Free phone plus £55 profit - am I missing something?!

Tate65

Ok, I've been looking at getting a new phone and have found a deal where you get a phone for free and get £55 cashback from Quidco, meaning you actually make that as profit - this really does seem silly, so can anyone point out what the catch is?!

The phone I've found is this one:

http://www.mobiles2yourdoor.co.uk/Contract_Offer_Details.asp?ItemKey=187744&MPItemKey=191714

It's on a £30/month 12-month contract with Vodafone, but Mobiles2yourDoor refund all 12 months' contract bills. That means that you get a phone that includes 150 minutes talktime and 500 texts every month for free. Also, you get £55 cashback on Quidco if you buy a contract phone from this company.

Now, I understand that these cashback places expect a good number of people not to end up claiming their cashback, and I'd never use e2save again as I didn't get my cashback for my last phone even thought I sent in my bill. But in theory they do pay out, even if some chasing up is required.

But getting a new phone and actually making a profit just sounds unbelievable! So - can you see if I've missed something - e.g. you don't actually get the whole money back, you don't get the Quidco cashback for that particular phone, or something?

Otherwise I may get it as the phone looks decent enough - not all the bells and whistles of some but it does all I need to and it looks ok.

mobilejunkie

It's not only believable I've been doing it on a grand scale for two and a half years. However, if this is the limit of your knowledge I'd strongly recommend you do a LOT of research before going near such a deal. All the information is on these threads going back years; but beware - things change daily. I suggest to begin with this:-

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=558661

You might also look at the hundreds of people who posted on here who DIDN'T get their cashback - you being one of them!!

KettleFish_2

Tate65 wrote: »

these cashback places expect a good number of people not to end up claiming their cashback

You seem to have answered your own query.

Tate65

mobilejunkie wrote: »

It's not only believable I've been doing it on a grand scale for two and a half years. However, if this is the limit of your knowledge I'd strongly recommend you do a LOT of research before going near such a deal. All the information is on these threads going back years; but beware - things change daily. I suggest to begin with this:-

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=558661

Thanks - that's a very useful thread!

mobilejunkie wrote: »

You might also look at the hundreds of people who posted on here who DIDN'T get their cashback - you being one of them!!

Yes, I know that they expect a lot of people to fail to claim due to being disorganised, losing their forms, forgetting, etc - but having read more now it does seem like they deliberately try to stop you claiming even if you do follow the rules.

My problem when I was with e2save was that the cashback was actually only a relatively small amount - I think the 2nd (final) repayment was £20, so when I heard nothing from them after sending in the claim forms I really did have to decide whether it was worth it chasing it up, especially as I wasn't totally sure I'd done it right as they don't make things clear.

If I was to go for this deal then I'd do what you recommend - making copies of the t&c, setting up reminders in plenty of time to allow me to get the forms in at the right time and have time to chase things up if there's a problem, keep a diary of exactly what I did and when in case it goes to court, etc.

So another question for you - if you do follow the rules, do things in plenty of time and expect to have to chase up the odd repayment - does it actually usually work out? Or is there a high chance that even then you only get your money back by threatening (& possibly going to) court?

I appreciate that this can depend on the company that you're dealing with, and that things can change over time. From what I've read, e2save are not good and I'd steer clear of them. So I'm more specifically talking about Mobiles2YourDoor, and would also be interested in Phones4U (I know they're related) as they have similar (though not quite so good) deals.

greenoak

All I can say is that I have had no problems at all with getting my cheques from mobiles2yourdoor. I have 3 contracts with them and all have been made.

I also phone 10 days after posting to confirm they have the forms. Never been a problem getting a uk staff member to check, they also tell me the cheque run date for that payment.

So if you need a contract and are happy with the risk of getting it wrong or being unable to complete forms within 60 days go for it.

2 of my 3 contracts is close to expiry and i will be doing new ones, shame the phones on offer are not as good as those 2 months ago, but the j700 will do, not quite a tocco but still its free.

Tate65

Thanks Greenoak - it's reassuring to hear that not everyone has a problem.

