Free Mobile Phone Credit!

marti8

Just wanted to let folks know about this.....you can get free call credit with Tesco Mobile http://www.tescomobile.ie We are with Meteor, have been for years but we have old mobiles which are unlocked and just lying around the place. So, I decided to but a Tesco Mobile SIM for €2.50 (inc.postage) and today it arrived.

VERY happy with it, I registered online and got another €22.50 free credit, no catches which is just great! It also comes with 50c initial credit. And they also send a form that if you fill it in and post it back (freepost) they'll send your friend or a family member a SIM for free (another FREE €23!....I think) It's an amazing deal I have to say (had been worried incase there was some catch but none!....you don't even have to top-up to get the free credit!)

This might have been mentioned in another thread so if it has I apologise but just wanted to share a great deal.

So, basically we spent €2.50 and have gotten €23 in return! And we'll get another SIM for free (presumabley with all the free credit again!) Great. You could always just have it just to use the free credit I guess!

As far as I can make out the free credit expires within a month so you have at least a month to use the free €23 credit, that's fine with us!

Oracle

Yes tis a great deal Marti8, thanks for posting. Although folks around here are mighty strange when it comes to anything to do with mobile phones. Most are so loyal to a particular network, it seems the last thing they want is good value calls and texts.

There's another good deal to be had. You can get a free Tesco Mobile SIM when you buy a €10 Tesco mobile top-up at most Tesco stores. So you don't even need to spend €2.50 to get the SIM with free credit. Plus when you top up with €10 you get another €10 free: http://www.tescomobile.ie/great_deals.aspx

The free credit lasts 30 days, but you could always use the €10 top-up voucher after the free SIM credit is used.

Davy

Oracle wrote: »

The free credit lasts 30 days, but you could always use the €10 top-up voucher after the free SIM credit is used.

The €10 is used first, then you get the free minutes.

Oracle

Yes I know, I'm talking about the free SIM credit. Here's how to make the credit last longer:

1) Buy a €10 Tesco mobile top up in Tesco. Get the free SIM, register the SIM, and get and the free SIM credit of €20. Use the free SIM credit within 30 days.

2) Then after 30 days apply the €10 top up you bought initially. Now you'll get another €10 of free credit and you'll have another 30 days to use that.

Simples!

foggy_lad

but if you don't use the full €20 credit within the 30days it expires and you can only use the free credit on calls and texts and your paid for credit is used 1st.

marti8

foggy_lad wrote: »

but if you don't use the full €20 credit within the 30days it expires and you can only use the free credit on calls and texts and your paid for credit is used 1st.

Yeah, that's how it works as far as I know. It's still a great deal though, basically €2.50 paid gets you €23 back.

taung

Tesco Mobile are now offering some nice sweeteners to encourage people to switch alright. Be careful about switching if you intend to use their service when travelling abroad; Tesco Mobile only support roaming in eight countries at the moment. Quite a big restriction compared to all other mobile network operators. Details here.

It's a shame that Tesco Mobile don't try to beat the other operator's basic tariffs e.g. Tesco Mobile charge 20c per minute to call other Irish mobiles and fixed lines. I guess this is one of the major reasons why Tesco Mobile has never taken off. I believe Tesco Mobile only have around 30,000 subscribers currently.

68 lost souls

I wonder if this would be a good deal if you did the iphone for a fiver conversion on 10 of these sims?

marti8

taung wrote: »

Tesco Mobile are now offering some nice sweeteners to encourage people to switch alright. Be careful about switching if you intend to use their service when travelling abroad; Tesco Mobile only support roaming in eight countries at the moment. Quite a big restriction compared to all other mobile network operators. Details here.

It's a shame that Tesco Mobile don't try to beat the other operator's basic tariffs e.g. Tesco Mobile charge 20c per minute to call other Irish mobiles and fixed lines. I guess this is one of the major reasons why Tesco Mobile has never taken off. I believe Tesco Mobile only have around 30,000 subscribers currently.

I almost never use roaming unless just doing a stopover at an airport for a few hours or whatever (and then it's usually just one text: "Landed. Plane didn't crash. Am fine. Text you from Timbuktou. Bye" When I get to a country first thing I do is buy a local prepay SIM card, local rates from then on. Much better.

We're not switching to TescoMobile we simply signed up for the free credit more than anything. There is supposed to be free TescoMobile to TescoMobile calls and texts but can't see any info on that. Anyway, we have a landline with Eircom (which we have to have for braodband unfortunetly) and the package we're on with them gives us free calls to Meteor mobiles (and we're both 085 so that's handy for us)

I don't know all the other networks charges but TescoMobiles 20c per min to any Irish mobile or landline seems pretty ok? But maybe I'm wrong? But yeah, their roaming agreements are crap but the solution to that is pretty simple, don't use roaming, buy local SIM's.

