Should I pay 300 euro to join meteor or go to o2

caoimhemo

Ok so im a meteor pre-pay customer and I was spending a lot a month on credit(over 40 euro) so I decided to go to a bill-pay plan
I wanted to go for the talk 400 with meteor but they want a 300 euro deposit from me
I went to the o2 store and they will give me a bill-pay contract with no deposit
Question is most of my friends are on meteor so should I just pay them the 300 or should I just go with o2
I would like to hear the opinion of some o2 customers as I have never beenh with them before

laoisfan

shouldn't really matter to be honest. most of the operators offer minutes/texts as part of their pay monthly options. so if your only choice is between meteor and o2 and meteor want €300 deposit (obviously it will go as a credit on your bills) and o2 want €0 the choice is easy, go with o2.

i am assuming of course that you do not have or want to pay €300 up front as deposit.

you do not mention vodafone either. perhaps consider them also before making your final decision.

caoimhemo

No I dont have 300 euro spare that I could just give them so I might just go with o2
Dont really want to go to vodafone either as their tarrifs are not great
Thanks for your help

munzab

had to do that 300 euro thing as well.

not impressed to be honest. u never get it back except in credit after 6 months where ur bills come out of it. so its 300 gone really.

i appreciated meteor when i was on pay as u go. not anymore on bill pay.

have had so much problem with roaming with it that ive decided im jumping ship as soon as i finish the 1 year contract is over.


id recommend o2 i guess....

laoisfan

i'm currently with meteor bill-pay (last 2-3yrs). i was with vodafone but found them crap for upgrades. roaming was never an issue with either vodafone/meteor.

however, that said i am thinking of jumping ship to O2 soon, mainly as i use AFT a lot and O2 allow their webtexts to be sent anywhere. still i have been told the O2 website is like a yo-yo most of the time.

Sam Vimes

munzab wrote: »

had to do that 300 euro thing as well.

not impressed to be honest. u never get it back except in credit after 6 months where ur bills come out of it. so its 300 gone really.

that makes absolutely no sense tbh. they use it to pay for calls you make so you have 300 euro in your pocket that you wouldn't have if you had had to pay for those calls when the bill came in.

you would have got several bills of 0.00 from meteor wouldn't you? is that not "getting it back"?

munzab

munzab wrote: »

had to do that 300 euro thing as well.

not impressed to be honest. u never get it back except in credit after 6 months where ur bills come out of it. so its 300 gone really.

i appreciated meteor when i was on pay as u go. not anymore on bill pay.

have had so much problem with roaming with it that ive decided im jumping ship as soon as i finish the 1 year contract is over.


id recommend o2 i guess....

that was my point.

you're earning ur hard cash.
u want a 240 euro 1 year contract.

say you go over the limit a few times (my bills come to 23 euros most months).


so in fairness, id be paying: 240 + 12x3 = 276 euros.

now for the first 6 months, i have to pay my bills.

therefore:

23 x 6 = 138 euros + the 300 i paid up front: 438 euros.

by 6 months im down 438 euros. (mind u, i was thinking 240 a year).

after those 6 months, i will not be paying bills, it will come out of the 300 euros.

therefore:

300 - (23 x 6) = 162 euros.

which i can probably haggle and hassle and cry for it and in the end get back as a cheque after a few months after the full one year.


so u see, in essence, by six months, where i thought id be down 138 (allowing for the 18 euros extra) euros, im down 438 euros, and its hard to budget for this kind of crap.

oh sure, i get it back in the end, but seriously, would i not rather be down 23 a month than 323 a pop? (1 month).


tbh, i dont know why some people like criticising. there are threads that shock me that there are always people criticising the worst thing. always a negative to a positive comment something like that.

whisht

So Meteor want your €300 and want to hold it for 6 months while you happily pay your bills and AFTER that 6 months, they will start to use the €300???

Haha. I know what I'd tell them!!!! I certainly wouldnt be signing up!

