Batter down your annual mobile costs article Discussion Area

rupe34

Hi all

My first post, AND my first proper attempt to put any of Martin's tips to good use. Rang Vodafone and told them I was unhappy with how much I am paying on my contract. Invoked the 'O2 simplicity tariff' and said I would leave if I didn't get a better deal. I'm not a big user of minutes/texts - only around 60 mins/60 texts a month.

Anyway, I've now gone from paying £25 per month for a load of stuff I don't need, to £10 for 10 months, then £16 for three (I have 1 month to go on my original contract), with Stop the Clock, and 75 mins/100 texts per month. Am quite chuffed actually! I'm RUBBISH at being pushy, so for first go I think I did ok!

crystalsinger

Just spoke to O2 as my contract ran out last thursday. I was paying £21 (inc vat) a month for calls and texts, but was using nowhere near as much texts as I used to (30 min calls and 300 texts) so had planned to move to a pay as you go service. They actually beat the £10 a month top up I was going to go with by offering me £100 credit, 7 1/2 months free and 4 1/2 months at £15 a month with a 1 yr contract. This effectively works out at £6.61 a month (inc vat) and gives me 100 min calls and 200 texts on a low user tariff. Not a bad deal as its less that a pay as you go I SAVED £180!

philip_turland

12 months ago i was paying 3 £30.00 per month for 500 mins and 100 texts.

i was not using my phone much and so in my mind i had decided to go pay as you go.

i rang 3 to establish when my contract ended but in doing so pressed the option for "leaving 3".

a lady in bombay advised me when my contract was ending and then asked why i wanted to leave 3.

After explaining she told me she would put me on another tarrif.

£1.13 per month for 500 mins any time, any network plus 100 free texts.

£1.13 to be paid at the end of the 12 months.

£13.56 per year.

i said i would be stupid to not accept this offer so i went with it.

they banged a load of money into my account and i was very happy.

sadly they are not doing that now so i will probably go pay as you go.

philip

linzy_p

Hi all

Love this site !! ;-)

I've finally found a deal I want from Vodafone, and am really loathe to ditch TMobile, who I am currently with. My reason for doing so is that since I moved house approx 6 months ago, I get NO RECEPTION AT ALL!!! Very annoying, and also financially frustrating, as I don't get to use my free minutes etc when I'm at home in the eves/weekends.

Vodafone are perfect in my new house hence the desire to swap.

However....T Mobile told me this morning that it'll cost £108.98 to ditch before the contract is up, but then I thought...

....surely they are in "breach of contract" as they are unale to provide me with the service (at home anyway) that I am paying for.

Anyone else had any success with escaping a contract without paying a fee, for similar reasons?? It'd be good to go back with a bit of ammunition!! I know it's technically fair cop, but wondered what other people's experiences were - they're all robbing g*ts , after all, lol!

Cheers!!

ntownads

This is a little long I understand, but stick with it! (its not complicated)

The Carphone Warehouse offers an insurance called 'Lifeline,' which costs roughly the same (mine was cheaper) than other mobile phone insurance. It allows you to break your contract completely after 6 months (on a 12 month contract) or 9 months (on an 18 month contract), meaning that you surrender your phone (and pay an excess of £30 as it goes through as an insurance claim) and you are completely free of your contract, allowing you to shop around for the best deal every 6 months, and as a result you can keep up with the latest phones also.
One note, most networks will give you better offers on phones and extras if you commit to a longer contract (I just got a Blackberry 8310 for free with satellite navigation included because I opted for the 18 month contract option, on a 12 month they wanted £69.99 for the phone), but if you include the lifeline insurance you get the benefits of the longer contract 'extras,' but can still break it after just 9 months.
The full deal I received was the Blackberry 8310 (with sat nav), £100 cashback, a free in-car charger (essential if you want to use the satnav), and the Flext 35 contract on T-Mobile (£35 a month, with a credit on your phone bill for £180 worth of calls/texts which equates to 1800 of either, or 900 of each, or whatever you use the most, and in 3 years of this contract I have never managed to use them all up), and all i had to pay was the 30 excess. Furthermore, Orange do a very similar package for the same price (its called Dolphin for some reason), but the calling minutes are limited to 500, and texts are unlimited.
In terms of networks, having been on Vodafone for years previously I would steer well clear, their customer service and network services are abysmal, 02 are ridiculously overpriced and give you very little, go to Orange or T-Mobile (who I'm with).

