Company Name: Tesco Mobile
Address: Tesco Mobile Customer Care, Dumers Lane, Radcliffe, Bury, BL9 9QL
Telephone: 0800 433 4990
Visit: www.tescomobile.com
Find The Best: Tesco SIM Only Deals | Tesco Contract Phone Deals
5 years ago
Have been with Tesco Mobile for over a year now after having the most awful time with Virgin Mobile and there Philippine customer service which was disgraceful and Tesco mobile is the best mobile service I have been with.
There prices are very reasonable there customer service is top class and very helpful and English spoken and always there to help straight away and the best thing about Tesco mobile is the mobile phone shop within Tesco Supermarket who is always willing to help you out and all English spoken which is all priceless also the coverage at home and abroad is 100per cent and also the mobile app which gives you all the information on what you have used and want to say THANK YOU TESCO MOBILE YOUR THE BEST.
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5 years ago
On a shared bill with my girlfriend and it's been good value for money. Strong signal from O2. Very happy.
5 years ago
Tesco mobile would be good if the staff knew what they were doing, a simple upgrade went badly wrong and I received an extra phone and 2 payments leaving my account. I cannot recommend the mobile side of the company.
5 years ago
Been with Tesco Mobile for a while now and they are average. The deals are fairly good but giffgaff is better with their tariffs and use the same network.
My signal has been fine but as usual getting in touch can be difficult to their mediocre customer service.
6 years ago
I have been very happy with Tesco Mobile until 4G randomly stopped working for over a week. I rang them and they said a mast was under repair. And to test it by going to a different location. Well, I went to a different place 20 minutes away and it still wouldn't pick up 4G.
I rang them again and they said the same thing. I didn't believe them at this point so I factory reset my phone completely and it's working absolutely fine now. This worries me! Don't know if I'll be staying with Tesco mobile when my contract is up tbh.
6 years ago
An awkward problem with my elderly Father's SIM was dealt with patiently and with understanding. Excellent customer service from Tesco Mobile. A+
6 years ago
Love Tesco Mobile especially customer service which is so friendly and polite. I recommended their services to my friends.
Thank you!
6 years ago
I know they run off O2 but I think Tesco is the best network, great coverage, great care team, friendly staff, amazing prices. Much better than dealing with O2 direct.
Tesco is a name familiar to most of us, but the major supermarket chain does offer its own mobile services. Tesco Mobile is a joint venture between Tesco and O2 and uses O2’s mobile network to provide service. There are tons of plans to choose from, and some nice features as well.
We’ll get into the ins and outs of what Tesco Mobile has to offer below. But first, let’s take a look at the essential pros and cons of going with Tesco:
Tesco Mobile uses O2’s mobile infrastructure to provide service, so you’ll get the same coverage as O2 customers get. This means 99% coverage for 2G service, 98% coverage for 3G, and 97% coverage for 4G. All of this adds up to great mobile reception pretty much everywhere. However, you should double check your local area on the coverage checker on Tesco’s website just to be sure that you’re going to get reception.
Tesco have a wide range of options available, from traditional contracts both short and long to pay as you go and PAYG bundles.
Tesco Mobile has a choice of three 30 day rolling contracts. These renew automatically but can be cancelled at the end of any 30 day period, giving you plenty of flexibility. The options are:
If you’re willing to commit to a longer sim only contract, Tesco Mobile offers several 12-month contract options. Prices on these are a little cheaper than for those 30-day contracts, but you will be locked into that contract for a full year. The options are:
Tesco’s pay as you go offerings are a little more complicated. If you’re a light mobile phone user, then Tesco offers a couple of options for PAYG:
Calls are 8p per minute, texts are 4p, and data is 10p per mb. You CANNOT add any of Tesco’s “Rocket Pack” bundles to this deal (see below), you simply top up with credit and use your phone.
With the Triple Credit PAYG bundle, you pay 25p per minute for calls, 10p per text message, and 10p per mb of data. However, you get triple credit every time you top up. A £10 top-up will actually give you £30 of credit. That extra £20 of credit is valid only for 30 days, however, and can only be used for UK calls and texts.
