Prepay accounts for the in-laws

Forums › One New Zealand (including Vodafone, WxC, Farmside) › Prepay accounts for the in-laws - a better way?

nate

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#269908 14-Apr-2020 14:22

Currently, I look after two separate prepay accounts for my in-laws. Both are absolutely hopeless with technology, and being the good son-in-law I am, I top up their accounts each month and generally keep an eye on things.

I'm wonder if there's a better way to do this, by putting them both on a shared plan (or similar) and just paying a monthly account? Both are not big call/txt users, mainly data.

Do any of you do something similar, and if so, how do you achieve this?

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#2461125 14-Apr-2020 14:30

Pick a pre-pay plan that can be auto paid by credit card on it's renewal?
Or Kogan Mobile and pay the whole year in one go.

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ajw

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#2461128 14-Apr-2020 14:33

Kogan has some good discounts at the moment which expire soon.

nate

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#2461134 14-Apr-2020 14:45

ajw:

Kogan has some good discounts at the moment which expire soon.

Yeah they look really good and could be right up my alley.

What's the catch though?

ajw

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#2461137 14-Apr-2020 14:48

nate:

ajw:

Kogan has some good discounts at the moment which expire soon.

Yeah they look really good and could be right up my alley.

What's the catch though?

None that I know off my son has signed up for a year and I know four other people on individual accounts who signed up for a year when they offer their discounts. Free voicemail access and MMS.

hhan

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#2461291 14-Apr-2020 18:26

How do you compare Skinny and Kogan? I’m running into the same situation as the OP.

ANglEAUT

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#2461408 14-Apr-2020 21:13

nate: ... What's the catch though?

Seems good for us.

+ Kogan uses the Vodafone network, so good enough coverage in the 'burbs
+ Once off fee
+ "Unlimited" texting & calls to NZ & AU.
+ Decent data packages
= 1 year hassle free phone usage

We'll have to see when the next top up is due how smooth the transition is.

hhan: How do you compare Skinny and Kogan? I’m running into the same situation as the OP.

Thanks to Spark (🤮) they have decent network coverage even in rural areas. I've seen some good data packages from them & would have considered them for overseas visitors here for a holiday.

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WyleECoyoteNZ

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#2461410 14-Apr-2020 21:14

How much are they topping up each month individually?

Is something like this of use:

https://www.vodafone.co.nz/pay-monthly/#share-plans

Personally, I'm with 2Degrees on a Share Plan, sharing data with my wife. Just the two of us at the moment (eldest child to go to Intermediate next year, and probably get a phone, will have 3 then), using the 10GB a month plan. Data also rolls over month to month. We're not heavy data users, and a few weeks in lockdown has helped, but after 3 months or so on the plan, the data pool is around 31GB.

I do know that with the 2Degrees app, I can choose how much data to share, or just have it open (at the moment it is open)

ajw

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#2461414 14-Apr-2020 21:20

Anybody thinking about going with Kogan they are running a promo at the moment that runs out later this month.

nate

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#2461419 14-Apr-2020 21:24

WyleECoyoteNZ:

How much are they topping up each month individually?

About $20 each per month.

I'm getting so lazy that even doing that twice a month is a hassle :)

hhan

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#2461420 14-Apr-2020 21:26

ANglEAUT: Thanks to Spark (🤮) they have decent network coverage even in rural areas. I've seen some good data packages from them & would have considered them for overseas visitors here for a holiday.

So Kogan is cheaper if pay annually while skinny network (spark) has better coverage?

nate

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#2461423 14-Apr-2020 21:28

hhan:

So Kogan is cheaper if pay annually while skinny network (spark) has better coverage?

Once a year I go on holiday to a spot near Lake Karapiro that's notorious for having no Vodafone coverage (my phone is Vodafone), so I also have a Skinny SIM card to use then. Works like an absolute champ.

hhan

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#2461427 14-Apr-2020 21:37

nate: Once a year I go on holiday to a spot near Lake Karapiro that's notorious for having no Vodafone coverage (my phone is Vodafone), so I also have a Skinny SIM card to use then. Works like an absolute champ.

So I’ll probably go with Skinny. They also offer automatic top up (set and forget)

Wakrak

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#2461437 14-Apr-2020 21:47

Only issue I have with Skinny is that if you're on a plan lower than $36, you have to pay extra for voicemail. Tempted to switch to 2Degrees just because they have it implemented.

ajw

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#2461440 14-Apr-2020 21:52

Wakrak:

Only issue I have with Skinny is that if you're on a plan lower than $36, you have to pay extra for voicemail. Tempted to switch to 2Degrees just because they have it implemented.

That's why I'm switching to 2D and as a low end user the $10 carryover prepay plan works for me plus 30 day billing. But for high end usage I would not hesitate to switch to Kogan mobile.

hhan

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#2461445 14-Apr-2020 21:57

Wakrak:

Only issue I have with Skinny is that if you're on a plan lower than $36, you have to pay extra for voicemail. Tempted to switch to 2Degrees just because they have it implemented.

ajw:

That's why I'm switching to 2D and as a low end user the $10 carryover prepay plan works for me plus 30 day billing. But for high end usage I would not hesitate to switch to Kogan mobile.

what is your experience with 2d? Coverage, speed, service, etc.

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