Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

Intelligent1

I capped my contract with Three because once allowance used it dramatically increased my bill above the usual £6.90p per month.

Can't dial any 08, 09, or 101

But also have a Three 3,2,1 PAYG so 3p pm calls, 2p a text and 1p per MB is just slightly more than the 2.2p pm comparatively calculated in allowance call charge.

This arrangement works much better than accidentally making out of allowance calls charged at 35p pm incl VAT [often due to call centres eating up all my 2.2p Inclusive Minutes].

Remember if someone tries to tell you that the call to them is free because it's in your inclusive minutes. Remember that they are YOUR inclusive minutes which in REAL VALUE are worth the full charge you'd get if you had used up your minutes.i.e. 35p per minute.

Intelligent1

Three still beats my Phone Coop PAYG at 8p pm - although it does bill by the second [that's 0.13333 p per second 7.5seconds for 1p].

sjr34

I have reached the end of my contract with Orange but have been with them for 12 years. Time to get a new phone I decide. First stop the website. What can I have? (what do I want?).


Decision made, I would like a newer iPhone so have decided the 5c 16GB suits my needs.


Next what package would I like?
All inclusive calls, texts and 2GB data included.


Next I research every mobile provider I can find including the comparison sites to see what offers the phone and package I want at the best price.


Armed with this information, I call Orange.


After a 20 minute wait, I get offered the phone and package that I want but for £34.99 (oh no, wait a minute) he can apply a 10% loyalty discount making it £31.49.
I will think about it says me.


Following day I ring and hit the "I am thinking of leaving" number. Phone is answered more quickly (not surprising really). I speak to a very nice chap, tell him what I was offered then tell him what I can get from uSwitch. iPhone 5c, 16GB, unlimited calls and texts, 2gb data, online code that waives the handset price of £129.99 making it free and a monthly fee of £23.99. WITH ORANGE / EE!!!!!!!


Hmmmmm he replies, unfortunately this happens often, I cannot match the internet offer you have found, I am really sorry. We discussed my company loyalty etc but still no joy. "I will have a think about it" I reply.


I return to the uSwitch site and stare longingly at the phone (and price I want) and wonder if there is anywhere to enter the code on the EE upgrade site?????? Sadly no.
Nearing the end of my options but wanting to keep my number I hit the 'live person help' on the EE site. (Glad they are live really or the conversation would have been a little one sided) anyway, my opening question is, "can you tell me please, if I get a new contract through uSwitch, can I keep my number. She politely explains that a new contract would issue a new number but asks what it is I am looking for. I explain the phone, tariff etc to which she says. "I am able to offer you that same deal as an upgrade. Would you like me to do that now for you?" Carefully trying not to fall off my chair I casually reply "yes please".


I now have the phone upgrade I wanted, at the very cheapest tariff I could find, no upfront fee and am keeping my number.


Despite having to do a little leg work, it was worth it and more importantly in this case, live help online were able to match an internet offer that the retention department were not.


Hope this helps save someone some cash!!:j

catriona79

Oh what hard work!..

I was on a 500min 1GB contract for £10 a month. But recently got a new job meaning that I now drive at least an hour one way and use that time to catch up with family and friends. Last month I used it carefully and on,y went over by 20 mins calling a local number. It cost me £7 on top of my bill.

So, I thought to myself, I'll give them a ring and see what they can do. I assumed that I'd be able to get some sort of discount. I've been with them for almost 4 years now, always pay on time and generally been as good as gold!;)

Soon I realised that this wasn't going to be easy! Spoke to a guy who was hard work and offered me the same deals that I could see on their website. £20 for anything over 600 minutes. Literally ALL other networks offer deals at £16 that give you 1000-1200 minutes a month. No special treatment, no rewards for loyalty. I was a bit miffed. I pointed out to the guy on phone that the deal he was offering to me was no better than he would offer to any new customers, but to no avail. He even said that "Three is not in competition with itself!" when I told him I was currently receiving a £10 discount! Cheeky so and so ;-)

I went off and did my research. Armed with a best buys table, I rang again. A much more pleasant woman on the other side, but she still wouldn't budge. So I asked to be put through to disconnections. By that time I didn't even bother to explain, just answered their questions about whether I wanted to keep my number and when I wanted it cancelled from. They took me through the whole rigmorale of arranging to send my PUK pack out etc and then told me that they had more discretion than their colleagues!!!

So, they offered me a very special deal that I mustn't tell my family and friends about (didn't mention MSE! ;-) ). Either 2000 mins and unlimited internet on a rolling contract or a 12-month contract, £15 and £14 respectively. I went with the cheaper option and am quite happy.

Gosh, it's hard graft!

