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Are 'cashback' offers safe?
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thanks for that HugoSP, we have been looking & are set on phone & contract very competitive, but can I take my number with me??
Whether you can keep your number depends on the particular dealer you are connecting via.Lots of useful info here thanks but like gingababe I would also like to take my number with me. It's with O2 on a company contract at the moment and I'm leaving but would like to keep the number.
Not all dealers offer new connections on all networks, and a dealer may place restrictions on porting a number to a new contract with one of the networks that they do offer.
I have put together a table detailing which networks the most well known dealers provide new connection with. It also details any restrictions with regard to porting a number to the new contract. If you (or anyone else) would like to see it please PM me.
And, if you weren't aware, you will need to change network operator if you wish to port a number to a contract purchased from a dealer.0 -
Cashback deals will never be 100% reliable, because even if you are vilgilant enough to submit the required paperwork, the company can still go under - in which case you will get nothing back.
I had a trouble-free 12 month contract with mobileshop, four claims on months 5,7,9 and 12 with reasonable T&Cs like 30 days to claim and one misseed claim doesn't affect any others.
But when I came to look again, the offers are now six claims on months 7-12, which is not so good and requires more processing and time your end. Other outfits had competative offers, but the T&Cs had entries such as you have 14 days to claim your cashback, and a failed claim invalidates all future claims. Your O2 / vodafone bill gets lost in the post or arrives a bit late ? Not the cashback companies fault...
Equally my girlfriend signed up with mobileshop about 6 months after me. It seems my contract ended just in time, as so far many people have not been paid for well over the 45 days allowed for returning payments (in some cases 90+ days now). It may be there systems are down, as they claim, or they may be attempting to slow cashback payments to stay in business... As more of us get wise to these offers, these companies will shut down, as there business model depends on people messing up. And it is there hope that you will.
If you must get a low cost, almost-free phone, look into cashback offers but be very careful. I decided I could not dedicate the mental capacity and stresses to a cashback phone, plus I wanted a slightly better handset than those offered, so I went with 3 mobile. I got an 18 month £35/month contract with half-price for 18 months (so £17.50 a month) with an addtional £100 back going through quidco and £30 credit by entering my friends 3 mobile number as part of a "recommend a friend offer". Net cost of the phone will be 12 * 17.50 - 100 - 30 = 80 pounds. And I don't have to do any paperwork, and I get most of the savings up front, so I can put them straight into other savings rather than be out of pocket until month 7 onwards...
So like I say, not free, but for about £6.50 a month I am very happy with my Sony Ericsson 610i with plenty 'o' minutes and texts. Of course, not sure how good the 3 network is, but so far no troubles in and around the South of England0 -
The phoneboxdirect terms and conditions state "Your name, address, mobile number and tariff must be shown on the bill, we will not authorise any claim where this information is missing or the bill has money outstanding. We therefore recommend that you pay your bills on time and do not cancel or take a summary itemised bill from the network."
Does anyone know if this means you have to pay for itemised billing. The phone I am looking at is on Vodafone and it says optional itemised billing at £1.50 per month. Surely a non itemised bill would still show all the details required.0 -
You will be able to take your number with you as long as you are not porting over to the same network. For example you are not able to port from orange to orange (unless this is an upgrade). Contact your current network provider and ask them for a Pac code - this is usually sent to you by letter in the post. I always advised you place the new order straight after you have received the Pac code from your existing network. I work for e2save.com and I know with some network they will only accept this at point of sale. Then if they can not process the port for you, you will need to give it to the new network provider once you have received the handset and the contract has been connected. This then tends to take 7-10 days to port across,
I hope this helps with your question,
Rebecca
E2save.com0 -
Rebecca.e2save wrote: »I work for e2save.com ..............Rebecca
E2save.com
Rebecca. Do you limit the amount of cash back deals per household. I need new deals for myself, my OH and my DD (she is only 12 so does this have to be in my name?). I am intending on doing the deals on line as 3 separate transactions to gain rpoints for each one or do you do recommend a friend?
~Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.~:)
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We do not have a limit on how many people in one household can have a contract with us, but there is a limit of 4 contracts per person per year. As you DD is only 12 she will not be able to have a contract out under her name and somebody would need to take the contract out on behalf of her. We do have a recommend a friend scheme but this does not count for self referral.
I hope this has answered all of your questions.0 -
Also Poppy9, you can only take out 2 contracts through ourselves in the space of 3 months.0
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Need_More_Money wrote: »The phoneboxdirect terms and conditions state "Your name, address, mobile number and tariff must be shown on the bill, we will not authorise any claim where this information is missing or the bill has money outstanding. We therefore recommend that you pay your bills on time and do not cancel or take a summary itemised bill from the network."
Does anyone know if this means you have to pay for itemised billing. The phone I am looking at is on Vodafone and it says optional itemised billing at £1.50 per month. Surely a non itemised bill would still show all the details required.
I was with Dialaphone from 2005-06. I ported my old phone number to the 3 network (replacing the phone number that was issued by Dialaphone) a few days after I took out the contract. I wrote the old number on the bills before sending them in but they were always returned and the cashbacks were denied to me. After a long phone call with their customer services team it turned out that their cashback department could not deal with the bills having the changed number on and that I had to notify a different department within Dialaphone to update their records. By the time all this was sorted out I had missed out on a couple of hundred pounds in cashback payments and only managed to claim on the last couple of bills.
Everything was initially a lot simpler with Carphone Warehouse on my current (2006-07) contract. They ported my old number to Vodafone without any problems (that was before they stopped selling Vodafone contracts). You have 60 days to send in the relevant bill and they text you within a couple days to confirm that they have received it. I elected not to pay extra for itemised billing and there were no problems receiving the first cashback cheque (that reminds me, I really ought to find it and cash it ...)
Then I made the mistake of checking a couple of Vodafone bills online (I wanted to check the itemised versions). For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, this automatically cancels your printed bills altogether!. I did not know that and when the next cashback became due I spent ages searching the house for the missing bill, assuming that I had simply misplaced it. With 60 days to submit, I had time to phone Vodafone and pay for a copy to be sent (£1.50, itemised) and their Customer Services said they will resume printed bills from now on (but this will automatically be turned off again if I make the mistake of logging onto their website). I have received a text from Carphone Warehouse confirming that they have accepted the copy of the bill for a refund.
So long as you aren't sending at the last moment, I don't see any need to pay for registered/confirmed/signed delivery as, if you don't receive an text within a couple of days, you can pay Vodafone to send you a copy of your bill which you can try posting again.
Hope this helps you to avoid any problems,
Shoaib0 -
Rebecca.e2save wrote: »We do not have a limit on how many people in one household can have a contract with us, but there is a limit of 4 contracts per person per year. As you DD is only 12 she will not be able to have a contract out under her name and somebody would need to take the contract out on behalf of her. We do have a recommend a friend scheme but this does not count for self referral.
I hope this has answered all of your questions.
So just to be clear I can on the same day order in my name 2 cashback phones and give one to DD?
Also on the same day my OH can order 1 cashback phone for himself?
All three will have same address.
Hope so as we are going to order in 2 weeks and I like having them from the same company as it makes it easier claiming cashback.
Also if I don't order on line but via telephone can I negotiate anything extra? ~Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.~:)
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Yes, that is correct. Both you and your husband are allowed to order 2 x handsets within a space of 3 month so this will not be a problem. It is absolutely fine for them all to be delivered at the same address.
The deals are the same online and over the telephone so this is very unlikely.
If you have anymore questions, please just let me know and i will do my best to answer them for you.0
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