Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Variety of tariffs - inc . unlimited free off - peak calls (Free Time), Free Voice mail retrieval, free itemised billing |
| Disadvantages: |
Customer services could be improved slightly, extra £1 charge if you don& # 8217;t pay by Direct Debit |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
One 2 One is one of the 4 major mobile networks in the UK other than Vodafone (the first mobile network set up in UK!), BT Cellnet (which includes genie; the mobile internet service) and Orange (the most popular network!) and of course Virgin Mobile which operates off One 2 One. So which one do you choose? Well, as always a good place to start is at Ciao a highly useful resource for the consumer; and looking at the current quantity of opinions; the figures seem to speak for themselves; with Orange having over 300 opinions, Vodafone in second place with 194 opinions and in joint third place are BT cellnet and One 2 One.
Choosing a network can depend on many factors such as:
1) UK coverage
2) call quality
3) tariff plans,
4) or even down to what handsets are available on the network.
I had been an Orange customer for 3 years and had received an excellent service and always had superb call quality, so you may be asking why did I change to One2One? The reason I changed was because I wanted to replace my mobile phone and keep my old number and the cheapest way for me to do this was to leave Orange. The phone I was interested in had not been released on the Orange network (Samsung SGH-A-300); in addition prices of upgrades are always more expensive than starting a new contract; so I decided to go with One 2 One.
One 2 One
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Like most other networks One 2 One claims 98% coverage of the UK. I checked my postcode for coverage, as well as a few destinations I’d be calling regularly and they all showed an excellent high level of coverage. However, this was not always the case; originally, One2 One started around the M25 area in London and have since expanded up and across the breadth of the country. If you live in remote areas please do check whether One 2 One covers your area and what level of call quality to expect. In recent times the expansion of One 2 One retailers seems to have shot up over the country; I have even noticed previous Vodafone or Orange retailers now selling exclusively One 2 One. So there must be some incentive in Sales and Connections to One 2 One network and One 2 One must be confident to boost and promote certain new tariffs. In this opinion I will discuss my experience of One 2 One as a customer and some of the popular 'monthly' tariffs available on this network. Always remember; whatever network you join you have up to 14 days to cancel the contract and leave the network if you are not happy with the service.
Joining One 2 One
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Joining One 2 One couldn’t have been any easier I asked to have my number transferred from Orange (free of charge). To do this Orange (or your previous network) issue what is known as a PAC number; which stands for Portable Access Code and in approx. seven days the old number is transferred to One to One. Now you may be wondering “do I have to be without a phone for 7 days?” Well, no as soon as you purchase a new phone and Contract with One 2 One I was issued a temporary number, which started working straight away. On the other hand if you are connecting to a network for the first time or do not wish to transfer previous mobile phone number then it couldn’t be simpler; you’ll have your new phone and new phone number connected to the network instantly. A large Blue coloured Welcome to One 2 One pack is issued with the Sale, highlighting most common questions, answers and features of the network.
Analysis of Tariffs
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One 2 One like most mobile communications operators offers a variety of Social and business tariffs. Being a first time customer with One 2 One I chose the lowest priced monthly tariff at £13 per month called ‘Anytime 20’; this allows you to make calls at anytime of the day. As the name suggests 20 minutes of free calls are included in this Call Plan and further calls are charged at 10p/min in day or evening. Calls to One 2 One mobiles is 10p/min anytime in the day and calls to other networks cost 25p/min anytime of the day (which is cheaper than Orange’s 35p/min). One of the best things about all One 2 One Call Plans is that voice mail retrieval is free at anytime of the day, provided you are in UK. The price also includes free itemised billing, just like Orange! I think the £13 entry level tariff seems to apply across all the networks, with Vodafone charging £12.99 on ‘Vodafone 20’ for example, however standard calls are charged at 15p/min on Vodafone compared to One 2 One’s 10p/min on ‘Anytime 20’.
Other tariffs I am considering to upgrade to with One 2 One is a rather popular off-peak tariff called ‘Free Time’ that would appeal to those who make a lot of off-peak calls and love to chat! This tariff allows ‘unlimited’ off-peak calls, yes that’s right, unlimited! Well almost *….. read on..
Being an ex Everyday 50 Customer from Orange I was used to having 50 mins a day to talk, making that about 1500 minutes a month, but the bad thing about that tariff was you had to use the 50 minutes in a day, so if you didn’t use it basically you would lose it. Having one month to spread calls makes it easier with a tariff like ‘Free Time’ which allows off-peak Unlimited FREE calls, but as some of you may know this tariff has recently been re-introduced it used to be around a few years ago, but had been abused with members running businesses etc off the unlimited off-peak time. So One 2 One have re-issued this tariff subject to a *Fair Use Policy which basically means anyone found using the unlimited minutes ‘excessively’ may be removed from that tariff; their definition of excessive is more than 3000 minutes a month. This generous tariff allowing unlimited off peaks calls to land lines and other One 2 One mobiles too. At the moment, I don’t know anyone on One 2 One, but once a few people transfer over then I’d be able to maximise its potential. Once again retrieving your voice mail messages is free anytime of day or night.
Text messages cost 10p on ‘Free Time’ and ‘Anytime 20’. On Vodafone 20 or BT Cellnet’s ‘Weekend 300’, text messages cost 12p. However, if you are a frequent text message sender there is another tariff on One 2 One called ‘Talk and Text’ that you may find more useful; this allows 50 free text messages a month, and 500 free off-peak calls at monthly price of £15 a month.
For those of you not interested in entering a contract there are of course, PAYG (Pay As You Go) Tariffs allowing one access to One 2 One at 5p/min after 2 minutes after an initial charge of 30p/min. If you've already got a handset One 2 One also allows you to buy a SIM card only that includes £5 worth of calls for £15.
Call Quality and Network Performance~
The call quality has been quite good so far. I have not yet dropped a call, though most calls have been made in mainland England.
I did find some interruption in line breaks however during my calls to One 2 One customer service. I have yet to establish whether this is a fault on my phone or is applicable to One 2 One call centre.
The Bill
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My bill arrived promptly (how nice! A little later would've been better!). After seeing orange bills for 3 years the Blue made a change, though it looked dull, just like a BT bill! Anyway whether dull or bright, orange or blue (as long as its not red!) a bill has to be paid once you’ve assessed the call charges are correct.
The information is clearly displayed on the first page showing the name of the tariff, followed by the itemised charges of the calls made on the second page. I got a nasty shock when I saw my bill as I’d incurred WAP phone charges of a few pounds! Please note WAP phone calls are NOT included in any of One to One’s Call Plans and are charged at 10p/min. You will find this is the case with most networks with the exception of BT Cellnet’s Mobile Internet scheme called ‘Genie’ who specialise in WAP. WAP is still so poorly developed that my advice is to avoid using it unless its free on your network. I was just adjusting my phone settings and must have accidentally gone to the WAP browser to incur WAP charges, Ouch!
My payment is by Direct Debit as One 2 One charge at extra £1 if paying by other methods. You get your bill 2 weeks prior to your bank account being debited, so if there are any discrepancies you can sort it out with One 2 One first.
Customer Service
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Contacting customer Services is free via your mobile, by dialling 121.Ok, this is where I was not that impressed. The knowledge of staff is a lot less than my experience with Orange, where throughout my 3 years I always got through to really helpful staff, always pleased to take your call and always knew what strings to pull if a customer had a problem. Out of 10 calls to One 2 One only today I came across a really helpful operator, shows they are more rare to find at One 2 One than at Orange. I think Orange Call Centre’s were in Leeds and from the sound of the operators for One to One they seem to be in Scotland (not that should make any difference!) Basically I found staff take too long to answer queries; they should know where to find the answer to customer questions straightaway in their on screen browsers or if it’s a typical question they should know the answer straightaway. Anyway, now that I am settled into the network there shouldn’t be too much need for me to contact Customer Services.
Insurance
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Another downside is Insurance. Insurance is not included with any One 2 One Call Plans and needs to be taken out separately. It cost £3.99 a month, which is £1 cheaper than Orange’s Insurance which starts at £5 a month but goes down each year you don’t claim. The Insurance is not widely discussed and I was not asked at time of taking out the Contract or by One 2 On whether Id like it, it’s very important to have mobile phone insurance and please be aware its not included as standard on One 2 One Call Plans. On Orange Talk Plans insurance is included, except on the Everyday 50 Tarriff.
Overall, although One 2 One hasn’t been the most successful network on the market; it is currently a growing one with some stunning tariffs; especially the unlimited Free Talk Times. With free voice mail retrieval and a selection of the latest phones (Motorola T191, Samsung A-300, as well as all the Nokia’s!) it makes this an exciting alternative to consider next time you are upgrading your mobile, and remember if you don’t like it you can cancel your contract within 14 days free of charge. Based on the positive facts above of Call Plans etc, coupled with the need in improvement of Customer services and lack of phone insurance I award this network a 3 –star rating and still rate Orange No.1 in Customer Services, but this is where One 2 One company has still to progress and is experiencing rapid growth, the future may not be Orange after all!
For further information check out: www.one2one.co.uk
Connoisseur_haggler © Ciao [UK]
| More Reviews |
 One2One, Second2None
Review of One 2 One by
jmorley99
Advantages: Excellent Customer Service, Good value
Disadvantages: Network coverage still improving
...in fact there is only one pub I regularly go where I cannot get a signal so what more could I ask for lol. The customer service has been of an extremely high standard throughout the three years. I initially had some billing problems when I first signed up, but when I rang to sort it out the customer service rep was extremely helpful, evening crediting my account because of the inconvenience so I actually ended up better off as a result. More recently ...
...and 10p text to One2One and other networks
All in all a very good deal, one which however has since been discontinued to new subscribers, well they get a free phone don’t they what more do they want! In me I feel that One2One have a customer for life. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
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very helpful
01.03.2002
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 one2one - a historian's opinion
Review of One 2 One by
rayliu
Advantages: Free Calls, Cheap Tariffs, Free Voicemail
Disadvantages: Network Infrastructure, Limited Handsets, Customer Service
...of another contract year with One 2 One so I thought it was time to write my thoughts about this much-unloved network. One2One? OK so I know most people have a nickname for 121 such as One2NoOne and it is not the most popular network here at Ciao but I’m still willing to give them my money. If you don’t mind reading some mobile phone history, read on. But beware this is a long read!
One2One started life way back in the early 90’s ...
...networks have tried to compete. One of one2one big pluses is the fact that all voicemail retrieval is free unlike all the other networks, which charge. They were the only network to allow you to dial 0800 and other freephone numbers for free anytime of the day but have recently scrapped this much to the anger of most of its customers including me. The current tariffs include Everyone 100, which includes 100 minutes to call any landline or mobile ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
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very helpful
28.11.2001
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ONE2ONE ONE4YOU
Review of One 2 One by
father_jack
Advantages: Good value calls, good customer service, some good handsets
Disadvantages: Poor WAP, below average network
One2One was, at the start of last year, the network to be with. They were better than the competition in terms of call prices and in terms of the range of PAYG phones available- however, they are currently struggling to keep their edge… The basic concept: 30ppm for 1st 2 min/day 5ppm thereafter These call prices are still quite low, especially if you use you phone a lot during peak periods. They also are a lot simpler to understand that BT Cellnet's ...
...dated in our 24 hour society, so 121's price plan is a breath of fresh air. Vodafone's SmartStep, which followed in the steps of 121 is based on a similar concept, but you do have to give 121 the credit for being the first (except for Virgin- but lets ignore them for now, they basically are One2One anyway). I think Orange also now have a similar price plan called ‘Just Talk Plus’, but I could be wrong…
Therefore, for this I would give 121 full marks ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
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very helpful
09.07.2001
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 ONE TO NO ONE Phones are Great unlike the Network
Review of One 2 One by
ribena
Advantages: Free voicemail
Disadvantages: Bad coverage, Cant text abroad, receving text messages took me 26 hrs
...have just finished speaking to One to One on the phone and just had to let you know how utterly useless I find the network is in the East Sussex area.
Firstly let me state the 3210 i have is great it is the state of the network that i am writing about. I have been with One2one for about 6 months on their pay as you go Standard Tariff.
Out of all the plans I have tried the standard plan is the most reasonable and requires no service credit and you ...
...minute
Local, national and other One 2 One customers Call charge 30p per minute
(For first 2 minutes of use per day) 30p per minute
Local, national and other One 2 One customers Other call charges Calls to other mobile operators' customers 30p per minute, at any time Service charge none Features Free: voicemail caller display Additional: information services WAP/Mobile Internet text messaging international roaming Mobile Internet
(WAP access ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
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very helpful
28.05.2001
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I was one, Now I am MANY...
Review of One 2 One by
Mctee2000
Advantages: Good tariff rates! Variety of featurse!
Disadvantages: Poor reception! Customer service not very good!
...one2one have given the public one of their best tricks yet, surely this was done unintentioanlly. This trick allows you to send free voicemail messages to your fellow one2one users. Although one2one have locked down on this now, it ran for a good 3 months or so. It is like calling somebody, but without paying no moey or using ur credit. start with +44 and then key in the following details. Then you put the person's voicemail code next to the +44. ...
...061, 062, 063, 064, etc. Then you input your mobile phone number without the vero i.e 7932879158. If my number was 07932 879 158, and my voicemail code was 051 the number will look exactly like this: - +440517932879158. Depending on what mobile phone you are using the symbol for + will be *(x2) on a Nokia phone.
The next stage of the process is inputting the P sign to the number followed by the person you are wishing to voicemails number also without ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful |
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very helpful
20.02.2002
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08.01.2001
17.07.2001
24.07.2001
