Coles Mobile plans review

Coles is a no-nonsense Optus MVNO telco that clearly wants you to know more about its groceries than its plans.

When it comes to Postpaid monthly plans, there are only two to keep track of here. The Coles Mobile $35 mobile plan comes with 45GB of data as standard while the Coles Mobile $45 mobile plan comes with 70GB of data.

Aside from the data caps and the cost involved with each, there are no major differences in perks or features here.

Both plans come with a deal at the moment that give you a bonus egift card worth 10% off your largest shop every month.

Coles Mobile offers four prepaid plans in total. Two are a 28-day expiry. The rest are 365-day plans. All four boast the same perks as the provider's postpaid plans do, which is great news if you’re looking to contact friends, family or peers overseas.

The first plan is the Coles Prepaid $25 for 28 Days offering which, outside of the plan name tells you almost everything you need to know, and comes with 22GB of data as well as unlimited standard international calls to 15 selected countries.

That’s pretty decent value for a 28-day Prepaid plan. However, there is competition from TPG Prepaid plans, which tend to have discounted pricing for the first three months. That said, the TPG Medium Plan costs more in the first year and is on the Vodafone mobile network, which isn’t as widespread as the Optus network that Coles uses. For comparison, below is a list of daily updating list of popular prepaid plans with at least 15GB of data.

The other 28-day plan that Coles Mobile offers is priced at $30 and comes with 32GB of data.

Unlike other Prepaid telcos that offer multiple monthly options, Coles just has that one above, with the rest of the roster focused on full-year offerings.

The first is the Coles Prepaid $195 for 365 Days, which comes with 140GB of data and the same international call allowances as the Coles monthly Prepaid plan.

This one works out to be competitive pricing for a 365-day plan when stacked next to its peers. Admittedly, that’s not a whole lot to use in a year when you divvy it up. Working with around 11GB per month isn't impossible,  but it might be a little too lean for those who tend to stream video content on the go.

For comparison, below is a daily updating list of the most popular long-expiry Prepaid plans with at least 100GB of data.

For those who want even more data, Coles Mobile also offers a 210GB option with the Coles Prepaid $240 for 365 days.

While Coles Supermarkets do sell new and refurbished smartphones, Coles Mobile does not offer phone plans in the way that mobile providers typically do.

There's nothing stopping you from pairing together something you find in a Coles store with a Coles Mobile plan, but there's no clear benefit to doing so either.

Coles Mobile is one of many MNVOs available for those who like what Australia's second-largest carrier can do more than they like the idea of signing up for one of its prepaid or postpaid plans.

The simple version is that Coles Mobile customers should have coverage in all the same places that they would have with both Optus and any of the many other Optus MVNOs out there. The good news is that this works out to around 98.5% of the Australian population. The bad news is that some rural areas might not be covered and access to Optus' growing 5G network isn't on the cards either.

When it comes to mobile plans that use the Optus network, Coles Mobile is far from the only option. Check out the widget below for a sense of how it compares to other Optus MNVOs.

Prepaid plans don’t tend to have a lot in the way of perks from most telcos, and Coles Mobile is no exception here.

Still, stick a Coles SIM card into your device and you'll get most of the same perks regardless of whether you've signed on for a postpaid or prepaid plan. The most notable of these is unlimited standard international talk and text to 15 selected destinations (22 destinations with postpaid) and data rollover up to 500GB. The catch with the data rollover is you either have to recharge before expiry or enable an automatic Coles Mobile recharge in order to benefit from it.

These are the selected countries you can call with any of the Coles Mobile Prepaid plans:

Coles Mobile's month-to-month plans add another five destinations to the list: Bangladesh, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, Vietnam and Sweden.

Since Coles does not offer any NBN plans, there aren't really any mobile phone and internet bundles to speak of. However, you do score some savings when it comes to shopping through Coles.

Similar to the perks offered by Woolworths Mobile and ALDI Mobile, signing up for Coles Mobile nets you a Coles gift card worth 10% of your next shopping trip to the supermarket. This discount can be used both in-store and online via the Coles website. You get a fresh gift card each month for the first six months, but the potential savings caps out at a maximum value of $30.

Customer service options for Coles Mobile are limited compared to other telcos. You won’t find a customer forum or blog to plumb for answers and nor should you expect speedy replies from Coles Mobile on Facebook or Twitter. There is an online chat service, though, as well as usage monitoring, plus you can call Coles Mobile for support or visit a Coles supermarket to ask for help.

Consumer review websites like Trustpilot and Product Review give an insight into how users rate Coles Mobile. In fairness, most of the reviews on Trustpilot are focused on Coles supermarkets rather than Coles Mobile, but most Coles Mobile reviews on Product Review are below three stars, which also applies to the breakdown in terms of value for money, transparency and customer service. Local reception scores three stars, but the overall rating was still only a whisker below two stars at the time of writing.

It's not always easy to evaluate mobile carriers in a meaningful way that's useful to everyday consumers. To make things simpler, we’ve come up with a robust checklist of pros and cons that we use to evaluate each of the suppliers. We focus on:

• Overall value for money
• Product features and plan perks
• Coverage maps
• Whether or not they offer 5G connectivity
• Customer support channels
• Publicly available customer reviews

Click here for a full rundown of how we rate and review mobile providers like Coles Mobile.