Help me with the confusopoly

[damerell]

Apparently the Great Satan of Databases transfers your cellphone number to you if you are made redundant but not if you leave voluntarily.

So... ideally by next Monday, I could use a cellphone and number, and it's all a hideous confusopoly.

Assume I plan to make low use of it, mostly for text massages, and want as cheap and boring a phone as possible. What should I do, dear Lazyweb?

Comments

[auntsarentgents]

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/phones/mobile-phone-cost-cutting

[crazyscot]

I went with T-Mobile's cheapest contract a few years ago on the grounds that it was actually possible, relatively straightforwardly, to get a call tariff and explanation out of their site - which I couldn't say about the other networks I looked at. (I specifically wanted a contract phone.)

I used to have a PAYG Orange, who were similarly transparent in the main. Neither Orange nor Tmo have done anything I've found egregiously evil. However Tmo are in the process of merging with Orange, so all bets are off...

[ptc24]

What I did was to go into Tesco and to just buy something based mainly on price. I got mine for 15 quid (and then put a fiver into it - pay-as-you-go is what you need) and don't seem to have a problem with it so far.

I've got a Samsung somethingorother, on the T-Mobile network. It does the job. If you want a phone and want something cheap both in money and confusopoly-wrangling effort, it should do.

[ceb]

You should borrow my old one. Alternatively, second ptc24's Tesco plan, I am very happy with http://www.tesco.com/mobilenetwork/