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Bill Vs Prepay: Part 2 by John Verling

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Bill Vs Prepay

(Part Two)

By John Verling, Dingle Phone Centre 0669152939

“This one is eating the credit” or “she’s robbing me with the credit”. I hear these phrases a lot when people think they are paying too much for their pay-as-you-go phone and come looking for cheaper alternatives. As outlined last issue there are a lot of choices now available to prepay users before they take the plunge into the world of twelve or even eighteen month commitment! There can be big savings made by going on BillPay, depending on your mobile phone use. Just to clarify for those unsure of what’s been discussed here…bill or postpay is when you enter a twelve or eighteen month contract to pay a minimum per month for your phone use. If your phone usage is above the contract terms you will be charged accordingly via your monthly bill and when you enter the contract you have to honour it for the term agreed. The phone company owns your number for the length of the contract; you cannot break it without paying the provider a cancellation fee. This amount is usually the minimum tariff multiplied by the number of months left i.e. six months left by €50 per month = €300 cancellation fee. If you don’t pay this your number will stay with the phone company till your contract is up with you continuing to pay your monthly bill. If you default on your monthly payments you will still have to pay any outstanding balance when your contract is finished before you can revert to prepay or move to another provider.

A good pointer for whether you should consider bill over prepay is if you are paying over €40.00 per month on credit. If you are then you are paying too much! Also when choosing bill over prepay always go with the phone company which you call the most. It’s where the savings are, you will get free calls and texts to Mum, Dad, Brother, Sister, Wife, Girlfriend, Boyfriend, Lover etc with most plans if they are on the same network as you plus extra off-network minutes are added on. BillPay plans usually start at €19 per month for light users up to €85.00 per month for those who use their phone continuously. It is essential to consider all the options when choosing your price plan as you will be stuck with your choice for the next year as outlined above. The phone companies may allow you change tariff after a minimum period but they will only allow you to move up the scale not down! One popular benefit of being a BillPay customer is that the purchase price of all phones is subsidised heavily by the phone companies, from free to €299.00 plus you qualify for an upgrade at the contract’s end. The purpose of the subsidised upgrade is to tie you into another twelve month contract rather than rewarding you for the year’s service!

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