How much notice to give when cancelling a contract

tomos42

Hi.

My partner and I have had OSPS contracts (12 month contract, 12 months free line rental, 120 x-net anytime, 120 x-net off-peak + free Sony Ericsson k500i) since January 2005.
We've both been happy with the service, apart from receiving chequebacks have been a little slow, and the joysticks on the phones are slowly dying.

It's now time to start shopping around for a new deal.

Firstly, is it better to just cancel the contract and look for another X months free/reduced line rental from e2save or similar, or try haggling with Orange to get a good deal?
I'm only interested in O2 or Orange contracts.

If haggling, when should I phone them up?
I've not yet had any correspondance from Orange or OSPS about renewing or continuing our current contracts, but there's only a month or so left until they run out.
I definitely don't want to continue the contracts at £25/month!

I'm guessing that as we have two contracts with them I might have greater bargaining power?
How much stuff can I get away with asking for? I'm assuming that trying to get a couple of Nokia 8800's would be pushing it a bit?!

Sorry for asking so many quesitons. Any help would be much appreciated.

Tom

Steve_xx

It's easiest to cancel the contracts and start again if the retention of the numbers is not an issue. If it is an issue, you can give notice and ask Orange to convert the number to Pay As You Go at the end of the notice period. The if you go with another network you can ask Orange for the PAC code so that you can transfer the numbers onto your new network. Or, you can make them PAYG and put a message on the answerphone informing your callers of your new number.

You won't receive anything from Orange about continuing the contract beyond the initial term. They will assume that if you don't cancel that you will be continuing.

You may get a deal out of them if you give a months notice, which you can do at the 11th month point. You must give 30 days. Having the two handsets will make it easier for you to bargain. You would need to speak to someone on their retention team. Normally when you phone them to say you wish to cancel they put you through to the retention team.

smcicr

definitely start chasing and bartering now (ie: 1 month to go) if you do just cancel and go elsewhere for a new number the danger is that you will not give them sufficient notice and they will roll over into month 13 and charge you accordingly. if you ask for a PAC then it's quicker (upto 7 days to get the code in some cases but the account is cancelled as soon as the code is used by an alternate network). so i'd phone orange - see what they can do for you and if you aren't happy go for the PAC

tomos42

Thank-you very much for your replies.

I'll give Orange a ring tomorrow and see what they can do for me.
I'm not bothered about keeping my number as it's not that memorable, but my girlfriend would like to keep hers. I may as well get both PAC codes though just in case.
Is it free to have my number transferred to a payg sim, so I can leave a voicemail message to notify people of my new number? I'm sure this has already been answered elsewhere but I haven't come across it yet.

Just out of interest, has anyone had any experience with The Phone Spot (here) or phoneboxdirect (here)?

Many thanks,
Tom

tomos42

Just a quick update - I phoned Orange twice yesterday, and couldn't get any sort of deal with them, even with two contracts to bargain with.
They didn't even offer to transfer our numbers to a PAYG sim - the guy just sent us our PAC codes!

After reading several threads here I think we'll both go for O2 contracts as Orange seems to be going downhill unfortunately (we've both been very happy with them up until now), and transfer my phone number to a PAYG orange sim so we can still get 2 for 1 cinema offers.

Is it worth phoning Orange up again to try and get my number transferred straight to a PAYG sim when my contract finishes next month?

Also, my girlfriend would like to get the Nokia 6111. A guy from OSPS randomly phoned up, and when asked about it he said that the 6111 was new and any offers were probably introductory so we should get it now while we can. (There's 5 months free line rental from OSPS)
Is he just trying the hard sell tactic or is there some truth in what he said?

Tom

Steve_xx

You might find it different if you call Orange again. Often depends who you get. Also you need to be speaking to their "retentions department". The people there have more clout as to what can and cannot be done to retain customers.

blueghost

tomos42 wrote:

Also, my girlfriend would like to get the Nokia 6111. A guy from OSPS randomly phoned up, and when asked about it he said that the 6111 was new and any offers were probably introductory so we should get it now while we can. (There's 5 months free line rental from OSPS)
Is he just trying the hard sell tactic or is there some truth in what he said?
Tom

he was right that the 6111 was new, and the 5 months free is probably the best you can get (haven't looked myself but i doubt you would find anything too much better).

The talk of the offer being introductory is rubbish as networks chop and change there offers mainly based on how well they are selling: if they are desperate for new customers you will get better offers, if they don't need any more customers they cut the commissions and the offers get worse. One month a phone can be 9 months free, the next 5 months free and the next 10 months free - its just luck of the draw.

Anon

I gave notice to transfer my Orange to PAYG at the weekend - note that if you give 30 days notice to cancel your contact, you can ask them you would like it to go on PAYG - if you have requested a PAC, again it lasts 30 days. You can only do one or the other but can change your mind at any time during the cancellation period - 30 days starts again from when you phone (to cancel or PAC), therefore if you are considering changing your mind and going for PAYG, do it now!

I will go onto PAYG until I find the next deal and will then PAC my number (off PAYG) to either the new provider, or to o2 (or another provider) and back to Orange depending on the deal. While I am deciding, it won't cost me.

Anon

tomos42

Thanks for all your replies.

I've spoken to Orange retentions twice, and they didn't offer me anything. They wouldn't be abe to compete with cashback deals anyway.

I think we'll take a risk and leave the 6111 until next month - there are other phones she likes, so we'll go with whatever is the best deal at the time.

I'll phone up Orange today and get my PAC converted to a PAYG too.

Cheers,
Tom

Steve_xx

You may be interested in this Nokia 6111 offer. It's £4.99 for each of nine months, on a 12 month contract with Virgin, via Carphone Warehouse. The remaining 3 months are charged at £32 each.

http://carphonewarehouse.com/commerce/servlet/gben-pd-ProductDisplay?PN=NETWORKS.DEC05NOK6111&origin=SPECIALOFFER&tabname=

tomos42

Thanks for the link Steve_xx
I need to get O2 or Orange contracts as I live in Mid Wales where mobile reception can be a bit of a problem. O2 and Orange have the best coverage there (tried and tested), although it's still not perfect.
And CPW are out of stock of 6111's!

Tom