Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

Starfire_2

Firstly, Thanks to everyone who has been posting on this site for keeping the information up-to-date.

Here is what happened to me:

I received a call from someone at 3 with some amazing minutes deals. I knew I didn't want to change to 3 as a lot of you said it was rubbish, but I listened to her deal so that I could call O2 up about it and see if they could beat it.

3 offered: 600 minutes and 400 texts at half price line rental for 6 months, she would then double my minutes and texts for six months so 1200 calls and 800 texts with 50 mins video calls and she threw in 'cheque' for £45.00 once I had had the contract for 3 months. All on 18 month contract. They offered be the brand new sony ericsson K610i.

O2 said they knew of this deal and firmed up what was involved and offered on an O2 18 Month Contract: 600 mins a month and this new 'long weekend' tarrif where you get free calls on sat, sun and mon all day for up to 2000 minutes with 100 messages for £28 including VAT with the K610i.

on a 12 Month Contract: 500 minutes and 300 texts for £20 inc VAT which is probably what the £15 deals on here work out at (ish), again with the K610i.

Since I am going to be moving in with my boyfriend, who I make most of my calls to and anticipate calling less, I went for the cheaper, less minutes option and am very happy since I was paying £35 for 250 minutes before.

Also, The customer service people were lovely and I would reccomend o2 to everyone because of this. The lady I spoke to the 2nd time said that Sunday was fairly quiet especially compared to Saturdays, so if you don't want to wait long (I went straight through) call on a sunday!
Lots of Love for O2! :happylove

jezman_g

(I just started a new thread with this, then noticed this article, so I'll put it here as well - sorry if this is bad message board etiquette, I'm not a regular!)

Threaten to cancel, don't get a 'free' upgrade, save loads on line rental

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I have been with the same mobile phone company for 4 years, just renewed for a 5th. At the end of my first year, I had researched other companies, tariffs, new phones available etc, and I rang up to cancel my contract. To my surprise, without even trying, I was offered a deal: instead of paying £14 per month line rental, I could pay a single £85 lump sum up front for the year, saving £83, as long as I didn't upgrade my phone. As my phone was in good nick, I jumped at the chance.

The following year I rang up again threatening to cancel (you need to speak to the cancellations department, they are the only ones who will offer you stuff to get you to stay, as by talking to them they know you are serious about cancelling). I got a similar deal again. Last year, as my phone was three years old and I fancied a new one, I renewed it at £14 per month and got a 'free'(as if!) phone upgrade.

Yesterday, as renewal time for my contract has come around again, I called the cancellations department. I told the chap about the £85 deal I had had before. To my astonishment, he went and looked at my account on the computer and came back and offered me 12 months' line rental for £39.60 (that's £3.30 per month, for you non-mathematicians!). A total saving of £128.40, or £10.70 per month. That still includes my 750 off-peak minutes and 50 free texts per months, by the way.

My advice? Free upgrades aren't free. If you don't need a new handset, don't get one. And if you don't get a new handset, DO NOT let your contract just automatically renew at full price. Call up, get yourself through to the cancellations department, and see what they will do to keep you.

ps. I count myself as a genuine MSE miser. All these anytime, cross-network minutes - you can keep them. I can wait until the evening to make my calls, and people on other networks can call me with their cross network minutes (I can send them an inclusive text asking them to call me!). I'd like to see anyone beat £39.60 for a year's line rental with inclusive minutes and texts!

rubyrooster

A while back I was looking for a new contract, have been with orange for years and didn't really want to change. The previous year I had bartered with them and got an extra 100 texts a months for no extra cost, this year they offered me nothing.

After looking on the internet I discovered an online deal with Orange for new customers which looked more suited to me for a better price. But when I asked for it, they said it was for new customers only. I told them that was ridiculous and threatened to leave because of their unfair treatment of existing customers - obviously they are just out to get new ones etc etc. They gave me what I wanted, along with a snazzy free phone and apologised profusely.

