mobile phones

Can anyone give me some advice about getting a mobile once I arrive in the UK?

I had friends who swore by the "pay as you go" sort, where you buy the phone and can chose how much credit you put on.  My understanding is that you only pay for outgoing calls and NOT incoming calls, so if you only use the phone for quick outgoing chats it is a better deal than getting a contracted phone.

Does anyone here have a contract and like or dislike their service?  What is the monthly/other costs for a contract?  Do you get a free or inexpensive phone with a contract?  Can you get a "family plan" (it will just be for the two of us)?

I have been on Orange since I moved over in August 2002. I took a contract and I have been on it ever since. I have since switched to a cheaper tariff as I wasnt using all my minutes and text messages so now I am on a plan that includes 60 minutes and 60 texts and it comes out to about £20 a month. I got a Nokia 3310 for free with it but most phones are free when you take a contract. On pay as you go, you have to buy the phone. I have been offered upgrades many times but I am sticking with my phone. Low tech and easy to use. The Link, which is a major retailer, lists all the different tariffs for each provider and the store staff is pretty helpful helping choose one that is right for you.
I can tell you that with Orange, you wont be able to send texts to the US. You can on 02, in case that helps sway you one or the other. Feel free to PM me. Good luck!

Stu and I are both on Orange and we can text to the US so you might want to check that with the lovely customer service people at Orange. NOT. I have had a contract with Orange since 2000 and they were OK (ish) until Stu got here last year and we tried to get him added to my plan. They wouldn't do it. " we don't do that" GRRR!!! He eventually got his own contract with Orange but his is £30 per month with hardly any free minutes and mine is only £15 with 50 free mins a day, reason being "we don't do that one any more." GRRR!!! We have just found out that BT do offer a family package thing where you just pay one monthly fee of £30 for both phone users so we are thinking of switching to that now especially as Orange customer service is appalling. They have no idea about customer service or do they seem to care. GRRR!!!

With most contracts you will be offered a free phone of some description or a more flash one at a hefty discount. If you haggle you can get those for free as well. Carphone Warehouse is a good place to start. Look out for one off special offers too.

Britwife:
Booger, everytime I text my friend back home, he doesnt get them. Or maybe its that I dont get his texts back. ARGH!
I am actually on a staff tariff as hubby works for Dixons so that helps too. I also have a weak signal at times when at home. Maybe I should switch to 02. I would do except hubby is with them and they messed up his bill for months. When we were traveling back and forth, they were charging him for texts as if he made them from the US to here. It took an ice age to fix his bill and I believe he is still in credit on his invoice so it did get sorted in the end

I do pay-as-you-go, because I have a contract with Vodaphone and I was getting screwed. That was a year ago, and my brain doesn't have the ability to remember why I got screwed, or how, or how badly, so I'm really useless at answering your question! I like doing pay-as-you-go though, it's been super crazy easy for me, really convenient, really easy to "buy minutes", and it doesn't affect my ability to call or text the US in any fashion.

So Marlespo - you can text the US with the pay as you go?  Any idea of aprox. how much you spend per month on minutes?
Ive heard many bad things about the companies that do contracts, but want to try to get the best deal possible.

I actaully love T-Mobile USA and they are great they work all over the UK....but I wonder if they are as great in the UK.  Anyone have them?

Yes - I have T mobile here and it has been great.  I still have T-mobile in the states too - my son and I are on the family plan. He can call me when ever he needs me.

Both my husband and myself are on t-mobile as well and haven't had any complaints.

I started out on a pay as you go deal but it was a hassle for me to keep checking I had enough credit so now I'm on a contract. Mine's about £14 for 60 calls, anytime, free per month. And I have the added package for 50 texts for £3.

My husband and I both have gotten our past 2 phones through the web... http://www.e2save.com

They have great deals and many with free, up to date, handsets too. Have a look to see what's on offer so it'll give you a better idea of what to expect.

Good luck!!

thanks for the details lynne!
In the 60 calls/mo, do they include incoming calls in that or is it just outgoing calls?  

Does it matter how many minutes you talk on a call or is it just based on how many calls there are?

Sorry! It's 60 minutes not 60 calls.   I have a head full of cold at the moment so I'm running a bit off kilter.    :-/

It doesn't matter about the incoming calls, just the outgoing is counted. Although I think you do get charged a bit for calls to other networks even within your 60 minutes. I don't make many calls aside from the husband so I'm not really bothered. I mostly send texts to friends and it doesn't matter what network they are sent to.

Also I get free calls to my voicemail which I've only recently found out that some people don't.   So look into that as well.  

thanks again for the info  
I was just looking at the link you posted and it looks like they have some pretty good deals and lots of free phones.
do your husband and you have seperate contracts or can you go on the same contract with different phones?
sorry for so many questions.

This is definitely an interesting thread.

Hubby and I are about to shop around for a new mobile service. We are currently with Orange and they have been a nightmare to deal with. I agree that their customer service is appalling. I find their adverts insulting and confusing at times. Nothing about them says "we are a company who is here for you to provide the ultimate in mobile phone use and customer service".  

Sorry for the late response!

We use T-mobil in the States when we're there, we buy a $50 simcard to pop in the back of our existing phones and voila, we've got US numbers for our entire stay, then pop back in our UK cards when we come back. That has nothing to do with pay as you go though... just saying I also use T-mobile in the states.

Um... as for texts to the States, I honestly don't know how much they cost me. I've only done it when my husband & I have been in separate countries, which hasn't been much in the last year and a half. I usually use my phone for incoming calls, occasional call-outs but not every day, I send textx to my husband more than anything so if he's busy at work he doesn't have to answer right away. I get away with... oh... £10 a month? On pay-as-you-go? And I use Vodaphone's service, just because where we've lived they've had the best reception. And My husband has a contract with them since he uses his phone for work as well.

 We dealt with Orange the last time that we were in the UK,and we used pay as you go.I think G got a special deal because we all 3 had our own phone.Iam not sure who will deal with this time,but I think that having a contract with someone might be a bit better.