Oracle

marti8 wrote: »

We're not switching to TescoMobile we simply signed up for the free credit more than anything. There is supposed to be free TescoMobile to TescoMobile calls and texts but can't see any info on that.

I don't know all the other networks charges but TescoMobiles 20c per min to any Irish mobile or landline seems pretty ok? But maybe I'm wrong? But yeah, their roaming agreements are crap but the solution to that is pretty simple, don't use roaming, buy local SIM's.

You get Free Calls, Texts & Picture Messages for 30 days to and from Tesco Mobile phones when you top up by €20 in 1 month: http://www.tescomobile.ie/FreeCallsAndTexts.aspx

That's as well as the free €20 extra credit you'll get with every €20 top up: http://www.tescomobile.ie/great_deals.aspx

You're right 20c per minute flat rate is good compared to the other networks. They are up to 49c per minute.

When it comes to roaming I'd agree, local SIMs are best. But Tesco Mobile has a small advantage. The 20c per minute rate and 9c texts seems to apply in the North as well, "Note: To all Republic of Ireland networks, made whilst on the Island of Ireland."

pdaly92

I reckon that this is a brilliant deal!! Mobile roaming rates are notorious for being extortionate, the free credit swings it for me though!!

taung

marti8 wrote: »

I don't know all the other networks charges but TescoMobiles 20c per min to any Irish mobile or landline seems pretty ok? But maybe I'm wrong? But yeah, their roaming agreements are crap but the solution to that is pretty simple, don't use roaming, buy local SIM's.

Yeah, fair enough, having done my homework now, 20c per min to other Irish mobiles/landlines is a good deal. I'm still on an old O2 tariff that let's me call for 15c/19c per min off-peak. All new pre-pay tariff deals are considerably more expensive than TescoMobile. You'd wonder why TescoMobile don't highlight these savings in their advertisements.

marti8

taung wrote: »

Yeah, fair enough, having done my homework now, 20c per min to other Irish mobiles/landlines is a good deal. I'm still on an old O2 tariff that let's me call for 15c/19c per min off-peak. All new pre-pay tariff deals are considerably more expensive than TescoMobile. You'd wonder why TescoMobile don't highlight these savings in their advertisements.

Yeah, I don't know, they should, they are extermely low key about it all. I only saw their first ever tv ad a few days ago (I don't think they ever advertised on tv here in Ireland at least before that)

While we have the new TescoMobile SIM, we will probably only use it till the free credit is gone but who knows we may switch from Meteor (we're on some old Meteor prepay plan, Meteor Lesuire Original or something - not even too sure!) But Meteor is good for us as we have to have a phoneline for broadband and our eircom plan gives us free Meteor to Meteor calls anytime.

Oh, and with TescoMobile if you top up they actually double your top up for free!So, if we did top up by say €10 we'd get another €10 free, and €20 for €20 and so on! Talk about a deal and a half!:)

Esel

One minus on the 20c/min rate - they charge a flat 20c for up to the first minute, after that it's per second. Another thing - my free minutes are being used before the paid for credit?

griffdaddy

Another problem with Tesco mobile is that they don't have a decent internet connection, only wap or gprs. Might not affect a lot of people, but if you like to surf on your phone, especially if you use it for internet calling, 3g is a must.

tbabit

Note that users of the 3 network cannot call Tesco mobile customers. 3 refuse to acknowledge the network.

marti8

tbabit wrote: »

Note that users of the 3 network cannot call Tesco mobile customers. 3 refuse to acknowledge the network.

So, that means 50 people can't phone another group of 50 people? lol.....Only kidding.

That's a bit weird though (3 need to get their nokia out of their *** I think)

scout353

I received two free Tesco Sims yesterday with my clubcard statement. There were also vouchers for another two free sims. According to their blurb, you also get double the top -up which I am assuming means buy €10 top up get €20 credit.

And you get free Tesco Mobile to Tesco Mobile calls - a good idea for families who might want to keep up with the kids!!

marti8

scout353 wrote: »

I received two free Tesco Sims yesterday with my clubcard statement. There were also vouchers for another two free sims. According to their blurb, you also get double the top -up which I am assuming means buy €10 top up get €20 credit.

And you get free Tesco Mobile to Tesco Mobile calls - a good idea for families who might want to keep up with the kids!!