Sam Vimes

munzab wrote: »

so u see, in essence, by six months, where i thought id be down 138 (allowing for the 18 euros extra) euros, im down 438 euros, and its hard to budget for this kind of crap.

oh sure, i get it back in the end, but seriously, would i not rather be down 23 a month than 323 a pop? (1 month).


tbh, i dont know why some people like criticising. there are threads that shock me that there are always people criticising the worst thing. always a negative to a positive comment something like that.

you think you're the only person that's ever happened to? it would take one phone call. they're not thieves ffs!

my friend cancelled his contract last month one month before it was supposed to end. he was in credit without realising it and they credited him with every cent he had over paid. he didn't even have to request it!


and i "like criticising" as you put it because what you're saying is ridiculous. i worked in the area for several years and i know that would never happen.

and how is your comment positive? you're essentially accusing meteor of being thieves with absolutely no basis and saying that the 300 euro they take off your bill somehow isn't worth anything

Burago

I'm not sure how it works now but, when I worked there, the questions you answer when you sign up for you contract determine if you have to pay a deposit. If the deal is better I'd say go with Meteor, think of the 300 as a savings account.;) If the 02 tariff is the same price then go with them.

whisht

Burago wrote: »

...think of the 300 as a savings account....

For Meteor maybe!

Looking for a deposit is one thing, but looking for a 300 Euro deposit and holding it for 6 months while they continue to bill you and you have to fork out *more* money each month while that sits there unused is plain crazy.

I had no idea that this went on with mobile networks! Are Meteor the only ones to do this??

munzab

Sam Vimes wrote: »

you think you're the only person that's ever happened to? it would take one phone call. they're not thieves ffs!

my friend cancelled his contract last month one month before it was supposed to end. he was in credit without realising it and they credited him with every cent he had over paid. he didn't even have to request it!


and i "like criticising" as you put it because what you're saying is ridiculous. i worked in the area for several years and i know that would never happen.

and how is your comment positive? you're essentially accusing meteor of being thieves with absolutely no basis and saying that the 300 euro they take off your bill somehow isn't worth anything

i never said they stole 300 euros.

i said, i find it aberrant to take 300 euros at the start, when u think ur going to pay a contract for 240.

think about it this way.

i have 400 in my pocket today, and i think, i want a contract ( DO NOT TAKE IT LITTERALLY.)

so i go to meteor for their 20 a month plan, and think: cool, i can pay 240 for this year total. i can basically earn more during the year and not worry about going negative.

but heh (now here's my point. enough getting on my back about being positive/negative), i have to cough up 300 to sign up with them.
excuse my poor credit rating because i never had a contract before, am a tenant, but own my car (no finance), have changed addresses a few times. i dont know what they base their credit history on, but it would seem a fair few of us get whammed with the worst.


anyway, back to the topic, and i apologise to poor caoimhemo who didnt want to cough up 300:

i end up with only 100 in my pocket when i thought id have 380 left.


it comes back to me, sure, im not denying that, but i am still pointing out that im out 300 for 6 months that i could have lived on .


now about the positive/negative thing:

i did not say anything positive about meteor, i know that. but my comment was about going against what someone said totally on the basis of something that wasnt properly explained, which i then proceeded to do some mathematics on and did a long post about.

and the hassling thing : ok i admit. i might have overreached here, but ive had a few dealings with other services, and the slowness of it all has me dubious and guarded.

and again: i apologise for having lived the best that i could, earn the most i can, be as honest as i can, moved houses until im in the best one i could find, pay my taxes as soon as my paycheck comes out, never had trouble with or without the law, but still classified as a full-risk person and therefore charged the maximum deposit rate i could have been charged,


just because...

caoimhemo

Tthanks for all your help guys
I think ill just go with o2 as I can think of better things to do with 300 euro

7.Ronaldo

munzab wrote: »

i never said they stole 300 euros.

i said, i find it aberrant to take 300 euros at the start, when u think ur going to pay a contract for 240.

think about it this way.

i have 400 in my pocket today, and i think, i want a contract ( DO NOT TAKE IT LITTERALLY.)

so i go to meteor for their 20 a month plan, and think: cool, i can pay 240 for this year total. i can basically earn more during the year and not worry about going negative.

but heh (now here's my point. enough getting on my back about being positive/negative), i have to cough up 300 to sign up with them.
excuse my poor credit rating because i never had a contract before, am a tenant, but own my car (no finance), have changed addresses a few times. i dont know what they base their credit history on, but it would seem a fair few of us get whammed with the worst.


anyway, back to the topic, and i apologise to poor caoimhemo who didnt want to cough up 300:

i end up with only 100 in my pocket when i thought id have 380 left.


it comes back to me, sure, im not denying that, but i am still pointing out that im out 300 for 6 months that i could have lived on .


now about the positive/negative thing:

i did not say anything positive about meteor, i know that. but my comment was about going against what someone said totally on the basis of something that wasnt properly explained, which i then proceeded to do some mathematics on and did a long post about.

and the hassling thing : ok i admit. i might have overreached here, but ive had a few dealings with other services, and the slowness of it all has me dubious and guarded.

and again: i apologise for having lived the best that i could, earn the most i can, be as honest as i can, moved houses until im in the best one i could find, pay my taxes as soon as my paycheck comes out, never had trouble with or without the law, but still classified as a full-risk person and therefore charged the maximum deposit rate i could have been charged,


just because...

