Hi all,
I recently signed up on the Telstra $99 post-paid plan with the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, as offered/promoted through JB Hi-Fi. I wanted to port my existing phone number from Boost, but was unable to do so. As a result, I opted for a new phone number, and planned to cancel the contract, pay the early termination fee, and then port my existing phone number to another pre-paid or post-paid plan. Additionally, I took advantage of the 20% discount on Samsung wearables, and purchased a Samsung Watch 3. At the time (as I hadn't owned/used a smart watch previously), I didn't realise that the carriers who offered an eSIM number-sharing plan were restricted to Optus, Telstra, and Vodafone.
Anyway, I cancelled the contract with Telstra, agreed to pay the $600 early termination fee, and went about trying to find a pre-paid or post-paid plan that facilitated eSIM number-sharing. Whilst I suspected that Boost didn't offer this, I contacted them anyway. The representative that I spoke to insisted that Boost supported eSIM number-sharing and provided setup instructions. With (seemingly) confirmation of carrier support, I figured that I wouldn't need to return the Samsung Watch 3, and opened the box. As it turns out, a QR code was required for the eSIM, so I contacted Boost for the second time. On this occasion, a different representative clarified that Boost do NOT support eSIM number-sharing, and that I would need to port my existing phone number to another carrier.
Figuring that I can no longer return the Samsung Watch 3 due to opening the box, I persevere. I spoke to Optus (who were absolutely hopeless, but maybe that's limited to the live chat support staff), and seemingly their cheapest plan is $54 monthly ($39 post-paid plan + $15 eSIM — three times the cost of their competitors) for a measly 10GB of data. I also spoke to Telstra (whose live chat support staff were a marginal improvement over Optus) hoping they would be sympathetic to my cause due to their restrictive porting policy, and their cheapest plan is $60 monthly ($55 post-paid plan + $5 eSIM) for 40GB of data, but no access to the 5G network. Finally, whilst I didn't speak to Vodafone directly, their cheapest plan is $45 monthly ($40 post-paid plan + $5 eSIM) for 30GB of data, which was looking great until… the speed is capped at 2Mb/s (which would be unusable, in my opinion).
I don't use a heap of data. With Boost, I've only used approximately 8GB of data within 10 months (even though I'm on an 80GB plan). Spending over $50 monthly just to get eSIM number-sharing facilities seems like poor value (especially in comparison to the original post-paid plan of $99 monthly, which included the handset payment).
Is there another option or loophole I'm unaware of? Should I just sell the Samsung Watch 3 and hope to break even? Seemingly, none of the carriers offer plans that are suitable for my circumstances.
Any suggestions will be much appreciated. Thanks!
Speak to Vodaphone and see if Vodaphone prepaid supports esim. I think I read somewhere in ozbargain that Vodaphone prepaid supports esim. In that case, the cost might come further down.