Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

Mobile_Mole

2Princess_Mum wrote:

I have a contract with T-mobile: Freetime tariff - free eves & weekends (other T-Mobiles and landlines only) For £20 per month. My bills are in the region of £35-55 per month.

Sounds like you are on the wrong tariff for your usage.

How many minutes and SMS do you use per month?
How many of these minutes are calls to other networks?
How many of these minutes are at peak times?

Cheers
Mark

Walrus

Right so I called Vodafone yesterday and the call went like this:-

Me: "Hi, Seeing as Vodafone haven't offered me a good enough deal I would like my PUK code please."

Rep: "Oh Mr Walrus we are sorry to hear that. Could I ask why that is?"

Me: "I explained yeesterday to one of your colleagues that I would like the N80, o2 will do it for free for me but you are charging £130"

Rep: "Well what can we offer you to consider staying?"

Me: "Well the phone for free and the tariff you offered me would be great, otherwise I'll take my PUK"

Rep: "Give me a minute...."

[2 miutes later]

Rep: "Mr Walrus. Good news and bad news. Good news is I'll do it for free for you, bad news is we haven't got any in stock until next week, but phone back then and I'll do it for you. my details are....blah blah"

So basically I got my way! 125 minutes 1000 texts for £25 (a 50% reduction!) and the phone I want free!

Since this call yesterday ANOTHER Vodafone bod, the guy I originally spoke to has called and given me his details with the same offer, although he has given me a mobile number no an extension code, so am a bit suspicious, but he knew all the offer and that, I wanted.

Sorry for the long post but the system works! :-)

Walrus

2Princess_Mum wrote:

My bills are in the region of £35-55 per month, and most of my friends and family are with T-Mobile, so I'd really like to stay

Thanks in advance MSE's.

You could still get free calls to your friends etc, it doesn't generally matter nowadays about being on the same network, as nearly all inclusive calls are Cross network.

I would speak to T-Mobile and ask to get your bill reduced and the new phone because there are better deals than what you have out there. You could probably get a 250 - 500 minutes and the same texts for about £30 - £35 from Vodafone or o2.

Put t-Mobile to the challenge after looking around at other networks!

2Princess_Mum

Mobile_Mole wrote:

Sounds like you are on the wrong tariff for your usage.

How many minutes and SMS do you use per month?
How many of these minutes are calls to other networks?
How many of these minutes are at peak times?

I use quite a lot of my minutes, approximately 2-3 hours per weekday evening, maybe about a couple of hours at the weekend. SMS is at a bare minimum (maybe 3 a month). My daytime calls (25p/minute) are normally emergencies only (I have an o2 sim on PAYG with free inclusive texts and calls at 5p/min, I would only make calls/texts on my T-mobile in the day if I forget to carry the o2 phone with me, though I guess at £30-55/month, I have many emergencies). Most people I contact are on T-Mobile, and those on other networks I tend to text from my o2 phone. With this in mind, I hope you can see my reluctance to switch networks.

Walrus wrote:

You could still get free calls to your friends etc, it doesn't generally matter nowadays about being on the same network, as nearly all inclusive calls are Cross network.

I would speak to T-Mobile and ask to get your bill reduced and the new phone because there are better deals than what you have out there. You could probably get a 250 - 500 minutes and the same texts for about £30 - £35 from Vodafone or o2.

Put t-Mobile to the challenge after looking around at other networks!

Thanks so much for your advice. I will definitely look at other networks and see whats on offer, but I think because I make good use of my free evening calls, I'd be hard pushed to find a comparable or better deal. I guess anythings possible.

Cheers
2PM

Walrus

2Princess_Mum wrote:

but I think because I make good use of my free evening calls, I'd be hard pushed to find a comparable or better deal.

Not meaning to sound mean, but it's all well and good making good use of your evening calls, but if you're bumping up the bill through daytime use it defeats the object.

You would be better off getting an all encompassing tariff, which you would not go over, perhaps spending more than £20 a month on rental but less on calls.

The evening calls aren't free if you are paying through the nose for other calls.

2Princess_Mum

Walrus wrote:

Not meaning to sound mean, but it's all well and good making good use of your evening calls, but if you're bumping up the bill through daytime use it defeats the object.

You would be better off getting an all encompassing tariff, which you would not go over, perhaps spending more than £20 a month on rental but less on calls.

The evening calls aren't free if you are paying through the nose for other calls.

I guess your right. I'll definitely have a look and see what else is on offer out there. But the reason why my bill is so high despite the free calls is the fact that I don't always take my PAYG with me, either that or I don't always charge the PAYG phone, which evidently is to T-Mobiles advantage.

I suppose part of the reason I'm reluctant to switch tariffs is the fact that this tariff was a goldmine when first introduced, and because T-Mobile (One2One back then) were losing money on the tariff, they stopped offering it and had (I heard) been offering up to £3000 to buy back the tariff from customers.

Maybe they'll do the same again - maybe it's just wishful thinking on my behalf!!

hungrygabe

I am apparantly a 'grade 4' user, 1 lower than the highest user of grade 5...
This means I have POWER when I'm haggling!
After some haggling last year, I WAS on Martins deal of 500 xnet mins for £25 pm.. (plus added text bundle of 100txt for £5 so £30 in all)

But, after THAT contract just expired, I called disconnection people again, and I have just got.. 500xnet mins PLUS 500 texts per month for £25 PM!
and a brand new free motorola 3G razr phone .. arriving tomorrow..

Thanks martin... you have changed the way I think about being a consumer.. your my moneysaving guru!! keep it going! I'm going to purchase your book in case their are any hidden tips in there too! :-)

cmc39v

I am currently with orange paying 25quid a month for 120 mins any network anytime, however I am not too happy with this talk plan and want to get a better deal. I am in the 9th month of my contract and tried to change the other day and was told that I cant until the 11th month. I have been with Orange for years. I would rather not wait for a couple of months is there anything that I can do.
Cheers

T8RSP

Anyone had any decent luck with T-Mobile yet?

suman_das

My two mobile contracts with O2 were due to end today. They were cashback through Dialaphone which has been fine so far. I rang O2 reception, and after a short negotiation, I have agreed with their offer of 12 month's half price line rental and £100 in credit for not upgrading my handsets (they were offering SE- K750- not bad!). My contract with 200 min and 50 texts will now cost £80 over the year, and my wife's for 50 min and 20 texts will be £14 for the same period. Could have saved more if I shopped around for new handsets with cashback, and sold the handsets in Ebay, but too much hassle and headache for my liking! Overall quite pleased with O2 retentions.