Upcoming changes to Zevvle [outdated]

Updates
#1

Hello!

As we mentioned recently, we’re working on a different direction for Zevvle, moving away from the strict pay-as-you-go nature to focus on multi-SIM accounts. This will be live next month (December 2019).

Specifically, we’re going to offer a data allowance shared across multiple SIMs for a fixed monthly price, with calls & texts included. Hopefully this blog clears things up, and we’ve added the pricing as well:

As you know, we’ve tweaked things a lot in the past, so this isn’t necessarily the “end product,” – we’re confident in the direction, but will keep our ears close to the ground. For one, I think some of the pricing is too high – we’d like to change that, but need to be sure of the numbers first.

Personally I’m really excited about it, for a few reasons:

  • We can offer more data at a better price.
  • There won’t be any ridonkulous out-of-bundle charges; we’re keeping the £2/GB for anything over your allowance, and will recommend the best option for you each month.
  • As a customer it’ll be a lot simpler to manage, especially for multiple SIMs.

I appreciate this won’t be popular with everyone and represents a significant change; I’m sorry if we’re taking Zevvle in a direction you’re not happy with, but we truly believe it’s for the best, and I guarantee you we haven’t taken taken this decision lightly.

Have a great weekend :blush:

Nick

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Zevvle as a sustainable business
Pricing proposal [Tiered data with unlimited calls & texts]
#2

I don’t think I’m a fan of these changes - I don’t think you’re competitive on this pricing considering the deals you can often get from the major MNO’s nor do I think there’s the benefit of ultra transparent PAYG pricing

To pair this with the fact that the MNO’s have uncapped data access (no speed caps) I don’t see what’s the draw

Zevvle has basically just become another MVNO as of these pricing changes and it’s quite sad to see as I was really looking forward to seeing you grow as a company with that style

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#3

Have I got this right?

Moving the sliders gives 2 sims and 1gb cost of £13 per month with unlimited calls and texts on both sims.

On the existing plan this would cost £14 per month.

In my case (my 2nd sim is data only) it would cost £10 per month (unlimited calls and texts on 1 sim and 1 sim data only sharing 1GB)

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#4

Yes, that’s correct. For that usage it’ll be slightly more expensive, and as mentioned above, I think some of the pricing is too high, particularly for data-only SIMs – we’ll watch that closely.

Of course there’s no need to change if you’re happy with the current setup!

Pricing proposal [Tiered data with unlimited calls & texts]
#5

I have negligible data usage, but lots of calls and texts. This pricing would be prohibitive and would force me to move on, if it was the only option.

I’m very keen on a single allowance across multiple Sims for simplicity, but I don’t need data plus calls and texts all in one package.

#6

My thoughts on this:

Very unattractive, and way too expensive.

My usage is quite spikey, so I like the true payg model,as I don’t have wasted bundles, or overcharges. At the moment my normal usage per month is about 2.5GB, and a few min, so just shy of the £5 pcm minimum. About 3-4 times per year I use quite a lot more data.

With this model I’d have to pay twice as much, and then some extra in months where I use a bit more data than usual. And there are plenty of providers that offer significantly more data for £10 pcm. And let’s face: for most people data is the only thing that matters these days…

Just my thoughts, and you guys need to do what’s right for you, but quite frankly I would sooner switch provider than to this model.

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#7

Luckily Nick is grandfathering users first and not doing a Curve and asking people to make sure they ask for it

Otherwise I’d have to move on too

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#8

The fiver a month minimum works for me. Although an early adopter I’m happy to forfeit unused data as I can see my usage case is not viable for Zevvle otherwise.

Keep up the good work but I’m unlikely to switch to the bundles suggested.

#9

My only concern is that this is going for the multi-SIM angle which I love but the problem is that for Data only SIMs this is more expensive than the current model at least in my current scenario.

I have the full 5 SIMs, two are (or will be) in phones and will require minutes, the other three don’t. Under the current plan I’ll be paying:
4 x Extra SIM @ £2 (£8)
2 x Unlimited Voice and SMS @ £6 (£12)
5 x 1GB Data @ £2 (£10)
Total: £30

The total on the new scheme is £32, yes it’s only £2 but it’s still more expensive.

I think the bundles will attract potentially more ‘normal’ people than the raw PAYG model but then I remember that all of the people I’ve signed up have been because of the PAYG model. It’s a tough one for sure.

Edit:
Just noticed that double the data (10GB) is only an extra £3 so that’s the point you would make more significant savings and once I’ve moved the missus over is probably more realistic usage.

I can also see this could be very compelling for businesses down the line.

