Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

BEX94MAT97

My wife had bought a Motorola V3i on O2 through the link last year and was getting 200 minutes and 100 text messages for £30.00 per month. She was on a 12 month deal that received half the line rental back for the 12 month contract. The Link has just sent out the third and final cheque back which took the usual two months to receive.

On the 12 month anniversary of the contract I called up O2 to convert the phone to Pay-as-you-go. To cut a long story short she was offered a "special low user tarrif" of £11 per month for 25 cross network minutes and 125 text messages. As she wasn't upgrading her phone she was also given £100 credit back to her account. This means she pays nothing for 9 months and then £11 per month for months 10, 11 and 12. I think if we had threated to cancel the contract rather than convert the phone to PAYG there may have been a better deal.

My Daughters phone is up in the next few days so i'll be on the phone to O2 again. She fancies a Samsung E900 but doesn't want to pay anything for it but I'm a little sceptical of signing up for another cashback deal, even considering how good The Link have been. Will report my deal.

jpieter

After buying the Virgin Mobile 700 TV phone off their website for £39.99 on pay as you go i decided to phone Orange as my contract finishes next week.
They offered me 500 minutes and no texts for £15 a month for 18 months and a free phone. So i took it and I got Sony Ericsson k810i phone which only came out last week free,so very happy and now have a Virgin Mobile Lobster 700tv phone and my last contract phone ( sony ericsson w550i ) going on ebay.

tiggertock

If I'm being totally honest, I really just want the opportunity to gloat, but where better to do so than in a place that also backs up Martin's advice!

For the past 17 months, I've been on 3's student tariff.

18 months, £20 per month, 1,000 (yes a thousand!) texts and 100 minutes.

However, I will (hopefully!) be graduating in a month or two, and therefore will be likely to be using more minutes and less texts. And, given my contract runs out next month, thought now would be a good time to start researching the options.

Armed with details of O2 Online's "24 Texter" for £25 per month and a desire to really push them for a Nokia E65, I called 3's "Customer Options Advisors"...

Without much convincing, I was offered 300 minutes, 1000 texts, and got an additional 50 picture/video messages, 50 minutes of video calling, £5 worth of downloads a month AND a brand new Nokia 6288... all for my current rate of £20 a month.

Sounds good to me!!

rash.m2k

tiggertock wrote: »

If I'm being totally honest, I really just want the opportunity to gloat, but where better to do so than in a place that also backs up Martin's advice!

For the past 17 months, I've been on 3's student tariff.

18 months, £20 per month, 1,000 (yes a thousand!) texts and 100 minutes.

However, I will (hopefully!) be graduating in a month or two, and therefore will be likely to be using more minutes and less texts. And, given my contract runs out next month, thought now would be a good time to start researching the options.

Armed with details of O2 Online's "24 Texter" for £25 per month and a desire to really push them for a Nokia E65, I called 3's "Customer Options Advisors"...

Without much convincing, I was offered 300 minutes, 1000 texts, and got an additional 50 picture/video messages, 50 minutes of video calling, £5 worth of downloads a month AND a brand new Nokia 6288... all for my current rate of £20 a month.

Sounds good to me!!

Lemme get this straight £20 for 18 months? £360?

For a Nokia 6288???? A rip off. (Minutes are pretty good - but you could have got 12 months free deal with cashback!)

6288 = £100 on ebay!

Now lemme gloat!:D

I got an upgrade on O2 @ CPW (november 2006). I got a brand NEW E900 (it was new then), for £8.50/mnth with 400 offpeak mins - total about £102. Then £90 auto cashback so cost = £12.

I then bought a bluetooth headset plus a 1GB micro SD. with cost me £70. And because of this I got £150 cashback instead of £90 (so headset plus microSD cost me £10).

So total for phone plus accessories = about £20. With auto cashback!

Then they screwed and didn't move me down to a lower 400 min tarriff. And after I'd upgraded couldn't change it - so I got £69 (6 x £11.50) on my account from them to make up the difference from £20!

So still had 1000 mins! Just downgraded to the 400 off peak tarrif!!!!

