£13 UNLOCKED PAYG mobile incl. £10 credit, online and in-store at Carphone Warehouse

Former_MSE_Natasha

Updated 16 December 2008

UPDATE 10AM 17 DEC. Online stock has sold out, but phones are still available in Carphone Warehouse stores. Though I'd suggest calling your local branch first to confirm availability before making a special trip.

What's the deal?

Carphone Warehouse is selling a nifty Motorola W180 Pay-As-You-Go mobile phone & radio for £2.88, though you have to buy £10 call credit for the Orange SIM card that comes with it, making the total £12.88 (incl. free next day delivery if bought on online).

There's limited stock online yet quite a bit in Carphone Warehouse stores nationwide.

Who's it good for?

A phone like this has two uses:

• Granny-in-the-glovebox. This is a dirt cheap deal for those who just want an emergency phone or under 18s and those with poor credit histories who can't get contract mobiles.
  
  The calls aren't particularly cheap, yet if you just want a phone so people can call you - or you can make the odd text/call - it's great. If you'll make lots of calls check out the Cheap Mobiles guide for how to cut the cost.

• As a new handset for your existing contract/sim. The feedback is coming in that this mobile is unlocked, meaning you can put a Sim card (the bit that gives a phone its identity) from any network in it and it'll work.
  
  Sadly Carphone Warehouse press office won't confirm this, though its in-store sales assistants have, as have a range of MoneySavers who've bought it. So to the best of our knowledge, it is unlocked.

What does 'unlocked' mean?

When you buy a new phone, chances are it'll be locked to the network you bought it on, and if you try to put another network's Sim in, it simply won't function. Yet if you're lucky enough to get your hands on an unlocked handset, you can use ANY Sim from the get-go.

Yet even if you come across one that is locked, Mobile Unlocking is achieveable for many models, completely free.

It's not a high tech handset

Although this dualband phone won't win any prizes for its features, it's not too bad a little number. It's has a colour screen, loudspeaker, vibrating alert, FM Radio AND you can charge it straight from your computer via a USB connection.

Related articles: 2for1 Orange Wednesdays, Recycle Old Mobiles For Cash, Cut Your Mobile Tariff

Get £5 cashback on top too!

If you buy the phone through cashback site Quidco, you'll get paid a fiver. This isn't the same type of cashback as is often offered with mobile companies; with those you need to jump through hoops to get it. This is via specialist cashback sites that list retailers and product providers.

They get paid by the retailers if you click through them, but importantly, they then give some or all of this cash to you, provided you've registered with it, which is free. For a full explanation read the detailed Top Cashback Sites guide.

How to get the cash

• Step one. Get a cashback account
  
  Simply go to cashback site Quidco, login and search for Carphone Warehouse. £5 is payable for PAYG sales, though some other cheap PAYG models are excluded so I'd expect this one to be added to the list soon.
  
  If you don't have an account with Quidco you'll need to get one. It's free to sign up but Quidco takes the first £5 you earn each year as its admin charge. This might make the effort look less attractive as both £5 cancel out, yet once you understand how cashback sites work, it'll revolutionise your shopping habits and save £££s, so it's worth giving it a go.

• Step two. Purchase the PAYG
  
  Click on Quidco's Carphone Warehouse link and buy the phone as you'd normally do. It's as simple as that.

WARNING! Cashback sites payouts aren't 100% guaranteed

As cashback sites rely on the retailers paying them, you can never count cashback as a sure thing until it's in your bank account. And occassionally there are tracking problems too.

Yet there's nothing to suggest it won't work for the vast majority of people. Though expect to wait around two months for the money to come through, and at least a couple of days for the purchase to show up on their sites.

If you're a first time cashback site user, please do read the full Best Cashback Sites article for a full explanation of how these sites work and the pros and cons. To see how the sites' payouts compare with others, use the Cashback Sites Maximiser.

Thanks to MoneySaver CLLC below for the top spot! This post has been placed above to give a full, detailed explanation of the deal.

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CLLC

Hi MSE's ,

Just spotted a Motorola W180 for £2.88 when you buy a £10 top up and its available on orange, or £9.73 with a £10 top up for virgin. However , if you buy it on orange its cheaper and apparantly it is unlocked! :j so go for the cheaper version and you can use it on any network

http://shop.carphonewarehouse.com/pay-as-you-go/motorola/w180-black/

Its a pretty decent phone , even if you have it just for a spare its got colour screen , a long battery and FM RADIO plus the normal which you expect a phone to do and Loudspeaker for hands free talking! and you can charge it through USB!!

And you can also get £5 off through quidco aswell !!! , Thank you 'gollfy' for the idea of quidco

http://www.quidco.com/carphone-warehouse/

And to top it off , its free next day delivery!! After a bit of research , apparently it is unlocked :j. Also , thank you to some MSE members help to confirm this!!

Enjoy !!!:T

gollfy

quidco as well?

CLLC

gollfy wrote: »

quidco as well?

Oh yes great idea!! :j Thanks gollfy

http://www.quidco.com/carphone-warehouse/

By the looks of it , I think you can get £5 cashback ,

Enjoy :beer:

kimmylee

Absolutely a fantastic rock bottom deal:j, ordered 1 for myself, dunno how they have managed to sell it for under £3!!
This could even be sold on eBay for much more!!!:rotfl:
:snow_laugACT QUICK, LIMITED SUPPLY!!!

ailuro2

Fantastic offer - just ordered one of these as our old phone is dying and never works abroad - so it's great to have such a cheap second phone to hand.:D

Even though I swore blind I'd not have another Motorola because I hate the predictive text on the one we have now. We are not heavy users, so it's a great deal.

Hoping the Quidco fiver tracks aswell:j

Sunny_Saver

Since you have to buy it with £10 airtime from Orange, is it an 'Orange' phone that needs unlocking at the end of the credit time?

Thanks.

dazzah

Great find just ordered one for a xmas present

trudi

Fantastic find!
My son still has a few months on his Orange contract, but the phone is on it's last legs! He can put his sim in this to keep him going 'til upgrade. Always useful to have a spare in the house too. Many many thanks - I love this web-site!!!

ailuro2

My £5 just tracked on Quidco...happy days!!

tbh I don't really care if it is convertible to our usual O2 network, as we need a phone that works overseas...I know it's only dual band, but it will do the business this Christmas. Being a radio aswell might come in handy, although I never needed a radio in my phone up till now...DD likes to listen to the Archers so she can listen in without us having to join her.:T

markray007

Got one too.....many thanks.:T