Contract = FAIL!!

ultrak3wl

I am never again going to sign up for a 12month+ mobile contract. Just on the front page of this forum today there is

* someone whose contract phone broke but repair refused with pathetic excuse

* people who permanently lost signal partway through contract duration and network doesn't care

* people being hassled about benefits they thought they had but didn't e.g. ability to change price plans during term

* someone whose phone got stolen and lumbered them with ridiculous bill

There is just no upside. Once a mobile provider has got you to sign the contract they have you one-sidedly bent over a barrel and any hope of getting your problem fixed is down to whether or not they feel like it.

princessjessica08

I personally wouldn't be without my contract phone.

If you lose your phone and it's stolen then someone racks up a huge bill, then if you've got insurance then it's covered (usually). It would be like having your car stolen and not having insurance on it, you'd still be made to pay the contract out.

I've never permanently lost signal with any network I've been with and find there are certain places I don't get signal, but they can't garuntee everywhere, same with Payg.

To be honest, benefit of changing plans, if you sign a contract to pay £30 p/m. Always be prepared to pay that, and not hold on to the fact you MAY be able to change half way through.

If the contract phone broke, and it wasn't a warrenty fault (It was dropped in water, on the ground and broke) then they charge for repairs or send you to the manufacturer. Again, that is what insurance is for.

So there is not much wrong with contracts in my opinion. As long as you keep up your end of the bargin and pay the bill.

Jess

rash.m2k

I don't think thats quite fair - to brand all the networks like that, my experience of O2-CPW and Vodafone have been extremely good.

Even t-mob and Orange have not given me any problems.

3 on the other deserve such criticism

proplusplus

well, to put your post into perspective your other options would be:

SIM Only / PAYG & get the handset from somewhere else.

Your main issue is still that you could potentially have a handset which doesn't work.

Now the operators have a duty under Sales of Goods Act to provide you with a suitable device... but ultimately it's the handset manufacturer which makes the handset!

proplusplus

Woby_Tide

ultrak3wl wrote: »

I am never again going to sign up for a 12month+ mobile contract. Just on the front page of this forum today there is

* someone whose contract phone broke but repair refused with pathetic excuse

* people who permanently lost signal partway through contract duration and network doesn't care

* people being hassled about benefits they thought they had but didn't e.g. ability to change price plans during term

* someone whose phone got stolen and lumbered them with ridiculous bill

There is just no upside. Once a mobile provider has got you to sign the contract they have you one-sidedly bent over a barrel and any hope of getting your problem fixed is down to whether or not they feel like it.

it's also full of

*people who sign up for a nice shiny phone on a costly contract without paying attention to the terms and conditions then wanting to end it when it suits their personal circumstances

*people who move house or seem to believe that a mobile operator is obliged to provide them with a signal 100% of the time despite what their T&Cs say

*people getting certain benefits added for free then forgetting to read the T&C's(again) then complaining when the charges start happening

*people having phones stolen and not reporting them ASAP and being obliged to pay the costs incurred as per their T&C's


whilst mobile companies aren't innocent, the consumer in a fair majority of cases are also far from innocent

facingthefuture

hang on I am inclined to agree with the op, I think the biggest issue here is IF your phone is nicked and used and you don't realise it you are liable for the bill, the insurance company does not cover this. Many people have ended up with bills of thousands of pounds, the phone may have been lifted while they slept, in hospital following an accident - a number of reasonable reasons!!!! I am not saying the phone company should necessarily foot the bill either - its just a problem worth warning people abut so at least they know what COULD happen. I had just renewed a contract and phoned today to cancel (within 14 days) purely because of this. I guess the problem is that many people think it is ok to steal.

The_Zealot

Woby_Tide wrote: »

*people who move house or seem to believe that a mobile operator is obliged to provide them with a signal 100% of the time despite what their T&Cs say

What? Are you crazy? Since when being covered by a rubbish cell antenna isn't a good reason to terminate a contract? If the company didn't want to invest in quality geographical expansion then that's their problem, they won't earn new customers and should lose existing ones because of that business choice.

The time where one postpones moving home because he's on an expensive contract is not here yet, fortunately.

si1965

ultrak3wl wrote: »

I
* someone whose phone got stolen and lumbered them with ridiculous bill

I always put a PIN number on my SIM card and switch the phone off if unattended for a while

chuckley

ultrak3wl wrote: »

I am never again going to sign up for a 12month+ mobile contract. Just on the front page of this forum today there is

* someone whose contract phone broke but repair refused with pathetic excuse
circumstances are?!

* people who permanently lost signal partway through contract duration and network doesn't care
do u know where they live?! which networks?!

* people being hassled about benefits they thought they had but didn't e.g. ability to change price plans during term
check the t&c's, u are always sent one which outlines everything, if u dont read it, thats your loss... u have 14 days to cancel...

* someone whose phone got stolen and lumbered them with ridiculous bill
their own fault, it took them till midday the next day to realise it happened to me, but i was lucky as the battery was low on mine when i lost it and once id realised (up to 30mins later i rang it and it went straight to voicemail - i left it in a taxi), so when i reported it the next day it hadnt been used.

There is just no upside. Once a mobile provider has got you to sign the contract they have you one-sidedly bent over a barrel and any hope of getting your problem fixed is down to whether or not they feel like it.

plenty of upsides!
unlimited texts
discounts of your bill for being a long standing customer
lots of minutes depending on contract
free internet browsing
free gifts, inc ps3's, laptops and cashback.

true there are some people that have loads of problsmes with networks fixing things *cough - 3* but there are some that are very good and deal with issues if u have them.

if u are a high user, u stay with paug and pay over the odds. good luck!