In case you haven't heard, Mobile by Sainsbury's is shutting down on the 15th of January 2016.
If you use this service, don't forget to use up your existing credit and call them to request your PAC code, if you wish to keep your mobile number!
I'm gutted that MBS is closing down. They were one of the cheapest PAYG networks around and had some great value 30 day bundles.
MBS is also one of the very few Vodafone MVNOs, and I have always been able to get a Vodafone signal everywhere that I've lived for the last fifteen years, so to see this MVNO disappear is particularly troublesome for me.
Tonight, the time has come for me to ask if I could get a refund for my PAYG credit, which through various special offers I've managed to get up to around £74!
There was no way that I'd use this up by next January, plus there is a deadline (15th of November) which is the last day that you can buy a 30 day bundle, so I thought that I'd take a chance and ask for my credit...
MBS is not the easiest network to deal with over the phone. Their call centre is fine, but they ask lots of security questions about your account (when did you last top up, when did you last call us, what was the last number that you called two days ago, that sort of thing).
Some customers may be able to reel the answers to these questions off, but for a casual PAYG customer, it's not as easy.
As before, I had to remove my SIM and jot down the number printed on it before calling them back.
I was put through to the PAC request team, and the chap who I spoke with was very helpful.
He said that I could take my credit as Nectar points, a Sainsbury's voucher or a cheque, if I was prepared to wait 28 days.
Requests for credit refunds are processed as soon as MBS receives a number porting request from another network.
All of this was very straightforward and self explanatory - And to be honest I was very surprised to be able to reimburse my PAYG credit!
I hope that MBS do, one day, manage to find a MNO to partner with, but it sounds like they were squeezed a little too hard by parent network, Vodafone.
So, I've got my PAC and am eager to obtain my credit. I had a spare Three SIM lying around, so I'm moving this number back to Three, simply because they offer cheap PAYG rates and have a decent data network.
My main number is still with giffgaff, though due to the ongoing dropped calls, unsent text messages and appalling data speeds I will be returning to the Vodafone network soon, though now that MBS are on their way out I'll have to consider Talkmobile or Vodafone themselves.
Mobile by Sainsbury's, you will be missed.
Asda Mobile were originally on the Vodafone network, and I used them for a few years, so to see MBS fold after two years leaving a Vodafone MVNO-shaped gap in the market is pretty bad news.