MorganA_3

Hi

Have read martin's article and all the posts with their varying degrees of success with orange and thought i'd post my experiences. this happened today. i have been with orange for over 5 years btw.

phoned up and selected the option "if you are thinking about leaving orange" from start menus etc. was on hold for less than a minute before my call was answered. i explained that i was wanting to leave orange because for the amount i was paying monthly (£25) i could get a better deal, ie more x-network mins and texts, on o2 or vodafone, and the new phone (N70) i'd been thinking about getting for free. also explained i had been using approx double the mins per month than in my existing contract (which was for 100mins anytime x-net and 100 texts)

they could not have been more helpful and eager to keep me:

immediately she said "you are entitled to a free upgrade" (just over two yrs since i last upgraded) and after checking said a new N70 would be free, and then asked how much i would be looking to spend on line rental per month, i said same as now, ie £25, and she immmediately offered me 500mins anytime x-net and 250 texts, a massive increase on my existing deal for exactly the same price. fantastic. one very happy remaining-an-orange customer me!

i did a bit of background work beforehand mind, looked through last 6 months bills and wrote down number of mins used and texts used, as well as a good half hour on the web looking at deals on other networks and the best part of an hour on this website. well worth it though.

sorry if this is a bit long, go easy on me, it's my first post on here....

TheMoai

Following the advice on this thread, I rang Orange yesterday and threatened to leave. They promptly *doubled* my talk time and text allocation, took 20% off my line rental, and have sent me a shiny new phone. Total success! Thank you Martin! Now, to make some money selling my old phone....



The Moai

:money:

Bad_haggler

I've been with Orange for some years now, and having been seeing some good deals for new customers with a new Sony Ericsson W810i thrown in at £30, I thought I'd try negotiating as I have been out of contract for some months. I never changed from my original Talk 60 plan, which was adequate as I spent between £20 and £30 a month depending on my usage. I also had wanadoo broadband, so when that went orange, I considered paying £30 a month to get the 'free' broadband deal.

I phoned up the Customer Retentions people, and they wouldn't budge an inch - I don't know, maybe I didn't 'keep a smile' in my voice enough. Even though I was willing to pay £30 a month, she kept saying the said phone would cost me £79.99, based on my last 6 months' payments, even though I pointed out that a brand new customer would get it for nothing.

So I asked for an unlocking code for my current Nokia 6610i (I should have found out about the free unlocking sites sooner, as I will be paying £20 for the privilege), and a PAC code so I can keep my number. I am thinking about switching to a Virgin SIM only pay monthly deal, as you are not tied in to a contract, and you get 300 (x-net) minutes and 300 texts for £15. I could always try going back to Orange as a 'brand new customer' and see what they say then!

One question which maybe someone can help answer - have I effectively given my one months' notice to orange by asking for the unlocking and PAC codes? Will I end up paying for two networks for a month while I switch? I couldn't find any specific information that could advise me on how to negotiate the switch time-wise. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Disappointed of south London

jawfld

I've been with O2 for 3 years on an online tariff, and have just renewed my contract and got a good deal.

I was paying £30 a month for 200 x net anytime mins & 500 texts.

With a couple of weeks left on my contract I called O2 on the upgrade number supplied on their web site (0870 600 7102), and chose the automated option for "If you want to cancel your contract...". My call was then answered by the retentions dept.

I quoted them a '3' tariff which I had seen on the internet, and in no time the chap offered me double the minutes and texts for the same £30 a month, as well as a new Sony Ericsson K800i phone which they are even charging new customers upto £80 for. On a 12, not 18 month contract too!

Happy here!

nickmack

Looking at some of the posts on this thread, the following springs to mind:

- If they just offer you more minutes and texts you're not going to use, you're not getting a better deal. Try and get them to reduce the line rental as well.

- The best deals are rarely offered on the newest and most expensive phones (such as PDA's/phones released that month) so if that's definitely the one you're after, if you can leave it a month or so your chance of getting a good deal is better.

sockospice

just got 75 mins, 100 text, stop the clock, and a samsung z540 for £9 line rental a month, 12 month contract on vodafone. Just enough minutes and texts for my needs, and a nice new phone too.

wishiwasarichgirl

my advice? do a little research then stretch the truth a little.

my o2 contract was up for renewal in july, been with them a couple of years, last year i rang the "upgrade" number and asked what deals they could do, they offered me no extra mins/txts or cheaper line rental but a free phone, which i happily accepted.:rolleyes:

this year after joining MSE i rang the "cancellations" number and said i wanted my PAC. obviously the (very nice) lady asked why, so i quoted one of Tmobiles packages (which was similar to what i was getting anyway, since i didn't need any more mins or txts) but said i could get it fot £17 for the first 6 months(this was the white lie, i know they have this package but no idea about price!!)
so the woman said "bear with me one moment... ok we can do the same package for £15 a month for the full 12 months!!

so then, feeling a bit cocky i said...well ok, but i was gonna get a new fone for free with tmobile too, so she asked which one (sony W810i) and said thats fine you can have that too!! RESULT!:money:

Saving... approx £15-£20 per month