1. The original poster said he wanted to go on Talk 400 which is €60 per month for 12 months - not €20. That's a minimum of €720 per year providing that he never goes over his allocation of minutes, makes international calls, roaming calls, use's GPRS or sends other network texts.

2. If you were to sign up on the Talk 60 which is €20 per month for 12 months then the security deposit would be a lot less. I'm guessing that the original poster would be charged €100 in advance - not €300 if he was to choose this tariff plan.

The reason this is charged is because it's called post pay. They give you credit with the network on agreement that you will pay it back at the end of each month. People do take advantage of this. They run up huge first bills on high tariff's and then are unable to pay it back. It's the same with anything. I couldn't go in and buy a television or a computer on store credit and not expect to pay some sort of deposit, the better my credit rating the less I'd have to pay.

odie2020

I wouldnt go with meteor, 300 euro is a bit too much of an ask, I just signed up with O2 on their clear sim 30 day contract, you dont get a phone but for 20 euro a month i get unlimited o2 calls and unlimited landline calls,, happydays.. and if i dont like it 30 days notice and i am off...

4Xcut

odie2020 wrote: »

and if i dont like it 30 days notice and i am off...

That is a nice little feature. Wouldn't go to o2 myself as i don't know many people on o2 but that is still good none the less.

Doctor DooM

whisht wrote: »

For Meteor maybe!

Looking for a deposit is one thing, but looking for a 300 Euro deposit and holding it for 6 months while they continue to bill you and you have to fork out *more* money each month while that sits there unused is plain crazy.

I had no idea that this went on with mobile networks! Are Meteor the only ones to do this??

Yes, based on an initial credit score which determines the risk of the applicant.

With 02 it comes off your bill straight away, I am not sure but I believe the same is true with Vodafone.

I do know Meteor got nailed with fraud a while back, this is prob a reaction to that.

caoimhemo

I understand what everyone is saying about the deposit being payed if you have a bad credit history but I dont
I have a very good credit history m, credit card, bank loans etc, never missed any payments
I phoned meteor and they practically admitted its a random thing, said it didnt matter if your a doctor or unemployed
I also asked them is there any way around it and they said no
I told them in that case ill be heading to o2, I mean if they dont give their own customers credit then why should I give them my hard earned money to hold for 6 months

7.Ronaldo

It's not completely random. They run a credit check which determines the risk of the applicant. If this determines that you are a risk then you will be asked for a €100 deposit on the lower tariff's or €300 on the higher tariff's.

The fact that you have paid back loans in the past doesn't mean your not a risk. It depends on age, whether you own your own house/car, whether or not you have loans out at present, your income etc...

It is a bit much to ask people to pay when signing a new contract but the minimum you will spend on this tariff is €720. You pay the €420 for the first 6 months and then the remaining 6 months will be free because you have already paid for them in advance.

caoimhemo

7.Ronaldo wrote: »

It's not completely random. They run a credit check which determines the risk of the applicant. If this determines that you are a risk then you will be asked for a €100 deposit on the lower tariff's or €300 on the higher tariff's.

The fact that you have paid back loans in the past doesn't mean your not a risk. It depends on age, whether you own your own house/car, whether or not you have loans out at present, your income etc...

It is a bit much to ask people to pay when signing a new contract but the minimum you will spend on this tariff is €720. You pay the €420 for the first 6 months and then the remaining 6 months will be free because you have already paid for them in advance.

So can I go in and go on one of the lower tarrifs,(say meteor 200) pay 100 euro and then choose the higher tarriff for the next month?

7.Ronaldo

caoimhemo wrote: »

So can I go in and go on one of the lower tarrifs,(say meteor 200) pay 100 euro and then choose the higher tarriff for the next month?

