Sorry, why can't you get hold of a credit, debit or pre-pay card?

I would also say that it is to help reduce fraud that this is the case - if you pay by a card, then they can check the name on the application matches that on the card in which case they have an element of confidence that the phone will continue to be used correctly, if paying by cash then there is no way of doing this and therefore could be being bought as a gift for somebody else in which case they are potentially taking more risk.

Not sure if that makes sense, but at least I know what I mean.

Fiamold aka Dave

why dont you go to a different shop then.... I have just been into our local vodafone shop to buy a PAYG handset for a works vehicle. I paid with a £20 note she programmed the time & date and even wrote down the number on a bit of paper for me. sorry I paid £25 cos she asked if i wanted £5 credit paid on while she was there...

Great service is all I can say

ok so you pay 10 pound more, whats the problem, YOU are getting the credit for it, your not losing anything, and as previously said you will probably use it anyway

most people who have to do this are ok with it ( i work in the industry) as they realise that they are getting something for it

the people who are not normally happy with it are the ones that we call box breakers.

this comes down to 2 simple things, the people who go away and sell the phone and the sim for a higher price than what they paid, not really fair on the person who is buying that one then is it.

the second is people who are looking to buy the phone and put their own simcard into it, this again costs the network money as they subsidise the handset to make it cheaper.

the purpose of all these companies is to make money, i hate to say it but if it was us we would probably do exactly the same

Hey,

I understand that its frustrating to you when you have to pay more when paying by cash. The reasoning behind it so Im told is to counter box breaking. When you buy a mobile with a network, the network subsidise the cost of the phone as long as you top up a minimum of £10. Box breakers take the phone and sim card and seperate them and sell them off for lots more money. So one to counter this from the big companies point of view is to reward the people that pay by debit card (so that if that person is buying lots and lots phones they can trace them and prosecute them) and unfortunately ask cash buyers to pay more.

Two points to make about this, firstly the phone is the same price either way, all the companies are asking you to do is put more credit on your phone, which is ok right, you are going to spend more than £20 on your phone right? Secondly, this restriction is not the same on all phones, just some....which is a bit strange in the first place, but gives you some options! Hope this helps?

Well, you are certainly not the only one, that's for sure, and there has been some discussion on the boards recently about these prepaid debit cards which I think are a fab idea.

Whilst it seems very unfair that you would have to pay more for your top-ups, and I am not sure of the reasoning behind this anyway, it does come down to the simple fact that a debit card, and, even more so, a credit card, is open to abuse, and, as such, Banks etc do tend to be restrictive in who they give them to.

That said, it would be good if there were more widespread options, for those in your position to choose from.

Cat

just lately i have been very frustrated at the number of restrictions put on people who do not own a debit/credit card not only does it prevent me from taking up very tempting offers stop me from shoppoing online or paying things over the phone and having to drive to places like ikea to pay in cash for something that has to be home delivery anyway

i now find that if i want to purhcase a PAYG handset from either the carphone warehouse or phones 4 u and possibly others if i dont have a credit/debit card i have to purchase a £20 top up instead of the usual £10 top up whoch you can pay using a credit or debit card this is extremely unfair apprently iyts so handsets be traced to your adress or something but why should i suffer because i cant get a credit or debit card, its bad enough that sometimes i cant even order a simple computer game or dvd from woolworths because a credit/debit card is required because its coming from out of the country, but thats not enbough it seems that because i dont have this peice of plastic somehow my money is not valid

i think its discrimination and something should be done surely not everyone has a D/C card please someone agree with me i cant be the only 1!!