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Free Mobile

Has anyone used Free Mobile for Cell service in France? Is it easy to cancel? Can you cancel online? It looks like the best deal for a SIM card, however I've seen mixed reviews about the cancellation policy if you get the card without commitment.

Posted by
9462 posts

Why would you have to cancel a no-commitment SIM card ?

Posted by
2 posts

Apparently it is a no contract sim but when you purchase it signs you up for monthly services? People have said that they have had to write and mail a letter to cancel services, and others have said they could cancel online.

Posted by
26835 posts

Any time you have to provide a credit card to access a service, you have a risk of running into hard-to-implement cancellation procedures. I know nothing about that company, though.

Posted by
2537 posts

Free or SFR or Bouygues are all brand names operating networks just as does Orange.

Prepaid SIM use will never require a cancellation notice, and all 4 national companies have prepaid plans. If you sign up for a monthly plan, you will need to provide a credit card, there is typically a minimum contract period (usually 12 months), and you will need to send a cancellation notice by certified mail (Lettre Recommandée) to stop the service.

Posted by
1150 posts

From their web site it looks like you have to have a connection to France to set up an account. For example, it looks like you need to have a French bank account. And, yes, to cancel, you write a letter. How to cancel Free Mobile I just skimmed the site, so I may be mistaken but why go to this trouble? Set up a Google Fi account and then cancel or suspend it when you return home.

Be sure your old phone has the radio bands and radio technology to work in France. You will soon need phones that work on 4G LTE or 5G because 3G and earlier technologies are being phased out.

Posted by
10120 posts

And companies always require 30-day notice for those certified cancelation letters.

Free is a well-known company.

Posted by
100 posts

It's a rolling contract but you can cancel anytime, so you are not locked into paying for an entire year or anything. We used it in 2016. I went to a store in Nimes and had to wait a little bit to get a person that spoke a little English, but I knew what I wanted and the employee helped me navigate the kiosk to purchase the sim and install it. We had no troubles. I found a template for cancellation online and sent it online through La Poste website as soon as we got home, and had no issues (see pre-paid sim wiki page below).

It's definitely a great deal if getting the sim card is convenient for you. It won't work for us on our trip later this year since we won't be able to get to a kiosk in a Mag Presse or a Free store to buy a sim right away, otherwise I would definitely do this again. Most of their stores aren't open on Sundays, and you can't buy them at CDG.

The current discount package is the Série Free 80 Go for 8.99 Euro, which is a great deal! It changes monthly or so, I think, so that exact one might not be available, but there is usually some package for less than the Forfait Free 5G which is currently 210 GB for the month for 19.99 Euro.

https://prepaid-data-sim-card.fandom.com/wiki/France#Free_Mobile
This wiki suggests there's an option to get the plan valid for one month only that would avoid the cancellation process, but maybe is only available from the kiosk machines, and so is not visible on the Free mobile website. This wiki page also has the details about the cancellation process.

To find a Free boutique or a Borne Free kiosk, they have a map here