Alternatively, you can opt to use Tesco’s Rocket Pack system. Essentially, these are like 30-day contracts but without the contract (and you pay before using, not after, so no unexpected bills). You choose which of the Rocket Packs you want and it will automatically renew every 30 days until you cancel it. Note that each pack is valid for 30 days only! The options are:
If you use up all of your Rocket Pack before your 30 days is up, you can top up with cash credit and then pay regular rates (25p per calling minutes, 10p per text, 10p per mb of data) until your next Rocket Pack begins.
Rocket Packs and Triple Credit extra credit are both valid for 30 days only. Your regular cash top-up credit does not expire as long as you use your SIM card once every six months.
Tesco Mobile offers a fair few features and extras that might be beneficial to some customers, depending on what you’re looking for:
Tesco allows you to have up to 5 SIM cards on the same account, perfect for families. And if you do this, each of these SIM cards can choose a perk each month. These perks depend on what kind of contract you have but offer extra data, money off your phone bill, Tesco Clubcard points, extra minutes, and discounts on Tesco insurance. You’re free to change which perk you want each month. This is valid only for contracts, not for PAYG.
If you have a contract with Tesco (either 30 day or 12 months) you can opt to cap that contract to prevent overspending. Tesco allows you to set your own limit from £0 up to £100 over your regular monthly charges. If you use up your regular monthly allotment of minutes/texts/data you’re then allowed to use extra services only up until you reach your spending cap, then service will be cut off. This stops you getting unpleasantly surprising bills.
Tesco allows you to trade-in old phones to get cash or discounts off your mobile contract price (or a new phone).
Tesco Mobile generally falls in the mid-range when compared to other operators. They tend to fail when it comes to data prices. Whilst actual contract prices aren’t terribly expensive, Tesco tends to offer lower data limits than other operators for identical prices. For example, Three offers unlimited data for £27 a month, whilst Tesco’s biggest 50 GB data plan is £35 a month. £9 gets you 4 GB of data with Three, but only 3 GB with Tesco.
In terms of pay as you go SIM’s, basic PAYG rates are much higher with Tesco than with other operators (particularly that 25p per minute calling rate). However, once you factor in Triple Credit or Rocket Packs Tesco do a little better. They’re more expensive than low-cost operators like GiffGaff and iD Mobile (£5 buys you 100 minutes/100 texts/250 mb of data with Tesco, but 150 minute/500 texts/500 mb of data with GiffGaff). However, they’re cheaper than big name operators like Vodafone and EE (£10 gets you 500 minutes/5000 texts/3 GB of data with Tesco, but only 250 minutes/unlimited texts/1 GB of data with EE).
On the whole, if you’re taking advantage of the extras, such as family plans, phone trade-ins, and Rocket Packs, then Tesco can be a good deal as long as you’re not using too much data. Big data users or those looking for cheap PAYG plans will probably be better off looking elsewhere.
Tesco do offer a wide range of handsets that can be bought on contract. These phone contracts are completely separate from your service contract, so you can get a phone even if you’re on PAYG. You will need to pass a credit check in order to qualify though. Tesco also have a flexible upgrade programme that allows you to get a new phone any time simply by paying off the balance on your own phone and allows you to design your phone contract to be as long or as short as you’d like (within reason).
Unfortunately, Tesco do not support WiFi calling, so you’ll need to rely on your regular mobile reception (and your monthly limit of minutes) to make calls. Nor do they support free WiFi hotspots, so you’ll be using your mobile data or WiFi connections from cafes or restaurants when out of the house.
Tesco Mobile allows mobile tethering on all of their SIM cards. So if you want to use mobile data to get your tablet or another device online you’re free to do so.
Tesco Mobile have a huge range of plans, so there’s plenty of choices. They also have plenty of extras, and if you’re looking for a family plan then Tesco is going to be a great choice. Tesco probably isn’t the best option for those looking for lots of data though, nor for those looking for a simple, traditional PAYG.
