EE APN Settings Where to find them.

I'm most likely missing something very obvious.

Just about at the point to give up and get robbed by Vodaphone to add a couple of GB to my phone.

[XRaySpeX]

Try Authentication type: = PAP.

[GB273]

XRaySpeX, thanks again for your input.

It's working fine, I didn't change anything, plugged it into my car unit this morning and it worked straight away.

I think the problem was my 30" sandstone walls, this is why I've been with Vodafone for close on 20 years,

Vodafone and Motorola, that's the only combination that works everywhere in my area, down on a local beach with cliffs all around and nearby lakes surrounded by fells, always finds a signal. 👍