Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

viciouslittlething

Hallo! Long time viewer first time poster. I've been with Orange for 14 years, having haggled at the end of each contract period for a better deal. Usually did not to bad, did feel like the last two upgrades were less appreciated, on their part. I've stuck with Orange as we are on the Mendips and found reception can be really patchy with other networks [had O2 and vodafone through work with no reception at home]

Did my research [have a spreadsheet! DH is impressed] as I want an iPhone 4s, I want cheap line rental but also want some decent minutes/texts/data within this. I called up last night to ask what the best deal was they gave me the iPhone 20 plan, which is 50/50/100mb which is a little hit and miss. However I told them I had a better offer from T-Mobile £21/month 50/250/750mb, would they price match or maybe do a better deal? No, they offered me the iPhone 25 100/125/250mb plan and that was it. So asked for customer retentions as I wanted a PAC code, he said they don't have a CR team and he could send me the PAC code. I asked if they were really going to loose me over £1 a month and some extra data usage, they said they can't do any better than what they've offered me. So my PAC code arrived minutes later and the internet went down [so couldn't finish my research!] I felt all askew, Orange not even attempting to make a save... ah well their loss! As T-Mobile uses the same network coverage as Orange it should be fine... shouldn't it?

grumbler

viciouslittlething wrote: »

....it should be fine... shouldn't it?

It certainly should - especially if you don't fail to get £45-£55 TCB/quidco cashback (£55 offer expires in 6 days, so you are unlikely to get it).

However, have you not missed £110 upfront cost for this deal?

SimonDay

Having read most of the posts here, and my upgrade was due, i thought i'd give it a go and haggle. I went to a EE store to see about an upgrade as mine was due. I basically wanted a Galaxy S3. Nothing else. After speaking to a pleasant woman and explained what i wanted , she transfered me to the upgrade department. After talking to a really arrogant person he told me that they no longer have the 3G galaxy S3 and if i wanted one i had to pay £100. I told him i was in the store and they were selling the 3G phones in store, he replied with "thats not my fault they have them in, but we don't have any so you can't have one. If you won't pay £100 for the 4G the jsut go to carphonewarehouse and get one!!" So i told him that i would and put me through to cancelations. After talking to a really helpful gentleman and explaining about the arrogant person before (who i have put a compliant about) he managed to talk me around to stay. With this deal. 900 minutes unlimited texts and unlimited data. Plus free insurance for the period of the contract (£10 a month) Plus a free 4G phone. I walked out the store very happy. As in many previous post, just push them for what you can get or they will give. I also got a call from EE apologising about the unhelpful rude gentleman. So all in all a very good day.

lemonstar

Contract runs out at end of month - currently with Tesco £7.50 pcm.
Found 2 Galaxy S3 deals I was interested in:-
http://www.!!!!!!!!!/deal/20539505/1 (Why the !!!!'s ???? - it's OMIO)
upfront £69.99 + 500mins + 5000 txts + unlimited for £20 pcm (via 3)
http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/yourdeal/?_cid=69907523
upfront £84.99 + 300mins + 5000 txts + unlimited for £18 pcm (via 3)

I wanted to try and trade off unlimited for 400-500 minutes on the £18 deal or reduce £20 to £18 for less bandwidth 500M would be fine. No one could make any offers anywhere near these deals - even 3.
I want an S3, more than 300 mins & 500MB for £18pcm - is this achievable atm?

Tesco, 3 and O2 all made no effort to negotiate on anything at all.

mije1983

lemonstar wrote: »

Contract runs out at end of month - currently with Tesco £7.50 pcm.
Found 2 Galaxy S3 deals I was interested in:-
http://www.!!!!!!!!!/deal/20539505/1 (Why the !!!!'s ???? - it's OMIO)
upfront £69.99 + 500mins + 5000 txts + unlimited for £20 pcm (via 3)
http://www.uswitch.com/mobiles/yourdeal/?_cid=69907523
upfront £84.99 + 300mins + 5000 txts + unlimited for £18 pcm (via 3)

I wanted to try and trade off unlimited for 400-500 minutes on the £18 deal or reduce £20 to £18 for less bandwidth 500M would be fine. No one could make any offers anywhere near these deals - even 3.
I want an S3, more than 300 mins & 500MB for £18pcm - is this achievable atm?

Tesco, 3 and O2 all made no effort to negotiate on anything at all.

I've been looking around for a decent deal on the S3, and 3 always seem to come up cheapest over 24 months. So I would say you won't beat those offers unless it's through Tesco retentions.

lemonstar

It's the customer satisfaction surveys that 3/three get that put me off. Would rather have stuck with Tesco/O2 - we'd had 4 phones in the family with them for quite a few years.

chanz4

3 are good until things go wrong, but this doesnt happen often

jasonwatkins

Once they sort out an apparent "I.T. Error", Virgin will be giving me 2500 minutes, Unlimited Texts, Unlimited Data, Unlimited Landline Calls, Unlimited Virgin to Virgin Calls and 500 minutes a month for 0800/0845 e.t.c.. numbers for £9 a month on a 30 day rolling sim

stefano

jasonwatkins wrote: »

Once they sort out an apparent "I.T. Error", Virgin will be giving me 2500 minutes, Unlimited Texts, Unlimited Data, Unlimited Landline Calls, Unlimited Virgin to Virgin Calls and 500 minutes a month for 0800/0845 e.t.c.. numbers for £9 a month on a 30 day rolling sim

On the face of it, it sounds like a cracking deal. But my experience with Virgin is less than positive. Their signal did not seem to go through building walls, in Central London.

jasonwatkins

stefano wrote: »

On the face of it, it sounds like a cracking deal. But my experience with Virgin is less than positive. Their signal did not seem to go through building walls, in Central London.

Interesting to know, thanks.

I've actually had a great signal on Virgin since I joined them initially last year - so much so that I can leave my phone in 3G mode permanently now. I always had to leave it in 2G mode with Tesco and Orange and only switch to 3G when I was in a better area if I wanted to go online.

We'll see how we go though - I finally got confirmation that the above package has been added today, and there's just one final issue outstanding regarding the discount being applied to the account on a permanent basis but apparently that'll be resolved by next month's bill so i'm a happy camper indeed