I think for bundles to work well then Direct Debits would definitely need to be introduced especially coupled with a Monzo account and Bills Pots!

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#10

To be able to do a proper comparison of the old and new pricing, could I please get a CSV (or similar format) with a break down of my usage. The current voice call monthly summaries lump all calls together, whereas it would be useful to see broken down by chargeable type. Eg incoming free, outgoing UK, outgoing roaming EU, incoming while roaming EU, outgoing international country group X.
Call type on one axis and month and year on the other.

Could make this a standard feature, with options for single SIM or the whole account as part of the unique selling point of making your usage data available easily available.

I’d also find it useful for an option with the monthly bar graphs to show usage rather than cost.

Based on my rough estimates from prior usage (single SIM), I’m data heavy compared to calls and texts but still using only around around 3-7 GB of data at the moment. As far as I can see with this usage pattern the current pricing works out cheaper. On months where I’m using significantly more data then the new pricing will start working out cheaper.

At which points will you be able to change the bundle? Can you change the bundle of the current month of you see towards the end of the month or bundle that your usage is low or high.

Will you be able to see how far through the bundle you are? With alerts that you are close to the end of the bundle?

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#11

Luckily so far I’ve got no roaming calls or texts, so their cost would turn to 0 extra over the bundle in the new pricing.

The new pricing does work well for higher usage, though lower than around 5 to 10 GB per month based on my initial analysis it’s more expensive depending on the amount of calls and texts you do.

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#12

I’m not sure. It’s gone from me not having to make a choice to me having to predict how much data I’ll use in advance.

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#13

I think for now I’ll stay on the PAYG …
4 SIMs (1 + 3@£2/month each) + my light usage (~£4/month) is dramatically cheaper than £25/month of 4 SIMs at 1GB :confused:

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#14

Translation of: simpler if you just look at the price and don’t care what’s wasted

I guess?

#15

I was about to switch on the premise of £2/GB as I’m currently paying £8 for 4GB with plusnet. Your current pricing gives me the same allowance but with flexibility of adding more data or having it rollover to the next month.

With the new proposed plans, I’m looking at £10-£12 for 4GB. Unfortunately this doesn’t work for me, personally. I’m sure it will work for others but I’m afraid I’m out. Best of luck!

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#16

Hello all,

So… we underestimated a few things. We thought the shared-multi-SIM-allowance route was the way forward, but after thinking about this all weekend and speaking with a lot of you it’s clear we were wrong. We’ve left the blog up with a note as a token of our failure. :smiley:

The reality is, we were over-zealous with £2/GB and underestimated its effects. In other words, something needs to change, and whatever we do will mean a price increase for some of you.

We’ll have some more info on exactly what we’re going to do soon, but for now we’re thinking along the lines of a monthly base price + tiered data rates, closer to what Zevvle was in the beginning. It’s likely we’ll include calls & texts to make them non-PAYG and just worry about data.

Also, it’s worth noting that the very nature of PAYG carries a premium (assuming one fully uses their traditional data bundle). The industry is currently built on most people paying for data they don’t use, and there’s no way around it. There’s an interesting conflict between that, simplicity and data being a commodity.

When we do change things, whether we grandparent everyone with the current setup is TBD. It’s not a question of profit margin, but viability, i.e. can we sustain it?

We’re sorry about the confusion; thank you for all your comments. :blush:

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#17

Hi Kevin; thank you for joining the forum! Totally understand, and whatever we do we won’t be able to match Plusnet’s deal. Either way, thank you for considering us. :slight_smile:

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#18

So, now I’m even more concerned :laughing:

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#19

The simple facts are that most people will be driven by price. Some will be influenced by the superb CS (will that scale?), the in app controllability and the fairness of the offering.

In order to be viable any business has to cover its costs and make enough to reinvest and make it worthwhile running.

I would suggest formulating a pricing plan that emulates Zevvle’s costs. If that doesn’t appeal to sufficient customers then time to call it a day. You tried and your vision wasn’t shared by enough other people - no shame in that. You set it up and stayed true to your vision - something plenty of other businesses can’t boast.

I look forward to the new model.

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#20

I’m highly interested in knowing what I’m costing and not wanting to make zevvle a loss.

I’d say the £5/month charge would be ok, especially if extra SIMs were included or at a cheaper rate (maybe 25-50p/SIM?)
Maybe £3 for data might keep it cheap but not at a loss?

PAYG + ‘line rental’ was a really nice model!

I don’t know the sums and this is all speculation but what I’m getting at is something like £15/month for my usage with 3 extra SIMs is really do-able, £20+ not so much so!

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