As a student I'm constantly trying to scrimp and save my pennies wherever I can - I'm continually told that every little helps, to choose the cheaper product in the supermarket and to buy just one pair of shoes rather than three on a shopping spree! I must admit I find it hard – I just can’t resist going to Marks and Spencers for my food and buying that gorgeous top in Warehouse rather than shopping somewhere a little more within my budget – in all honesty I’m practically giving up in the shopping field but one area I’ve managed to cut back my expenditure is on my phone bill!
I’ve got an
O2 Online contract which costs me £25 a month and is most generous with the
free call time and text messages – but not quite generous enough for me who, during the month of August last summer, managed to send a whopping 721 text messages on my phone, 221 over the designated free text messages! Luckily one of my close friends was standing nearby with helpful advice on how I could persuade my dad not to talk my
mobile off me!
And so there is the story of how I discovered this site www.fonetastic.com a little gem in the world of text message addicts!
** Fonetastic Homepage**
Now I warn you, the homepage is quite cluttered and upon first gaze you might be tempted to revert back to the simplicity offered by sending a text message off your phone - but resist! Along the top of the page are the main menus and facilities offered by Fonetastic which will be discussed below.
On the left hand side of the page are the menus again, an option to gain 55
free SMS credits by referring your friends and an advertising banner. On the right hand side of the page are the top credit winners (top 5) listed as well as more advertising banners. The main bulk of the page is the centre part which offers boxed links to the menus along the top of the page again.
It’s fairly cluttered in a sense but once you’ve been there once or twice you’ll learn to locate easily what it is you’re looking for. It loads instantly (with a fast connection) and all links are equally as quick to load so no problems on the technical side of things at all!
** Menus **
~ Home - this is the first menu on offer and will merely take you back to the homepage which is discussed above. You do not need to go back to the homepage to access different areas of the site as they are all listed along the top tool bar on every page.
~ SMS - this is my most visited area of the site and in order to access this you need to register with Fontastic and log a username and password with them (for more information on opening an account please see below). Once you've registered you can merely enter your username and password and be transported to the SMS screen. At the top you're told how many SMS credits you have left (you can earn this by registering with various partner sites and referring friends) and also how many Daily Free SMS credits you have left (you get 15 a day - that's 15 free texts a day)! Below this is a box for writing your message which can be up to 130 characters and then you can choose where the SMS message is sent from, either Fonetastic, your personalised Fonetastic number with an inbox to recieve replies or your mobile number.
You then enter the recipient's number or select a contact from your address book and click send. On the following page you have to select a link or sponser site which will open up in a seperate window and complete the sending of your message - simple!
~ Logos - once again this section requires you to log into your account as do all the sections on Fonetastic. Once on the Logo's homepage you can see how many Logo Credits you have - divided into Logo Credits, Daily Free Credits (2 a day) and DIY Mobile Logo Credits. Once on this page there's a selection of categories to choose a logo from including the usual, e.g. animals, cartoons, sex, etc. Each logo costs 1 credit to be sent to a mobile and in order to send you merely need to enter the mobile network, the country and the mobile phone number. Simple! The DIY Mobile Logo Credits enable you to design your own logo using a facility on the webpage similar to that of Microsoft Paint. You're given a grid of tiny squares, approx. 50 by 12, and then can fill them in with black in whatever shape or pattern you desire - there's also some pre-designed shapes such as hearts to make this easier.
~
Phones - this link transports you to the FontasticMobile shop which offers a range of handsets available to order and buy. For each phone there's between 1 and 20
deals on offer with various networks including Orange, Vodafone and
T Mobile. The prices all seem quite reasonable and all the contracts on offer here are available from the networks websites or highstreet stores. The option is given for you to call and buy or to purchase
online - delivery typically takes 5-7 days.