Then sold phone on ebay for about £160 and made £140!

o2Debs

O2 are the best service provider I know. I have been on a half-price line rental tariff for the third year now. Last upgrade I asked for 600 x-network minutes, 100 texts, K800i phone and a bluetooth headset for less than £30 a month. I got it.
I also refused to accept a 18 month contract - 12 months is as much as I take.

Not only that but they are excellent at resolving issues - if they make a mistake they do give you compensation, also if they neglect to give you important information, such as not telling you that an offer has ended or telling you that its still ongoing. I have had literally hundreds of pounds wiped off my bill

The call centre staff are great and in UK too.

You have SO much power at upgrade. Use it!

before_hollywood

t-mobile are lousy, sim lost, £10 please :eek: what???

told them i wanted to cancel after 4 years, offered flext 20 full price with phone (same as new customers), declined so was offered.......my pac code.

nice!!!!!

jimmybhoy

Just wanted to share my experience with O2.
Was on £20 p/m contract, with 100 free x-network mins and texts.
Contract was at end, so after reading through all the great advice on this board, decided to haggle.

My main concern was cutting my costs - didn't want a fancy phone or anything.

1st call: i spoke to 'upgrades department' they didn't offer me much at all other than better handset - told me i was on the cheapest deal already so nothing they could do.
2nd call: I asked to be put through to 'cancellations' etc told them was considering leaving. I quoted them a cheaper but similar deal by '3' which was £16 p/m. 1st person spoke to said they couldn't match it. Told them I would call back as not happy.
BUT 2nd person I spoke to offered me £19 p/m deal with £100 credit onto account OR a new handset.
I told them still wasn't enough - quoted the '3' deal again - person transferred me to someone in 'specialist' departmemt to 'see what they could do'.
This person was happy to do a deal - offered me £15 p/m plus 250 x-network mins and 400 texts AND £100 credit onto account - on a 12 month contract.

So - all in all should be paying around £7.50 a month - taking into account the credit etc and free calls etc

Lessons:
1) don't be put off by the 1st few offers - these are obviously junior staff not allowed to give you anything decent.
2) always quote a cheaper deal from another network - have all the facts and figures to hand
3) threaten to leave if dont get what you want
4) tell them exactly what you want
5) and BE NICE while you do it - always helps I reckon

BIG thanks to everyone who has posted advice on here about this!!!!

stiffnuts69

o2Debs wrote: »

O2 are the best service provider I know. I have been on a half-price line rental tariff for the third year now. Last upgrade I asked for 600 x-network minutes, 100 texts, K800i phone and a bluetooth headset for less than £30 a month. I got it.
I also refused to accept a 18 month contract - 12 months is as much as I take.

Not only that but they are excellent at resolving issues - if they make a mistake they do give you compensation, also if they neglect to give you important information, such as not telling you that an offer has ended or telling you that its still ongoing. I have had literally hundreds of pounds wiped off my bill

The call centre staff are great and in UK too.

You have SO much power at upgrade. Use it!

O2 use to be good, they are now pityful. They offer poor retention deals, lack good customer service skills, and mess up your bill. Within the last 3 months Me my partner and many friends and family members have left O2 some after I originally recomended it.

Anyway I am now with three as is my partner (and some friends, made a packet through quidco and refer a friend), and its the best thing I have did. No more begging O2 retentions.

I also have to say that buying the phones online were effortless, arrived when they said it was, signal is very good does sometimes go into 2.5g mode (but who cares as long as I can use the phone to make calls), using my PAC was a doddle and speaking to customer services wasnt actually that bad as long as you speak a little slower then usual and clear.

All in all a vast improvement on the bad old days of three and 15 pounds for 500 minutes is excellent value.

rash.m2k

stiffnuts69 wrote: »

using my PAC was a doddle and speaking to customer services wasnt actually that bad as long as you speak a little slower then usual and clear

LOL! Speak s l o w l y !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

You think it's good? Wait until you ask them to unlock your phone!!!!!!!!!!!

stiffnuts69

rash.m2k wrote: »

LOL! Speak s l o w l y !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

You think it's good? Wait until you ask them to unlock your phone!!!!!!!!!!!

have you tried talking to some of the northerners at O2 retentions

I understand the indian call centre b e t t e r.

unlock my phone, well Ill cross that bridge when I come to it.

Anyway 15 pound for 500 minutes. They can talk in punjab for all I care :rotfl: