Are mobile texts a ripoff?

[andyman]

... 10p per text? Ok some have unlimited texts but still there is a price catch, all texts sould be 1p each without a unlimited text plan! 10p may not sound much but the cost builds up, no justice in a 10p per text charge in todays market. :mad::cloud::bawling:

[Lauren]

I have an o2 genie SIM card. So I'm not on contract.

If I top up £10 each month I get 300 texts.
So I use the £10 for calls, and then have the texts.

Works well for me.

[andyman]

Still a catch to it tho, all texts should be 1p as standard. I'm with 02 pay&go with unlimited texts to 02 phones which helps with texting the gf, but before that the texts was eating my credit fast! 10p is a ripoff!! 300 texts would last me around 4 days.. Its a huge legal scam!!!

[Lauren]

Originally posted by andyman
Still a catch to it tho, all texts should be 1p as standard. I'm with 02 pay&go with unlimited texts to 02 phones which helps with texting the gf, but before that the texts was eating my credit fast! 10p is a ripoff!! 300 texts would last me around 4 days.. Its a huge legal scam!!!

They'd get less profit then. Why is it in their interest to give out 1p texts when at the moment they're making money from not doing so? People will pay the money because they have to, so the company is making direct profit from it.

[andyman]

Lol!! So its ok they ripoff the public with their high prices? They will still make a vile profit with 1p texts!

[Lauren]

Originally posted by andyman
Lol!! So its ok they ripoff the public with their high prices? They will still make a vile profit with 1p texts!

Yes, but they'd make a better profit with their current rates, which people are obviously paying for. They're a company - from a business viewpoint they're not going to reduce their rates when there's demand from the current ones.

[andyman]

They have brought down the price of calls in the past but texts have stayed high! Many british public brainwashed into thinking "oh well we gotta pay that price". Its about giving the british public a fair price, others have to fair reason for their price but the networks dont? They can give unlimited texts but not drop the standard text rate? They are bloodsucking con artists!!

[Matt]

Originally posted by andyman
Lol!! So its ok they ripoff the public with their high prices? They will still make a vile profit with 1p texts!

It's hardly a high price. It's a base rate for a text.

Saying that it's a huge legal scam to pay 10p for a text message is like saying that it's a huge legal scam to pay £250 for a Playstation 3.

If you're so bothered, why not buy one of O2's Bolt-Ons? £11.99 per month gets you 400 texts - that works out at just under 3p per text.

http://www.o2.co.uk/mobilestariffs/tariffs/paygo/paygoboltons0153

[Lauren]

Originally posted by andyman
They have brought down the price of calls in the past but texts have stayed high! Many british public brainwashed into thinking "oh well we gotta pay that price". Its about giving the british public a fair price, others have to fair reason for their price but the networks dont? They can give unlimited texts but not drop the standard text rate? They are bloodsucking con artists!!

Yes they've been brainwashed into thinking they've got to pay the price, so they do. From a business perspective how is it at all in their interest to then lower the price?

[andyman]

From a paying customers perspective is it ok for a business to rip the customers off? Why 10p per text? To be fair they have changed over the years with scraping the pay & go line rental (late 90s) and have "bolt ons" and improved their tariffs but the standard text is the same, the public are not getting value for money still... 10p does not sound much but after so many texts it is!

[Lauren]

Originally posted by andyman
From a paying customers perspective is it ok for a business to rip the customers off? Why 10p per text? To be fair they have changed over the years with scraping the pay & go line rental (late 90s) and have "bolt ons" and improved their tariffs but the standard text is the same, the public are not getting value for money still... 10p does not sound much but after so many texts it is!

Well. Taking Matt's analogy, from a paying customers viewpoint I'd rather pay 10p for a PS3 rather than £250.

We don't have the choice in it.

[Matt]

Originally posted by andyman
10p does not sound much but after so many texts it is!

To be fair, going on your claim that 300 texts lasts you 4 days, that means you send 75 texts a day, or up to 2325 texts a month.

I doubt most people users text that much - or if they do, I'm sure they'd find a way to make it cheaper on themselves, for instance buy buying a bolt-on or being on an unlimited texts tariff.

[andyman]

10p text rate is not value for money! FACT!! I am shocked that you agree with ripping the british public off :nono:

[Lauren]

Originally posted by andyman
10p text rate is not value for money! FACT!! I am shocked that you agree with ripping the british public off :nono:

Who said it was value for money?

From a business perspective they're not going to lower prices when there's demand for the service they're providing.

We can't just choose the prices we want to pay!

[andyman]

There was a time when i was away from the gf and kept in touch by calls and texts... The standard rate is overpriced for what it is, bolt ons or no bolt ons the standard rate is not true value for money.

[Lauren]

Originally posted by andyman
There was a time when i was away from the gf and kept in touch by calls and texts... The standard rate is overpriced for what it is, bolt ons or no bolt ons the standard rate is not true value for money.

No, but people have to pay for the service, so the company is going to keep the price as high as they viably can.

I doubt they care whether we have enough money to keep in touch with our better halfs :laugh:

[andyman]

Lol!! "oh look this loaf of bread is £50, i must pay that then"

[Lauren]

Originally posted by andyman
Lol!! "oh look this loaf of bread is £50, i must pay that then"

Yes, actually.
If you want bread, and you can only get it for £50 - what other legal alternative do you have?

[Matt]

Originally posted by andyman
10p text rate is not value for money! FACT!! I am shocked that you agree with ripping the british public off :nono:

The thing is, it's not ripping the public off.