Huh! We got our clubcard statement yesterday and no SIM's! We have a voucher for another SIM which we'll probably pop off in the post shortly. If for nothing more than the free credit they are offering, it's good.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

scout353

If anyone wants the sims or the vouchers just pm me!

Esel

scout353 wrote: »

According to their blurb, you also get double the top -up which I am assuming means buy €10 top up get €20 credit.

Sorry to burst your bubble on this. It's buy €10, get €10 free, etc. (If you only top up by €5, you don't get any free credit.)

Sneachta

esel wrote: »

Sorry to burst your bubble on this. It's buy €10, get €10 free, etc. (If you only top up by €5, you don't get any free credit.)

I think that was what he was saying.

corklad32

Hi guys,

Can anyone tell me about the following

Is there any limit to the amount you can top up in a month?

Can you top up say 10E every week - get your E10 free credit - spend that and then put in another 10E and so on?

Can you send international text messages on the free credit - the problem i may have is i have a good friend in Aus i may be texting a bit and if im on my free credit and cant text ill be like meh

Are there any other known issues between Irish networks and tesco - apart from 3. Do MMS etc all work between the Irish networks. I know the roaming is quite restricted but its ok for me for now.

Has anyone ported from another carrier to Tesco - is it painless?

Can you text from the tesco website? Maybe even internationally?

Has anyone used 13434 with Tesco - does it work ok. Basically i'm hoping that by usimng tesco mobile to make the local carrier connection to teh cork or dublin number @20c per minute and by using 13434 then that i will be able to make calls to australian mobile for a total of about 35c per minute - if anyone has any other advice on a cheaper way id be delighted to hear. I dont want to use skype etc just mobile to mobile

O ya and if anyone has any advice re cheap texting or if i can use free tesco credit for international texting again id be delighted to hear

Thanks a lot guys

hairyleprechaun

esel wrote: »

One minus on the 20c/min rate - they charge a flat 20c for up to the first minute, after that it's per second. Another thing - my free minutes are being used before the paid for credit?

What's wrong with it using the minutes before your credit? Is that not the way things always work?

Davy

corklad32 wrote: »

Is there any limit to the amount you can top up in a month?

Dont think so.

corklad32 wrote: »

Can you top up say 10E every week - get your E10 free credit - spend that and then put in another 10E and so on?

Yes

corklad32 wrote: »

Can you send international text messages on the free credit - the problem i may have is i have a good friend in Aus i may be texting a bit and if im on my free credit and cant text ill be like meh

You cant free credit on international texts

corklad32 wrote: »

Are there any other known issues between Irish networks and tesco - apart from 3. Do MMS etc all work between the Irish networks. I know the roaming is quite restricted but its ok for me for now.

Tesco customer care is poor.

corklad32 wrote: »

Can you text from the tesco website? Maybe even internationally?

They dont have webtexts. Only international webtexts are from o2 network.

corklad32 wrote: »

Has anyone used 13434 with Tesco - does it work ok. Basically i'm hoping that by usimng tesco mobile to make the local carrier connection to teh cork or dublin number @20c per minute and by using 13434 then that i will be able to make calls to australian mobile for a total of about 35c per minute - if anyone has any other advice on a cheaper way id be delighted to hear. I dont want to use skype etc just mobile to mobile

I havent used 13434 from a tesco mobile but i dont think it will be a prob, it will work the same as any mobile network.

corklad32 wrote: »

O ya and if anyone has any advice re cheap texting or if i can use free tesco credit for international texting again id be delighted to hear

You cant use free credit on international texts or calls as already said.

hairyleprechaun wrote: »

What's wrong with it using the minutes before your credit? Is that not the way things always work?

With tesco, you use your credit first, and then your free minutes after. The catch is the free minutes only last 30 days and never carry over.

corklad32

Hey Davy thanks for the info. Just one final question - you may not know it though as its a funny one.
You buy €10 credit and you get you're €10 free. You have used all your paid for credit and have say €8 of your free credit left. I now want to send a text to an international mobile which i cant do with my free credit so i buy another €10 credit and get another €10 free credit. What happens the €8 assuming its all within the 30 day period??

Davy

Im not 100% but im guessing you should still have it for the remainder of the 30 days. I dont use tesco much anymore to know the full ins and outs

corklad32

Can i ask did you find the service poor or just got a better mobile package?

Cheers

Davy

corklad32 wrote: »

Can i ask did you find the service poor or just got a better mobile package?

Cheers

I wasn't using it as a main number. The customer care were quite poor, but didnt have any problems with network service making calls and texts.

corklad32

Ah very good thanks for all the info Davy