Sarah_rx

Called Orange - with Martins call in front of me, and they couldn't match any offer, apparently the phone I wanted was too new. Two minutes after that call another orange agent called me, discussed the previous call, said they wouldn't match Three (same contract, phone £19.66, as opposed to orange @ £99)
The lady I spoke to didn't offer to connect to the disconnections dept, she suggested going to Phones 4 U as they 'often have good deals'.
Have only been with Orange for 16 years.

gemnomnom

Hello all,

Quick tip:

Phoned Orange today to buy a minutes bundle to avoid going over my allowance. I was only looking to buy about 60 mins' worth. They originally offered me 40 mins for £1.42.

I thought I'd ask if there were any deals on that. He passed me through to the Loyalty department, and they ended up giving me a free 200 extra minutes bundle for a whole year . Brilliant! :T

This brings me now to 700 mins, 500 texts and 600 mb data for £7.50/month. Not too bad if I do say so myself.

I'd be wary of picking a more expensive deal for the sake of getting a new phone, unlimited mb and unlimited texts. I would never exceed 500 mb or 500 texts; and would buy my phone second hand if I desired a change of handset.

Cmdr_Bond

I have 2 contracts with Three, one is due up in a week or so, and the other in september.

I currently have the S3 and my wife the S3 mini, and we are looking at the S5/S5mini - but I will be holding off so that our contracts run out together.

Has anyone had any luck with 3 recently?

Any specific things I should do with them?

I quite like 3 and would rather stay with them, I like the unlimited data and the 4G at no extra cost when it rolls out.

I also need to keep my number, but the wife's is less important (though keeping it would be easier)

I'm slightly annoyed, because three have just upped their prices in the last 2 days, but they have included tethering in all contracts now.


(last point - this thread would be much easier to negotiate if split into carriers!)

phillip_swift

I've just reduced my bill from 38 a month to 15 a month by changing to Sim only. I have an S3 and there is nothing wrong with it. I've been with 3 for 10 years and have been a profitable customer but that doesn't count for as much as you'd think.

Their opening offer was an S5 for 36 per month or a HTC Desire for 25 quid a month. Then they offered sim only for 23 per month. I found much better deals and called back the next day to request my pac code. They matched the other deals at 15 quid sim only and threw in loads of extra data. I really pushed them hard for a new phone and they would not shift at all from that. I have to admit with my quite heavy usage my deal is not bad but I thought if I pushed hard enough i'd get a new phone. I even told him I'd pay a bit more if he threw a phone in but he wouldn't budge.

At the end of the day my bill has more than halved which was my objective and I have a phone that works well.

ryuwarrior

I hate calling up and causing a fuss so I thought I'd just go ahead and get my PAC code since I needed to renew or upgrade my contract. I'd shopped around and the best deal for the phone I wanted was on Carphone warehouse even though it was still with Vodafone, but it wasn't for upgrade. I got connected with a nice lady on customer services and straight away said I wanted to renew but couldn't find a good deals. Before I'd even finished, she told me that she was there to try to make me stay. So she looked up the deal I had found on the spot. She not only matched the deal which is a 25% reduction on their best offer but also told me I would get the first month free. Getting the phone tomorrow through next day delivery. Even more amazingly good customer service for Vodafone. I wanted the Samsung Galaxy S5. Vodafone would upgrade (cheapest) £69 upfront then £22.50 per month for 100 mins, unlimited texts and 100mb. Carphone warehouse had it as free handset 22.50 for 600 mins, unlimited texts and 500mb. When I called Vodafone I got the same deal as I would have from Carphone warehouse with one month free! And I got the blue handset I wanted (Vodafone exclusive!)

kkaebsong

I just joined to share my success with not-really-haggling with EE... I'm paying £35 a month for a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and have been doing that for 24 months. Not really money-saving... it was the most expensive phone contract I've ever had, but since I found the nifty little note features on the phone very useful, I wasn't too upset.

Cust Services called me about two months before the end of my contract with an upgrade deal of £22 a month. I asked for less, and they said that I'd get my mobile data allowance cut by 75% and no more unlimited minutes for £15 a month. So I said I'll look elsewhere then, and hung up.

I looked around for some SIM deals, because I didn't really want to change my phone. I found a deal on Carphone Warehouse for my exact contract, unlimited texts and minutes plus 2GB data, for £15.99 a month from.... guess who... EE. So I was a bit peeved, to say the least.

This week I tried ringing them again, and mentioned the contract and the lady on the phone offered the contract to me for £12.99 since I've been a customer for a while. I accepted it, and I'm getting my new micro SIM in the post! I was all geared up to haggle and I didn't even have to!! Saved myself a huge headache!!