10p per text isn't very much at all, but at your rate of 75 texts per day it would cost you up to £232.50 a month (at 10p per text - I know you currently have unlimited texts to O2 mobiles, so you dont pay for each and every text, but I'm using that as a round figure as I don't know how many texts you send to O2 mobiles), so naturally you're going to feel it's a rip-off. The thing is, you don't have to pay that amount.

The phone companies do offer options for you to buy texts in bulk. There's the aforementioned Bolt-On solution, or if you're happy with your handset then you could get an O2 Simplicity (sim-only) contract.

The £20 Simplicty tariff buys 600 minutes and 1000 texts a month, plus a free Bolt-On - and one of them is "Unlimited Texts". Therefore, under this contract, you pay £20 a month for unlimited texts (and 600 minutes) - a saving of up to £212.50.

So if you're so angry at paying 10p a text, why not consider another option? :thumbs:

[andyman]

So you support price fixing on a product that is well over priced? Yes money has to be made but not by being unfair to the true value of the product that sucks money out of peoples pockets! The networks are as bad as drug lords! No in fact drug lords give better value for money, lol. ((i condone the use of drugs as they are harmfull and destroy lives)) You do agree that 10p is not a fair price? We cant change it but that does not mean its true value for money... Scrap the bolt ons and reduce the standard rate.

[andyman]

Like i said scrap the bolt ons and lower the standard rate... But keep any unlimited texts and limited packages. True it wont happen but thats rip-off britain for ya :bored::bawling:

[Lauren]

Originally posted by andyman
We cant change it but that does not mean its true value for money... Scrap the bolt ons and reduce the standard rate.

You're right, we can't change it. They're making money from it, there's still demand for their services.

As I said, it's not in their interest to reduce standard rates.

[andyman]

virgin to virgin texts 3p!!
My o2 sim free texts to o2 numbers.
Your sim 300 free texts!
Do you agree that the 10p standard rate is a rip-off?

[Lauren]

Originally posted by andyman
virgin to virgin texts 3p!!
My o2 sim free texts to o2 numbers.
Your sim 300 free texts!
Do you agree that the 10p standard rate is a rip-off?

Not if I only sent a few texts per week, no.
The bolt-ons are there for people who would send more, like you and I.

[Matt]

Originally posted by andyman

You do agree that 10p is not a fair price?

I do think that it's a fair price. Again, assuming you send 75 texts a day, you're naturally not going to think it's a fair price - but that's only because you send 75 texts a day.

Like I've said, there are things you can do to get cheaper texts, but you're obviously not willing to, so you can only blame yourself...

[andyman]

I would scrap the bolt ons! Its not fair practice, anybody that texts me and they aint o2 then they dont get a reply, i will NOT pay the high standard rate that has been forced upon me! Thank goodness 02 are fair with their unlimited sim.

[Matt]

Originally posted by andyman
I would scrap the bolt ons! Its not fair practice

Yes it is. A 10p base rate is a fine rate to pay if you're only sending a few texts.

If you're sending a large amount of texts, then these companies do offer you the chance to make it cheaper on yourself with bolt ons or contracts or special tariffs. That sounds fair to me.

[andyman]

Originally posted by Matt
Originally posted by andyman
I would scrap the bolt ons! Its not fair practice

Yes it is. A 10p base rate is a fine rate to pay if you're only sending a few texts.

If you're sending a large amount of texts, then these companies do offer you the chance to make it cheaper on yourself with bolt ons or contracts or special tariffs. That sounds fair to me.
Well i cant argue with that. Case closed as i run into the sunset with my 02 unlimited sim.

:bigsmile:

[xDramatick]

I ONLY really text, and all my texts are 10p.
If I top up £10, I get 300 free texts for that month, which generally lasts me as I generally say what I need to online.

I want my boyfriend's package [LOL @ how bad that sounds].
He gets so many minutes+texts free a month [and he never goes over the limit so he never spends anything] and got one free thing of his choice, so he chose free internet.

[30stone]

I get 5p text but get none free ever because i never check the offers given to me.

but it doesnt bother me really...

[Tom]

Mine are free :joker:

I'm on one of those pay as you go contract things now. Its not a proper contract where you get the phone and upgrades but you still pay £20 a month and I get 1000 free texts and unlimited calls to any landline or mobile

[supernoodles!]

I used to be on pay as you go and spent rediculous amounts on texts,I send about 300 a week so It just wasn`t working for me.Now Im on contract I get unlimited texts ,free facebook and get 180 minutes for £35 quid a month so it works well for me

[Nicky.]

I used to be on an offer which got me 300 texts for £10 a month, and then after that they were 10p each.. which really went quick! I used all 300 in like a week once, so I was deprived of texts for like 3 week because I only had £10 credit! Which is like 100 texts.. and I text alot!!

Now I'm on a contract (Sim only one) which is £15 a month, and I get 400 texts, 200 minutes and unlimited 02 to 02 calls :)

Anyone who hasn't got any bolt ons is ripping themselves off .. what would cost you £30, I got free with £10 cred xD

[Lewis.]

I think That they should ALL be Free to send a text! It would bring the world closer.... and then just charge an extra few P on calls.. And they would still make money!

Lewiis in Lanzorote! x

[sol]

I'm just on a normal o2 sim card with no free texts or minutes or anything (really need to get a new one) and yeah I agree that 10p per text is quite steep, think 5p would be more fair.