This ISN'T an advert for Carphone Warehouse or T-Mobile i promise, just the result of lots of shopping around and my honest account of what deals I've found. (Im a bit picky with phones and if hey can save me the cost of a sat nav unit then im in!

kesso12

I tried this too, I'm on three, they rang me up saying that im due to an upgrade, and told me a list of phone they would give me. They said i couldn't have the nokia N95, so i told them that i was going to go to tmobile because i get 1800 or 300 mins and an N95 for £30 a month. They said they would give me the phone, 1500 text, 300 mins, 30 mg internet and 50 video mins for £30 a month. So i took up the offer. The best bit was, two weeks later, i got a letter from three, saying because of my loyalty, they will discount my bill £20 a month for the whole contract, so only £10 a month. Brilliant. SAVING = £360

Try three.

Kes

ntownads

loyalty isnt always the best policy here, Id say that it always depends on who u speak to, if you keep trying you'll get through to someone who's more willing eventually, but if not, as your contract has just expired, go elsewhere...lots of places will let you keep your old number, and just like anyone who wants money, they will offer you silly discounts and offers and suchlike to get you as a customer for the next year, so play o that. Ive said on here before that the carphone warehouse is a good bet, as they have no loyalty to a specific network, and although the phones are i believe payed for by the network you join, they have an awful lot of accessories like in car chargers, iPods, cases, memory cards, bluetooth headsets which they wil give u for free if you act like your not that convinced about the deal, and they arent worried about giving them away to secure your custom. hope this helps!

ntownads

steve_cov wrote: »

Martin's approach doesn't seem to have worked for me.

Having been with Orange for about five years, they refused to match the 3 tariff of 500 minutes + 100 text messages and offered something with 300 minutes and 30 text messages instead for a similar cost. Contract has just expired.

I've been as pushy as I can be (which is quite pushy), yet no success. Anyone been luckier, esp with Orange and a similar level of loyalty?

Oh, and I meant to say that they admitted that they grade their offer based on how much profit they've made out of each customer in previous years. For example, my 200 minute tariff to date - with a typical call month of 300 minutes - meant that they would offer me a "special deal" on 300 minutes rather than what I asked for.

loyalty isnt always the best policy here, Id say that it always depends on who u speak to, if you keep trying you'll get through to someone who's more willing eventually, but if not, as your contract has just expired, go elsewhere...lots of places will let you keep your old number, and just like anyone who wants money, they will offer you silly discounts and offers and suchlike to get you as a customer for the next year, so play o that. Ive said on here before that the carphone warehouse is a good bet, as they have no loyalty to a specific network, and although the phones are i believe payed for by the network you join, they have an awful lot of accessories like in car chargers, iPods, cases, memory cards, bluetooth headsets which they wil give u for free if you act like your not that convinced about the deal, and they arent worried about giving them away to secure your custom. hope this helps!

sarah_2-2

I've finally agreed to renew my contract with T-Mobile- £20/month, 12 month contract for their £35/month tariff, provided I keep my own phone. I like my phone anyway, and the tariff is more than enough for me, so am very happy! :j

Tip to others though: keep saying you have to think about it and calling back in a couple of days- I spoke to 3 different people, and each time they offered me a slightly bigger discount. I'm hoping in 12 months I'll be able to keep the discount and get an upgrade- fingers crossed!

ccarnochan

I was originally getting 350 mins and 75 text and free broadband for £30, I wasnt going to leave as if I had to pay for the BB even with the best cashback deal I wouldnt be any better of with total monthly outgoing for bb and mobile but thought i'd try anyway.

I got 400mins, 130 text and free BB for £20 per month and free K530i

I wasn't expecting better as i'm not a good customer and never go over my free mins or texts.

To finish contact set up the cheapest BB deal and cheapest mobile deal with cashback would have had to spend an extra £75 over the 18m contact and now I don;t hav the bother of cashback!:j