hayai! typical malaysian mentality ini!

same here, my senior malaysians will utter some derogatory racial comments about that area to discourage us from going there

when i was studying in uk, most of my peeps opted for O2 pay-as-you-go.

what does your wife predominantly use her credit for? calls? txts? internet browsing? video calls?

please list them down for me in order to suggest.

sorry mate. missed your post by accident.

---

Added on September 28, 2008, 1:21 pmworking on it right now

This post has been edited by nokia2003: Sep 28 2008, 01:21 PM

UK landline - the conventional house/office phones (like telekom). as opposed to the non-geographical numbers (starting with 0845 etc) and they cost a bomb to calls; in a region of 50p per minute. landline numbers are particularly useful if you want to use those international calling calls as they yield much more minutes, compared to dialing the toll free 0800 number instead

registered postcode - applicable to your desired postcode, for example CF23 represents the cathays area of cardiff, wales.

off-peak mins - self explanatory i suppose?

UK texts - cross network (applicable to other UK networks for example vodafone, 3, orange)

O2 mobiles - you cannot never tell from one's mobile number which network he/she is using, due to the number portability system (again self explanatory). your wife will have to ask the person in advance. hence my contact names usually go like this, BlackBerryBloke HP (Orange), Nokia2003 HP (Vodafone)

Unlimited texts to O2 mobiles - free texts to O2 lines (but it could be misleading as they usually have a quota/limit; standard industry practice)

call international landlines and mobiles from the UK - self explanatory.




i sure do hope the information above helps.

anyway, in the UK, you always get for what you pay.


orange and 3 might be cheaper, but their coverage area and call quality are very poor (and occasional rude customer service consultants)

This post has been edited by nokia2003: Sep 28 2008, 02:01 PM

@ rx330


calling a friend on orange (assuming your wife is on o2) is considered as calls to other UK networks.

things have indeed changed since i got back a few months ago, but exact charges can easily be obtained from her pay-as-you-go starter pack or simply head into any o2 or carphonewarehouse stores (the o2 sales consultants are very helpful)

non-geographical numbers are numbers which starts from 08xx (with the exception of toll free numbers; 0800). avoid them at all costs

i think you were referring to to Lloyds (TSB). all banks in the uk are the same i reckon (except for first direct, if i can bank with them forever, i will. yes they are that good).

here are some very possible reasons on why your wife has failed to obtain a contract:

1. o2 and vodafone are usually very strict (as opposed to 3) and require a very good credit rating to obtain a contract.
2. in regards to 1, since your wife is still new there, her credit rating is still low. yes, the very same credit rating which allows one to apply for loans etc.
3. your wife is holding a SOLO debit card, and not a maestro.
4. the place which your wife is currently staying has been blacklisted by the credit rating agency. meaning, previous occupants have committed numerous frauds. this scenario is very typical in student residential areas.
5. address incompatible issue could be the problem here (though not typical) as some areas especially in the scotland rural areas have multiple post codes for the house. hence this messed up with the system as different organisations subscribe to different database providers.
6. your wife does not pay any utility bills (for example land line, water, gas or electricity) as these bills can easily be used as a strong proof of address.


i can recommend a solution here. o2 practices this recommend-a-friend-under-you thingy (though this is obviously not the correct term). this is where, you sign up under an existing customer, and he/she agrees to take responsibility or be held liable if your wife decides to forgo the contract. however, the neat thing here is, a separate bank account can be arranged (usually via direct debit and a small fee waiver could be offered as an incentive), therefore your wife only pays for her usage and is totally independent of her friend.







This post has been edited by nokia2003: Sep 28 2008, 04:00 PM