Felix Mobile (Mobile phone carrier)

 

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Felix Mobile has replaced my previous mobile carrier, which I've had for many years. I was lured by the unlimited data plan, as I use my phone as a hot spot to connect my laptop and I use a minimum of 100 GB per month. Most carriers in Australia have prepaid or postpaid plans for 100 GB at quite expensive prices and unlimited data for ridiculous prices. I was also lured by the fact that the company was new in Oz and they were offering a $35-plan for unlimited data, unlimited calls and SMS. I got a bonus for $5 for unlimited international calling. I have use the company for 3+ months and I couldn't be happier, how easy is to add or remove add-ons on the app, the quality and speed of the Internet that I get with it, the fact that uses 4G and the Vodafone network to operate.

 

They are carbon neutral certified. They claim to plant a tree on our behalf for every month we're on one of their mobile plans. But they don't do so directly as they've partnered with One Tree Planted, a non-profit organisation focused on global reforestation to plant the trees, i.e. they're supporting a great NGO but not planting trees directly like in Oz. We don't know where. It sounds off to me.  

They increased the pricing of their unlimited plan, short after I joined, but I was one of the few newcomers they kept the original $35, and now the unlimited plan is advertised at $40, which is lovely.

The two major letdowns are, firstly, the basic design of the app and color scheme, and, most importantly, the limited customer service they offer. No phone number to call CS, no specific chat on their website. The only way to contact them is via WhatsApp or via the  app chat. Contact via their website via desktop is poor and idiotic. 

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Lebara (Australia)

When Lebara landed on Australia and I saw their fees I frowned. Funny, because I was with Lebara Au as my main carrier for years both for International and local calls.

Herewith a wrap-up of my experience with Lebara.  

THE GOOD 
> They have the best rates for prepaid mobile in Australia to call landlines, mobiles and 1300 and 1800 numbers, the latter being the hidden trap of most Australian "cheap" carriers for prepaid and post-paid. Most services and utilities companies have one of those two numbers, and one can expend a lot of time on the phone when calling. 
> If you have family and/or friends living overseas and talk with them often, you will love Lebara because they offer ridiculously cheap fees to call landlines overseas (as cheap as a local call within Australia), very cheap fees to call mobiles, and the quality of the connection is fabulous most of the time. The only cheaper rates for calling overseas and having a good quality of sound I've found are Skype's. Last year, I spent  over an hour on the phone in a call from Perth to the a landline in the USA and paid less than 2 bucks! Calls to some European countries are more expensive, but as cheap as a local call within Australia.
> Their prepaid data packs are generous in size and very cheap. They used to be more varied and generous at the beginning, but they are still great.  Of course, they want you to pay for a plan, but they don't push you into it nor make things difficult so you do so. It is really up to you and your needs.
> Their data plans are valid for a month but, unlike other companies, they can be renewed without a problem if you use them before the end of the natural month. 
>  You can recharge and track your phone and data usage online.
> You can configure your Internet settings by going online providing your phone number and phone model, and the company automatically will send you an SMS with an auto-set-up thingie attached that configures  everything for you.  
> They have online chat help, something I always love because phone calls to customer service,  even if free is a waste of time, especially if you are working. 
> You can recharge online easily. If you register your credit card, recharging online, from your phone, is very easy and straightforward without having to introduce any personal info. 
> You can easily set up the auto-recharge.  
> Purporting number from a normal Lebara SIM card to a a nano Lebara Card is done without a fuss in about 1 hour.   
> The quality of sound in International calls is crystal clear and as good as I was ringing from a landline. some return sound is ocassionally found, though. 
> Coverage in Australia has improved a lot, especially in rural areas, and to my surprise I found my phone using the local network in some areas that I visit regularly, when there was no coverage before. 
> Lebara SIM cards are everywhere! In any small shop and even in Woolies and in many Post Offices. I would not bother ordering a SIM  online unless you are in a wheel chair and have mobility problems.  

DOWNSIDES
> Purporting a phone number from another carrier can be a bit lengthy. 
> If you use Internet without a plan, your prepaid credit will leak fast without you browsing much. It happened to me. These days, fortunately, they charge you for KB not of MB, but it is still expensive. You better pay for a data pack. 
> They don't offer the option of choosing from different phone numbers when you join, so you better choose a data pack with a number you like in advance. 
> Lebara uses the Vodafone network, so their Internet service is not the best in the Australian market, yet good enough for 3G and everyday use. Never had any problem with it at all and used it regularly.
> No International roaming whatsoever. 
> Although Lebara is in other countries, you cannot use your Lebara SIM card in any of those countries. 
> Chat help is really slow. I think the operators are attending several people at the same time because it takes then ages to reply. That or their plugging or chat program is outdated.   
>  Customer service can be idiotic and unhelpful at times especially if you present them with a problem or ask them something that isn't in their manual. At times they don't listen to what you are saying, or want to move on to the next customer asap, or they tell you something you know is incorrect to acknowledge that this is the case  only when you say you have the proof of that being incorrect; or they treat you like you are a half-wit. 
> Recharge online was hassle free first, no need to register your credit card, but then was impossible, plenty of problems, a pain in the butt, and last year was easy and possible but you need to have your card registered, something I never like. 

To my surprise, Lebara turned to be a frog turned into prince, which is the reverse of other companies I have been with. Not Telstra, that is for sure, but you are not ripped off on a daily basis either.

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Recharge.Com (Online Retailer)

I bought a cheap prepaid Orange Mundo SIM card in Spain to use during my visit there. This particular SIM card is very good for international roaming, so I decided to use it during my long trip abroad. Unfortunately, I forgot to open an online account to recharge it online before I left Spain, so I found myself in the middle of nowhere unable to recharge my mobile phone.

I found Recharge.com via Google. The site allows you to top up prepaid cards from +300 mobile carriers spread throughout + 70 countries. You can pay with your credit card, Paypal and a good number of other safe ways of payment, which vary from country to country (iDeal, Bancontact, KBC Homebanking, ING Home-Bank, Sofort, and Giropay). The site charges a fee for the transaction, but it is tiny and shown beforehand, so it is up to you to continue or not. The fees I have paid are very small in comparison with the benefit and service I got from them.

Recharge.com can be browsed in several languages (English, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, German, Portuguese and Polish) and has a very easy to use website, with everything you need to know told to you upfront in the FAQs. 

It sounds too good to be true? Well, it is good and it is true!

I have used the service four times during my trip across different countries and the top-up was immediate. I used my VISA card as as payment (normal info requested plus extra verification info) and not even five minutes later I received an SMS from my mobile carrier confirming the top up amount. Therefore, I was able to use my mobile immediately! Awesome!

The service is specially useful in small and remote countries if you are using a local SIM, but also available to carriers in USA Spain an Poland. See the map below to check if the card you have can be recharged via this site. Of course, you can top up your card from any country in the world, online, even if they don't have any carrier providing their services through this site:

MIND

If you introduce the wrong number, there is no way to rectify or recover your money, as the top up is available to customers immediately! So mind your fingers and open your eyes!

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