I can understand/accept the risk of not getting the cashback if I don't follow the published rules, it's the risk of not getting it even if I do things correctly that would concern me.

I could be prepared to take them to court if they didn't honour the agreement, but then I can imagine that if it's just the final £90 that doesn't get paid it becomes a lot more work for the return compared to if they don't pay from the start. Though if I had all the paperwork to prove my case from the start it would be a lot easier so I expect I would.

One other thing - you said the J700's not as good as phones they had on offer a couple of months ago - are better ones likely to turn up if I wait? I'm on a PAYG phone and I don't immediately need a new one. The J700 does all that I need, so I'd be happy with it, but if by waiting a month or so I could get one that had a better camera, say, then that could be worthwhile. The contract (150 mins & 500 texts/month) is pretty good for me, as I mainly use texts and 500 would be more than enough. I've only every been with Orange before, but I assume Vodafone's ok too.

Steve_xx

Tate65 wrote: »

Thanks Greenoak - it's reassuring to hear that not everyone has a problem.

I can understand/accept the risk of not getting the cashback if I don't follow the published rules, it's the risk of not getting it even if I do things correctly that would concern me.

I could be prepared to take them to court if they didn't honour the agreement, but then I can imagine that if it's just the final £90 that doesn't get paid it becomes a lot more work for the return compared to if they don't pay from the start. Though if I had all the paperwork to prove my case from the start it would be a lot easier so I expect I would.

One other thing - you said the J700's not as good as phones they had on offer a couple of months ago - are better ones likely to turn up if I wait? I'm on a PAYG phone and I don't immediately need a new one. The J700 does all that I need, so I'd be happy with it, but if by waiting a month or so I could get one that had a better camera, say, then that could be worthwhile. The contract (150 mins & 500 texts/month) is pretty good for me, as I mainly use texts and 500 would be more than enough. I've only every been with Orange before, but I assume Vodafone's ok too.

The problem with cashbacks is mainly in the risk that the company you got the phone from might go bust. This might not be so bad if it happens on the last cashback due, but if it happened before you got the first of say four cashbacks, then it could be disastrous as you would be obliged to honour the contract with the network.

hotkee

It is a "clearance" phone - so whether it lasts the full 12 months or you are left with something that may have problems plus the bills and headaches of claiming money back. And given some cashback companies have gone bust - its too risky for me even if someone gave me £55 profit.

Steve_xx

hotkee wrote: »

It is a "clearance" phone - so whether it lasts the full 12 months or you are left with something that may have problems plus the bills and headaches of claiming money back. And given some cashback companies have gone bust - its too risky for me even if someone gave me £55 profit.

The fact that it's a clearance phone doesn't matter. It will still come under the Sale of Goods Act and therefore it will need to be fit for purpose and will need to remain so for a reasonable period. Mobile phones are expected to last longer than say six months.

Even if it did go faulty during the contract period you could always buy a cheap mobile and simply put the SIM card into it. But at the end of the day you are protected by the act mentioned above.

The real risk is that the company supplying the kit and contract on a cashback basis might go bust.

QWERTY555

I think the risk of Phone4U going bust is the real issue here.

The actual claim process is so easy its not true. They send you a claim for that says send the next bill after x date. You have 60 days to do that. For me it was next bill after 10th of month and my bill arrived 10 days later dated 15th of month so i just sent that. Taking a copy of form and bill and stapled that to the post office registered post slip.

I also used an online reminder service, so got an email to remind me when to send claim off. As the first claim is usually after month 6 you may need the reminder. I user memotome.com as that free and simple.

QWERTY555

Like greenoak I have been watching the website to see what handsets are on offer. The deals have been getting weaker and weaker. The G600 was on 12 months free - then 10 and now its 12 months half price.

I think the reason for this is to many people are getting the cashback and therefore they need to scale back the offers.

I dont expect to see any offers like we had last year. I think it will ONLY be a £50 ish handset and 10 - 11 or 12 months free. £100 plus hnadsets will be 6 months free etc