You could try it. If they quote you €100 security deposit on Talk 60 then theres nothing really stopping you.

munzab

caoimhemo wrote: »

I understand what everyone is saying about the deposit being payed if you have a bad credit history but I dont
I have a very good credit history m, credit card, bank loans etc, never missed any payments
I phoned meteor and they practically admitted its a random thing, said it didnt matter if your a doctor or unemployed
I also asked them is there any way around it and they said no
I told them in that case ill be heading to o2, I mean if they dont give their own customers credit then why should I give them my hard earned money to hold for 6 months

It's not completely random. They run a credit check which determines the risk of the applicant. If this determines that you are a risk then you will be asked for a €100 deposit on the lower tariff's or €300 on the higher tariff's.

The fact that you have paid back loans in the past doesn't mean your not a risk. It depends on age, whether you own your own house/car, whether or not you have loans out at present, your income etc...

It is a bit much to ask people to pay when signing a new contract but the minimum you will spend on this tariff is €720. You pay the €420 for the first 6 months and then the remaining 6 months will be free because you have already paid for them in advance.

guess what. i also have no outstanding anything.


and btw, im a doctor.

cool eh? but i still got charged 300. so im really a bad risk i guess.

Sam Vimes

munzab wrote: »

i never said they stole 300 euros.

i said, i find it aberrant to take 300 euros at the start, when u think ur going to pay a contract for 240.

think about it this way.

i have 400 in my pocket today, and i think, i want a contract ( DO NOT TAKE IT LITTERALLY.)

so i go to meteor for their 20 a month plan, and think: cool, i can pay 240 for this year total. i can basically earn more during the year and not worry about going negative.

but heh (now here's my point. enough getting on my back about being positive/negative), i have to cough up 300 to sign up with them.

I can't see your point there and meteor lost a lot of customers by asking for that deposit but as Burago said, think of it like a savings account. Isn't it nice knowing that in 6 months you won't have any bills for a few months?

munzab wrote: »

and again: i apologise for having lived the best that i could, earn the most i can, be as honest as i can, moved houses until im in the best one i could find, pay my taxes as soon as my paycheck comes out, never had trouble with or without the law, but still classified as a full-risk person and therefore charged the maximum deposit rate i could have been charged,


just because...

meteor don't do any external checks at all. They score you solely based on the information you supply, ie how long you lived at your address, your employment status, yous age etc and there definitely a random element thrown in too. I've seen students with part time jobs accepted with no hassle and solicitors given 300 euro deposits.

at least they don't do what o2 do. They almost never ask for deposits, they just say "recommended speakeasy", ie refuse people outright based on a one page form and a random number


Posted via Mobile Device

7.Ronaldo

munzab wrote: »

guess what. i also have no outstanding anything.


and btw, im a doctor.

cool eh? but i still got charged 300. so im really a bad risk i guess.

It really doesn't matter what you do for a living. They run a referral based on the information you supply and if it comes back saying that they need a deposit then they need the deposit.

I might be a doctor too, or an astronaut but if this wasn't in place then there would be nothing stopping me taking out a Meteor contract, exceeding the credit limit and then disappearing without trace.

It all comes down to how old you are, how many dependents you have, do you own your own house/car, how long you've had your job, is it a permanent job, are you a national/non-national, have you any current loans or a history of bad debt. I'm guessing that you must tick a couple of them boxes?

The €300 puts people off joining Meteor and giving them money every month during the contract period. It's not good business to turn people away over nothing.

Ah-Watch

laoisfan wrote: »

i'm currently with meteor bill-pay (last 2-3yrs). i was with vodafone but found them crap for upgrades. roaming was never an issue with either vodafone/meteor.

however, that said i am thinking of jumping ship to O2 soon, mainly as i use AFT a lot and O2 allow their webtexts to be sent anywhere. still i have been told the O2 website is like a yo-yo most of the time.

web site is like a constant yoyo "essential maintanance" is what u get from 02 and they make no changes to the site! having said that i'd go 02 over meteor if ur spending 40e a month they shouldn expect u to pay that cos u obviously top up a bit!

Nathan D

hey,
im going to buy the n95 on meteor in the next few days.
realy dont want to pay the deposit. is there any advice you can give me on what i can put on my application to avoid this. would really prefer not to have to pay this.

Random

Nathan D wrote: »

hey,
im going to buy the n95 on meteor in the next few days.
realy dont want to pay the deposit. is there any advice you can give me on what i can put on my application to avoid this. would really prefer not to have to pay this.

Tell the truth. Let them decide.

Threads 2 months old and you're bringing it back up for help lying with an application form?