~ Credits - this page offers you the chance to earn SMS and Logo credits to enable you to keep sending text messages and logos free of charge. Typical offers require you to register to a site, e.g. OfferZoo, Luckysurf and then enter a single word from the registration page into the Fontastic page to give you your free credits, instantly! Most registrations offer between 20 and 30 credits so it's well worthy taking a few minutes to register to various free sites to get these credits.
~ Chat - this is a typical
internet chat site available to users of Fonetastic to chat with other members or friends free of charge. By chatting you can also learn "chat credits" which can be converted into SMS and Logo credits so again it's another option to earn free credits!
~ Register - this option allows you to register and join Fonetastic and therefore gain from their various offers and freebies. Firstly you're required to agree to a contract (all the usual stuff about abuse, etc), secondly you need to enter your home country, house number and post code so they can locate you and thirdly your mobile details and personal details for the invention of your account. And that's it, no account approval or text message codes sent to your phone, you can be registered up to Fonetastic in a number of minutes and it won't cost you a thing!
~ My FT - this stands for My Fonetastic and from this page you can personalise your account to a certain extent.
You can view your saved logos, go to your text message inbox, log out and go onto the chat server - all links that are accessibly from other pages and areas of the site. There's also the option of updating your
email address as well as changing your password if
security issues prevail at all.
** Reliability of Fonetastic **
On 4 out of 5 occasions I'd say the SMS message is recieved almost instantly (within 30 seconds of opening the link/sponsor web page), however there are some instances where sending is delayed by up to 12 hours or the message is never recieved at all! I tend to find it's a good idea to test out the current "mood" of Fonetastic by sending a message to your own phone to check it’s working.
** Extras **
~
Address Book - this function allows you to enter your friends phone numbers and
contact details so that when you send a text message you can merely select a name and save time when entering the phone number.
~ SMS Inbox - for those of you who don't wish to give out your mobile number Fonetastic will give you a personal inbox so that when you send messages to a contact there will be an automatic link at the end of the message instructing them to reply - their reply will then appear in your inbox within a number of seconds usually!
~ Competitions – Fonetastic offers various monthly competitions that you can enter by merely logging in to your account. This current month includes the chance to win an Ipod, the chance to visit The OC set and win the
box set and a year’s supply of lager too! By going to the competitions page which is listed on the left hand side on each of the Fonetastic pages, you merely click on the competition you’re interested in and merely complete a quick registration to a partner site (as you do when obtaining your free SMS/Logo credits) and hey presto you’ve entered!
~ Translator – from this link you can enter your text message and then select a translation to transform your message, options include Ali G, Geordie and Posh!
** Customer Service **
On the rare occasion that you do encounter a problem with your account or with the Fonetastic site there's a "contact" link at the very bottom of each page. From here you have the option to write by mail, to phone or to email Fonetastic for help (including loss of a password).
Loss of a Password – as long as you remember the email address you registered you merely enter that and the password will be sent to your email almost instantaneously.
Account Query – for this option you need to include your username, password, email address and then your problem (this can be as long or as short as required, there’s no word limit). Once submitting it you are informed that your query will be responded to within 48 hours and on the one occasion I have had a problem I received a reply within a day, not bad!
Misc Query – if you don’t have an account then this is the best place for you to get help, all that is required is your email address so they can contact you with regard to your problem. I’ve never actually used this service before but imagine it to be just as fast as the above.
** My Opinion **
This is a truly
fantastic site, I typically use it several times a day to send text messages to my friends and it really does save me a fortune on the old phone bill! It’s quick and
easy to use and best of all it’s free – what more could you want! I’ve only really used the
SMS function and I really couldn’t fault the site on that at all, 15 free SMS messages a day and in the majority of situations they will send without a delay!
So go on, cut back on that phone bill, and if you get there quick there’s a chance to send free Valentine’s Day messages that will be delivered between 9am and 5pm tomorrow – free of charge! And best of all you can make them anonymous!
Thanks for reading! Lucie xxx
Fabulous Fonetastic Freebies! 
Good review Rache :)