Reduce your mobile tariff discussion

Former_MSE_Andrea

This thread is specifically to discuss the content of the

What To Do If You Can't Escape Your Mobile Contract article.

To discuss or ask a question about the article: click reply

Smartasss

So if you’re on Vodafone, for example, and want to switch to Orange ring up customer services once you’re in the sixth month and ask to be downgraded to the lowest tariff.

How will this help you switch to Orange?

Voda won't switch you over will they?

Woby_Tide

How will this help you switch to Orange?

Voda won't switch you over will they?

I think the insinuation is rather than paying the remaining 6 months on a higher tarrif, reduce it to the lowest possible to reduce your remaining outlay and then take out your new contract with Orange.

My own personal suggestion if doing this is to just clean break, reduce the contract you don't want to it's lowest possible, ring up to cancel and pay off remaining 6 months then sell the handset to cover the remainder of your contract and put towards the new deal. This is fairly dependent on what phone you took with the contract, if you got a fairly new model the resale value at 6 months especially to PAYG market is usually favourable, you have to trade off whether you would prefer the cash in your hand and the contract paid off, or to continue the contract using whatever inclusive minutes you may have on your cheap tarriff and then sell the handset for less money a further 6 months down the line.

nedlog

I would like some advice please as my situation is related to this article.
I was on a contract with Orange on a phone that I never used so I called them up and switched to the data plan which costs £10/month - this was back in July.
At the time I said I no longer wanted the phone and the orange person said it would be cancelled when the contract expires on 30th Oct. 2004.
But I recently found out that the contract wasn't cancelled and have to pay for the phone until 17th Dec 2004. It is only a small amount (£16) but orange say they never received a disconnection notice until I phoned up to check on 17th Nov.
What should I do?

Thanks,
D.

malinhull

Netlog,

Re your Orange contract.

A word of warning if I may. I also cancelled my Orange over the phone with them. I had held this contract for nearly 10 years and only cancelled it when my work offered me a company mobile. 3 months after cancelling the contract a debt collection agency contacted me claiming I owed Orange over £75 + legal costs. As you can imagine my wording to them was not polite. Both the collection agency & Orange now claim there is no record of me cancelling the contract. I ended up having to pay the money over to Orange just to stop them taking me to court. With hindsight I now realise I should have put the cancellation in writing.

This is not the end of the story. A few day's ago I applied for some credit to buy my son a laptop for his 18th birthday only to be told I had fail credit score.

I applied to equifax for my credit file & YES there on my file is a default warning registered by Orange.

Please be warned don't miss any payments to this company & ensure you get confirmation of any cancellation of you mobile contract in writing.

Hope my story helps someone.

Love the site thanks.

Mal

ukric

Just got home and read the first few lines of this article.

Some of the information just doesnt add up to me.

Last xmas I worked in a vodafone store. I fancied the deal they were doing at the time and the Nokia 6600 had just come out.

In the article it says that vodafone ask you to keep your existing contract for 6 months.

I bought the top contract on vodafone in order to get the phone cheaper. After 4 days I downgraded the tarrif to the cheapest one available.

I don't know if policy has changed since then but the manager stood with me and downgraded the contract whilst I watched, so it can be done.

Not sure if he did this as a GOGW cause i'd only been temping and wasnt entitled to employee discount. So might be worth a try if your thinking about getting a new fone.

ADAM_CHAMBERS

One word if warning. Most mobile contracts require you to pay for the outstanding contractual debt within 1 month of cancellation. If you can 6 months into a 18 month contract, you could be asked to pay the remaining 12 months line rental in one lump sum.

The best advise is to let the contract expire naturally over its minimum term rather than cancel it outright.

the_skint_minx

I've been with O2 for 6 months (started october 04) and have just phoned to ask them to downgrade me to PAYG, but they say it's not possible, unless I cancel my existing contract, in which case I'd have to pay my existing monthly charge so it wouldn't be worth it.

And yet the website says:

"You can't change to a lower tariff than the one you originally connected to until six months of your contract have been completed.
However, following six months of your contract you may move to a lower tariff than the one you first connected to. "

Moving to PAYG would save me about a tenner a month I reckon, because I make v. few calls and send a lot of texts. Thoughts, anyone?

jabs23

I've just discovered that Phones 4 U will break your existing contract and pay it off for you if you have six months or less to go. I did this yesterday, with six months left on a Vodafone contract but a faulty phone. I went into the Phones 4 U shop and the guy offered me a choice - I could send the phone back to Vodafone to be fixed or let him pay off my existing contract and sign me up for a new one with Orange (keeping my number and on a better value tariff). I walked out of the shop with my old faulty phone, a shiny new phone on Orange and £90 in my purse (the value of the remainder of my Vodafone contract)!!
:T

kai666

the_skint_minx wrote:

I've been with O2 for 6 months (started october 04) and have just phoned to ask them to downgrade me to PAYG, but they say it's not possible, unless I cancel my existing contract, in which case I'd have to pay my existing monthly charge so it wouldn't be worth it.

And yet the website says:

"You can't change to a lower tariff than the one you originally connected to until six months of your contract have been completed.
However, following six months of your contract you may move to a lower tariff than the one you first connected to. "

Moving to PAYG would save me about a tenner a month I reckon, because I make v. few calls and send a lot of texts. Thoughts, anyone?

PAYG is not a tariff offered as a contract so you can't change to it. You are locked into the tariffs they offer as a contract unless you pay it off early

carlreader

I've just discovered that Phones 4 U will break your existing contract and pay it off for you

-- be very careful with this. I tried them, but they basically increased the price of the phone I wanted so that it "magically" was the same as the outstanding velue of the contract (ie £180). Then they would be so good to me and reduce it to £0, so that I could pay off the existing tariff with my "savings"

These "savings" meant I would have had to sign up for this phone "worth £180" on a £40 + tariff per month.

I actually bought the phone for free, with line rental of £15 per month, elsewhere.

It may work for some, but for me it was a way of dressing up a con.

They also try to sting you, with stipulations that you "must buy their insurance". Be careful!!!